Mind Enterprises is the infectiously fun, and simultaneously care-free project of Andrea Tirone. Andrea's music is warm, exciting, youthful and nostalgic. All in one. He blends digital and analog sounds to create a unique personality, and human quality to his music. Now living in Gran Canaria, after relocating from 6 years in London. His new music is almost certainly a reaction to this; from the overthinking, of everything "cool" that exists in London life. His latest dance singles are music to not think too much to. Just to move, and feel it. His sound exists as a playful, fun injection. An escape and antidote from the mundanity of the day-to-day.
"It’s not always exciting and happy all of the time. Perhaps that’s a big influence creating those moments for people." – Mind Enterprises
After chatting with the artist EARMILK were surprised of his wealth and sphere of influence in music. As well as his playful approach to writing. Andrea seems to be a crate-digger in finding new music, and constantly widens his taste with both new, and old music across genres. His anticipated DJ sets in September will create some wild and unexpected journeys. We can't wait. Read our take from the chat with Andrea below.
"Gemini, is a song I was working on for a long time. Something I’ve always wanted to do in my music career was to take a Mozart tune and make it dance-y. I’ve tried time-to time, and it’s been ten years trying. And, then I tried again! This time it came out in 'Gemini'. It’s not really obvious from the concerto, but that’s how it came up. I think there’s some kind of connection between italo-disco and classical music. The way that’s it built with a bass-line and stuff, it allows you to be quite free with chords, and melodies. A good way to get excited for me is to start thinking about weird combinations." – Mind Enterprises
EM: You lived in London for 6 years. Why did you decide to move out to Gran Canaria?
ME: I got a bit bored of East London. The rent was super high, and the weather was well, East London weather. And, it’s good to get another perspective I guess. I just moved here and I feel more relaxed. I was probably thinking of places opposite to London; here, it’s very cheap, relaxed, and there’s little to do! I was looking for a balance, but I come back to London often. I couldn’t live here all year long.
EM: Yeah London is very hectic. There's lots going on, and it must be nice to have space to also create, with different influences, and perspectives on things. Would you say living in Gran Canaria has influenced your music?
ME: At the moment, I’m absorbing a lot of Afro-Cuban stuff, but I wouldn’t say it’s reflected onto my writing. It will probably happen at some point that I take something from the musical stuff happening here. It’s completely another world. The connection with western music is not as strong; they are more affiliated with South America. We can’t have conversations about music because they talk about bands that I’ve never heard of. It’s good. It’s such a different angle.
EM: Yeah it must be good for broadening horizons. I was even thinking even more along the lines of the weather..! Your new material feels so warm, and has a sort of tropical vibe. You are known in your music for your eclectic influence. But, what kind of influences do you have, it seems to be so diverse?
ME: A lot of italo-disco from the 80s. It’s very nostalgic. I’m really into it, but I don’t want it to be 100% recognisably this retro-feel. What I think is interesting is to take some elements and mix it with, say house music, and for example mainstream pop from the 90s. And, also from my previous record I have a lot of records from West Africa. Theses Afrofunk lines are very present. It’s probably a mix of these three things. I didn’t want to get pinned precisely to the 80s. There are some things from fashion that influence me a bit, and my girlfriend is a painter. She’s such a visual person, and she really helps me sometimes.
EM: You’re just gearing up for some live and DJ sets. Is this kind of eclectic taste the sort of thing we might expect from one?
ME: Oh yeah. For me I always get bored if a DJ is just playing one genre all night long. It’s important for me to have a variety. So, maybe I will play some songs, then something more house-y, and then onto something else. I just like to have fun basically. Dance music is meant to be fun, you can play obscure stuff, which is great, but you should always keep in mind that it’s meant to be something social.
EM: Yeah, your music is so fun, and feel-good! I really associate your new music and videos with that, which is such a nice element to have. I like that outlook. Your videos have this feel of 80s and 90s nostalgic elements, but brought in a way that’s current. Was that your idea to have that reflected in the visuals?
ME: I have to admit in “Idol” and “S.H.A.K.E” I was so taken with these 80s and 90s video clips that I wanted to recreate that. It’s a bit of a guilty pleasure that I have. I really wanted to have a video that looked a little like something from these trashy 80s italo-disco thing. Now that I’ve done it, I’m so happy that I decided to mix it with something a bit more present.
EM: When you’re recording your music do you use a lot of analog equipment to help get this ‘warm and retro' feel?
ME: Yeah, I was just completely a laptop producer a few years ago. But now, I tend to avoid laptops as much as I can. I just bought 5 or 6 synthesizers, although they are not all analog, most are digital. Thing is, if you have a machine rather than a computer, it’s going have a character anyway, even if it’s just a digital chip synth from the 90s. it’s got a distinctive character that you cannot get with the computer. Everything you do on a computer sounds like a computer – synths, drum machine etc. I think it’s good to mix different hardware machines to get some diversity in texture. I tend to play everything live in my studio and then record onto computer when I’m sure about the idea and the melody.
EM: You mentioned a new album. Are the songs you’ve released already potentially part of a bigger project?
ME: Dropping an album all at once is giving away a bit too much I think. I was thinking of releasing two singles and then the album. I’m not sure if we’re going to put these new songs on the album; maybe a few of them, but I have a lot of new material. It’s going to be an album that drops next year for sure. I’m not sure yet if the stuff we released so far will be part of it, or some prequels to it.
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