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Andreas Dimitriadis, aka And.Id is at home in Thessaloniki, on a brief holiday from the bitter Northern European winter. In the space of a few years the young producer's career that has grown by leaps, taking him on a trajectory from Greece to Germany as labels like Thinner, Ware and most recently Mobilee clamoured for his music. A year ago, Andreas decided to take the leap: "I got to a point where moving to Berlin was the only way to go," he explains.

There are striking contrasts between cold, crisply engineered Berlin and ancient, sunny Thessaloniki sprawled on the shore of the Aegean Sea. Founded more than two thousand years ago, Thessaloniki is Greece's second-largest city, after Athens, and - like Ibiza - has been shaped by a melange of cultures including Ottoman, Muslim and Jewish. What it shares with Berlin is a sense of modernity despite its age. Thessaloniki was occupied in World War II, and subsequently suffered a massive earthquake, so has largely been rebuilt, with ancient monuments and modern architecture rubbing and youthful creativity jostling with tradition.

One of Thessaloniki's traditions is a long-running international jazz festival. Every year Andreas' dad would buy two tickets and father and son would go soak up music from around the world. His dad worked for an insurance company, but music was always a central part of his life - going to concerts, playing the guitar, collecting instruments. Little wonder his son developed a taste for Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, or that he dropped out of music school at 16 to set about learning his own way. Andreas jokes that he quit to avoid doing homework but, if anything, he worked harder on his own: playing trumpet and keyboards, experimenting with recording, scouring the internet and reading everything he could find about music production. He also delved into the surprisingly robust 90s dance scene in Thessaloniki, educating himself in music by hanging out at clubs and illegal parties, discovering artists like Underworld and Orbital.

Unfortunately, he says, changing times haven't been kind to the Greek electronic scene. Though there are still small clubs supporting underground music and festivals like Reworks (which he helps organise) and Synch, many Greece's coolest underground artists, like Alex Celler, Echonomist, Kreon and Lemos, Mihalis Safras, Argy, GummiHz, Mr. Statik and Osunlade, have left to pursue their careers elsewhere. Only Kreon and Lemos are based in Athens and, as Andreas points out: "Athens is connected to Europe. If I wanted to go from Thessaloniki to a gig in Liverpool it would take me three flights each way, and cost hundreds of euros. It's hard for me, and expensive for promoters."

As a result he's joined the electronic melting pot in Berlin, sharing airspace and ideas with the polyglot mix of producers and DJs that make it the electronic music capital of the world. By contrast, the music scene in Thessaloniki is dominated by pop and traditional music, with very little space for dance. Andreas loves Greece and says he wouldn't hesitate to go back if there were the infrastructure to support his career. But there isn't. And that's the Catch-22: the local scene is too small to support its best artists, who are moving to other parts of Europe. So even though they are thriving, and having international success, it isn't directly feeding back into Greece. As a result, more young talent has to look outside Greece for its opportunities. Andreas knows this well as one of the turning points in his career was gaining a place at the Red Bull Music Academy. "I thought it would be impossible to get a place," he says, but - to his delight - he did, and travelled to Cape Town, South Africa for the Academy. "It was one of the best moments of my life," he grins, "The best thing is meeting people from all over the world, you connect, talk, get experience of different cultures - it was amazing."

The following year, Andreas performed at Sonar, with the RBMA. Then he met mobilee boss Anja Schneider and the stage was set for the next act, as they struck up a friendship and she started giving him feedback on his production. It wasn't long before she asked to release his records. Now, Andreas has followed fellow Greek star GummiHz in mixing volume four of the Mobilee Back2Back compilations. And is impatient to set off on the B2B tour "I love performing for different crowds," he explains with a smile.

Berlin has been a great move for Andreas, and he exudes enthusiasm for life in a new country. But the trade off is everything he misses about Greece. It begs the question: is electronic music in danger of becoming too homogenised? The beauty of music is that it is a universal language and whether people gather at jazz festivals, clubs, or illegal raves, it provides a common ground and a way to communicate. However, the other side of that coin is that music grows from each artist's unique experiences and histories. In the rush to enjoy the global, communal aspect of dance music it is important to not forget the value of what is local and personal, because it is those nuances that create riches and variety. It isn't just artists who have a responsibility to support diversity, though, it is the audience. "People need to be aware of new music," Andreas says. "Dig in and search for good music, don't just follow trends."

Back To Back Vol. 4 CD1 - mobilee compiled by And.Id 01. And.Id - She Was There – EXCLUSIVE TRACK 02. GummiHz - Sleepless Nights 03. Hector - Got Fringe 04. Marcin Czubala - Day 1 05. Anja Schneider & Lee Van Dowski - Deseo 06. Dan Curtin - Sandwalk 07. Sebo K - Spirits 08. And.id - Ephoria 09. Pan-Pot - Confronted 10. Exercise One - No News Today feat. Argenis Brito CD2 - mobilee recomposed by And.Id & B.A.N.D. and.id & b.a.n.d. versions 01. Sebo K - Horizons (And.Id & B.A.N.D. Version) 02. Dan Curtin - Other (And.Id & B.A.N.D. Version) 03. GummiHz - