Andras Fox has a curious mind and an adventurous spirit, always on the move and no stranger to a strange holiday. A celebrated producer, musician, DJ, radio host, crate digger, and intrepid internet explorer, Andy is both the creator of new musical worlds, and a tour guide of forgotten ones. In his pursuit of the unfamiliar no private press record is too obscure to reach, no genre too arcane for his attention. THUMP caught up with Andras recently, a few hours after stepping off a flight from Europe where he recently toured.THUMP: You've just returned from an extensive tour—were there any standout moments or memories you could share?
Andras: The European tour was great. It made me face some tough decisions about which 80 records are worth taking to the world. Local & Australian stuff, and of course things that sit on the edge of dance music, seemed to go down the best. It's always humbling to play music from friends, test pressings and demos to a dance-floor overseas, and to see what translates, so to speak.Like all things in life, people make the best memories. I enjoy a party, but even more I like food and swimming. Even got to jump in a freezing cold Swedish lake, and some hot thermal baths in Budapest. And meet some collaborators and label owners face to face.I've got family in Budapest, and I braved driving on the other side of the rd. to visit the countryside (and some far-out record shops).The show was an interesting mix of fans and completely random walk-ins. One fan even made me sign one f my records for him - but literally on the surface of the b-side (rendering it unplayable). He told me that "he didn't like that side anyway". I guess I have a real love of that slightly dark, but always honest hungarian humor.While overseas another project you're involved with was staged, Overworld. You produced the soundtrack under a new alilas Art Wilson. Can you tell us a little about this project, and the collaborative process involved?
The talented girls behind the dance performance got in touch with some ideas, and responded well to the new age demos I had already been working on in my spare time. So it was a great opportunity to make a new age record that wasn't just an indulgent and / or ironic endeavor.Basically each of the dancers had a character based on the four elements, so I sat down and tried to imagine what water, fire, earth and air sounded like. I then combined this with their personality traits (eg. Fire was sultry, sexy, dangerous). The album/cassette is the result of this soundtrack, and is up on Bandcamp for sale.Your previous LP Embassy Cafe shares a name with a late-night food establishment in Melbourne, as does your forthcoming record Cafe Romantica. Is it possible to explain why those places have been honoured in this way?
When I was living in west Melbourne, me and Oscar (Key-Sung) used to record pretty late into the night and then walk across the rd. to Embassy Cafe, which conveniently never closes. Their burgers, coffee and hot chips are like the songs on the album -indulgent, sleazy, and low budget.The "cafe" reference used to be more popular in house and chill out records in the late 90s (Cafe Del Mar, etc). So i guess it's a homage to that. To outsiders "Embassy Cafe" maybe sounds classy, but to those who've been to the taxi cafe itself, it's a little tongue in cheek.We had to move from the warehouse shortly after we finished recording the first LP, and we both took to our new local haunt, Cafe Romantica, with enthusiasm. The name was just too appropriate to pass up. So it's now a running joke. Maybe we'll come up with something more imaginative if we ever make a third LP, but for now I think the local reference is a nice one.What were your regular orders at those places?
At Embassy Cafe you gotta try the coffee (it's terrible and the color of concrete) and a big box of hot chips. Cafe Romantica do a great pizza (ortolana is my pick) with a lemon / chocolate gelati combo.Alongside your own productions you've recently posted two celebrated mixes of all-Australian tracks with Instant Peterson (aka Lewis Fidock). Can you describe how this Australian music odyssey started, and take us through the journey so far? Any favourite discoveries, or strange tales you've uncovered along the way?
Lewis and myself had been buying a lot of record online, and we started to get sick of paying postage and chasing other countries' musical history. I guess we got curious about our own backyard, and starting turning up some truly inspiring Australia stuff that we felt was worth sharing. To a lot of guys overseas Australian music is the final frontier—unlike the US, and even to an extent African music, there are plenty of unheard Aussie gems.The other great thing is being able to liaise with and meet these people. Peter Westheimer is a particular favorite, and after Lewis found his website he ordered a few copies from the man himself. Then I bought some too, followed by a few other local guys. After the 5th order came through, Peter himself got in touch asking why, after years of little interest, these young guys were all starting to buy his old stock LPs. He was actually in Melbourne that week, so we caught up to have dinner, and now as a result, there's a compilation / reissue in the works, alongside some potential remix singles.Any other projects upcoming that you can talk about?
