Andy Ukhtomsky’s sound is a genuine reflection of geography; the Australian bushland that he grew up in as a child, Nintendo NES games right through to Slavic 4x4 styling. His unreleased percussive house stomper perked our interest quickly with its dark atmospherics.

After travelling all the way from Melbourne to Midlands and then to London for CDR, we asked him a few questions about his first CDR experience.

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How did you hear about CDR?

I heard about CDR through the Dimension Sounds producers’ competition that ran last year. The track that I entered was spotlighted in the July previews on the website, which was great. I felt involved from that moment on.

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When and where did you first attend CDR?

In London at Plastic people.

This year I’ve moved from Melbourne, Australia to the UK, to study sound design in Salford. I knew there was a CDR night coming up in London, so had to go.

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What did you think of the night?

The sessions are a really good, grassroots way of exposing your music, to your peers and potential collaborators.

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Have you collaborated with, or hope to, any artists via CDR sessions?

CDR Sessions are just about to launch in Melbourne my home town, so there will be plenty of opportunities to collaborate; a lot of my good mates will be attending and the current knit of producers is quite close. It's really positive to have a place to meet regularly and share ideas and advice.

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Any other noteworthy CDR memories?

After the night, ultra talented vocalist Cornelia, contacted me, asking me about the track I brought down. That was really flattering as she is such an incredible artist! Such a stunning voice.

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Have you a favourite club and/or soundsystem?

I’ve been lucky to be a resident at Melbourne’s well known Brown Alley since I was 20.My favourite place to play would be their garden bar. Great atmosphere and the Nexos are just the right size to give full range while allowing people to lounge and chat.

Strawberry Fields festival also has an impressive super rig of Turbo Sound fortifying their main stage. It was really fun thumping out my set on those last year!

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What’s your current set up?

At the moment it's very in the box as I'm on the road (living at the university) - MacBook Pro, Ableton Live 8 and Reason 4, with a Novation midi keyboard and some brilliant AiAiAi studio headphones.

Currently using all soft synths and plugins but would love too in the future experiment with more outboard gear. At this point in time I'm just starting to feel like I have a handle on what I have got. So I want to make the most of it before I complicate things.

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Any favourite tools or gadgets?

I use mainly soft synths but I'm always returning to Sylenth it has a great warm sound for what it is and you’re limited in how much you can do so I feel like that forces me to come up with some interesting results.

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Any projects or tracks you’re working on at the moment?

Have a couple of projects and tracks that I'm finalizing and a remix for a local Australian label called Uncomfortable Beats.

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Finally, have you any advice or words of warning for producers/musicians developing musical works in progress to play at CDR?

Personally it was great to put something out there and see the reactions of the people in the room. Don't be afraid or too precious with your music just bring it.

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