Name: Ahmad Qatramiz aka Konalgad
Occupation: Producer, composer, vocalist
Nationality: French
Recent release: Konalgad's album Club Dream is out via Dance Data.
Topic I am passionate about, but rarely get to talk about: Apart from being an artist, I am a part time dentist and am really passionate about treating my patients. I love biology, science, and all things in between. I am actually launching a label soon called Sensory Cells, which aims to explore the interconnections between sensory science and music. More to come, stay tuned. ☺

If you enjoyed this Konalgad interview and would like to know more about his music and upcoming releases, visit him on Instagram, and Soundcloud.  



Debates around production tend to focus on gear. What, though, were some of the things you learned by talking to colleagues or through performing and/or recording with other musicians? What role does community play for your interest in production and getting better as a producer?  

I acquired gear quite late in my music career. I’ve been only 2 years in the adventure, so I am still exploring this aspect.

But what I learned the most out of gear-oriented production and performance is the organic feel of turning a knob, the human instinct translating directly into the sound and the happy accidents that come out of it.

Jamming is something that I had never really experienced before and acquiring gear opened this door for me, and it’s so fun and enriching. In a DAW you tend to always save a project even if you don’t finish it or if you don’t want to listen to it again. There’s this automatism that we developed on computers of saving our documents, our projects, either it is a Word document, or our DAW project.

When jamming, this isn’t the case. You either just record the whole thing, which isn’t the same thing as saving a project, or you just live it and that’s it.

The word “production” as a separate item from “composition” suggests a creative processes with different stages. Do you see it that way – or are all the steps towards a piece of music always integrated and connected for you?

Honestly, it depends. Some tracks I have made didn’t require a production phase as I just literally clicked record on the master and that was it. The mix can suck sometimes but it’s part of the experience of this particular moment. The track wouldn’t sound the same if I must go through the stems and re mix it.

And some other tracks I have made followed the classical composition > production timeline where I just jammed, recorded the stems, and then surgically worked on them on my DAW (Ableton) to truly find my way through the track and create something interesting.

And then I have the tracks that are entirely made on Ableton, and these ones tend to have the composition and production phases mixed up, with no clear boundaries.

It’s probably why all electronic music artists are called music producers? It’s so automatic everybody uses this term. We’re way more than that, truly.  We’re true artists, we’re story tellers.

In how far, would you say, was your evolution as an artist connected to the evolution of your music set-up? Were there shared stepping stones?

It’s a constant evolution. I think I am still in the heart of this exploration.

But using only mouse and keyboard for almost 12 years, looking back at it, truly brought to me limitations, but also lots of ideas I couldn’t make on any gear. I think today I am less interested in DAW-only music. The combination of both is a nice balance for now. But I am slowly shifting into a DAW-less set up.

The biggest limitation of a DAW-only set up is the lack of performance. I want to play my instruments, to sing, to move my body and let it translate into my machines and into the music. And computer-mouse-keyboard doesn’t allow that. I’ve had enough of it. I want to be alive when I play.

I guess if I want to be precise in my answer to your question: I’d say the evolution of my current set-up, which is access to analog gear, pushes me further into the idea of separating myself from my computer.

There are artists who can realize their ideas best with a traditional – or modified – piano interface, others with a keyboard and a mouse, yet others by turning knobs or touching screens. What's your preferred and most intuitive/natural way of making music and why?

For me it’s turning knobs and singing ☺.

Cranking up a microphone and recording microscopic variations of sounds is also a nice way to start finding something interesting.

Late producer SOPHIE said: “You have the possibility with electronic music to generate any texture, and any sound. So why would any musician want to limit themselves?” What's your take on that?

I don’t fully agree with what she’s saying. You will never be able to generate the sound of a guitar, of an oud, of any real instrument with music. You’ll be able to replicate it, yes. But not generate the exact same sound. A replica is always slightly different than the original element.

Everything has its use. Relying solely on electronic music is a limitation by itself. I like to be free and use anything I think suits the music and message I want to write. And if I can’t play the instrument/sound I want to add to my creation, I kindly ask a friend who plays it to collaborate with me.

Music is social in its nature. I feel like I am shifting into the electro-acoustic realm, if I speak for myself.
 
From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, tell me about the production process for your current album Club Dream, please.

This new album called Club Dream took birth out of maybe one of the darkest periods of my life, without me even realizing it. It’s the fruit of sketches that go back to 2022, maybe even 2021, but with a combination of newer tracks made in 2024.

It’s quite the manifestation of losing ourselves in a hazy club, dissociative states that are running away from a deeply anesthetized person not understanding why he is what he is, this person being me. I compiled and re arranged the order multiple times to finally have this final release. But it always kept pillar tracks in it like “Subzero Experiment”, “Voltage”, or “REM”.



Honestly, I don’t want to go much in detail about this period of my life. But the message from this album, or the feeling that naturally comes out of it, is total anesthesia and dissociation from reality. The very fine line sensation between reality and unconsciousness.

When I last compiled the tracks and was like okay, this is the series of tracks I want to have, this is what describes this life period the most; those tracks were all at pre-finalization stage, where they needed this extra bit of sound design and mix. And this the stage I love the most of my music production because I have a clear goal and message to tell, but on a macro level. It’s the part where I glue everything together sound design wise, to serve the feeling I am aiming compositionally and mix wise.

And suddenly everything starts to make even more sense and there’s this true story line in between the tracks, in between sections. The macro dynamic is refined there. I have worked on this finalization stage last year for Club Dream.

Tell me about your aesthetic preferences for picking effects like reverb, delay, compression, chorus etc … - what was the role of these effects in the production of your current release?

Great question. The effects, the order, the chain, and their interconnections are so important. I use everything from reverb, delay, phaser, chorus, ring modulation, distortion etc.

But I have to say the one I use the most intricately and almost all non-low-end related is phaser. I try to find interesting relationships between the micro rhythmics of phaser effects with other effects such as frequency shifters, delay, modulations of chorus, glitchers. The order will change depending on the sound I aiming to achieve.

But very little amount of everything grouped together, with sometimes saturation or expansion on the effect group or send, can create and elevate the sound so much. It’s like an exploration of the alter ego of a particular sound, getting deeper in its unheard underground.

I still don’t have the budget, but building a go to modular FX rack is definitely something I want to achieve.

Do you see a benefit in getting an external producer on board for your studio work? Do you see a benefit in recording or refining at least parts of your music in an external studio?

The only part of refinement I’d seek from an external studio is the work on mix in a professional acoustically treated room, with a mix and mastering engineer.

I wouldn’t let anyone be involved in my creative process, though. I am always happy and grateful to receive feedback on the musical aspect, but I almost never take it to the point where I modify my composition, unless it serves the mix, or the ‘science of sound’ aspect. It’s all about trusting the initial instinct of my composition.

Things happened for a reason at this moment, I want people to feel it. But I like objective and technical specifics, discovering them, and using them to favor the emotion I am trying to create.

We can watch videos on production, take producer courses, and exchange deep insights on gear forums. Amidst these options to improve one's chops/skills, how do you keep things playful?

I try to focus on theory, science, rules and technical knowledge the most when I seek information. And I keep all creative process up to me.

Everything I learn is aimed at serving my natural and organic creative artistic expression. At least I try to abide by this standard I impose on myself.