Interview with EL-TONE (10.August 2006)

IDP: Hello El-Tone! For those who don't know you, can you tell us about yourself, please?

EL-TONE: Hi IDP! My real name is Roland Denk, I'm 25 years old and I live in Lower Austria in a small city next to Krems/Danube. I've been interested in music since I was a young boy. At the age of about 14 I discovered electronic music and got my first keyboard. Together with a friend we tried to copy songs that were popular at this time, with very simple pc & audio equipment. In 2002 during a practise at a company I become acquainted with Christian Trenk (Boogie) who made the Favoritalia compilation. He listened to some of my musical ideas I realized so far and told me that he knows a nice label called "ARC-Records" and that I should try it there. In spring 2003, together with my vocalist Pamela Hofbauer (later Deep.Spirit), I drove to the ARC-Studio and the first song "The Power Of Love" was developed which immediately could be released on the "Super Austria VOL. 4" compilation. The project EL-TONE was born!

IDP: What music styles are you listening to other than what you produce?

EL-TONE: Because I love music in general, I listen to nearly every style which has a good melody and/or a good beat, like: Pop, Rock, Metal, (Electronic)-Punk. But please no house and hip-hop :->

IDP: Who is/are you favorite artist(s)?

EL-TONE: Gigi D'Agostino, DJ Lhasa, Luca Zeta, Floorfilla, Gabry Ponte, Roberto Molinaro, Provenzano DJ, Prezioso & Marvin, Indietro, DJ E-Maxx aka Klubbhoppers, Taylor & Flow aka Global Deejays, DJ Goldfinger, Marc Korn, Deepforces, Sylver, The Prodigy and many, many more...

IDP: What do you think is the future for Italo Dance music?

EL-TONE: I know that the situation for Italo Dance is not the best at the moment, sales went back radically, a lot of former Italo Dance producers change to house, etc. But there are still MANY lovers and MANY good producers andnewcomers of Italo style all around the world and so the answer to this question is clearly for me: (Italo)-Dance will always be there, the house (and hip-hop!) will not survive!!

IDP: What do you like to do on your spare time?

EL-TONE: I love to go out with my friends, cinema, watching TV, reading music/computer magazines and books, going on holiday or just relax in bed

IDP: What are your plans for the future?

EL-TONE: Find a girl, settle down, *lol* Yes but there are other plans as well haha, like this one: to get a really good and well known producer (who doesn't want that?!) *g*

IDP: What news can you reveal for us about your future productions?

EL-TONE: First we need to complete and release the "With Or Without You" CDM, and then, yes, I really can't say much about future productions, but they definitely will come

IDP: What do you think about our site (italodanceportal.com)?

EL-TONE: Yeah, I really like the site: Great design, very nice people, interesting news, forum, artist database without annoying advertisement (Pop-Ups, etc.), just everything you need

IDP: Thanks for the Interview, El-Tone! Is there anything else you want to tell our community?

EL-TONE: Yes, first big thanx to IDP for the interview too and i'm looking forward to ongoing discussions and meeting new people @ IDP