Sin Musica: The Sounds Of Andy Caldwell Will Soothe And Groove You
Download Andy's exclusive Sinning in LA mix here
In the late Nineties and early part of the past decade, the West Coast sounds coming from the San Francisco house music scene were soundtracking almost every decent DJ’s sunset session and subsequent dance floor devastation. One of my personal favorite producers, Andy Caldwell, came from this crop and has been treating me and my fellow dance music lovers to some magnificent sounds for nearly twenty years now. From the futuristic funk sounds of his soul group Soulstice, to his own house hits on the seminal OM Records and most recently on his sophomore release, Obsession, Caldwell continues to carve his own career path with a plethora of different sounding productions.
He invited us to his studio for a sit-down, where I was stunned to discover that the aforementioned Soulstice had recently regrouped and laid down their first new jam in eight years.
“We finally just set aside a weekend back in December and everyone came here,” said Andy. “They all stayed at my house and we just worked for three days and were able to come up with three new tracks.”
He pressed play and the sensual sounds of Soulstice’s new gem, “Love Cliche,” soon filled the air and I was instantly reminded of just how much I had missed this group. Their debut album Illusion is considered a downtempo classic and featured a vocalist, Gina René that could certainly rival Sade for sultry-factor,” along with beats by Andy and and Gina’s brother, Gabriel, that incorporated the best bits of R&B, funk and downtempo rhythms. The future certainly seemed limitless for this crew, but it was not to be as each member went their separate ways and forged successful solo careers.
“We were just a little before the curve I think. Had we continued and made another album and another album, we probably would have become one of those bands that sells out the Hollywood Bowl,” Andy pontificated. “But we tried working on a second album and we did about six songs and they were just horrendous.”
“With Soulstice, we’ve all realized now, after ten years, that if we’re going to put out a second album that it has to be like the first album,” Andy explained. “We have to pick up where we left off.”
Soulstice showcased a completely different side to Andy Caldwell’s sound than many of his house music fans might not know. But he’s dabbled in downtempo and R&B for years and the melody that these genres maintain is still something that still moves Andy’s musical soul in a major way.
I’ve always tried to create music that I can still enjoy years and years later.
He then added, “I’ve done a lot of different stuff in my career. Some of the stuff that I did with OM records, like “Sin Musica” and stuff from their OM Lounge compilations, the majority of those tracks I’m still really into and feel hold up.”
Whether he’s delivering downtempo deliciousness like “Sin Musica” (which is a firm favorite of mine) or dropping equally melodious, dance floor destroyers, such as the killer “Funk If You’re Nasty,” found on Obsession, Andy Caldwell always sets out to make the music he believes in and it’s that same passion that pours out of his productions.
“There’s still that excitement, that giddiness inside that I get,” Andy admitted. “I’ve been producing music for almost twenty years and I still love to feel that. As long as I still have that feeling and that excitement, I’ll going to keep doing this.”
While a lot of his fans know him primarily for his deep house hits like “Warrior” and “I Can’t Wait,” Andy is all about pushing himself as an artist and exploring different tempos.
“When I do a DJ set it’s totally not deep and mellow,” he laughed. “It has a deep quality if you put it up against a Deadmau5 or (superstar DJ Steve Aoki’s) Dim Mak and it can be a little frustrating, but it is what it is. I’m always going to be true to my artistic self and play music that I really dig.”
In today’s digital downloading era, Andy also understands the constant pressure to create dance floor “hits” that will sell and now that he runs his own record label, UNO Recordings, he also must play the part of label chief as well.
“I totally feel that pressure. Always. Especially now that I have a wife and a mortgage. It’s extra weight that I have to carry with me everyday,” he said. “I really understand the record label perspective of things now. Before it was always like you want to hate the labels, ‘they’re just fucking you’ and this and that. But in reality they’re barely paying the bills a lot of times. Smaller labels are really struggling with the advent of downloading.”
While many new producers stick strictly to what sells, Andy has been able to carve out a successful career by not being afraid to take some chances. He also feels that when it comes to trends in dance music like “electro” and “minimal” house music, everything is cyclical.
“I have a plan to do a lot of compilations. I want to do a whole chillout series and some mix CDs from other artists but it all has to make money. I want to be able to break even on the stuff I’ve put out so far before I put out any new material because it’s such an investment.”
I think in the next couple of years it’s all going to go back to where it was ten or twelve years ago. That’s back when I came up as a house music guy and I think all that stuff is going to come back around again.
Andy always stays plenty busy in the meantime. He’s got a monthly residency at the Wednesday house music Melodica event that takes place at the ECCO nightclub, still has a few more singles ready to roll from Obsession, plus an innovative new remix contest idea that combines the mixes from his fellow producers which he will then make into one or two mega-mixes that combine the best of the bunch.
“The idea for me is to focus on one great track that has little bits of everyone’s work in it,” he explained. With the stems from the tracks available from Andy via his website, we can now all take a crack at creating something equally memorable. “I love that everyone is contributing to the track and getting credit for it.”
It’s this kind of innovative collaboration idea that really gets Andy excited and is a big part of the reason that this globe-trotter has now planted has roots in the Los Angeles area.
“For me, I’ve found a great group of friends here. I met my wife and got married here,” he said. “It’s that limitless potential that everyone has when they come here. There’s just excitement in the air here and you can kinda feel that.”
Myself and Smash LeFunk were certainly excited after the new Soulstice track had finished and if Andy has a dozen or so tracks like this up his sleeve, we think the band may just sell out the Hollywood Bowl yet.
“I’ll tell you I have no idea where I’m going next but that’s kind of exciting to me too,” he said.
The important thing is to stay focused on the music. ‘Make sure you love what you’re doing.’ That’s my daily mantra. I just don’t ever want to come in here and feel like it’s my job.
While we eagerly await his next musical move, he’s lovingly prepared a special installment in our Sinning In LA mix series to tide us over until then. Featuring a slew of unreleased gems and showcasing everything that sets Andy Caldwell’s productions apart, it’s the perfect combination of past, present and future.
Photos By: Smash LeFunk
Surf: www.andycaldwell.com
Follow: twitter.com/AndyCaldwell
Andy's Sinning In LA Mix Tracklist:
1. Bee Gee's - More Than A Woman (Soulstice Mix) - Warner Bros
2. Andy Caldwell - I Can't Wait (Marques Wyatt Mix) - Om Records
3. Andy Caldwell ft. Amma - Searching - Unreleased
4. Andy Caldwell ft. Lisa Shaw - Universal Truth (Unreleased Vocal Mix) - Unreleased
5. Andy Caldwell ft. Gina Rene - Lectropic - Naked Music
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