Undoubtedly, android52 is probably one of the most recognisable names in the Future Groove scene. He’s had a string of amazing releases over the years and he continues to produce top notch music. In this quick catch-up, we chat to him about living in Japan, new music and more.
Montaime: We wanted to preface this interview by asking how you’ve been dealing with COVID-19 while in Japan? It’s been a lot different here in the UK and well as the United States, so we wanted to know how you were doing?
android52: While the situation isn’t nearly as severe as in other places in the world, there has definitely been an impact to everyday life and as such I’ve been mostly working from home since April. Seeing the closure of some of my favourite places in the city such as LOUNGE NEO in Shibuya has made me sad, but I’m glad to have been able to make many memories there. Things have slowly opened up again since the beginning of the month and a certain normality has returned but cases have also started to rise again so it’s better to stay on the safe side.
Montaime: You’ve been experimenting with a lot of genres recently, what genre have you liked producing the most, that you never did previously?
android52: Definitely Drum & Bass. It’s been a lot of fun experimenting with it and figuring out how to produce what is one of my favorite styles of music to begin with and there will most certainly be more songs in that genre released soon.
Montaime: Just recently, we saw FIBRE remix your track “Fall In Love“. How did you two manage to meet?
android52: I honestly can’t remember. You kind of just start talking to people online and before you know it you’re friends, especially when you have something to bond over like music. With how much stuff is happening online I tend to forget things like this and instead remember specific memories and moments instead. We’ve met IRL a few years ago and I beat him at pool billiards, I think.
Montaime: Earlier this year, you nearly retired the Android52 alias. What made you change your mind?
android52: The comments and messages I’ve gotten from people when I originally announced it. It made me realise that even if I won’t be able to dedicate as much time to it as I did before, it’s still something worth doing. So many good things have happened to me because of music, it’s no longer something I can see myself abandoning, even if there was a time before when I felt like it was the only way. I’ll stick around for as long as I can.
Montaime: What can we expect from you in regards to new music?
android52: Lots of stuff that I can’t really talk about yet, but you’ll hear about in the near future. Stuff that I’ve always wanted to do and never seemed possible to me. Also, my new EP/album will be released this year, I hope.
Montaime: Who do you believe is currently killing it right now in this scene and why?
android52: I’m always looking forward to new releases from these artists and they definitely deserve more attention: Bad Computer, No Mana, mai.la, Hovey Benjamin, aran, Youngr, Hot Tub Boys.
I’m 100% forgetting some others right now, but this tends to happen with these kind of questions, doesn’t it.
Montaime: What can we expect from your WAVEPOOL set?
android52: A little showcase of music I really like, some of it is from 2013-2014 and that’s definitely a time I’m feeling somewhat nostalgic for these days. There isn’t really a set style or tempo for this set, so you can look forward to many different genres and sounds.
android52 is set to play the second day of WAVEPOOL. Tune in from the 17-18th of July at twitch.tv/montaime.
At the beginning of this year, android52 released his “FUTURE GROOVE PRODUCT” album. You can stream that below:
This interview was conducted and written by Louis Chant. You can follow him here.
