Born in Romania and raised in Germany's southern region, Borrowed Identity is the moniker of an avid music lover who, since early age, listens to countless records for various marks of inspiration. Starting as a hip-hop DJ at 13, he's since grown to be one of today's prominent tastemakers in the electronic music community. Emanating vibes of piercing warmth in his sound and samples of choice, influences from Detroit and Chicago's iconic reign often meander in his music giving an added sense of historical literacy.
Since his debut in 2012, it didn't take long for labels to offer their outlets for Borrowed Identity releases and if you've paid attention to his music, you know why. Here's a producer who can engulf you wholly into his chiming world and make you feel indifferent to what's happening outside of it. Unarguably well-versed in translating the thrill of feel-good music, his newest remix of Tim Green's "We Thought" is arranged as a special Ibiza theme that sets off the chilled and sparkling vibes one can expect at a sunset party on the island.
Leading up to the May 4th digital release of Tim Green's We Thought EP (which also marks Green's first release on Disc Over), EARMILK's got the exclusive stream of Borrowed Identity's remix for readers and fans to enjoy. On top of that, we exchanged a couple words with Borrowed Identity himself.
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/202989971" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /]
EARMILK: Thanks for taking some time out with us, Chris. 2015 has you on quite some momentum with your touring schedule, fresh releases, and new live set you debuted this past February at Fabric. How do you manage to keep up?
Borrowed Identity: Music is my life it's not a job for me, so keeping up with it is not hard because I'm listening or reading about music and producing new music all the time. I had to quit reading and answering mail and Facebook/Soundcloud messages to be able to do it since touring and producing new records is very hard for me if I'm available online all the time for everyone. It sucks up all my time and energy.
Sorry to everyone who sent a message and didnt get an answer!! I hope you all understand that I'm a musician and not an office accountant. That's why I use all my time now in the studio and try to stay as much as possible away from the internet.
EM: In regard to your live set, which you said is an all-hardware set up, what pieces of gear are you using at the moment?
BI: MPC 5000, Octatrack, 303, TR-8, Microkorg, Korg Volca Bass, FMR Audio Compressor, Mackie CFX16 Mixingdesk.
EM: I’m sure preparing for your live shows is much different from your DJ sets. What are some exciting differences and challenges you discovered while doing your first run of live acts?
BI: Yes, preparing is very different. It is a lot more work and I used to feel like carrying the vinyl is hard, but after travelling with all the equipment to the live gigs now only needing my record bag for a weekend feels like holiday!!
So the challenge is the travelling part with the heavy equipment. The good thing is preparing live shows is very close to my production process now. The only difference to my past production process is I save things different now so I can recall stuff better on the machines for live situations. Before this experience everything was complete chaos in the studio,but the most exciting part is seeing people dancing to my own music and the direct feedback you get from them while working on the machines!!
EM: Out of all the shows that you’ve done LIVE so far which sticks out the most in your memory?
BI: Impossible to pick just one for me! All the Live dates have been amazing until now at Panorama Bar, Rex, Fabric, Rote Sonne and so on. Every night had its unique vibe and qualities!!
EM: You’re featured as one of the two remixers on Tim Green’s We Thought EP. How did this connection come about?
BI: His manager made me the offer. I've listened and played out Tim's music for years and I liked the track. Plus I directly had the idea to make kind of a balearic chilled good-feel house version.
EM: With tasteful releases already under Foul & Sunk, Mistress Recordings, Ostgut Ton, and Disc Over Music, you’ve expressed a desire to bring up your own imprint in the future. Have you put more work into making this happen anytime soon?
BI: Yes! Chameleon Funk is coming soon!! Just about to send everything to master and press the first run of vinyls, but it will take some more months until it hits stores, though. I guess everyone heard about it by now, but pressing plants are very slow these days.
EM: 'Record Store Day' just passed, did you pick up any exclusive releases?
BI: To be honest I never go to Record Store Day because there are too many people in the stores. You never get the chance to really listen to something. The pre-listening possibilities never get free on that day. I prefer to dig under the week when the stores are empty.
EM: Looking ahead, what are you looking forward to the most this summer?
BI: The deadline for sending the final masters of my album is in summer, so once I have it done and sent to the mastering there will be a lot of pressure lifted from my shoulders. I change my mind all the time on what I want to do and if something is ready or not. Once it's done I'm looking forward to holidays in Sweden and Australia!!
Tim Green
We Thought EP
- Disc Over
- May 4th, 2015
