An Interview with Sync 24

It is my pleasure to bring you one of the most interesting producers, djs and curators on the electro music scene. We are talking about Sync 24, owner of the Cultivated Electronics label and an exceptional producer. He just finished his latest electro album Inside the Microbeat and we reached out to him for an update.

Please can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you originally got into electronic music?

I started listening to dance music when I was around 12.  Starting out with Hip Hop, Drum and Bass, House and things like The Orb and Ninja Tune.  Drum and Bass was my favourite genre in my early teens and was the music I learnt to mix with.  I started out with a cheap pair of belt drive turntables and was lucky enough to convince my father to buy me some Technic 1200’s when I was 16.  Around this time was when I was first introduced to more Electro style stuff like Drexciya, Carl Finlow, Anthony Rother and Mr Velcro Fastener and fell in love with the sound.  I moved to London when I was 19 and started promoting my own Club night Scand.  Not long after this I was signed to Andrea Parker’s Touchin’ Bass label.

– Can you talk us through a little of the ideas and production process for your ‘Inside The Microbeat’ album on the last Cultivated Electronics release?

I had been producing for 17 years and had never written an album so it was something I really wanted to do.  I had recently visited Devon Analogue Studio on another project.  The space was amazing, stacked full of vintage synths and outboard gear with an incredible view of the countryside.  It’s a really great place to work so I decided I was going to make the album there.  I didn’t really have a clear idea of what I was going to make.  I bought a TR8s and filled it with drum samples and headed to Devon and let the space and machines inspire me.  I made all the parts for the album there over 3 sessions  which totalled 8-10 days.  Each track was really just a jam of the elements I needed to make each song.  I then took the sessions away with me and arranged them in my home studio in London before mixing them down at my work on the SSL AWS 948 over a 2 year period.

– Could you recommend a set that you are especially proud of, and that we can see on your Soundcloud or on YouTube?

I am quite proud of my Resident Advisor podcast.  I made this mix at a time when it felt like the electro scene was starting to pick up momentum again.  I was asked to focus on Pre 2000 electro which is my favorite era of the sound.  It was great to put together a mix showcasing my roots of the genre.

I also did a CE showcase for Fold nightclub’s Lift stream last year.  This was the first time I had played on a sound system in quite some time so it was nice to hear music loud again.  This mix showcases a lot of tracks that have just come out or are incoming out on CE now –

– And to finishing the interview… What do you both have planned for the year ahead?

Lots of new music upcoming on Cultivated Electronics and CE LTD from artists like Lake Haze, Alonzo, Carl Finlow, Matti Turunen and Controlled Weirdness as well as a Various Artist compilation from new artists in the scene. I am also focussing on some new non-electro projects and generally working hard to expand my knowledge and skills as a producer.  I also have some fun DJ gigs in the pipeline!