Bedrock 10 Feature: Part Nine / Estroe

Rotterdam based producer and DJ Esther Roozendaal, better known under the alias of Estroe has established an impressive presence on the international circuit, playing to crowds at many of the key festivals such as Dance Valley in her native Netherlands, as well as the highly regarded Movement festival in Detroit.

As a producer, she´s appeared on several labels that include Mezzotinto, Earth Audio and most notably Connaisseur Recordings, where she has become one of the main artists on the label´s family of artists. Having been invited by John Digweed to update the classic ´Imagine´ by Fortunato & Montresor for the Bedrock 10 : Past Present And Future album, we found out a bit more about her updated version of the track, and about her busy schedule co-running the label EevoNext and working on her own album project.

1. Progressive-Sounds: What was your first experience or association with Bedrock?Estroe: To be honest my first experience with the brand was not very long ago. Of course I´ve known of the existence of Bedrock, but I´ve been more into techno and tech house and Bedrock was more progressive oriented in my opinion. When John Digweed asked me to do the remix I took a closer look at the label and found artists that I very much appreciate like Misstress Barbara and Djinxx. I really do like the Guy J album, but the older stuff of the label I´m not so familiar with.
   Its nice that techno and progressive are coming together in the modern sound from nowadays and the new generation that thinks outside the box
   
   
   It´s nice that techno and progressive are coming together in the modern sound from nowadays and the new generation that thinks outside the box, and that´s exactly what Bedrock does by inviting producers with different sounds.
2. Progressive-Sounds: How would you describe the track or reinterpretation you have presented for the Bedrock 10 album project and how do you feel it compares to the original version of the track? What other tracks from the label would you revisit if given the chance?Estroe: The track is quite laidback with deep atmospherics, ideal for afterhours or listening at home, or for playing at the beginning of the night in a club. When I heard it I immediately knew I could do something with it, there are a lot of components that I really like, but also some elements that I would leave out in my version. As I wanted to respect the original version of Fortunato & Montresor´s ´Imagine´, I made a laidback broken beats version but also started with a more dance floor oriented version.
   
   After a lot of doubting I decided that the laidback version would be more suited to the original and my own interpretation of it. After adding some more strings and melodies from myself to give it my own style I removed some vocals, I just took the most important phrase ´can you imagine´. I think the result is a deep warm and sexy track. I am very happy that it´s the first track on the compilation. If given the chance I would like to revisit something from Guy J, Dousk or Misstress Barbara because I like their recent productions.
3. Progressive-Sounds: How did you feel when contacted to be asked to contribute to the 10th anniversary project?Estroe: I was excited that such a well known respected label would approach me for a remix. A large international audience will listen to the album so I wanted to deliver something good that I hope everyone will enjoy.
4. Progressive-Sounds: What are your thoughts on the new venue Matter where the 10th Anniversary party is being held, and what do you feel a state of the art live music venue such as this brings to the global club scene?Estroe: As I live in Rotterdam, Holland and haven´t been to London for a very long time, I don´t really have an opinion about the venue, but it´s always nice to have new clubs programming great music. I hope to have the chance to judge for myself soon.
5. Progressive-Sounds: What other projects have are you currently involved with and what are your plans for the coming months?Estroe: At the moment it´s an exciting and busy time for me. I´m producing material for my artist album on Connaisseur Recordings, which I hope to have ready by the end this year, or early in 2009. I also have upcoming releases on Nightdrive, Ferox and on Mina Records, and am busy working on a selection of remixes.
   I also have upcoming releases on Nightdrive, Ferox and on Mina Records, and am busy working on a selection of remixes.
   
   
   I am also participating in the Family Tree compilation of Ripperton, and am working on a release together with Sebastian Davidson, plus running the EevoNext label together with Terrace and The Moderator which consumes some time, and combine all of this with my DJ career. I´ve been playing for eleven years now and still enjoy it every weekend.
   
   To put it short, at the moment I feel very happy and privileged to be able to spend all my time on music, it gives me a lot of energy and inspiration for new productions, and to follow my progress you can check out http://www.myspace.com/djestroe