Family members: Andrei Sandu

I met Andrei Sandu  for a chat. Balearic Breakfast's family member, Lucky Cloud's staff member, and now the author of a new book, let's find out his musical stories!

---

1) Hi Andrei! It's such a pleasure to have you here with us! You've been a pretty busy guy lately since you self-published your first book, "Mates Crates' - 100 Stories Behind the Songs" in conjunction with Melodic Distraction, a Liverpool-based internet radio station, online magazine and events programmer. How did the whole project come about?

  Hi Artur, thanks so much for inviting me to chat! The journey began when I was introduced to the Melodic team by my university friend Toby. I soon wrote a few articles on of dance music pioneers including David Mancuso and Patrick Cowley.

I’d come to funk, soul and disco music via the samples so commonly used in house music, so quickly became interested in the stories behind those connections. I would often look into this after buying records, and started wanting to write about the more interesting discoveries. After drafting a few of these short columns, I approached Melodic in May 2019 with the idea and they were incredibly supportive.

In January 2020, the Mates’ Crates column evolved into a radio show too. Especially during the COVID lockdowns, writing and recording was a very welcome creative outlet. By September 2023, I decided to pull the 100 columns together into something tangible!

2) Writing a book about songs and how they were written and composed is quite challenging (finding relevant information can take hours for one song—and I know something about it, laughs!). I don't even dare speak here about finding an editor, laughs! How did you work, on the editorial side, on the book, and which part of the editorial process was the toughest, according to you?

The process of choosing records for the columns was very driven by the stories. Some of those stories are about the music – history, samples, remixes, collaborations – others are much more personal, about my own journey of music discovery. I only discovered DJ Gilla’s Long Player zines after I’d finished pulling my book together, but it brought me a lot of joy that I’m not the only one to write about music in this way.

  When I decided to pull together the book, the content had already been written over the years of the column, working with the fantastic editors at Melodic Distraction. I did the layout, design further editing and proofreading myself and really underestimated how long that would take, but really enjoyed the process. It was interesting to look back on the collection as a whole. There are definitely recurring themes and characters – the likes of George Benson, Lamont Dozier and Patrick Adams amongst them! Together, the stories cover many corners of the music that I love.

3) I find it heartwarming that radio hosts, DJs, and music aficionados (if I can put it that way) feel the need to share their passion for music and vinyl by writing books. Words link everything together, creating a circle. When used proficiently, words can also become music and help share feelings towards the songs we listen to... How much is it important for you to "share the love"? It's a kind of "Balearic attitude", if you see what I mean (laughs)!

I chose the name “Mates’ Crates” as the project has always been about sharing stories about record digging with friends. When I was first thinking about the book, I spoke to Colleen about the process behind her Classic Albums by Women. Her advice (excellent, as usual) was to think carefully about what I wanted from the project, which led me to self-publish as a fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders and Music Venue Trust.

I did a lot of the editing over Christmas last year, when SoundCloud released its ‘musical horoscopes’. For Virgos like me (and like Colleen!) it said, “You don’t have to write a Pitchfork review for every record you hear, you can just listen to music!”. Maybe there’s something to astrology after all… But I think that DJing is (or should be!) about a love of sharing music, and this project is an extension of that.

Writing the columns also reminded me of the effect that music has had on me, and I wanted to share those experiences too. I would often reflect on the ‘real reasons’ why people collect records, which for me is about personal connections and the human interactions often involved in physically searching for music.

4) You were featured in Balearic Breakfast's 183rd episode. You shared some true gems, including several covers that blew us away. How did you approach creating your "Balearic Breakfast" radio show? Could you tell me what you wanted to convey through the selected songs? 

  Colleen very kindly invited me to record the mix to promote the book, so it made sense to showcase records that I’ve written about. I found it hard enough choosing from those hundred options, so I was glad to have at least some constraints!

Overall, I wanted the mix to highlight cover the range of genres in the book – from disco, funk and soul to Latin, Arabic and Japanese City Pop – and highlight the cultural crossovers that I find so fascinating, while keeping that Balearic vibe.

  There are a few records in there particularly special to me. Carly Simon’s “Tranquilo (Melt My Heart) is the namesake of a party I’ve been running with some friends for a few years. We can’t wait to return to the Love Dancin’ tent at We Out Here Festival this year. And I’ve been obsessed with “Tu És A Que Eu Quero” by José Pinhal for years, so it was great to meet the guys behind Lusofonia Record Club and support their mission to share Portugese-language music.

5) A radio host, a DJ and now a writer, you're also a member of the London Loft Party (launched in 2001, following the issue of the Nuphonic compilations on which Colleen and David worked together). How did that part of your journey start? How did you meet Colleen and the crew? Please tell us more about that part of your musical journey!

I first met Colleen at a Boiler Room a few months after I’d started writing the Mates’ Crates column. She closed her set with Lamont Dozier, who I’d written about that week, leading to the first of many conversations about musical synchronicity!

I then attended the launch of the Classic Albums by Women book and helped out at the next London Loft party. I was so happy to join the wonderful team, and so disappointed when the pandemic then paused things for a while. I tuned in to Colleen on Worldwide FM then got back to the Loft Parties, so it feels beautifully full-circle to be sharing my book on Balearic Breakfast!

I’ve been blown away by the response so far, with support from the likes of Colleen, Greg Wilson, DJ Gilla and Andrew Ashong. Best of all, it has raised over £1,000 for the charities so far. You can grab a copy of the book on Bandcamp. I hope you enjoy it!