André Saint-Albin
Origin: None
Music is a universal language. I pretty much eat, sleep and breathe music. My house always has music being blasted at high volume. It’s always been an outlet for me to express myself when words couldn’t, and it’s hard to imagine a world without it. I discovered music at a very young age, actually. My parents have this picture of me taking my first steps as a baby, walking to the stereo system to put a new CD on and push play! That’s when my parents had this feeling baby André would end up doing something music-related. My relationship with music is a bit of a love affair, no breakups just some fights here and there . My family has a huge love of music (especially electronic music). With all their support and the support of my friends and fans, I’ve been able to accomplish many goals in my music career. I accomplished one of my goals this year when my Beatport track “Champagne” entered the Top 100 House Tracks chart. It entered at number 78 and made it all the way to number 48, an accolade I will always cherish. I’ve had the pleasure of sharing the stage alongside artists such as Tommy Trash, Dillon Francis, Steve Angello, Diplo, Antoine Clamaran, Cedric Gervais, Lucky Date, Fedde Le Grand, Zeds Dead, Thomas Gold and many more, so from the looks of things, music will always be in my life. With that being said, I’m off to finish this box of Oreos and upload an exclusive track I premiered at EDC!
Home Town: Paris, France
Currently Living: Miami, FL
Origin Of Name: The origin of my name is actually my real name, André Saint-Albin
Weapon of Choice: Oreo-filled chocolate fudge brownies with chocolate chips sprinkled on top
Source of Power: Food, my family, more food, sleep, chips, babes, friends, Oreos
What advice would you offer someone thinking about entering the Discovery Project competition?
Do something different and think about what makes you different from everyone else. Listen to your instinct and go for it. If you have to question yourself, 100% of the time it’s because you’re doing it right. It’s not a popularity contest so just be you.
What do your parents think of what you are doing?
Fun fact: my parents got me into DJing and producing. They are my #1 fans and have been there for me every single step of the way. I will play an unreleased track I’m working on and see if I see mum and pop jam out in the kitchen or living room. If they do, that’s when I know it has their seal of approval. They love attending all my performances when possible and people are shocked that they actually know about the EDM and festival scene.
What’s the biggest misconception about being a DJ?
Being a DJ and being a producer are two different things. That is usually the biggest misconception. Nowadays technology has made it easier for people to try their hand at the art of DJing. I am happy to have started out as a DJ and did what I could to be unique. I started taking production lessons which helped me create bootlegs and edits for my sets which would help differentiate an André Saint-Albin set over an “Insert DJ Name” set. If you can push limits and think outside the box, it will help you stick out amongst the crowd of people who aspire to become DJs. DJing helped me in the art of reading the crowd which is a huge advantage during a set. I also believe that not every DJ can be a producer. Producing to me is what helps you find out who you are. In the end you essentially need to perfect both forms in one way or another to succeed in this profession.
Do you have any memorable moments from past EDCs or any other Insomniac party?
My first EDC was EDC Orlando 2011. I remember the production just blowing me away! I will never forget exploring the festival grounds (dressed up as Spider-Man) and riding the “Blizzard” which is a ride that rotates people at super speeds going forwards and backwards. I remember getting off and just looking out and telling my friends that I would work my butt off to play an Insomniac event or festival. Fast forward through three years of producing and DJ tours and here we are!
What is your ultimate career dream?
It’s a tad bit cliché but: to play the main stage at a huge event. Along with that there is nothing more gratifying than being approached by fans and being told that your music and mixes have helped them get through tough times or have inspired them to start DJing. When I’m on any stage and I see smiles on people’s faces that alone is a career dream fulfilled.
Are you impulsive with your work or do you have a sketch in mind before you start?
I get this question quite a bit, but no. I never have a plan or any idea how the set will go. The only thing I do know, which is seconds before I go in, is what my first track will be. I watch sets from my openers and supporting acts to study the crowd on what tracks they want to hear and don’t want to hear. I also pay attention to what songs the opener, support and other acts have played so that I don’t repeat them, unless a song wasn’t executed successfully. If so, I’ll add in acapellas or pull off some Laidback Luke inspired hot cue edit beat juggling. The same thing goes with my productions. I might have an idea in mind but it rarely comes out exactly how I sketched it out. That’s usually a good thing reason being in those late peak hours in studio mode around 5am in the eleventh hour of your production session, you tend to create the craziest things and you end up saving the 20th version of that product. That’s how one of my EDC Las Vegas exclusive tracks was born. While working I paused to get breakfast and even fell asleep for 13 hours. After I woke up, “Acid Thingy” was born!
What’s the most important piece of gear in your studio and why?
My laptop would technically be the most important piece of gear, but besides that it would have to be my external hard drives. I have four external 3TB hard drives and countless 500GB Passport hard drives. Some have music from when I first started DJing and others are dedicated to only production projects (including backups). I once lost all my project files and couldn’t recover them. I don’t know what happened but I almost gave up at that point. I then bought even more hard drives incase that ever happens again.
How important is it for you to experiment and take on the risk of failure?
We tend to view risk-taking negatively, often regarding it as dangerous and even unwise. While some risks certainly don’t pay off, it’s important to remember that some do. Some people don’t know if they should take the risk of submitting an original track and mix for the Discovery Project, but how will you ever know if it was something Insomniac was looking for? You wouldn’t unless you took the risk. I believe taking risks shows a certain level of confidence. As the saying goes, if you fall down nine times, get up 10 times. Success won’t always come to you, you must pursue it! We all learn from risks and those lessons will take us on a new path of success. To be successful you must first know what failure is to know the difference!
What should everyone just shut the fuck up about?
What good music is. We all have opinions on what we think qualifies as “good music.” But that doesn’t mean that Person A will agree with Person B. That’s what makes us all different. Some people will like trance or dubstep or house or tech house or moombahton or that big room sound. Heck, they might just use the term “EDM”. In the end it’s all music: vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony and expression of emotion. So don’t criticize someone for liking a sound or making a certain noise. Accept it and move on. Who knows, in a few years you might like that sound or song you disliked. There are too many critics with not enough credentials. If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything.
What gets you excited when you think about the future of electronic music and club culture?
Just the fact that I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon. We have local festivals branching out worldwide and we have more top artist from other genres wanting a piece of the electronic music cake. Clubs are being made with festival production and festivals are upping the game in production every year. The production was mind-blowing, next-level stuff at EDC Las Vegas 2014. I’m excited to see what the next ten years will look and sound like.
What are your weaknesses?
Oreos and bacon. Not together but those two will probably be on my rider soon.
How would you describe your sound to a deaf person?
I wouldn’t try to describe it, I would let them experience the music. Visualizers can be synced with tracks to take us on a journey that gives us a look at what sound might look like. This means that the feeling of a song can be based off sound systems and that pounding or groovy basslines can be felt in a car sound system, studio speakers or a festival sound system.
Winning Track:
EDC Las Vegas set:
