Rostam’s 30 – Andrew Craver’s Interview
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Posted
1/14/13 by DJ Rostam
Rostam’s 30 is LTCL Magazine’s new initiative led by DJ Rostam to introduce new hot artists to our college readers. Simply put, we interview these artists with 30 questions and provide their music links for you to download and listen to daily. Let us know what you think about Andrew Craver with a comment below!
- Full Name: Andrew Craver
- Stage Name: Andrew Craver. Very creative, I know!
- Occupation: Electrical Engineer currently, but would love to turn music production and DJing into a full-time career.
- Genre: For DJing, I really, REALLY love playing any form of dance music (House, Progressive/Electro, DnB, Trance, etc). But, I also like to change things up and get into some funk, 80′s, Hip Hop/R&B. I love it all! For production, I have mainly been sticking to progressive/electro house and am starting to get into some Nu-Disco type stuff.
- Gender: Male
- Age: 25
- Where did your stage name come from? My parents assigned it to me at birth.
- Where are you from? Pittsburgh, PA.
- Where did you start your career? Pittsburgh/State College (Penn State)
- What city do you represent? Pittsburgh fo sho!
- What gave you that initial push? I’ve always loved music. I know everyone says that, but I really have, and I’ve always had a natural talent for it. I started playing guitar when I was young, and when I turned 16, I got a keyboard for my birthday. That’s the day I started producing music. I started DJing several years after that after because I really wanted to be able to take all of this music that I loved, as well as made myself, and play it for other people to enjoy and party to.
- How long have you been in the industry? I have been producing music for 9 years, which is insane to me. I have been DJing for a little over 3 years now.
- If you had to give a thank-you speech, who would you thank and what would you say? First, I would definitely thank myself for staying motivated with music and putting the insane amount of time and effort into it that I have. Then, of course, my family for all of the positive support they’ve given me. Also, some of my friends for keeping it real and telling me when something sucks or if it’s actually good haha. Although, they usually give me a hard time no matter what, but I can appreciate that.
- What makes you a softie? NOTHING. But seriously, I am embarrassingly scared of spiders/millipedes. Although, I am trying to get better. Baby steps. On the other end of softie-ness, I absolutely love puppies and even kittens, although I’m allergic to the latter. But how could you not?
- What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? Play the lottery! Also, ask Emmanuelle Chriqui (Sloan from Entourage) to marry me, and apply for resident DJ at various clubs in Miami, Vegas, London, and Ibiza.
- What are three hobbies of yours other than what you do? It’s kind of sad but I really don’t have much else going on in my life. I dedicate the majority of my free time to music: finding new tunes, producing new tracks, mixing said music, sending e-mails to labels/promoters/anyone, researching and reading about production/DJing techniques. But, in between all of that, I love trying new beers (IPAs are my current favorite) and new foods that I’ve never had before, shopping for some nice clothes, and hitting up the gym to stay in shape.
- Pepsi or Coke? Neither, unless I’m mixing it with vodka or whiskey in which case it doesn’t matter.
- Rap or Hip Hop? Each have their time and place. A lot of rap nowadays is awful, but there are some select tracks that I can enjoy. I really love 90s-00s stuff though. It gives me a lot of nostalgia for when I was growing up and is a lot of fun to party to. Wow, I sound really old from those previous statements haha. Hip Hop is great. It generally has more depth to it and really tells some great stories, but there are also some great party tracks there too.
- House or Dubstep? HOUSE. Although, I am no hater of dubstep and can get down to that any time. There is just nothing that can compare to House though, in my opinion.
- What do you eat a lot more than anything else? Chicken. I’m not much of a cook (yet) so when I make myself food, I generally just grill up some chicken, throw it between two pieces of bread, and put a variety of sauces on it that happen to be in my fridge. It usually turns out amazing. Plus, protein is a necessary added benefit.
- What was the first event you ever played at/put on? The first one was this big party in my frat house at PSU. To be honest, I wasn’t even that great at DJing yet but it didn’t matter because the hundreds of people there were blacked out and couldn’t care less or even notice. It was pretty ridiculous, but I still pulled it off somehow.
- What are some of your accomplishments in the field? Some of my more recent accomplishes are getting my music (DJ mixes and productions) featured on blogs, DJ music pools, and a variety of other places. I will never get tired of receiving positive feedback from music that I’ve created – it’s the best feeling. But, I’m never fully satisfied with myself and am always striving for more and to continue getting better, and I can only hope that it gets noticed by others.
- What makes you different than everybody else in the industry? I would have to say my open-mindedness and appreciation of ALL forms of music, underground and mainstream. Surely there are others who do enjoy it all like me, but I spend an absurd amount of time trying to find any and everything that I possibly can, and then thinking of ways I can bring them all together.
- Do you produce? If so do you prefer performing or producing? Yes, and I really love them both equally. The sense of accomplishment when finishing a production is amazing. At the same time, being able to perform the music for a live audience is an awesome experience, and really the best form of instant gratification I’ve ever had.
- Who would you love to perform with? Laidback Luke! We have similar styles when it comes to mixing music and I think some pretty awesome things could happen if we went back-to-back.
- What’s your longterm goal? To become a successful enough to make a legit career out of what I love to do, and bring some friends along for the ride to party with me all over the world.
- When all the partying is over how do you like to chill out? If it’s immediately after partying then passing out face first in my bed. Otherwise, I like to just relax by watching some movies or TV.
- Funniest thing that ever happened at an event? Well I wouldn’t necessarily call it funny (not at the time for me at least) but at that first party I DJed for at Penn State some drunk girl came up to the stage for whatever reason and as she opened up her mouth to say something to me her stomach seemed to disagree with her and vomit came rushing out. Fortunately, the majority of it missed me but some ended up covering my sleeve a bit. They really know how to keep it classy there.
- What advice would you give to up and coming artists? The same advice I give myself: Continually strive to be better, because no matter how satisfied with yourself you are right now, there’s always room for improvement. Never be complacent.
- What are your goals for 2013? See question #26.