NAS 10 Questions with Alan Elettronico

This time, we get to know Alan Elettronico, an Italian Synthwave/Electronic producer with influences such as Daft Punk and Kraftwerk.

The track "Arcade Decade" is featured in the New Artist Spotlight Family of Playlists.

Link To New Artist Spotlight Playlists:

https://www.newartistspotlight.org/playlists

1. Tell us a little about where you are from and what you are currently doing.

I’m a produce from Italy. I am currently promoting a synth-wave compilation I have taken part in. It’s called “Echoes From the Last Cassette Tape Vol. II” by Fable Factory label and it features my song “Arcade Decade” which, as the name suggests, is dedicated to arcade games from the 80s. The compilation is part of a series and half of its wages will be destined to charity.

2. What inspired you to start playing and making music?

Since I was a child in the 80s I’ve been fascinated by electronic music. Those were the years of Kraftwerk, New Romantic, Synth Pop, and exaggerated fashion. I dreamt I could one day do the same, especially do something that sounded really mine, a distinguished style. Growing up in the 90s, I was also exposed to the birth and growth of techno music in all its versions and styles, but I guess it was Daft Punk and Les Ryhtmes Digitales that pushed me definitively to make music. So I started using daws in late 1998 but it took me almost ten years to debut on the music scene. In 2006 I was in a dubstep band called Oem Quarted and I could take part in some events organized by MTV with our album Unus. Then I went on a hiatus to become a teacher but returned to music in 2020 during the pandemic. I recorded my first solo album “Electric Mind” in my home studio and gained attention from Sam Rosenthal’s Projekt Records which published the album. And now I’m here continuing my journey.

𝟯. Who are your biggest influences?

My music has different influences: mainly Kraftwerk and all the electronic music from the late 70s/early 80s, including the first electronic disco music and Italo Disco. But I have to mention Les Ryhtmes Digitales, Daft Punk and the French Touch scene, and also Depeche Mode and Bjork for my most experimental songs.

4. What are your goals in the music industry?

I’ve always had a clear idea of what my music should be, I basically make the music I like, regardless of expectations. My main goal is to leave something unmistakably mine, something you hear and recognize as mine. I want to build my identity, and of course, enjoy that lots of people from around the world listen to my music.

5. Tell us about your creative process when you make new music.

I try to approach music in very different ways because it’s a learning-by-doing thing. Sometimes I have a melody in my mind and just stub it on the go with my phone, other times it’s a bass line that randomly pops out while jamming. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with sampling and splicing sounds, which is something new to me. Sometimes the song just builds up nicely in a very short time, while other songs take months to achieve their final form. Arcade Decade, for example, was an early stub I made in 2020, but I only completed it in late 2021 after I found the lost file in my phone and listened to it with “fresh” ears.

6. What is your all-time favorite song?

That’s a tough question, there are some songs I put on the same level and it’s hard to decide, so I’ll go for the song that lit my interest in electronic music when I was barely six yo: “The Telephone Call” by Kraftwerk

7. What is the best advice you have either given or received in terms of music?

The best advice I’ve received is that a good song is not enough to get fame: you have to work hard in self-promotion and networking. Yeah, of course, the song MUST indeed be good, but it also needs spaces to get attention and visibility. That’s the hardest part.

8. Proudest accomplishment?

My proudest accomplishment for sure is having worked with big names such as Sam Rosenthal from Black Tape For a Blue Girl or Michel Moers from Telex. I could not imagine myself doing such a thing in my life!

9. Just for fun! What's been your most embarrassing moment so far?

It may be silly, but it always embarrasses me when my pupils find out I’m a musician and that I am on streaming services. They sometimes come to the desk with their phones displaying my Spotify Page and ask: “Is that you, sir?”. I feel both proud and embarrassed any time it happens

𝟭0. Tell us about your lowest and highest points in music so far.

The highest is when people comment positively on your music. The lowest is to struggle with curators that refuse your music with the dumbest replies. It’s really unnerving!

Stream "Arcade Decade" now

https://open.spotify.com/track/1dbQ7wr3ROdVgzztenWHRs?si=VmqgZrUARHOHyImv22tvOA

and follow their socials

https://linktr.ee/AlanElettronico

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