In Conversation With… Andy Moor & Somna

We had the chance to talk with Andy Moor & Somna about their anniversary new mix-compilation “AVA 10 Years – Past, Present & Future”, the label AVA Recordings and much much more! Enjoy reading!
 
TranceAttack: Hello Andy, Congrats from us for 10 years of AVA Recordings! When you started your journey 10 years ago, did you expect such a success story?
Andy Moor: Hello there, and thanks! When I started the label I didn’t really think about the label in 10 years time, and was just focused on producing and releasing music at the time. There were a lot of hurdles to overcome in the early days.
 
TranceAttack: To celebrate the anniversary of the label you bring us a very fine compilation and an announcement of a sub label called AVA White. Can tell us something about it.
Somna: AVA White is our love letter to the uplifting and classic trance fans. There’s so much great music out there and we’ve never shied away from having uplifting remixes done of our tracks and felt after 10 years it was time to dedicated a sub label to that sound. We’ve got A.R.D.I. from Poland who’s doing fantastic things helping with A&R and the creative directive of the sub label and are really excited about the artists and music we’ve signed.
 
TranceAttack: Let’s talk in detail about the compilation “Past, Present, Future”. What can the listener expect?
Andy Moor: It’s a 3 disc mixed compilation, with Disc 1 highlighting key releases from the past 10 years. Discs 2 & 3 highlight present & future releases. It enables the listener to get a grasp of what we are about as a label, and the latter 2 discs builds in intensity and pace towards our uplifting material on AVA White. We’ve also had the pleasure of welcoming some new remixes of some of our favorite classics which have been included exclusively in the package.
 
TranceAttack: How can we imagine the process for the track and remixer selection for the compilation?
Andy Moor: We chose each track to represent a certain part of our musical spectrum, whether that be a slower piece with an emphasis on a certain feeling, or a release that is based on a tough groove / melody. Each track also had to play a part in the flow of each disc, so it wasn’t an quick nor easy task to get a track from our own schedule that ticked every box and also fit together to create a flow.

TranceAttack: Over the past years we had an ongoing development back from cd / vinyl sales to download stores, back from download stores to streaming portals… How did the label business change for you over the yeasr? Did it become easier or harder?
Andy Moor: It’s been easier and harder but in different ways. Back in the day we used to micro manage a large variety of tasks that were quite different to today. Such as ensuring we got the best price for physical products per quantity (vinyl sleeves for example), and then chasing up a company that went bankrupt etc etc. Today, it’s finding out where the revenue is actually coming from (if anywhere!) but that’s just a development of the industry as a whole.
 
TranceAttack: Andy, you live in UK and Somna, you live in Canada. How can we imagine your daily work together? Does everything run via Phone, Email, etc.?
Andy Moor: Most things run online, but we often get together to work in the physical format too. For example we both went to ADE, then Ben came to stay in the UK for a while and we worked on a new tune and made a dent in the label workload. It’s a lot more inspirational and motivational to work together in real life, but we equally manage online.
 
Somna: As Andy mentioned, we do manage to get together to work in person maybe once or twice a year but the bulk of what we do is through the power of the internet. With our time zone differences, it can be a little difficult at times but I sleep at the craziest times so we manage to make things work. Aside from Andy and I, we also have a few other people within our team who we rely on and have been instrumental within our company. Robbi Avelino joined AVA about a year ago and she has greatly improved our operations within the marketing and social media realm.
 
TranceAttack: To run a record label together is a mix of business and passion. You are business partners or also buddies?
Andy Moor: We would have to be buddies, otherwise I can working with me must be enough to give him nightmares!
 
Somna: Absolutely, I can’t imagine working in the studio or spending time building a brand if I wasn’t friends with that person. Andy is one of the smartest people I know in the industry and I’m constantly learning and growing as an artist and partner.

TranceAttack: Somna, as A&R on AVA Recordings you get a lot of demos. How can we imagine your job? Is it nice to hear a lot of new music every day or is it more a thing you could miss?
Somna: Imagine a ball pit, like one of those ones you see at McDonalds for children, and those are demos and inside that giant ball pit is a few delicious chicken mcnuggets that you’re so desperate to eat. You wallow through hundreds of demos and it can be quite tedious but occasionally you’ll find a gem. To be completely honest, it’s not the most glamorous job and you’ve also got to balance honest (and sometimes harsh) truth’s while trying to encourage artists to improve without discouraging them. Fortunately I’ve also got a helper now (Jesse Yang) who is the frontline of demo listening and he’s been so helpful in weeding out some of the more promising demos from the bulk of music we receive.
 
TranceAttack: Andy, you are touring Asia at the moment. Is there a part of the world you always like to come back? From your point view, where in the world the trance scene is most exciting in the moment?
Andy Moor: There is no place like home…. But I still really enjoy travelling, and there is no one place I like to be as every part of the world has something to offer. The trance scene is exciting in Asia right now, as more and more people come into contact with the music and get hooked… there is huge potential there.
 
TranceAttack: Do you have a favorite track of 2016? Which one and why?
Andy Moor: I really enjoyed Yoel Lewis – Golden Gate… a great balance between the deep melancholic feeling yet lots of dynamic impact.
 
Somna: I’m absolutely loving KhoMha – Strange Love. Those vocals!
 
TranceAttack: What can we expect from the label AVA Recordings and you as artists in 2017?
Andy Moor: The label will be releasing lots of new music and developing new and current artists. I have quite a few exciting collaborations in the works, along with new solo material and a couple of chill out tunes.
 
Somna: Like Andy mentioned, we have a ton of new music coming on both our main and White label. Exciting stuff from a variety of artists both established and up and coming. For myself I have a few releases coming out soon on FSOE’s Excelsior label, Armada Captivating, Raz Nitzan and of course on AVA. Now that I’m back in the studio from ADE / EU, I’m excited to start working on some more material!
 
TranceAttack: What is your favourite dish, your favourite film and favourite artist offside from electronic dance music?
Andy Moor: My favourite dish is Xiao Long Boa with truffle, favorite film fluctuates weekly, favoritye artist fluctuates daily!
 
Somna: I love sushi, especially Aburi Tuna, favorite film “The Emperor’s New Groove”, favorite artist “Skylar Grey”
 
TranceAttack: Thank you for the interview and all the best for the future!
 
Find all details for AVA 10 Years – Past, Present & Future mixed by Andy Moor & Somna here: