Under Starters orders! Czech D&B heavyweight A-Cray is firing into the summer with news of a brand-new label – Cray Tunez.

Inspired by his experiments during the lockdown period away from the dancefloors, and how it influenced his change of creative perspective, the Darkshire resident and Let It Roll regular is now sitting on a fresh body of work that expands on his signature neuro style.

Melodic, musical and more vocal; Cray Tunez releases look set to reveal a whole new depth, scope and range to the sound A-Cray has been developing since he emerged 10 years ago, releasing on labels such as Eatbrain, Hoofbeats, Titan, Korsakov and Sinful Maze.

A new chapter but still the same infectious energy and fusion, Cray Tunez commences on June 3 with Starter. Releases are expected monthly. We called him up for more information.

A-Cray! How are you? How’s life post-lockdowns?

Hey! I am really good right now! Lot of things have changed for the better! Finally…

What did you miss the most when we couldn’t go out and play?

I tried to enjoy stuff I have never had enough time for while playing every week, but obviously I missed parties and more importantly people, friends and fellow DJs you usually meet only on the parties! Everything felt so sad and I kinda lost my purpose there for a while, but it changed how I feel about my music. You know, when there is no dancefloor…

It changed your creative approach?

Yeah I really changed my point of view. I always want to make something for the dancefloors, but during lockdown I needed more from my music. We had no idea when the lockdown was gonna end and I still wanted to make music for people locked home!

That made me create more melodic, more meaningful stuff which still kinda sits in my “harder” sets but then I had the question of where should I release this?

Along comes Cray Tunez! Tell us everything!

The idea of my own label was here, because I have no ideal label in mind for what I am creating right now. Too hard for this label, too summer-ish for others! That said, I think there will be more neurofunk coming out, too. But probably not on Cray Tunez. Who knows what’s gonna happen? Right now I want to release one track a month, but the future is never written in stone…

Have you always wanted to run your own label? What inspires you the most about having your own label?   

I think I always wanted to have my own label, but the idea of Cray Tunez is really different and fresh for me. What I love the most about having my own label is the fact that I finally can do whatever the fuck I want!

I’m not saying some label-owners made me change things too much. But you know, if you’re doing EP for a big label then you need it to fit their sound and I have always respected that.

Totally. So will Cray Tunez be open to other artists as well? Or is it more of a platform for your own music?

That’s the thing. Cray Tunez is really about my music, but there are projects where other producers are going to be involved as well and not just via collaborations. For example, the second release will be the track What Almost Was by Peejay & Panorama with the remixes from me and my friend Entita. It’s a long story how this ended up on my label, but I really need to get my remix out and why shouldn’t I release it with the original and the other remix as well? So yeah, plans were originally quite different!

And it all kicks off with Starter… Great track to kick things off with! 

Thanks! Starter isn’t actually the first more melodic track I made recently, because it was already made with the vision of the new label. It started as an energic kicker but ended up with more depth. Also that’s why the first drop is kinda neuro-ish but the second one will bring you closer to what the label is gonna be about.

What comes next? Please get us hyped for the future of Cray Tunez and your album!

After Starter and the What Almost Was remix EP you can expect even less neuro-ish stuff! I am working on a track at this point which even includes vocals right in the drop, which i new for me to be honest.

What else does the world need to know about A-Cray and Cray Tunez right now?

It already sounds like ‘me, me & me’, so I’ll just say it’s always about music and all this is just the way to bring some new music to you. If you like it or not I appreciate every second anyone spends listening to it. Thank you!

A-Cray – Starter is out June 3 on Cray Tunez

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