For our latest Behind The Scenes interview, we caught up with Andy to talk all things about his record label AnD Records!
Before we jump into the questions, can you let the readers know exactly what you do within the music industry and how long have you been working within the scene?
Music has basically been my whole life. I started playing instruments when I was six or seven, touched decks in a club for the first time at thirteen and spent that summer there almost every day learning the ropes. By fourteen I was playing every weekend. Somehow that obsession has turned into nearly three decades of absolute madness!
Today I’m a DJ, producer, live artist, composer and label owner. I’ve moved through many different areas of electronic music over the years, from experimental and industrial techno to much harder and faster sounds, alongside composition work for film and television.
But underneath all those titles, I’m still just completely obsessed with sound. That’s never changed. Give me coffee, a cigarette and a studio full of machines and I’ll disappear for hours. After nearly thirty years, the crazy thing is that I feel more creative and excited about music now than ever.
How many record labels are you running and how are each of them different?
I run three, and the whole point is that they represent three genuinely different worlds. AnD Records is home. It’s the direct extension of AnD and the place where I have complete freedom to release without asking whether something fits anybody else’s expectations. It’s raw, uncompromising and constantly evolving. The philosophy has always been simple: GO HARD OR GO HOME.
AnD : Hard goes directly into the harder side of electronic music, but it’s also becoming a platform for discovering and developing new talent. I don’t want it to be another vanity label full of my own records. Then there’s Groove Generator, which is about to launch. That’s another universe. Groove, movement and energy are at the centre, with music from DIMI alongside some seriously talented new artists. We already have the first six EPs ready. I don’t want three labels just to release more music.
Where are you based in the world? Has this affected the inspiration and sound of your own music and what you look to release on the label?
I am in Manchester, but I was born in Veroia, a small town in the mountains of Greece. Both places are definitely somewhere inside me. Manchester has an incredible relationship with underground music. There’s a rawness, independence and honesty to the city that I’ve always connected with, and it’s whereI built most of my adult life and career.
But my musical roots started much earlier. My dad was a DJ and ran a pirate radio station, so some of my earliest memories are running around clubs when I was three or four years old. Then came accordion, piano, traditional Greek drums, guitar, bouzouki, Sepultura, electronic music and eventually Muslimgauze, who completely changed my philosophy towards it. So I don’t really look for a Manchester sound or a Greek sound when I’m signing music. I look for identity. Manchester is home. Greece is part of me. The labels are where everything collides.
Do you ever do any label branded parties, if so when was the last and where was it? Do you have any plans for anymore?
We’ve done label events and showcases over the years, but I’ve never been interested in putting a logo above a DJ booth just so we can call something a label night. If we’re going to do it, the event needs to physically represent the identity of the label. And now that becomes much more interesting because we have three very different worlds to play with. AnD Records can represent that uncompromising core. AnD : Hard can become completely relentless and give the new artists we’re discovering a proper physical platform. Groove Generator can have a completely different atmosphere built around groove and movement.
There are definitely plans and ideas developing around events, but I’ve been doing this far too long to announce things before they’re real! When these labels move into physical spaces, I don’t want interchangeable lineups with different logos above them. You should be able to walk into the room and know immediately which world you’ve entered.
Do you have any upcoming releases on your labels that you’d like to talk about?
There’s a ridiculous amount happening right now. The first AnD : Hard VA is already taking shape with Adorn, Daisy, Mila, Leo Bufera, MIDIJ, ALX and Blurred Movement. I’m genuinely excited about the talent we’ve found. These aren’t artists chosen because of follower counts or hype. The records grabbed us, and that’s exactly how I want AnD : Hard to operate.
At the same time, Groove Generator is launching with the first six EPs already prepared, including music from DIMI alongside some super talented artists we’re excited to introduce. That label has its own identity entirely. Groove and movement are right at the centre of it. And AnD Records itself is entering a much more active period with a lot of new music coming.
Outside my own labels, there’s also my new Schranz EP for Teletech, centred around Kalt bis ins Herz.
Basically, all the engines are starting at once. Controlled chaos!!! Exactly how I like it!
Do you have any advice for upcoming producers to release on one of your labels?
Don’t send me what you think I want to hear. That’s probably the most important advice I can give. If you’re approaching AnD Records, AnD : Hard or Groove Generator, understand the identity of the label, obviously, but don’t imitate it. If you study my catalogue and send me your version of an AnD track, you’ve missed the point. I already have AnD. I want you. That’s particularly important now because discovering new talent is becoming a much bigger part of what we’re building. I want to hear personality before I hear influences.
Technical production matters, but individuality matters more. I’d rather hear something slightly imperfect that makes me immediately play it again than a technically flawless copy of what’s currently successful. And please don’t send twenty unfinished demos. Choose the two or three records that genuinely represent you. Followers don’t matter to me. Hype doesn’t matter.
What made you first decide you were going to start a record label?
Freedom. AnD Records wasn’t created because I dreamed about becoming a record label owner. I wanted somewhere my music could exist without asking anybody else’s permission.
Eventually, every artist makes something they completely believe in and somebody says it doesn’t fit their label, schedule, audience or whatever else.
My mentality was basically: fine, I’ll build my own house. That’s what AnD Records became. What’s exciting now is watching that original idea evolve. AnD Records gave me somewhere to express myself freely. AnD : Hard can now give harder emerging artists that same opportunity. Groove Generator can create another home entirely for artists whose music revolves around groove, energy and movement.
So what began as personal independence has gradually become something much bigger. That’s probably the part of running labels that excites me most today. At first I built a house because I needed somewhere for my own music to live. Now I’m building rooms for other people too.
Any advice for anyone who is deciding to start a record label to help it grow?
Before asking how you’re going to grow a label, ask yourself a much harder question: Why should anybody care that it exists? Anybody can create a logo, open an Instagram account, find distribution and upload records. That’s not the difficult part. Building an identity is. Be selective. Ten releases that people remember are worth infinitely more than a hundred they scroll past.
Treat your artists properly. Communicate. Pay people properly. Keep your word. Remember that somebody has trusted you with something they may have spent months creating. And don’t copy another label’s strategy because it looks successful right now. You’re seeing the result, not the years of work and mistakes that created it. Most importantly, give your label a reason to exist. That’s exactly why I’m separating AnD Records, AnD : Hard and Groove Generator rather than putting everything under one banner.
Don’t just release records. Build a world people recognise, artists want to contribute to, and listeners want to belong to. Growth follows identity.
September 3, 2026