Meet Alüen
photo by: Dakota Carlson
Not long ago, Carlos Ortegas was a premium furniture seller who would sling house-music parties with his underground community on weekends. This is the part scene that he had grown up around, though, so with the intent to find dreams and discover inspiration, Carlos made a long one-way flight to Vancouver, Canada. There, he immediately established himself in the local techno scene via acquaintances that he made in Guatemala.
This was in 2018, four years before this interview was made, and on the side before our dark, sticky wall of the COVID-19 pandemic. During those early weeks of March 2020, Alüen was on tour in Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras El Salvador, Panama and Guatemala. The immunity professionals’ continuous updates slowly revealed the true state of affairs: we don’t know when this will end. So Alüen hunkered down at his family home, in Guatemala City, stayed in contact with his Canadian loved ones, and turned to digital audio workshops for comfort.
This is the context in which Inside My Head was crafted.
photo by: Dakota Carlson
HE STARTED TO EXPERIMENT WITH MUSIC AT 15 YEARS OLD AND WAS INSPIRED BY THE LIKES OF TIESTO, ARMIN VAN BUUREN, AND ATB, TO NAME A FEW. ALTHOUGH HIS FIRST INTERACTION WAS WITH TRANCE, ALÜEN SOON FOUND OUT THAT MINIMAL AND HOUSE MUSIC WAS HIS PASSION.
I CAUGHT UP WITH ALÜEN TO CELEBRATE THE RELEASE OF HIS RECENT “INSIDE MY HEAD” EP ON RAINFOREST MUSIC, DISCUSSED HIS WORKFLOW, FUTURE PLANS, AND MUCH MORE
I: Hi Alüen! welcome, It’s a pleasure to have you here with me. Where are you based right now? how have you been?
Alüen: I’m living in Vancouver. Have been here for 4 years. I’ve been good, thanks.
I: So, what’s your summer been like? any favorite highlights?
Alüen: Last summer was really good. Had some nice shows around and in Vancouver. Also, got to work in the studio a lot.
I: Congratulations on the release of your new EP on Rainforest Music! You must be very excited to share this one. How has “Inside my Head” been received?
Alüen: Oh, very good! I really enjoy the reaction of the dancefloor when I play the original track or any of the other two amazing remixes. The crowd goes crazy!
I: How did “Inside my Head” come about? Is there a concept or story to this one? how do you decide to name your tracks in relation to the music?
Alüen: So I created “Inside my Head” during the very first quarantine in 2020. I was on tour around Mexico and Central America before that, covid hit and I had to fly to Guatemala, where I’m originally from. Ended up staying 7 months there without being able to leave and come back to Canada, with my loved ones.
I was inside my head a lot, feeling blocked creatively, I wasn’t able to do music or draw for 3-4 months just because of the situation I was in. One night I sat on a small room at my dads place and wrote the main loop of “Inside my Head”.
As for naming tracks, in this case it made sense, after being so many nights trying to make music and wanting to feel creative, and all of the sudden in one night I had so much desire to dance and party that this song was created. Originally the name of the project in Ableton was “Party Inside my Head” but I ended up shortening it to what it is now. It suites how I was feeling at that time.
I: Tell me about the way you work, how do you come up with the ideas for the music you make? What’s in your studio and your workflow.
Alüen: Honestly, I don’t have much in my studio. I just have a pair of Focal monitors that allow me to listen a very big range of frequencies, Ableton push 2, a Behringer TD-3, a Native Instruments keyboard and my computer of course. I usually start with a basic drum pattern to then mess around with the TD-3 to come up with a bass line. Something I use a lot is Native Instruments synthesizers and instruments. That allows me to be very creative with sound design and come up with interesting stuff to work on.
I: “Inside my Head” also features two remixes, courtesy of Andromo and Paul Franc. What do you “look for” when listening back to a remix for the first time?
Alüen: I just like to see what creative idea the other artist is taking from the original track and adding his own twist. I really enjoy to see how they make their own version of something I put out.
I: What’s next for Alüen? What particular milestones are you looking forwards to now?
Alüen: I am starting to organice a little tour in Central America, Mexico and United States for next year in summer and fall. That will be good! Also, couple more releases in 2023 as well that I am excited about.
I: Thank you so much for your time, Alüen, Wish you all the best in the future and coming projects.
Alüen: Thank you so much for having me.
Author: Adam Schmidt
