Andrew Bayer talks past and future with “If It Were You, We’d Never Leave”, producing with Above & Beyond, future works and more

Posted by Middy on April 15, 2013

American producer (we can’t even try to put him in one genre), Andrew Bayer may seem like a new name to many of you, but this veteran has been in the dance music industry for 10 years now and finally getting the credit he deserves. Starting back in 2003 when he was just a teen in the now on hiatus group, the Signalrunners with Alan Nimmo, before striking out on his own in 2008. An alum on Berklee College Of Music in Boston, Massachusetts (we are all pulling for you guys), he is one of the few DJ / producers with a professional music degree, an experience he calls “amazing for my growth as a producer”.

Andrew Bayer’s music crosses genres and styles. His 2011 artist album, “It’s Artificial” made waves with its wide variety of styles, from glitch-hop to silky smooth techno to eclectic electronica and progressive, that made the whole experience very cerebral. The experimental 8 track debut artist album signaled his arrival as a solo artist and put the world on notice that he was to be reckoned with. His upcoming album “If It Were You, We’d Never Leave” is a beautiful piece of work. Set to release April 22nd, it may be my favorite album since “Group Therapy”, I am willing to go that far. The subtle layers and samples that create the soothing emotions and sounds are unparalleled to what other producers are putting out right now. You can download “It’s Going To Be Fine” for free here on XLR8R, but to be honest it would be a disservice to the track because this album needs to be heard as one contiguous piece of music, just as it was originally constructed, and each single by themselves will not make as much sense without the context of the album.

We had the chance to get him on the phone today, to talk everything from, working and producing with Above & Beyond, the Signalrunners, the album and more. Pre-order and preview the album below and then click the jump to read the interview.

Pre-order album on iTunes

FNT: Hey Andrew how’s it going?

Andrew Bayer: Good, I am a bit out of it, haven’t had my coffee yet and am doing a juice cleanse because it was my manager’s 30th over the weekend and it has been something I have wanted to do for a long time.

FNT: Haha alright, well let’s start with the album. What’s the story you are trying to tell with “If It Were You, We’d Never Leave”

Andrew Bayer: Good question. I started writing the album 3 years ago so it has been a long process. I wanted to teach myself something, mainly sampling other records. It is the storyboard of my childhood and all of the sounds that I grew up with, really drawing on a lot of influences and bringing them together into this album.

FNT: What was the process for choosing samples?

Andrew Bayer: I grew up listening to a lot sample based music like J Dilla — left field hip hop guys who have a wide array of samples that they were using. That was something missing from my sound, the diving in record crates and finding new music that way and I wanted to incorporate that into what I made. I did not have like a soul record shop nearby in my upbringing like a lot of those hip hop sample guys.

How did you bring that into the album?

Andrew Bayer: For the album I would chop up a few samples like Sufjan Steven on “Lose Sight” and then in total 7 or 8 tracks have samples, which is a big change from “It’s Artificial”.

FNT: “England” from Anjunabeats Volume 10 is very different from your album material, how do you make a single vs the journey of an album?

Andrew Bayer: My career has been split up into several different parts, part of that touring with Above & Beyond and I can’t just play 100bpm chillout tracks — as much as I would like to, I need something a little more up-tempo to play out. “England” does link to my roots with club records, so it is nice to make tracks like that.

FNT: Why do you think it is rare for producers / DJs to go to music school like you did?

Andrew Bayer: I am not surprised at all because for one, Berklee [College of Music] is really expensive. I would never say it is necessary and you can be an amazing producer and never played a musical instrument, but it was great for me and amazing for my growth as a producer. It is tough to get in because you have to play a musical instrument and you have to take courses that may not help you in the future. I have friends who don’t play instruments and are better producers than I am, so music school may not be the best path for everyone.

FNT: What’s going on with Signalrunners?

Andrew Bayer: Were doing our own thing. Alan Nimmo has the label (Fraction Recordings) that is doing really well and I have my own thing, so I think we would get back together at some point to make something but people may hate it because it could be a slowed down 128 track and it would not meet the expectations people have for Signalrunners.

FNT: You were a producer on A&B’s Group Therapy, for “Black Room Boy” and “Love Is Not Enough”. How was that and how did that come to pass?

Andrew Bayer: Actually, I produced the whole record and wrote those two records. I have worked with them a lot since joining the Anjunabeats family and we were all in London at the time so it was a collaborative and a mutual thing between thing between us.

FNT: What does that mean for you to be a producer with them, because that can be a pretty ambiguous term at times?

Andrew Bayer: It was a mutually creative thing where everyone contributes. You get a bit of a band vibe from them because, they are only electronic trance band. It was amazing to work with them and really inspiring to work with these guys.

FNT: What comes next after the album, remixes etc?

Andrew Bayer: A ton of stuff around the record, remixes and video, we have already released one for “Lose Sight” and I have a bunch of stuff I want to get off the shelf and finish, mostly club stuff.

FNT: You finished both of your albums years before their release, out of curiosity, how close are you to being done with your next one?

Andrew Bayer: This time I am pacing myself with my next one and not getting so far ahead of myself so that does happen again. People said that “It’s Artificial” was timeless, but I feel this one is really timeless. It is classic song arrangements with no specific sound and I am probably going to take the same approach with my next album.

Tags: album, Andrew Bayer, Anjunabeats, Anjunabeats Volume, fnt, future, Kerry Leva, music, producer, producers, remixes, school