Andre Zimmer Discusses Genre-Blurring House Music and the Inspiration Behind His New EP
Andre Zimmer proves that house music can be both deeply personal and unapologetically global. Anchored in the familiar vibe of 90’s tech house yet seamlessly weaving influences from UKG, jungle, and speed garage, his Wait A Minute EP—released on Berlin’s forward-thinking label SEVEN—cements his reputation as a selector blending nostalgic rave energy with a fresh, modern edge. Beyond the beats, it’s his commitment to collaborative artistry and pushing underground music’s boundaries that makes him a standout, with Wait A Minute capturing the heart of SEVEN’s ethos: inclusive, boundary-blurring, and made for the dance floor. I had the chance to catch up with Andre to talk about how Toronto’s cultural diversity shapes his sound, the creative freedom behind his Wait A Minute EP, and the surreal moments of bringing his music to dance floors around the world.
You’re based in Toronto. What do you love about that city?
To be honest, what I love the most about Toronto is the fact that it’s so culturally diverse. My inspiration and style when it comes to DJ sets and productions has become pieces of different eras within electronic music, as well as different cultures.
I do not feel as though there is a scene here that I have to mold myself into, or work towards fitting into. There’s so many unique artists here in Toronto that all do their own thing and it’s really quite nice to live somewhere where I feel like I can have my own personal identity and not think about how it fits into the local scene.
Credit: Carter Cummins
You’re promoting your latest release, the Wait A Minute EP. What does it represent for you at this point in your life/career?
This EP is to me, taking a step away from the commercialized scene I’ve grown up in. Here in Toronto, it seems as though most of the acts coming through are acts that have already broken into a wider, more commercial scene in dance music.
This EP is a true exploration of sounds that I’ve been discovering over the past few years, sounds that have shaped and inspired me as an artist. It’s not meant to do big streaming numbers, or land in big editorial playlists, but rather to serve as club tools for DJ sets, or to appeal to those who dig deep in record bins for more obscure, hard hitting cuts that don’t necessarily need to be classified by genre or movements in the current scene.
The production on this EP isn’t super fancy, it’s just me in the studio having fun and jamming, re-sampling old hardware synths and fusing together little bits and pieces of what I think is fun and energetic to play and hear on a dancefloor.
What advice would you give yourself if you were starting today? Or what advice would give to a young musician or DJ starting today?
If I could look back and see where I am at today, I would tell myself “it’s not that deep”. I’ve noticed so many artists that I used to look up to are just making music simply to appeal to a wide audience, which ultimately defeats the whole purpose of making music in my opinion.
It’s really easy to get caught up in worrying about having a sound that fits a particular label, sure, it makes it much easier to sign a record when it has an identity that fits a specific branding or artist, but it also makes it less unique to you at that point. It’s so much more exciting when you’re making music that is simply to please yourself - no expectations as to where it’s going to be signed, or how it’s going to be received.
Credit: Mara Menzel
What would be your desert island plugins or hardware gear?
Honestly, the more time I spend producing, the more I realize that simplicity is what creates the most powerful music. When I first started producing, I would download synth plugins and buy sample packs that I felt would improve my sound. Now I typically just go to a studio and sample as much as I can from any piece of gear I can get my hands on.
I have sampled a 909 drum machine, and I use one shots from folders I’ve made to write drum patterns, this is also the case with vinyl. I’ve spent so many hours just snipping pieces of records where I can hear an isolated instrument; such as a snare drum from an old funk record, or a crunchy synth hit from a ‘90s house tune.
If I were stuck on a desert island, all I would need is Ableton and something to record sounds with - I’ve literally made drum hits from random noises I hear that satisfy my ears. I don’t think it’s as much about what you have, but more so about what you do with it. I’m not that much into sound design, my attention span is far too short to spend hours on a synthesizer.
Sure, it can be nice to just open a synth and mess around until you have something you like, but at the same time, I think it’s more important for myself to limit what I have in the first place and EQ it, saturate it, flip it, freeze it, flip it again, put delay on it, etc. until it’s completely unidentifiable from the initial sound it started as - that’s how I find the coolest elements in my track come to life.
What do you have coming up in the next few months?
I’m going on an Asia tour in March, which is really really exciting for me because I’ll get to see such a different scene than what I’m used to and have the opportunity to play some of the clubs I visited a few years back when travelling that really helped me shape my sound and inspirations during an early time in my career.
There’s one club specifically in Bali, called Luigis - this place just goes absolutely mental on Monday nights. This was one of my first experiences hearing ravey piano tracks and speed garage and breakbeats all fused together into high energy sets and I left that place just absolutely soaked in sweat with the biggest smile on my face.
Being invited to now play that exact party is really full circle for me. I’ve also got so many releases coming out this year, some of them are on my label Big Trouble (which also has a stacked release schedule with insane artists) and some of them are on labels I’ve wanted to sign with for years - so I’m really excited to get all these tracks out that really showcase a different side of me that my current discography doesn’t show at the moment.
Furthermore, I’m just excited to travel a lot more, and have music that I’m proud of seeing the light of day.
Find Andre Zimmer Online
Instagram | Soundcloud | Bandcamp | Spotify
Cover credit: Boris Halas
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