SNOE Affairs DJ-set & Interview // Alec Troniq

For our latest SNOE Affairs, we’re sitting down with Alec Troniq following the release of his new track “The Great Slop” on SNOE! Alongside the interview, he’s put together an exclusive mix showcasing his sound and musical instincts. We talked about the inspiration behind “The Great Slop”, his creative process, and the ideas and influences that continue to shape his work in the studio.

1) How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard you before?

A child twiddling with toys, being absolutely stoked about its own power to make such a mighty noise.

2) We love your new track! What was the inspiration?

Sometimes after nights of peaceful sleep I wake up and my mind immediately starts firing out ideas before I even open my eyes. Then I jump out of bed and desperately try to hold on to them. Grab a strong coffee and hurry off into the studio. On such a morning “The Great Slop” just popped up and luckily I was able to capture it.

3) How has your sound developed over the years, and where does your new release fit in to your artistic journes?

In my early days, as a compensation alongside a Wonky Techno career, I started the Alec Troniq project with Ambient, Trip-Hop, Jazz, up to melodic Minimal, but soon moved towards the dancefloor as a Live Act, too. Deep stuff, Electro, Breakbeats and much more in between and beyond those classifications. Later I got more into Organic House and Indie Dance. But there I felt the scene got stuck onto a certain style too rigidly. I needed to break free by retrieving my own gritty and harsh electronic sound design. Today I’m just getting wild and mix all influences. For me music is all about curiosity. I prefer surprising myself rather than just pleasing listening habits. I guess “The Great Slop” aligns with my former SNOE releases, where gnarly synth lines and a touch of fierce weirdness drive the dancefloor.

4) What is your favorite toy for making music?

For my Live Acts, above all gear I love the hardware synth Novation Peak and the Electra One controller most, because they’re both extremely flexible. In the studio I build each new track with a different toy, a new or an old one, which I haven’t used for ages. Right now it’s Reason again, that virtual modular rack where I started on version 1.0 decades ago. It still fits my creative workflow perfectly, where I create my own technical environment—in fact a new studio for each idea, every single time. I could never get creative within the same setup twice.

5) Most profound insight you had since you started this career?

Hyper Hyper!

Alec Troniq - The Great Slop (incl. Berndt Bechstein Remix) // SNOE126

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Alec Troniq – The Great Slop (incl. Berndt Bechstein Remix) // SNOE126

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6) At which club or event did you experience electronic music for the first time and what memories have stuck with you from that moment?

I grew up with the mainstream electronic music of the 90s, and of the 80s as well. These soundscapes created imaginary worlds in my mind that are beyond words. When I was finally able to sneak into public clubs even before I was allowed to, it took me a while to cope with the difference between the crude behaviour of people in the ordinary nightclubs and my own expectations of how to enjoy music. So first, I had to find my way into different underground scenes in various cities—a wild mixture of Freetek, DnB and Goa raves, Electro, Breakbeats.. settings where I felt at home and always will.

7) Do you think it is harder now to cut through with music alone?

On the one hand: yes, because in the digital world there’s no filter for music releases. Everyone releases everything. With the artificial slop on top, it’s hundreds of thousands of new songs each day. No comparison to the time of physical recordings: only if a music label was absolutely convinced of your track, they would invest thousands of bucks into a vinyl or CD pressing, to release it and hopefully recoup the costs some day. With only a handful of selected records being released in the independent electronic music realm each week, it was indeed possible to cut through. Without selling your ass online.

On the other hand: If we’re talking about success in the mass-market, it’s rather a matter of entertainment. Because the industry and media appeal to the baser human instincts. To our natural interest in personalities, in visual stimuli, social status and stories about the rise and fall of egos. This is extremely amplified by today’s algorithms. And it overshadows our curiosity about actual art. The 90s underground was an exception, when the producers of those mysterious new sounds were mysteries themselves. They were (and still are) average people, nerds, misfits, minorities—none of those ego-selling personalities; without strategies in marketing, entertainment, choreography, costumes or other selling points. Just raw authentic humans who put music first. I’m a maverick, too. I still live by that ideal, solely focused on how music can express human emotion. This is our language.

7) What is your favorite norwegian word? 😉

Pappskalle