After the new age cassette, I'll have a solo EP out on the US label Mexican Summer. It's loosely themed around surfing / digital synths - and has a few almost G-Funk tracks alongside a couple of older demos that I've been playing in my live sets. Then fingers crossed I can get Cafe Romantica out before the year's end.See Andras Fox perform as part of Astral People's VIVID Live Party, Friday May 30 at the Sydney Opera House. Check out (most of) Andras Fox's discography here.
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Andras: The European tour was great. It made me face some tough decisions about which 80 records are worth taking to the world. Local & Australian stuff, and of course things that sit on the edge of dance music, seemed to go down the best. It's always humbling to play music from friends, test pressings and demos to a dance-floor overseas, and to see what translates, so to speak.Like all things in life, people make the best memories. I enjoy a party, but even more I like food and swimming. Even got to jump in a freezing cold Swedish lake, and some hot thermal baths in Budapest. And meet some collaborators and label owners face to face.I've got family in Budapest, and I braved driving on the other side of the rd. to visit the countryside (and some far-out record shops).The show was an interesting mix of fans and completely random walk-ins. One fan even made me sign one f my records for him - but literally on the surface of the b-side (rendering it unplayable). He told me that "he didn't like that side anyway". I guess I have a real love of that slightly dark, but always honest hungarian humor.While overseas another project you're involved with was staged, Overworld. You produced the soundtrack under a new alilas Art Wilson. Can you tell us a little about this project, and the collaborative process involved?
The talented girls behind the dance performance got in touch with some ideas, and responded well to the new age demos I had already been working on in my spare time. So it was a great opportunity to make a new age record that wasn't just an indulgent and / or ironic endeavor.
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When I was living in west Melbourne, me and Oscar (Key-Sung) used to record pretty late into the night and then walk across the rd. to Embassy Cafe, which conveniently never closes. Their burgers, coffee and hot chips are like the songs on the album -indulgent, sleazy, and low budget.The "cafe" reference used to be more popular in house and chill out records in the late 90s (Cafe Del Mar, etc). So i guess it's a homage to that. To outsiders "Embassy Cafe" maybe sounds classy, but to those who've been to the taxi cafe itself, it's a little tongue in cheek.We had to move from the warehouse shortly after we finished recording the first LP, and we both took to our new local haunt, Cafe Romantica, with enthusiasm. The name was just too appropriate to pass up. So it's now a running joke. Maybe we'll come up with something more imaginative if we ever make a third LP, but for now I think the local reference is a nice one.
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At Embassy Cafe you gotta try the coffee (it's terrible and the color of concrete) and a big box of hot chips. Cafe Romantica do a great pizza (ortolana is my pick) with a lemon / chocolate gelati combo.Alongside your own productions you've recently posted two celebrated mixes of all-Australian tracks with Instant Peterson (aka Lewis Fidock). Can you describe how this Australian music odyssey started, and take us through the journey so far? Any favourite discoveries, or strange tales you've uncovered along the way?
Lewis and myself had been buying a lot of record online, and we started to get sick of paying postage and chasing other countries' musical history. I guess we got curious about our own backyard, and starting turning up some truly inspiring Australia stuff that we felt was worth sharing. To a lot of guys overseas Australian music is the final frontier—unlike the US, and even to an extent African music, there are plenty of unheard Aussie gems.The other great thing is being able to liaise with and meet these people. Peter Westheimer is a particular favorite, and after Lewis found his website he ordered a few copies from the man himself. Then I bought some too, followed by a few other local guys. After the 5th order came through, Peter himself got in touch asking why, after years of little interest, these young guys were all starting to buy his old stock LPs. He was actually in Melbourne that week, so we caught up to have dinner, and now as a result, there's a compilation / reissue in the works, alongside some potential remix singles.Any other projects upcoming that you can talk about?
After the new age cassette, I'll have a solo EP out on the US label Mexican Summer. It's loosely themed around surfing / digital synths - and has a few almost G-Funk tracks alongside a couple of older demos that I've been playing in my live sets. Then fingers crossed I can get Cafe Romantica out before the year's end.See Andras Fox perform as part of Astral People's VIVID Live Party, Friday May 30 at the Sydney Opera House. Check out (most of) Andras Fox's discography here.