andreaeffe

Childhood & schooling years in Ghana, Africa, from where he and his family extensively toured the African continent, later returning to Europe and dividing his concept of "home" between Italy and Slovenia.Music hit him on the head around the age of nine, first causing him to often rob the piggy bank in favour of Pink Floyd and several others, then inducing him to trick his unwary parents into buying him a guitar. An electric one, mind you.But it was a German haphazard compilation LP named "The Best Of Jimi Hendrix" that did the trick once and for all. Although extremely poorly recorded & compiled (to the point that due to some weird disc cutting malpractice the guitar intro to "Purple Haze" was accidentaly repeated three times before the actual song started - obviously causing him to learn it and play it that way!), this record twisted Andrea F's life into the direction that has now brought him here on this page with you.Did he take guitar classes? Yes, but not classical guitar, in a regular music school: the oh-so-open-minded local music schools decreed he was “too old” to start at the age of 10 (wtf?????) so it was a year of weird private tuition to get to grips with the electric guitar.In 1982 he started his own band, IDIOGEN, rehearsed like maniacs, gigged, recorded two now collector's items vinyl albums and one mini LP (“Idiogen”, “Burning”, and “Drive You Mad”), released and distributed not only all over former Yugoslavia but also in Italy, the UK and the US, collaborating with cult labels such as Slovenija Records (Yugoslavia’s FIRST true indie label, masterminded by eccentric mogul and patron Boris Furlan “Primitivc”), Rough Trade Records of London, Toast Records of Torino, Supporti Fonografici of Milan.The band and its’ records were extensively & mostly enthusiastically reviewed by national (Rock, D--uboks, Mladina, Stop, Antena) and international mags (Spin, Melody Maker, New Musical Express, Rock’n’Roll Confidential, Rockstar, Rockerilla, Mucchio Selvaggio, Buscadero, Urlo, Buzz, etc). They played all over Italy and Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, and then, in the best rock’n'roll tradition, broke up at the height of their powers at the dawning of 1990.But the music was nowhere near over – the impact with the recording studio had been a love-at-first-sight, and the world of buttons, glowing lights, cables, microphones, speakers & mysterious boxes & tricks became one Andrea would start to see a lot of. Fascinated to the point of bombarding studio owners with questions, he eventually got given the keys to a small studio, and told “Look, come here whenever it’s not booked, do what you like, it’s probably easier than answering all your questions!” (thank you, Igor Kos – eternal gratitude for that). And shortly after, he got asked to produce studio recordings for other musicians and groups, proceeding to get his chops working with artists as diverse as Croatia’s now legendary KUD Idijoti, Serbia’s Perzijski Tepih, Slovenia’s songwriting master Drago Mislej-Mef, and a plethora of local bands ranging from amateur brass ensembles to short-lived punk trios.One more aspect of the music world got to Andrea , as he got invited to work as a specialist radio DJ and music editor for Radio Capodistria, the long running and powerful bi-lingual (Italian & Slovene) regional outlet of Slovenian national RTV, where to this very day, he hold the post of Senior Music Editor and in charge of international record company liaison for this same station, for which he has also often traveled to Sanremo, Italy, as exclusive correspondent from the prestigious music festival. Also, the radio job gained him access to the major league of recording studios, working in a fully professional environment with top-flight analogue (Studer, Neve, Amek, SSL, Orban, Drawmer, etc) and digital (Steinberg, Digidesign, Sony, Tascam, etc) audio gear, and being involved in engineering, producing, mixing, organizing or some mix & combination of the above live and acoustic radio sets by prime Italian recording artists such as Gianna Nannini, Bungaro or Massimo Bubola.As the Buggles would tell you, "Video Killed (ok, let's not overdo it, now....let's rather say Enhanced) The Radio Star", and in 1992 he was also asked to work with TV Capodistria, creating & hosting a successful TV music show named "Rhythm & News", reprised in three different series until 1997. Featuring not only all the latest music videos but also extensive historical flashbacks, new & unsigned bands' videos, live concert coverage and exclusive 1-to-1 interviews (meaning the privilege & opportunity to meet, talking to & learn from artists such as Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi, Zucchero, R.E.M., The Cardigans, Deep Purple, Patti Rothberg, Vasco Rossi, Nazareth, Los Lobos, Samuele Bersani, Nek, Bracco Di Graci, Bungaro, Massimo Bubola, Jennifer Batten and many others…), "Rhythm & News" rapidly estabilished itself as a "serious", in depth option in music for and on TV.He also has been hosting and directing no less than 9 (and still counting!) yearly TV series of "Folkest", a show based on each year's "Folkest" international festival concerts (with live footage & -again- exclusive interviews with artists such as Jethro Tull, Joan Baez, Jackson Browne, Mark Knopfler, The Chieftains, Joe Cocker, Vinicio Capossela, Fabrizio De Andre’, Joan Armatrading, America, Noa, Los Lobos, Loreena McKennitt, Andreas Wollenveider, The Byrds Celebration, David Crosby’s C.P.R., Capercaillie, Mari Boine, Hoven Droven, Carlos Nunez, Inti Illimani, Bruce Cockburn, Paul Millns, Fiorella Mannoia, Michelle Shocked, Angelo Branduardi and many others).During