Interviews

Andres Tellez is Delone.  Artistcally fascinating, sonically intriguing, a composer for film and television, and underground producer from Madrid. His releases have been out on Me Me Me,  he has run Riverette Records the label, and the Madrid Record shop of the same name. He now he lands on local Madrid imprint Lovemonk with his full length immersion, Romanticismo Siempre. It’s a musical journey full of passion and romanticism, a blend of ambient electronica and hazy psychedelia recorded on analogue synths. We asked the super talented Delone to talk to us about the challenges he faced on putting out this album, his intentions, and what he is most proud of with this fine release.

Thank you for talking to us at Dream Chimney. Where are you today and what are your plans for the day?

Thank you, it's a pleasure. Right now, I'm in Ibiza at Can Jay Recording Studio, recording and mixing with Cumhur Jay our next EP, 2 tracks oriented to the dance floor.

Where were you born and where are you based these days?

I'm living in Madrid and I was born in Madrid in 1984, but I lived in Mallorca until I was 12 years old.

You've been producing music since 2005, what was your first release and what lead up to that?

The first track I released was "Ender Psychedelic Fantasy Circus" back in 2007, when I was 22 years old. I was really young and a bit naïve, but I wasn't afraid at all, because as Frank Herbert's says in Dune; “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.”

It was released in Back Home, a sub label from Maripoza Recordings managed by Ryan Davis and Lanny May in Berlin. The track was featured in a special compilation.

Passion and courage have always been important driving factors in my life

Your skill in production took you into the world of TV and film, tell us a little about that part of your life. Are you still involved in that now?

Yes I am. I’ve recorded a lot of music for television, advertising, and fashion. For brands like Hermes, Helmut Lang, Zegna, UEFA Champions League. I’ve been working for many years for various music publishers, some of them linked to national media stations, composing and producing musical backgrounds for TV programs, bumpers, jingles, sound design.

When you started Riverette Records in 2014, this wasn’t your first label right?

Yeah, in 2008 We (Carlos & me) founded our first label, “Blue Cola Recordings”. We only released 3 releases all on vinyl, in the midst of the transition from vinyl to digital. It was a kind of advanced course in record production; we made many mistakes and some successes, but the truth is that we learned a lot, and all that experience served as some kind of prep for founding Riverette years later with a much clearer notion of what we wanted to do and also on how the industry works.

What was the musical direction of Riverette and who were some of the artists that you worked with?

The idea at Riverette was and is still simple: we just release music that we love, we’re just two childhood friends with the same passion. The label evolves naturally, just as we evolve. If we change, the label will change as well. It’s a place to release the music we make and the music we love with no boundaries.

Through the label, we have been able to release artists and friends we love and admire such as Legowelt, Pional, Medlar, Cumhur Jay, Kornel Kovacs, HAAi, Man Power, Oskar Offermann, Cliff Lothar, Minor Science, Tiger & Woods, Jacques Renault, Christian Piers, FYI Chris, Norwell... among many others.

You had several releases on other labels. How did you connect with Man Power? Tell us a little about the Me Me Me release.

I can’t remember very well how it came about, I think Ned (Medlar), Carlos and me, were working together in our studio in Madrid. From there, a few tracks came out that we ended up sharing with Man Power, and he liked them a lot. He told us that he was preparing a compilation album to raise funds for refugees in Syria, and the three of us liked the idea of committing to that cause.

What do you think has been your most important release to date?

Well, this one is easy, as your latest album is always the most important ;)

Was the record store opening a natural evolution of the label?

Actually yes, we wanted to have everything centralized—the label, the recording studio, the record store. The idea was to have a proper HQ that would serve as a meeting point with the Madrid scene.

The store was focused mainly on new releases. There are already quite a few stores in Madrid with a very good selection of second-hand records, but there wasn't any focused on new releases. We used to have a very good selection of electronic music, house, disco, a bit of techno & electro, breaks, a lot world music, and some classics as well from Daft Punk, The Prodigy, Aphex Twin…

Unfortunately the store is closed right now, pandemic and other issues forced us to close it permanently.

I’d love to hear about the initial idea for the album Romanticismo Siempre. When did you first approach this concept and what was your original intention with this release?

The concept of “Romanticismo Siempre” is borrowed from my dear Alvaro Bernis, the illustrator of the cover. He made a caricature of me saying those words “Romanticismo Siempre” about 20 years ago, and I've always been fascinated by how a simple doodle with two words could define someone so much. Alvaro is a genius at simplifying concepts, and it's incredible how he manages to give them a brutal context and a super deep dimension.

The album is an ode to passion; each song is heavily influenced by everything I love. I believe it's inevitable if you make music or any kind of art, at least for me. But when I talk about influence, I mean everything, not just music… Influences like poetry and literature, cinematography, people, friends and family, those small moments that stick with us forever in our souls and become part of our DNA. That’s actually what I tried to do in this album, all the tracks are little tributes to everything I love. Passion is what wakes me up every single day.

What was most important for you to convey through this album? Do you feel that you were able to accomplish all of your intentions?

Yes I think so. For me, it was important to convey that idea of romanticism through elements such as psychedelia, ambient or experimentation, trying to create that romantic feeling without being too cheesy or tacky.

What are you most proud of with Romanticismo Siempre’ ?

I would better say that I’m grateful to life, and of course to Lovemonk and Borja for giving me the chance and the confidence to make an album like this. It's been an incredible journey over these years and releasing it on Lovemonk is a dream come true, it means a lot to me.

What was the most challenging part of bringing this release together?

This album has gone through many phases; the journey began almost 5 years ago. There are a bunch of tracks that were removed from the album, then brought back again... I would say that ensuring that I chose the right selection of tracks has been the most challenging part. It’s always hard to decide which one deserves to be in and which ones don’t.

I guess this album marks a lot of years in the music business, I’d love to hear your thoughts on how your creative process has changed and remained the same over the years. Do you approach anything differently now?

I've learned to simplify a lot over the years. But for me it's been always something very spiritual and empirical, playing instruments… seeking powerful feelings and trancy vibes, trying to catch those emotions in to a song..

What drives you to continue creating music?

Passion is the only thing you need to start and keep going.

Where do you find the most inspiration when it comes to discovering new music?

I try to be more open-minded, that makes things way easier to find and discover new music. I pay special attention to what younger artists are doing, but I also find a lot of inspiration listening to music from all eras. There's so much music already released that I haven’t found yet, and there’s a lot of new music released every single day, so if you know how to manage that huge amount of music and filter properly, you will always discover amazing music.

What is next for Delone?

I'm working on an A/V show. Hopefully it will be ready in 2024/2025. It’s gonna be something really special, mixing my favorite passions, music with lights and colors. It’s awesome how powerful the is music when you combine it with visuals. It increases much more the experience.

Check out the latest release from Delone