It’s long time since we are after Christopher Ledger. Not only he is a producer with impressive skills, but he also is an inexhaustible digger, a record collector with a refined taste in selection and great DJ.
It is now finally time for us to have him as part of our podcast series, with an extract of his DJ set from Dubla, Iasi, where he played alongside Cap and Cosmjn on 07th July 2018.
Hi Christopher, it is a pleasure to have you with us! We are glad you decided to share online for the first time an extract from one of your dj sets. What pushed you to release this excerpt from Dubla? How was the experience there?
My Pleasure, thanks a lot for the invite.
Regarding Iasi, my experience on this particular night was great. It was my first time in Iasi and the guys from the party were very welcoming, and everything was on point – from the venue, to the visuals, sound, and of course the crowd which stayed with me through the whole night.
Playtime was from 5am till around noon before going back to back with Cosmjn.
I realized I’ve been recording a lot of my DJ Sets, but somehow I never released one – I guess it was good timing that you guys reached out when you did. Usually I just listen to the recordings in the studio once I get back to Rome to have a more objective opinion on the night. On this occasion I went in several different directions throughout the evening and experimented a bit, particularly in the last part of the set I’m releasing with Trommel. I hope you guys enjoy it, and look forward to coming back to Iasi soon.
Records & Digging: how much time you spend digging and how much you look into the old record label catalogues?
I’m addicted to digging and discovering records, both old and new. I feel like it is a routine I have weekly, if not daily. I spend most nights going around discogs or even digital stores – bleep.com or hardwax for example – to find jams that I’d want to add to my collection.
For me is not always about finding the track that will have an outstanding effect on the crowd per se, but it’s also about finding records with the right elements that will allow me to express what I want to say in the most accurate way.
I also try my best to make it to second hand shops as much as I can – you can find great music that has never made it to the online platforms.
For example I recently found an interesting EP on Gold-Plate-Music, an old Germany record label from Tom Clark from ’97, and the tracks of the EP are not available for streaming anywhere on the net.
As we can see, you divide your time between Berlin and Rome. What is your connection between the cities?
Many people think I’m from Rome proper, but actually I was born and raised in a small city by the sea about 50 km from Rome – needless to say people don’t know so much about electronic music over there. I usually go back there when I’m looking to escape from the hectic city life and find some new inspiration through quiet, calming, personal experiences. I’ve found out this is the best environment to give voice to my artistic creativity, both with music and paintings.
Regarding the difference between Rome and Berlin – the cities are quite the opposite from one another, but I find I have an equally strong connection with both. I’m going on my third year as a resident at Goa Club for the NoZoo party, which consistently provides good music to the city throughout the whole clubbing season. Goa Club was also one of the first venues where I had a proper introduction to the electronic music scene – It feels great to now be a part of this family.
I lived in Berlin from 2012 to 2014 and still have tons of fond memories and many close friends from those years. I’ve spent a good portion of this summer in Berlin, playing mostly at the Brouqade parties at CdV thanks to Dana and her crew.
She has always been a lovely friend and given me and my music amazing support.
All this being said, the highlight of this summer in Berlin had to have been my gig at Heidegluhen..the vibe there is just indescribable. If you haven’t been yet you must check it out.
Let’s speak about your early musical influences: what did have an impact on you? Where does your roots come from and what brought you to the point you are now in your career?
My first contact was with classical music – my dad used to play Bach or Mozart in the living room when I was a kid – I guess this influence pushed me to study classical composition in recent years.
During my teenage years my interests were primarily in hip-hop and graffiti. I was playing basketball at that time and got used to that lifestyle. I guess these two aspects – interest for music and graffiti – evolved over time into a more abstract form of electronic music and visual art that have become my Christopher Ledger and CL Series projects.
By looking at your socials, you are also very passionate about different kind of arts, and we can see you are taking care of the artworks of your CL Series. Can you tell us more about this?
CL Series was born to offer myself an additional, independent and multidisciplinary platform to give voice to a wider variety of my artistic interests and outputs. As I mentioned before, I was a graffiti writer during my teenage years and I’ve been drawing since I was a little kid. Everything that I hear has an image and I tend to associate everything I see with sounds. Both worlds are undeniably complementary and expressing myself thru music or paintings is something I’ve to do on a daily basis to be fine with myself.
We’re releasing CL-2.0 in the next couple of months where I welcome our first guest – another multidisciplinary artist as well as two very interesting remixes. I’ve taken care of the visual aspect of course. I’m really excited to share more with you guys in the coming weeks.
Finally, as we speak, you’re getting ready to hit the US for your first Tour there, how does it feel?
It feels great! It’s my first time ever traveling to the States and I’m excited to have the chance to play and visit different cities of a country with a vastly different culture..very curious about the crowd and reaction. I’ll have a chance to check out both the west coast and east coast, stopping by LA, San Francisco, New York, Boston, Orlando, and many places in between.
I look forward to checking it out and reporting back soon.
Check the tour dates below
Listen to Trommel.038
