For the fifty-ninth edition of Trommel’s podcast series, we’ve invited Romanian duo Vinyl Speed Adjust.
The duo post a faultless vinyl-based back catalogue releases for the likes of Visionquest, Pressure Traxx, Jesus Loved You, Pleasure Zone, Drumma to name a few. Support for their luscious sound has come from the likes of Ricardo Villalobos, Rhadoo, Raresh, Apollonia and many more.
After a record year of gigging in 2018, which included tours of South and North America, Mexico and Australia, their touring schedule has continued to reach new heights in 2019. Debuting at Tresor in Berlin, Odonien in Cologne, FOLD in London and Ibiza’s legendary DC-10.
Hi guys, thanks for taking part in Trommel’s podcast series! How are you doing and what have you been up to recently?
Hi Trommel! Thanks for the invitation. We are both doing good, we’re just packing our record bags and looking forward to the weekend.
Aside from playing some nice shows over the last few months, our main focus since the turn of 2019 has been redesigning our studio. It’s almost ready, so we’re looking forward to being fully operational on the production front again, with some exciting new gear to play around with too, especially our new Audient ASP4816!
Actually, there is a nice story around that too, a good friend of ours who is a carpenter, made the desk for us, which makes it all the more special.
How and when did you guys first meet? Was it in the early days of listening to electronic music?
We actually met on the internet around 2007, whilst we were randomly exchanging music with each other. We soon realised there was a lot of synergy between our musical preferences so we decided to form a project. As we both lived in Bucharest, it was easy to visit each other’s studios for a jam, which led to us playing a few parties locally around Romania, before we began producing together in 2009 under our moniker Vinyl Speed Adjust.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Who were some early inspirations that helped craft your DJing sound and production techniques?
We try to take inspiration from anything which gives us a nice mood. It could be a record, an experience or a person. When we were growing-up, access to information on the global electronic music scene was very limited in Romania, but we were able to form a more informed idea of music styles by listening to hip hop, electro or disco. MTV’s golden age was particularly informative, which gave us the chance to listen to a lot more eclectic music from around the world.
When we began going out in Bucharest during the mid-2000s, the minimal scene was already pretty vibrant which had an incredibly positive influence on our creative ideas. It contributed and is still contributing to the artistic direction which we’re following today…
There may be two of you but your production output is pretty regular. Do you hold a lot of music back to keep it unreleased or are you happy to release tracks relatively quickly after playing them?
We don’t really have a rigid plan, as we prefer to let things flow naturally. Actually, our latest releases include tracks which made three years ago, for example, but that’s not a rule. Yes for sure we play a lot of our own unreleased music before it’s released. There is no point rushing things for the sake of it.
Any special gigs you’ve enjoyed recently? Anything’s inspired you?
Yes for sure, it’s actually been a good year so far for gigs. We love to play in Germany, as the venues are always super professional, with amazing sound and acoustics, as well as crowds that really engage with the music.
We played at Sisyphos in Berlin on NYD, which was great, and since then we have had two more nice shows in Germany. The first was in Cologne at Odonien and then we played for the first time at Tresor. We’d strongly recommend going to both if you ever get the chance!
We also continued our residency at The Block in Tel Aviv, where we play four or so times a year, which is always a pleasure. Again, if you have the chance to visit, then we really do recommend it. It’s definitely one of the best clubs that we’ve been lucky enough to play at. We’ve also felt the same energy closer to home, in Targu Mures, playing in a small and intimate venue called Club Avi-Cola, in the heartland of Transylvania. So if you’re ever in Romania, try to get down to this club. The area is beautiful too, and quintessentially Romanian, so there is plenty for you to enjoy besides the partying!
What’s one track that’s been a mainstay in your record bag this year?
It’s difficult to say, as every show is different, so we always try to mix it up with what records we take, but if we had to choose one record to keep in our bag then it would have to be Antonio Thagma’s ‘Sferikum’ EP on Visionquest, which he collaborated on with Ricardo Villalobos.
What’s the story behind the podcast you’ve recorded for us?
There is no story, besides the music itself. It is the first hour cut from our 6-hour set which we played during our last show at The Block in Tel Aviv back in April. We were accompanied by fellow Romanians Kozo and Sublee that night, so it was pretty special.
Is there anything exciting coming up for fans of Vinyl Speed Adjust?
We have an EP that is going to be released on Burnski’s ‘Constant Sound’ in July, with a reinterpretation by two producers who we really appreciate, Mike Shannon and DoubtingThomas!
There are a few gigs that we are also looking forward to in the coming months. Firstly we will be playing 3 times during Off Week in Barcelona, before returning to South America on tour in July. We are also very happy to announce that we will be playing in the main room at DC10 on August 9th. The line-up is yet to be announced for that one, but take it from us that it’s worth flying out for!
Finally, you’re playing in London at the amazing FOLD on the 22nd June, how do you feel about closing your closing set and following on from Cab Drivers Live set?
It’s, of course, an honour to be playing alongside Cab Drivers as we’ve both been big fans of their music for many years. In fact, we started following them not long after we first discovered electronic music, so they’re a big inspiration to us.
We are also just as happy to be closing the night at such an amazing location. We’ve never played at FOLD before, but we’ve been lucky to party there. We really love the look and feel of the warehouse as well as the sound and visuals. It should be a great night!
Enjoy Trommel Mix n. 059 by Vinyl Speed Adjust, and don’t miss the Bucharest city guide they put together for us back in 2018.
More info on Vinyl Speed Adjust
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