B&F: To start off, can you tell us a bit about your background? Where you come from, where you’ve been and where you’re at now.

TRG: I was born in Romania about 28 years ago. I still live here and it’s a bit surreal. I grew up to classical music, jazz and disco, the only son of a single mother, I was a handful and I still am. I’ve written a few books when I was about 15 which was well weird but I moved on from wunderkind to ghetto lured by wet basements and bass booming out of warehouses.

B&F: How did you first get into DJing and production?

TRG: They both happened virtually at the same time, I’d been wanting to produce since about 97 but I had very little knowledge about how to approach it. I was pretty certain I needed software but I didn’t have a computer until about 2004. I did install a copy of Cubase on my work computer and tried to make music on its Nokia speakers. Didn’t go very far but I learnt the basics. I started DJing at a pub, me and 5 mates put on a night, its peak was when we had about 15 people inside. We were playing breaks, jungle, most people hadn’t even heard of that music (Polar, Intalex, Uberzone, Koma&Bones). The scene then went Warp 10 and escalated so quickly, I was kind of caught in that vortex and ended up playing huge raves in less than a year.

B&F: What’s the music scene like in Bucharest? How does it compare from when you started out to how it is today?

TRG: I moved to Bucharest around 2000 from a small town and I tried to find places and people who were into my kind of music (generic electronica). Things were just picking up. The biggest scene was generic house and techno, it basically still is but I find it’s much more refined. It’s a quirky scene: sometimes it feels really retro and people seem a bit out of touch, but then someone puts on a night that makes Resident Advisor drool. I guess it takes Bucharest a bit of time to catch up and adjust, but then it’s bang on. There’s good techno, good house, dubstep, drum and bass, electro, much more happening than in some slick European cities I’ve played.

B&F: Do you think coming from Bucharest has helped or harmed your music making? Do you think things would be different if you lived in London or Berlin, for example?

TRG: I’m sure it would’ve been different, if for the better or for worse, I wouldn’t know. It’s certainly helped being a little out of the loop in my early years. I was just doing my own version of the sounds I liked in a pretty organic way. What I do miss and wish I experienced more is underground club nights like FWD>> where a tune can literally change your perception of music. You listen to stuff online and think yeah, I’m there, I know what’s up, but it’s in the forward thinking clubs that savvy DJs tell the world what time it is. I have some blurry plans of moving to either of those two cities soon, if only just to absorb their electronic culture and bring mine to the table.

B&F: Your sound has evolved from drum & bass to dubstep and garage, with a recent house flavour thrown in. Do you feel you’re following the influence of other producers, or just trying to make the music you’re most interested in?

TRG: I’ve always been fascinated with novelty and I’m genuinely just trying to make music that I like, that moves me. I do follow other producers, we all do, whoever says they’re not following is a liar. Sometimes I’d sit backstage before my set and go like: I don’t wanna play my set, I wanna play this guy’s disco set, I love it to bits. So whether you like it or not, you borrow from other people and maybe give something in exchange to others. With house, I cannot claim I’ve invented a new sub-genre or whatever, I’m just bringing my own interpretation of it, my idea of what’s so cool about it. And I just want to write things at that tempo these days. It’s a very marmite thing, people love it or hate it with equal amounts of passion.

B&F: Do you have a set procedure for making music, where you sit down and say “today I’m going to spend the whole day making a new tune”? Or is it more spontaneous, taking inspiration from people you’ve seen or music you’ve heard and making something new when you can find the time?

TRG: I do wake up every morning with beats in mind, this is my day job now, I make music, so I kind of devise my schedule around it. Sometimes I’m maniacal about it, I work like a robot because I like to get things done and I might take a few weeks on a tune then bin it completely. It used to take me 4 hours to make a tune. I take a little more now because I LOVE to build tunes. I never have a very clear idea about what I’m gonna make. I just sit down with the idea and then sounds fall into place and I get a groove and I build upon that groove.

B&F: Do you have any regrets in your music career? Or any missed opportunities that you’d like a second chance with?

TRG: Everyone has regrets, but what can you do? You can’t go back and change anything so you might as well do your best for the future. There are people I ignored or hurt, sets that I’ve ruined, opportunities I missed, tunes I wish I didn’t put out, but they’re all a part of me, of who I am. I’m just warming up and finding my voice. If I was going to list any specific regrets, I’d only end up regretting it and wishing I’d gone back and deleted this interview.

B&F: Is there anybody that you’d really like to collaborate with or remix, but haven’t had the chance?

TRG: I’d like to play in a rock’n’roll band with Dorian Concept. Like proper rock’n’roll. I’d like to remix Chinook by Boards of Canada.

B&F: What releases and remixes do you have coming out that we should look out for?

TRG: My first EP for Tempa Recordings is coming out soon, I haven’t really remixed anyone lately since I wanted to work hard on this one. I think it’s gonna turn a few heads, it’s probably the first record on Tempa that’s 80% house and techno. Sinden, Mj Cole, Zed Bias, Zinc, Brodinski, Headhunter, Untold, Roska among others are supporting this one so I guess it’s an interesting record.

B&F: Last question, I really like that Shakira “She Wolf” song, but I’m a bit embarrassed to admit it to my mates. Would you be able to remix it to make it more acceptable?

TRG: Mate, I’m just as embarrassed to admit it but it’s a brilliant tune. Seriously, the instrumental is wicked, and the words? Ever paid attention to the words?  Any pop tune with ‘lycanthropy’ as lyrics should be good. The part I love most is the vocoded bit, I’d use that in a remix. But if you like the tune so much, why not admit it. You know it says ‘coming out, comin out, coming out’ repeatedly. If I were you I’d do it man…

B&F: Thanks for the words and this excellent mix..

http://www.back-and-forth.net/audio/october2009.mp3

Trus’Me : Good God [Prime Numbers]
A Made Up Sound : Wire [Clone Basement Series]
Claro Intelecto : Above [Modern Love]
Mike Dehnert : Umlaut 2 First Version [Clone Basement Series]
Hardrive : Deep Inside [Strictly Rhythm]
Kentphonic : Hiya Kaya Rocco Deep Mix [Stalwart]
Chris Carrier : Get Down [Robsoul Recordings]
TRG : No Way Instrumental [White]
Tiger Stripes : Heat [Toolroom]
TRG : Since Last Night [Tempa]
MFor : Thief [Reincarnation]

Cosmin TRG