These two artists, Diaz & Parrée, lived door to door in the picturesque Eitorf near Cologne without actually knowing each other. For seven long years, Alexander Vilar Díaz and René Parrée Besides did not come further than a friendly greeting at their front doors.
It had to happen that these to finally got together to create music. One they learned they shared the same passion for electronic music and off they went. Since 2006, Alex and the six years older René produced and released plenty of tracks. The workaholics bring out at least one monthly release.
Diaz & Parrée describe their sound as a very elaborated, groovy techno or tech-house. Even though their latest work is going more and more in the direction of techno, it is always important for the duo that the track not only is “functional” but also sounds like music. Above all, the groove is the most important thing!
With their enthusiasm and perseverance, these two are on the way to the very top in the techno scene for sure.
We got in touch and found out that these are 2 hard-working men, finding out success got another meaning throughout the years. Fun above all.
Connect with Diaz & Parrée on Spotify | Soundcloud | Facebook | Instagram
Hello guys, how are you doing these days? How are you surviving this strange period in our lives?
Hello Claudio, thank you so much for supporting and the interview. It’s a great honour. We are good, thank you. Our families and friends are all healthy and most of them are not affected by the Corona situation. But we have some friends, club owners, promoters who are struggling these days. And of course, we have a problem with this. We really hope that they all find a way to survive and of course we support them as much as we can.
Do to the Corona situation, we have so much more power and feel more creative because we sleep well during the weekends instead of long nights and being hungover until Tuesday.
Even though we are not in a lockdown, all of us are limited. We feel like birds in a cage. It is not easy to live with the restrictions. We miss the nightlife and travelling a lot, but we also think that it’s necessary in order to protect fellow human beings. We also think that it doesn’t make any sense to fall into negative thoughts, it´s important to make the best of it and find new ways. For example, we spend much more time in the studio than before, which is great. We have so much more power and feel more creative because we sleep well during the weekends instead of long nights and being hungover until Tuesday hahaha. 😉
How do you keep the energy flowing?
We concentrate on the things in life that make us feel good. We do a lot of sports, go to the sauna and spend a lot of time in the studio. No place for negative thoughts.
You have an album release “I am”. An amazing eleven tracks! Well done! Can you talk us through the process? When did it start, what’s the idea behind it, the creative process.
Ouu, thank you so much. We are really happy to hear that. At one point we tried to create something to get success and after a while, we forgot what ‘success’ was really about. But, there were still some nights where we just made music, without having to think about it. Most of these tracks formed part of the album. These tracks showed us that it’s about music and having fun, not about success. With the production of the album, we realised that we don’t need success to be happy and that we don’t need to think about whether people or big labels would like it.
With the production of the album, we realised that we don’t need success to be happy and that we don’t need to think about whether people or big labels would like it.
It’s about what we feel and what we like. The album grounded us and gave us the feeling back, the feeling we had when we started to make music. We produced the album without knowing that. At one point we just realised that we have enough special tracks, fitting perfectly together to release an album. And with this decision, we changed our way of thinking. The album created over the years was like a therapy that ended with the compilation of really special tracks that mean everything to us.
Grab a copy of “I am” on Beatport.
What impact does producing an album have on you, comparing it with single releases?
At one point we tried to create single tracks, 4 track EP’s for big labels where we only focused on the sound that is usually released on that label. We got lost in this thought. As we said before we made music to get success. This album was a completely different process. We just made music without having to think about it. We did what we like. And with this decision we changed our way of thinking. We had a great feeling, a lot of fun producing when putting together the album. We realised that these are the most important things when you make music. Having fun and just let it go without the focus on success. Of course it’s easier to bring in different styles into an album. There are not only functional tracks, it’s much more of a story.
What’s your creative process when writing music? Especially for an album. Do you have an idea in mind or do you somehow experiment and see what’s coming?
Our vibe is largely responsible for the result. At one point we decided just to make music only when we feel like making music, and in this vibe things just happen. Of course, we have an idea where we want to go but as we said this was not as fun. Since we decided to release the album, we just made music in the right situation. So as you said we experiment and see what comes out. These results are the best in our opinion.
How do you balance your music with other obligations – mates, partner, job?
We try to spend every free minute in the studio. We both work full-time. René as father and I am working with autists. But we see our passion also as a job, so we have a timetable for it. But as we said we decided just to make music when we feel like. So there is absolutely no pressure.
How does the future look like for you as Diaz & Parrée?
We go on and on and on and make what we love most without the pressure that we have to have success. René, for now, is focused on his family and am waiting that the corona situation is over in order to play and promote again. Because of the situation, I am working 30 hours a week again, but as soon as all this is over I will go down to 20 hours and focus on this business. Our passion.
Diaz & Parrée’s “I am” is out via Frequenza records. Grab a copy on Beatport.
Thank you
