Interview:

FOEM/row: Where does your artistname come from? What does it mean?

Istvan: Inzah - means nothing, it came from the depth of my mind. :)

FOEM/row: Describe your musical roots!

Istvan: I started making music as many producers these days. In the early 90's I used the complete 'tracker software family' to create tracks which were available in those years as sequencers (does anyone remember of Modedit 4 channel tracker from 1991? :)) From 1998 I use the legendary analog-modular synth software as a sequencer/effectprocessor - BUZZ.

FOEM/row: How did you come to producing?

Istvan: I've always been dreaming of showing the world the products of my creativity. You know there is a learning curve in music composing. First you just learn the basic processes and after some years (with constant practising) you will able to see the STRUCTURE of any electronic music track. I would say even you may see the running patterns as a matrix while listening to music. (no, you are not Neo) After a while you experience that more and more people likes what you do and this makes you more motivated.

FOEM/row: What was the funniest thing that ever happens in your DJ or producer career?

Istvan: A posted free copy of a CD release which I appeared on never arrived to me. Due to the great post service. anyway it is not so funny but I was just smiling at the whole (well-known) situation. :-)

FOEM/row: Do you also make LivePA´s? If yes, which equipment do you use?

Istvan: I'm about to start Aura Fresh minimal/dub/click house live act in some weeks.

My setup:

- Akai MPC1000 sampler
- Roland SH-32 virtual-analog synth
- Tweakaliser filter/effectprocessor

FOEM/row: You work together with other artists also?

Istvan: In a XY vs. ZY cooperation: my answer is no. I've just had a dubby/minimal 4/4 remix released for a Portugese producer's EP on Complementary Distribution netlabel. Out for 2 months. Get it here: http://www.bitlabrecords.com/cod/cod013a.html

FOEM/row: Is this the only area of music which youre working in? Or do you also play in a band or something?

Istvan: No, one-man producing and live-PA only. :-)

FOEM/row: When you sent your last promo to a label, what was their reaction? Which label was it?

Istvan: Last year in September. For No Smoking Recordings. My Console 9 - Dimension Trip EP was released on 15th of April this year.
http://www.nosmokingrecordings.com/releases.asp

FOEM/row: What do you think of the contemporary popular music which is played by normal radio stations?

Istvan: Well, I don't listen to commercial music radio stations because the music they play doesn't mean anything for me. Of course there are exceptions, there are really good pop tracks from the 70's and 80's, which I prefer to today's pop tracks. Most commercial hits are built from templates (targeted the youth with the lyrics) and I cannot feel the 'fire' in the commerce music of nowadays, only the profit.

FOEM/row: What have you read or recently see (book, play, film, etc.) that moved or surprised you?

Istvan: 'What The Bleep We Know?' movie. Very unique explanation of our life and our destiny. It offers you a chance for making your life better and better. There is HOPE...

FOEM/row: In which groups in the internet are you active? Boards?

Istvan: In some instrument manufacturers' board and in some other music-related boards.

FOEM/row: How did you come to FOEM? What does FOEM mean to you?

Istvan: Sascha Müller's Pharmacom Records released my Inzah - Mood EP. Somehow one of the EP tracks (Inzah-My Lil' Lake) was selected by the FOEM team for the 14th compilation. FOEM is a creative group which often quakes the international music scene with their excellenet releases.

FOEM/row: When you see all the netlabel scene, there are so many labels. Would you say, most of them make real quality music? Or is there alot of amateur stuff amongst hem? Which netlabels do you really like?

Istvan: Well, as I see the music scene globally: the most exciting things happen in the netlabel scene for years. I like the classic 'old' netlabels (everyone knows them) and 1BitWonder. They have nice releases nowadays. I don't really have time to listen to all the tracks come out on every netlabel but I can imagine that there are low-quality releases among them.

FOEM/row: What do you think about the uprising of netlabels and the conflict between them and the commercial music industry?

Istvan: I can't really see a conflict. The biggest advantage of netlabel releasing is that the internet promotion is maximized to the HIGHEST LEVEL. Why? Because it's FREE. Promoting the music - for FREE. Delivering the music to the people - for FREE. I understand that some people can feel that sending demos to labels time to time is not worth at all. After some refuses they think that it is better releasing their music directly to the public in digital format. Do it yourself? If there is no profit? Who cares? Being (also) a netlabel producer is not a job it is a LIFESTYLE. There is a recognizable trend nowadays. More and more netlabels think that they should make profit and they get their tracks released on the most popular digital stores. I hope the classic philosophy of netlabels will remain at some of them.

FOEM/row: What's one thing you're a fan of that people might not expect?

Istvan: Nothing. I am a typical 21th century guy, who loves electronic music, uses internet everyday, hooked on digital audio-visual culture (too). Of course not forgotten the classic traditional values in arts.

FOEM/row: Being a musician or a DJ can be tough and frustrating and many musicians and DJs 'burn out' after a number of years. How do you plan to sustain your efforts ever the coming years and avoid that 'burn out'?

Istvan: I think burning out is in connection with 'producing profit'. If you see your dj 'job' as a joyful thing in your life, as a chance to give something for the people. Well, if you can forget the money, if you do it for pleasure and rapture there is not really a reason for stopping it.

FOEM/row: Last but not least, do you have any suggestions for FOEM in the future?

Istvan: I can imagine FOEM as a real brand (from virtual to real). Live PA's, dj's could use FOEM logo on their flyerz providing quality for the party people worldwide.

FOEM/row: Thank You.