Argentina-born, Barcelona-based producer Nehuen has developed a bit of a reputation in Catalonia for throwing quite the rager alongside his Classicworks co-boss Cardopusher. After graduating from the Red Bull Music Academy in 2011 and releasing everywhere from underground Spanish labels Strument and Disboot to Ministry of Sound, the notorious analog basher has stepped up to BNR Trax, and his excellent EP Thoughtforms is the result.We got a few words in with the prolific DJ, alongside an exclusive mix that perfectly executes Nehuen's current state of creativity.What's the scene in Barcelona like?
There's quite some stuff going on, but it's definitely less than what people would perceive from the outside. At least in the scene I'm part of, there are three big venues and two medium size clubs, so there's a bit of competition since this is a really small but very touristic city, but that's not bad, it creates movement. On the other hand, there's a very strong vinyl culture here revolving around Discos Paradiso and a few other record shops, with good DJs and selectors that usually play in smaller, bar-ish venues. I recommend checking both parts.Was this EP made with all analog instrumentation?
Yes, except the pad on "Thoughtforms" which comes from a Casio HT-3000, a cheap digital synth with an analog filter. I've been using only hardware for some time. I was kind of bored from using samples, it felt very frustrating at one moment. I started buying gear a couple of years ago and I'm really happy about it, I get a lot of inspiration from just playing around with real knobs and faders, to me it has a bit more magic.
It was all very organic, I met Alex a few times thru Luis (Cardopusher). I had a few tracks finished and Cardo was like, "You should send this to BNR." Before that, I had some tracks that were included on all-electro compilation that Djedjotronic put out last year. I'm really happy about it, especially because I've been playing stuff from the label for the past 2 or 3 years, since they have a very consistent output of good club tools.What's up with your label?
Classicworks, it's the imprint I have run with Cardopusher for about 3 years now. It's been a really nice learning experience to develop a platform to put our music out and risk for ourselves. I think it worked very well as a presentation card for other labels for me as an artist, and I really enjoy putting other people's music out. We put out different styles of music with a common denominator, check us out!Nehuen is on Facebook // SoundCloud
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There's quite some stuff going on, but it's definitely less than what people would perceive from the outside. At least in the scene I'm part of, there are three big venues and two medium size clubs, so there's a bit of competition since this is a really small but very touristic city, but that's not bad, it creates movement. On the other hand, there's a very strong vinyl culture here revolving around Discos Paradiso and a few other record shops, with good DJs and selectors that usually play in smaller, bar-ish venues. I recommend checking both parts.Was this EP made with all analog instrumentation?
Yes, except the pad on "Thoughtforms" which comes from a Casio HT-3000, a cheap digital synth with an analog filter. I've been using only hardware for some time. I was kind of bored from using samples, it felt very frustrating at one moment. I started buying gear a couple of years ago and I'm really happy about it, I get a lot of inspiration from just playing around with real knobs and faders, to me it has a bit more magic.
BNR Trax puts out some wicked shit -- Tell us about releasing through them
It was all very organic, I met Alex a few times thru Luis (Cardopusher). I had a few tracks finished and Cardo was like, "You should send this to BNR." Before that, I had some tracks that were included on all-electro compilation that Djedjotronic put out last year. I'm really happy about it, especially because I've been playing stuff from the label for the past 2 or 3 years, since they have a very consistent output of good club tools.What's up with your label?
Classicworks, it's the imprint I have run with Cardopusher for about 3 years now. It's been a really nice learning experience to develop a platform to put our music out and risk for ourselves. I think it worked very well as a presentation card for other labels for me as an artist, and I really enjoy putting other people's music out. We put out different styles of music with a common denominator, check us out!Nehuen is on Facebook // SoundCloud