Catching Up With... Alexi Delano and Listening to His Latest Tracks

This Saturday sees the exuberant Alexi Delano hit Room Two just one of a few tantalising prospects with Josh Wink, Nina Kraviz and Joseph Capriati joining the descent into our EC1 home where he will be bringing his own unique brand of energetic house and techno to bounce you off the walls. It has to be said, life is good for the Chilean born, Swedish raised DJ - his pair of US residencies at Brooklyn’s Output and Miami’s Treehouse allowing him sense of sonic exploration not afforded to the touring headline DJ, preparing to re-ignite his AD Limited label and somehow managing to defy the constraints of 24 hour days to keep up a prolific production output. Delano’s reach also extends beyond the confines of basement shaking, with his talents being commissioned for short films and fashion, the love for art and performance adding an extra dimension over others who tread the 2D plane. We had the chance to catch up with Alexi before his set at the weekend, where we managed to capture a snapshot of the life of one very busy man, from transatlantic commuting to his upcoming release schedule. You’re currently hopping between London and New York as your bases of operation, how are you handling this rather drastic commute? I’ve been commuting between the two cities and beyond for so many years that it feels like I have a flight-seat attached on my back. My mind easily deals with the long hours on the plane but my body is starting to complain. Ironically, the month that I’ve decided to transplant to London was the month when I received the two residencies at two of my favorite clubs in the U.S. Treehouse in Miami and Output Club in New York. If you had to choose between the two, which city edges it for you? New York obviously has your residencies, but I believe you have been getting gastronomical in Hackney at the Food Fight as well. Haha! Not only I’ve been to the “Food Fight”, between two great chefs in Hackney, but I’ve also seen some incredible live shows and art exhibitions in London. I get so inspired by the two cities that I couldn’t even begin to compare them. Both of them have their own magic and their own creative energy that is extremely inspiring in so many ways. I feel lucky to be able to float between the two. New York helped me to create and develop my sound and now I’m very excited to see where London and myself are going to take it. Aside from flying over the Atlantic, have you got any exciting tours coming up? I actually just came back from one exciting tour in South America. I did Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Peru. It was the first time that I visited Paraguay and that was very exciting to me. Being born in Chile but raised in Sweden, I enjoy exploring my country and the continent that I was born in, not only physically but also through my music. When I started DJing decades ago I never thought that this would be my way of discovering where I am from. But aside the work adventures I am really looking forward to go on the yearly sailing trip that I do with friends through the Greek Islands. It’s my place of Zen and a battery re-charger. You manage to keep up a very prolific production schedule, what forthcoming delights coming up can you tell us about? I’m very excited by quite a few projects. I have a release for Matthew Dear’s label Spectral Music named ‘My Busted SH101’ and also a remix for the Spanish Techno band Loud Neighbor that I’m super satisfied with as well as my next project ‘The Art Of Collab’ that includes collaboration works with some rather talented friends. Also, on the housier side, I have put together a track with Shaun Reeves for Visionquest. But before all these projects, my new solo E.P. ‘Numbers’ shall be hitting the market in the next few weeks. We recently had Klartraum at fabric, I believe you have just contributed to their Secret Moon remix project. Do you know Nadja & Helmut well, and how does it feel to be one of the showcase remixers for the project? The way I met Nadja was a funny coincidence. She contacted me about this project during a time that I was trying to book her for one of my ‘Alexi Delano and Friends’ events in New York. Apparently she didn’t know that I was trying to book them. When she told me that my old buddy David Alvarado was doing a remix as well, and on top of that Dirt Diggler (I’ve been a fan of them both for years), it was impossible to say no. So yes, I can say that I’m extremely happy to be part of it. So, you have pulled out some tracks from your upcoming projects to show us here, can you take us through them? Sure, first we have my remix for the Spanish Techno band ‘Loud Neighbor’. One of the members is Steel5000, she also does the excellent ‘Loving the Alien’ shows where she interviews great djs/producers. My goal with the remix was to reach an introverted state. I wanted to keep it low profile but with a subtle presence. The second track is taken from my next E.P. on NOSI Music a New York based label. ‘Goodbye s4’ it’s a farewell hymn to my studio, street and neighborhood back in Brooklyn where I’ve worked on a countless amount of projects. I found it fitting that it would come out on a New York label. Lastly we have one of this year’s personal Techno weapons. It’s from my upcoming collaboration project ‘The Art of Collab’ on H-Productions. I wrote this one with the very talented Mr.Hans Bouffmyhre of SLEAZE Records fame. Enjoy!