Your Kramnik 1.0 EP contains 3 progressive techno tracks with a lot of various sounds. How did you come up with these sounds?
Comming up with new sounds is just a question of long hours, because we all have access to the same synths or sound banks. One of the great things about electronic instruments is that the number of possible sounds has multiplied by trillions. Before, as early as just a century ago, you only had aprox 50 sounds to choose from (which you could then multiply on top of each other). Now, you simply wouldn't have enough time in your lifetime to go through all the sounds, which probably means you can express a wider variety of moods. That's why electronic music is so interesting to me. Not just because of the dance power, but also because of it's potential. Even though a lot of it may sound the same to us, there's plenty of room for new stuff.

What mood do you want to create with this EP?
I've only been producing for slightly over a year, so I'm not so sure that I've been able to create the mood that I had in mind because of technical limitations. This first EP was not really designed for the dancefloor because I was more interested in creating parts of my first artist album (which will come after the third EP). Plus, one of the tracks (Delaython) is a tribute to the type of music that was made ten years ago. This track, for example, is just a production exercise. So this first EP is mostly experimental because I learned the technique as I went along. In fact, the first production, which is not in the EP because of the sample issue, is a remix of an old blues recording from 1954, completely different to anything in the EP. So even though the mood of the EP is a bit dark, I don't think I've been able to define my style yet. The next EP is going to have something more sort of tech house, but also something deep as well.

On the eye-catching cover, you're on the picture with an owl. That seems to be not a very easy picture to make?
That amazing owl belongs to a friend of mine and, since I was looking for a logo, she seemed like the perfect match. Too bad the picture is in black and white because she looks at you with these fluorescent orange eyes. I've never seen anything like it before. Since it's a studio pic, we had to be careful that she wouldn't fly against the wall or up the a/c, which means she was constantly rewarded for just hanging out (no rats, though, which are really bad for her cholesterol...). If you listen closely, you will see that the owl appears in all the productions so far. I can't say that it's always going to appear because sometimes it won't fit but, so far, she's our proudest vocalist!

How did you start your music career?
I started working at Sony BMG before the internet effect, with all sorts of international bands and artists. It was a good experience because it was in the music industry, but also very frustrating because the best music would just never get published. At that time I was already starting to DJ, so soon I joined the biggest rave promoter in Spain, organizing massive events at a famous 19 century palace in downtown Madrid. And I guess that's where everything really started for me. Booking people like John Digweed, Kevin Saunderson, Derrick May, Dimitri (from Amsterdam), etc. Watching them play and move those crowns. Especially the concept of story telling, which is the hardest aspect of creating a set.

You've worked together with bands like Garbage and The Eurythmics. What did you do for them?
I was in the marketing department at Sony BMG in Spain for international artists, which means coordinating their tours around the country, going with them to radio stations, TVs, translating interviews, etc, and pretty much spending all the time with them while they're visiting. But you could also work with them outside of the country. For example, taking local journalists to meet Eurythimcs in London, which does help in getting them to write about it.... I also worked with some boy bands such as Westlife which, by the way, are the nicest guys. But musically, Garbage was probably one of the high points as almost everyone in the band is a producer. 

 In which countries is your music known?
One of the great things now is that you can actually see all this. And it's really surprising because you get visits from places where we're not doing any promo, like Yemen or Bangladesh. But the biggest countries, at least visiting the website, are probably the usual ones for this type of music, such as Germany, UK, US, Netherlands, Russia, Spain or Mexico. But in Facebook, for example, I have a lot of people from Egypt.

What are you most proud of what you've accomplished so far?
Probably just getting the first year of production out of the way. Sort of like getting through the first kiss on a date... Because now, with that experience behind you, maybe you can take things to the next level. But I think this comes mostly through hard work. I think making this type of music is much more about hard work and dedication, looking at the smallest possible details, than it is about inspiration (which usually turns out to be just a general road map). But it's the actual walking the walk that makes the difference. Having real violins in 'Viclone', for example, doesn't require any inspiration. What you need is a good recording of the violins (which I definitely don't have there!).

What are you doing in the next 12 months?
We're talking about some possible gigs in the UK and India, but right now I'm trying to concentrate on the next EP. We're also comming out with the 'Viclone' remixes at the end of may (Hans Bouffmyhre, Chris Leiding, Marco Dassi, Skober and White Wall, which is a new imprint by Mike Wall and Franco Bianco). My next EP will be a two-track production: one sort of tech house, more dancefloor oriented, and the other dark and techy.

What do you want to have reached over 5 years?
Over the next 5 years I hope to have completed several artist albums, and hopefully defined my style in the process. And then to have the opportunity of sharing that work around the world, meeting new people, new experiences, and while maintaining a healthy suntan. Oh, and finding the perfect match...

Do you already have plans for a holiday this summer?
There's a possibility I might play in Ukraine this summer, as well as around Spain. But I also want to work on the third EP, where I hope to have something minimal as well. Even though it may seem like the first EP is in a general genre, in reality I want to try different styles. That's why the new EP will have some tech house, for instance, and at some point I want to go back to the blues concept (by the way, you can hear 'BPM Blues' on the website: www.kramnik.dj/music). As for holidays, I'll probably be visiting friends in Vietnam and Thailand.