This Friday we welcome local producer and musician Christoph 'El Truento to THE BOOG. Alongside BOOG regulars Hudge, Lucky Lance and Frank Booker, Christopher is bringing a crate of both 'familiar and the obscure' records to this Friday's gig. We caught up with him a few days before the show to ask him about his return to playing boogie, his solo work and previous work with @peace.
Hey Christopher! So you're playing your first Boog his Friday, how are you feeling about it ?
I'm peacefully excited, looking forward to having a good time with the homies.
These days you're well known as a electronic & experimental producer, as well as your work with @peace, but you used to play a lot of boogie back in the day. What will you be bringing to play this weekend?
I don't really know what I'll play until I get there, I have a big crate of boogie to select from so I'll get an idea once I've scoped the place out a little. Ideally I'd like to find a nice balance between the familiar and the obscure.
Since @peace you've moved into solo releases and a new direction. Working by yourself, what differences have you noticed in your creative processes?
The creative process is relatively similar, the only difference is that I'm not under any kind of time pressure when it's just me to answer to, I just make music if I want to make music and if I don't want to that's fine too... Also I get very micro-focused on one thing at a time, so one week I'll be making a footwork project, the next week an ambient track, so that's a little easier to manage and work with as a soloist.
You've evolved a lot as a musician over time. What would your advice be to other musicians who are wanting to dabble in many different sounds & genres?
Just make the music you want to make really, If you're listening to a lot of different styles of music, the chances are that a little of each of those styles are going to rub off on you, there's nothing new under the sun, but unlimited end results.. find a way to use those ingredients your inspirations have used but make your own meal out of it. Do your research and learn about the history of what you're dabbling in and what it means to those who pioneered those cultures, be wrong, be right, fuck shit up.
What is your first memory of dance and boogie music?
The first thing that comes to mind is probably looking for 45's with my friends, I had this terrible rule in my head I had learned from somewhere where I wouldn't even consider checking something out if it was past the year 1979. But then people started hipping me to stuff from 1980-85 which was a whole different sound, which is crazy considering that's only a few years difference, some major technological changes happened in music during those years and it was really evident in the gap between funk and boogie.
Growing up what did you listen to?
I started with Kriss Kross on TV & then the Fugees 'The Score' on tape when I was like 6 or 7, then D'angelo's 'Voodoo', then i just listened to Tupac for my entire teenage years. I listened to Aqua & S club 7 somewhere in the middle of all that.
Top 3 boogie tracks?
Poncho C. Saint Fingers - When I Come Knocking
Top 3 electronic tracks ?
Okzharp and Manthe Ribane - Teleported
Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express
Henry Wu & Earl Jeffers - Projections
Locally, who are you following and backing for 2018?
I'm listening to the new Kruff Kurtis beat tape right now and it's dope ! Excited to hear what he does this year.
