Interview

Apste

“Identity isn’t about everything sounding the same. It’s about the vision behind what you select.”

Argentine artist, producer, educator and Street Records founder APSTE discusses artistic identity, production and creative judgment, from his early years as a self-taught producer to his work developing artists and building his own label.

You started producing as a self-taught artist, experimenting with different styles until you developed your own language. Looking back, what was the most important part of that learning process in finding your identity as a producer?

Apste
I think the most important thing was consistency and following my own vision. Learning along the way, experimenting and trying to channel the ideas that came to me, without necessarily trying to fit into something specific.
Over time, I also understood that in order to truly express an idea, I needed to master the tools. That is why I went deeper into every area of production, from composition and sound to mixing and mastering. I was always interested in being the producer of my own work and not depending on someone else to take an idea to the result I had in mind.
Your music has moved through different territories — house, techno, indie dance, progressive and more experimental sounds. How do you understand the relationship between genre and artistic identity when you are producing today?

Apste
I don't really think too much about genre when I'm producing. I compose what I feel, and I think my aesthetics, my roots and the music I listen to naturally find their way into what I do.
I've always connected strongly with melodic music with groove, and that's probably why my music ends up falling into certain categories. But the label comes afterwards. The music comes first.
After so many years working in the studio, what has changed the most in the way you make decisions? Has experience made you produce faster or, on the contrary, become more demanding about what you decide to finish?

Apste
I don't produce as many hours as I did when I started. Today I prefer to work for a few hours a day on the most creative part and then move forward with whatever really has potential.
I still approach music as an expression, often working around a series of ideas, a concept or something I want to evoke. Then comes a more editorial stage of editing, feedback and decisions about what to keep and what to remove.
Technical experience obviously adds a lot, but I also learned to work with whatever tools I have at hand. For me, less is more. It's about knowing what the track really needs and when to stop adding things.

PRODUCING & TEACHING
At some point you started sharing your knowledge through classes and mentoring. What made you want to teach production, and what did you discover about your own way of working through that process?

Apste
It happened quite naturally. People started asking me if I taught, and after about four years I ended up developing my own studio, with regular students from different styles and nationalities.
It gives me a lot of satisfaction to know that there are people who look forward to my input and that I can help them move forward with their music.
I also discovered that teaching forced me to put into words many things I had learned and developed intuitively over the years. Finding a clear and dynamic way to explain those processes also helped me better understand my own way of working.
When a producer comes to you looking for help, what are the problems you encounter most often? Are they usually technical, or do they have more to do with decision-making, judgment and confidence in their own sound?

Apste
Many times, intuitively, they can make music and have good ideas, but they still lack experience with the software or with certain production, mixing and mastering techniques.
That often causes them to get stuck, and then impostor syndrome appears, along with excessive feedback or too much external information that ends up confusing them even more.
It's something quite normal. I think the process changes when they start finding something of their own to say and can work from their own vision, instead of constantly chasing a trend.
Teaching production isn't only about explaining tools or techniques. How do you help a producer develop their own judgment without ending up making music that simply sounds like their references?

Apste
The goal is for them to arrive at a track that works at club level while still having their own signature.
For that, it's important to build confidence and learn to create without immediately expecting a result. At some point, the producer starts to reach a creative level they feel comfortable with, while also understanding how to take that track towards a professional standard.
I try to share my vision and the tools so that they can develop their own judgment and make those decisions for themselves. And every track becomes a process from scratch again.
After working with other producers, do you think teaching has also changed the way you listen to and analyse your own music?

Apste
I don't feel that it has changed my way of working too much. Maybe now I pay a little more attention to certain technical aspects, but when I'm creating I try to simply channel what I feel.
I also think teaching confirmed something I was already applying to my own music: don't overproduce. Sometimes the track needs much less than you think.

STREET RECORDS
What did you feel was missing from the scene when you decided to create Street Records, and what did you want to build with the label that you weren't finding in other projects?

Apste
Mainly, I wanted to release much more material from my own catalogue. I had tracks that had been part of different stages and had been released by labels I really respect, and I wanted to be able to show a more complete picture of that journey within my own catalogue.
At the same time, I wanted to do with other artists what other labels had done with me: give them a space and support them in developing their careers.
Street Records was born as a space for freedom of expression, where different nuances of music and art could coexist, and where artists could build their own path.
When you receive music for Street Records, what makes you stop and listen? Beyond the technical quality of the track, what do you look for in an artist or a proposal to think it could fit the label?

Apste
I listen to everything people send me. The decision to release something has much more to do with creativity and aesthetics than with technical level.
Many artists are just starting out and don't yet have a very high technical level, but that can be developed. The most important thing for me is that there is good music, an identity and something to say.
I'm looking for artists with whom I can share a vision and, above all, build a community around that way of understanding music.
You are now on both sides of the process: you're a producer sending music to labels and also the person deciding what enters Street Records. Has running a label changed the way you understand the relationship between artists and labels?

Apste
I've always had the patience to understand how the system works and how curation works. It's a long process, and I was never interested in rushing it.
When running Street Records, I try to take the best ways of working that I saw in the labels where I was released, while adding my own point of view. I think that combination is what allows you to build your own identity.
Street Records has been building a catalogue with different artists and sounds. How do you maintain that openness without losing a recognisable identity as a label?

Apste
For me, it all comes down to the vision behind it.
There can be different genres or labels, but what matters is that spark that artists have and the synergy that is created when you connect with people who share certain values and the same sensitivity.
Identity doesn't necessarily mean that everything sounds the same. It's about the perspective behind what you select.

WHAT'S NEXT
You are currently developing your career through different roles: artist, producer, teacher and label head. What are you interested in building over the next few years, and where would you like to take each of these facets?

Apste
If you look at it from the outside, it seems like there are many layers: artist, producer, teacher, label. But for me, it is all part of something quite cohesive. It's the same vision and the same style.
Street Records complements all of these facets. I don't see it simply as a music label, but as a space connected to music, art and culture.
I'm interested in continuing to develop that universe and building something that can grow beyond a single discipline, while always maintaining the same vision behind it.

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You started producing as a self-taught artist, experimenting with different styles until you developed your own language. Looking back, what was the most important part of that learning process in finding your identity as a producer?

Your music has moved through different territories — house, techno, indie dance, progressive and more experimental sounds. How do you understand the relationship between genre and artistic identity when you are producing today?

After so many years working in the studio, what has changed the most in the way you make decisions? Has experience made you produce faster or, on the contrary, become more demanding about what you decide to finish?

At some point you started sharing your knowledge through classes and mentoring. What made you want to teach production, and what did you discover about your own way of working through that process?

When a producer comes to you looking for help, what are the problems you encounter most often? Are they usually technical, or do they have more to do with decision-making, judgment and confidence in their own sound?

Teaching production isn't only about explaining tools or techniques. How do you help a producer develop their own judgment without ending up making music that simply sounds like their references?

After working with other producers, do you think teaching has also changed the way you listen to and analyse your own music?

What did you feel was missing from the scene when you decided to create Street Records, and what did you want to build with the label that you weren't finding in other projects?

When you receive music for Street Records, what makes you stop and listen? Beyond the technical quality of the track, what do you look for in an artist or a proposal to think it could fit the label?

You are now on both sides of the process: you're a producer sending music to labels and also the person deciding what enters Street Records. Has running a label changed the way you understand the relationship between artists and labels?

Street Records has been building a catalogue with different artists and sounds. How do you maintain that openness without losing a recognisable identity as a label?

You are currently developing your career through different roles: artist, producer, teacher and label head. What are you interested in building over the next few years, and where would you like to take each of these facets?

More interviews