New Kids on the Block: Los Bastoneros

Who made such a strong impression that inspired you to venture into the electronic music roads?
There are many artists that have inspired us, romanians and foreigners, from many subgenres, both together and individually, however the most influential project for our group is probably Amorf. They have an act that stands out artistically thanks to their unique sound and the teamwork that is behind their performance. You can hear the commitment to perfection in their music, many hours spent on details.

What’s your philosophy behind DJ-ing?
It’s very important to connect with the crowd. We do not like to prepare our playlist or select a pack of tracks before from which we choose what we play.
Instead, we always go to the venue at least 1:30 hours before we start playing, so that we can feel the atmosphere and see what can we add to make the experience good as a whole.
It is also an important fact that we always play together, we’ve grown to know each other, complete one another musically and blend our perspectives to find the proper choice in every situation.

Where do you want to play the most – like a wishlist?
Probably the first spot would be Sunwaves, as it is the place where you really have to out perform yourself and is also the dancefloor where we heard some of the best sets.
Other venues that we really look forward to play at least once are Robert Johnson in Offenbach, Club der Visionaere in Berlin, Gazgolder in Moscow, Closer in Kiev and The Block in Tel Aviv.
We will most probably perform in the latter, as we had a date booked in the summer, and although that might be postponed due to health concerns related to the coronavirus, we are definitely looking forward to play on that soundsystem, as we heard only good things from our colleague.
Nonetheless, it’s needles to say that in our time now, the most important factor is that we recover as a society from this pandemic, as we will always have time to party after it passes, but we all have a responsibility until then, so that it can be 100% safe again.

When did you started listening to electronic music and what events/venues have you attended
most?
We all had different paths that led up to our project.
Emma is a musician for more than 10 years, having played in a few bands on different instruments, and even as vocalist. He always loved to experiment with music and pushed the boundaries of those genres. He leaned to electronic music in order to have a larger perspective on production and after discovering the underground movement several years ago he realised that this was what he wanted
to do.
Manu remembers first wanting to become a DJ around 1999, when he mentioned to his uncle that this is his dream after he first heard the Freestyler of Bomfunk MC’s. After that, he was fond of trance music as a young teen and later started exploring for more, going through many different electronic subgenres and founding the Romanian scene many years ago.
András used to listen to Depeche Mode when he was a kid and found his love for micro-house just a bit more than 10 years ago, discovering some Sunrise events held in the first Kristal Club and the Sunwaves Festival. He started to gather and dig music daily and went to several festivals around the world. He first played music at a friend’s home around 7 years ago and slowly he realised that he could express himself more through music, so he dedicated to it.
We can all say that the most attended venue by us would be Club Guesthouse, as they are truly dedicated to providing a proper experience and that’s where we assisted to so many incredible musical sessions, from which we’ve also learned a lot.

Why do you think people should listen to your selections, how are they distinct?
For us, it’s more important to have a balanced set, one that tells a story to the listener as a whole, then to have some special tracks that will create highlights. We are trying to differentiate ourselves with our own creations which we are always using in key moments to create impact, as well as playing a lot of music produced by fellow upcoming producers, as there is a big bunch of talent in our country and abroad as well.
Nowadays, there are many good DJs around and with the freedom of the online platforms, we are having access to the same musical content more or less. Being a trio is helping us in having a bigger perspective on the overall selection which sometimes can be challenging because we are always trying to find new possible musical directions to entertain and surprise the crowd and also ourselves during our sets.