the following years Andrea F also created, hosted and directed another TV programme, “10-2-Go”, a music show quite at odds with your everyday concept of television, since it featured 10 music videos per show, announced and commented by his voice – but his voice ONLY, off camera, in a “radio derived” style of Dj-ing accompanied by graphics reproducing literally every single spoken word, scrolling madly across the screen. This experiment was also the very FIRST music show in Slovenia to ever support and encourage viewer’s and audience web interaction and communication via its’ own internet site and e-mail address.Also working for TV Slovenia, national television, in 2000, 2003 and 2004 he also was the official live commentator & host for the broadcast from the Sanremo Fesitval; in 2001 he co-hosted the live commentary of the Grammy Awards ceremony from Los Angeles, and in 2001, 2002, 2003 & 2004 he was the official live commentator & host of the broadcast of the Eurovision Song Festival (from Copenhagen, Tallin, Riga, Istanbul).In between all this, Andrea took the time for some “formal” studio & recording training in Amsterdam and London, but now stresses that “There is a lot more to learn by actually having to DO stuff, in the studio or on air, or by having the fortune to meet and talk to legendary recording artists, or even just by regularly visiting music & music gear tech shows like the AES or the Musikmesse, than from sitting in a classroom…” So little wonder if today he weighs in as one of Slovenia's top rock and pop music producers, often even tackling his own engineering, and specializing in live sounding, guitar, drums or acoustic & live instruments based productions with a soft spot for detailed, powerful yet radio-friendly hit mixes that have often won him many jobs also just as a music mixer, polishing up and maximizing other producers' work, and quite a number of live-for-radio or television mixes of major music festival or live events, or Slovene and Italian singer-songwriters, and his credits list includes:Idiogen (PROD/MIX, all recordings & albums),Perzijski Tepih (PROD/MIX, highlight hit: “Storm”),KUD Idijoti (PROD/MIX,highlight hits: “Hocemo Cenzuru”, “Vajk Na Bolje”, “Prezivjeti”),Hi--ni Bend (ENG/PROD/MIX, entire album),Space Cakes (ENG/PROD/MIX, entire album),Zmelkoow (ENG/PROD/MIX, 3 award winning albums & several smash singles, highlight hits: “Streloowod”, “Cau Soncek”, “Yo!”, “Sexy Rdece Oci”, “Tako Zaspan”, “Napacen Planet”, “Primavera”, “Klub Ljudi Z Resnimi Tezavami”, “Sergio”, “Gravitacija”, “Pljuvam Skozi Okno”, “Bit”, “Plazna Reportaza”, “Po Srcu Postenjak”, “Rokerski Pogreb”, “Depresiven Komad”, “Nagradno Potovanje”, etc),Buh Pomagej (ENG/PROD/MIX, entire album),Aleksandra Cermelj (ENG/PROD/MIX, highlight hit: “V Tebi Se Nov Dan Zacne”),She (MIX),Polona (ENG/PROD/MIX, highlight hit: “Just A Mile”)Easy (PROD/MIX, entire album),Lara B (ENG/PROD/MIX, 1 album & several tracks of subsequent album, highlight hits “Lutka”, “”I Have To Change”, “Moj Odgovor”, “Odhajam”, “Norec”, etc)Faraoni (ENG/PROD/MIX, entire live album + live broadcast, several smash singles on various award winning albums - highlight hits “Mi Ljudje Smo Kot Morje”, “Sem Taksen, Ker Sem Ziv”, “Drugacen”, “Kar Je Res, Je Res”, “Solinar”, “Pijem Kar Tako”, “Ljubezen Ni Prisla Se Mimo”, etc) Mef & NOB (ENG/PROD/MIX, 2 albums, highlight hits “Zdravica”, “Amerika”, “Gina”, “Junak Ulice Prekomorskih Brigad”, “Ce Ne Do Mores Neba”, “Svoboda”, “Oreste DeQuel”, “Meni Se Mi Zdi”, etc)Leila Band (MIX, smash single “Samo Milijon Nas Je”),Aleksander Novak (ENG/PROD/MIX, several singles, highlight hits “Prekratka”, “Leto Se Eno”, etc),Remi Band (ENG/PROD/MIX, single, highlight hit “Ne Klici Aprila”),Val 202 Radio (ENG/PROD/MIX, various artists anniversary radio theme song),Ultra (several tracks, MIX higlight hit "Dan Za Dva", ENG/PROD/MIX co-writer "Igra Ljudi")Bohem (ENG/PROD/MIX, entire album, highlight hit “Vest”)Tinkara (ENG/PROD/MIX, co-writer, 3 award winning & internationally released EMI albums “O-range”, “Enigma”, “Aqa”, including recorded contributions & collaborations by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, Dan Lavery of Tonic, Carlos Nunez, Paul Millns, Massimo Bubola, Tolo Marton, Mike Peters of The Alarm, several non-album tracks & smash singles, highlight hits “Med Zemljo In Zrakom”, “Stuck Between”, “Kjer Ste Vi (Kaj Tu Dogaja?)”, “The Place 2 B”, “Spezzacuori”, “The Last But One Time”, “Hisa”, “Do Not Disturb”, “Se Tam Ne”, “Reason Why”, “Quello Che”, “Movyda”, “Madame Guitar”, “Worldache”, “Kamorkoli Gres”, “Ujeti Svet”, “Beyond Reset”, “Me Ni”, “I’m Gone”, etc).Moreover, if you were to browse through the liner notes of some of these recordings, you’d find Andrea’s guitar playing, often with trademark wah-wah wailing & feedback laced solos or acoustic textures, graces some of these recordings (e.g. Mef, Tinkara), and that quite a number of some very successful hit songs have been actually written, or co-written, by him.So nowadays, apart from tracking him down in the wee wee hours of the day or perhaps at the break of dawn in some recording studio, busy squeezing the impossible from equalizers, compressors and assorted analogue or digital processors, you can listen to him live on Radio Capodistria every Monday afternoon at 4 pm, in a music show called “Pomeriggio Ore 4” (RTV Slovenia Real Audio link: http://helix10.rtvslo.si/ramgen/broadcast/capo.rm ), or catch him in some TV music show, or at some concert, either as FOH engineer or just... enjoying the music ride! (Please use messaging table above for contacts & booking/work enquiries)
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