We’ve been writing a lot of blog posts about our trip down to Miami for the Winter Music Conference. It was an incredible, action-packed experience, so it’s taking us some time to give you the whole scoop One of the highlights of the trip for me was actually having a sitdown with Andy Horsfield, the founder of Global Underground.

To paint the picture for you, it was Wednesday night, and Global Underground was throwing a killer party at Mynt Lounge. The headlining acts were Nic Fanciulli and Darren Emerson. From 10pm to 1am, this party was invite only and open bar – not a bad combination if you’re "invited" (which I was, fortunately).

I’m one of the first people into the club (along with a friend of mine named Willy). After getting in, I made my way to the bar for a drink…along the way I tell the club manager that I’m the CEO of Resonant Vibes, and I’d like to have a chat with Andy Horsfield so that I can write a blog post about it. Shortly afterward, Willy (my makeshift cameraman) and I make our way back to the VIP area to have a chat with Andy.

I was actually quite excited about chatting with Andy. In my humble opinion, Global Underground is the best electronic music CD series of all time – bar none! Furthermore, Global Underground provided my gateway into the realm of electronic music – it was Oakenfold’s New York CDs in particular that did it.

I didn’t try to get a verbatim record of my chat with Andy. I wanted to keep it more informal and to really enjoy the chat. I started off asking him about his early days. He told me that he was from Newcastle (like my man Sam) and that he was into electronic music in the 80s. As an entrepreneur myself, I wanted to hear about the genesis and growth of Global Underground.

Andy told me that Global Underground started off as a mixtape series. He said that it was a really simple idea…they would record the amazing performances being given by DJs and then sell the tapes to people. (This was around 1994 and 1995.) One fascinating point he made was that his idea wasn’t entirely new. Rock bands had been doing something similar for years – recording and selling performances. The idea just hadn’t been adapted to the electronic music industry.

Eventually, Andy said things really started taking off…so much so, that he had to "go legit." His next move was to acquire the necessary licensing rights and to put together a legitimate CD release – Oakenfold’s New York City CDs! Things were good, but Andy said they really hit their stride with the fourth series release, Oakenfold’s Oslo CDs. That apparently was the breakthrough release. From there, the rest is history…Global Underground went on to do releases with Danny Tenaglia, Sasha, Digweed, Darren Emerson, Nick Warren, Deep Dish, and more.

Of course, I couldn’t resist asking Andy which Global Underground releases were his favorites, and he said Danny Tenaglia’s Athens release and Sasha’s Ibiza release. He said the latter was truly reflectie of the parties they’d had and that they were amazing! …somehow I find that easy to believe.

I also asked Andy for his thoughts concerning the digital music revolution, and he said he fully embraced it. He told me, "you can’t stop change."

I pushed Andy a little bit too…because Global Underground has a habit of tapping the same people to do multiple releases, instead of getting new mixes from different people. Andy told me this has been a deliberate practice because not all DJs know how to put together a great album, which is what Global Underground requires.

To wrap up my chat with Andy, I asked what he would say to the RV community if he could only say one thing. He told me his statement would be, "Don’t steal music!"

All in all, it was really interesting chatting with Andy. Of course, when we were finished, I proceeded to have a great night! …meeting new people and hearing solid tunes on a proper system

Eddie B

Tags: Andy Horsfield, Electronic Music, Global Underground