Andy Callister was born in Curacao, Dutch Caribbean and currently resides in Rotterdam, Netherlands as one of Western Europe’s recognized house artists with global rise.
At the early age of 15 Andy got his first gig at then popular club Demi Sec and after 2 years of further developing himself, Andy decided to take his career to the next level when he started producing, instantly releasing tracks at only 17 years old
By first establishing a distinguished name within the UK garage scene and then rapidly rising as a house DJ alongside his producing career, he added mind-blowing concepts such as Mysteryland, Dance Valley and Speedfreax to his venue list, while also traveling throughout Europe, sharing his intense love for music.
SUM: Hi Andy, thanks for giving us a moment, how’s this year treating you so far?
Great actually! Right away I started off with some successful bootlegs that were picked up by big names, such as Fedde Le Grand, Glow in the Dark and Ferry Corsten. I’ve also had a big studio upgrade with some exciting new equipment, which boosted my creativity even further. And of course, my new release is coming out with my great friends from Brazil, so the year is treating me well.
SUM: We remember a release of you Turn Up The Bass in collaboration with Lucky Charmes on Cr2 Records , what is the story behind this tune ?
This was the second collaboration Lucky and I did, the first one was with Laidback Luke’s label Ones To Watch (OTW). The story behind it is simple actually: just two creative minds coming together and having a great studio session!
SUM: How many hours a day do you see yourself doing your magic in your studio?
A regular working day for me starts in the afternoon and lasts until early mornings the next day… so you do the math; lots of hours in the studio!
SUM: What DAW you use to produce music?
I use Cubase 7.5 and started using Cubase from the very beginnings, when i used the outboard-midi stuff. I’m a true and loyal Cubase user and nowadays I work in the box.
SUM: How do you see the Dutch scene evolving ?
To be honest, I’m witnessing the strangest thing happening in Holland, where urban music is getting the upper hand again. Therefore, there are less EDM parties than before and less EDM music is played in the clubs. The trend is that abroad everybody is getting more and more into house music, whereas in the Netherlands it’s turning in the opposite direction. Finally the world is catching up on us and now we’re moving back! It most likely has to do with the fact that we’re a small country, so our ‘scenes’ last shorter than bigger countries like China or the United States. At the same time, there’s a lot of demand for Dutch DJ’s abroad, so they perform all over the world. This is great for the Dutch artist branding, but our country itself gets less performances from those artists.
SUM: How competitive is right now ?
Very competitive, as like I said, Holland is a very small place, which also means there are more DJ’s than parties and the same goes for producers. So you really have to be on top of your game with your productions. At the same time, this is why I think the quality is really good, as we push ourselves to the limit.
SUM: When was the last time you went to an EDM concert or event as a fan? Not as a Dj?
It was during ADE, where of course I was there as a DJ and producer too, but I got to enjoy the event as a fan and visitor as well.
SUM: Very soon you will be releasing a big single collaboration with The KickStarts on Big Alliance what can you tell us about it ? , what can the fans expect ?
The fans can expect a catchy Big Room track… with a surprise drop! We’re very excited for the track to come out, as we feel positive the fans will love it!
SUM: Collaborating with the Kickstarts, the process was done online or on the distance ? , how was the creative process ?
The Kickstarts were here for the Amsterdam Dance Event and visited my studio. Here we exchanged our ideas and then finished our production with Skype sessions. I came up with an old rap sample and had some old melodies lying around, which we used to produce this track together. Combine that with a lot of creative input and you get ‘Psycho’!
SUM: What are your favorite three tracks at the moment?
My three favorite tracks right now are:
Steve Angello vs. Dimitri Vangelis & Wyman – Payback,
Davido — Skelewu (Major Lazer & Wiwek Remix)
Galantis – You (Still Young Remix)
SUM: Which cartoon did you like the most when you were a kid and why?
I was a big fan of Inspector Gadget, as he could do some crazy stuff like pulling that helicopter out of his head, reach for far out places with his expandable arms and jump insanely high! I remember the cartoon being aired on Sundays only, so I’d be waiting all week for my Sunday-Funday to come up!
SUM: If you lived in a superhero universe, would you be a super hero or a super villain? why?
Definitely a superhero, so I could save people from disaster… and then also don’t forget that villains always get caught!
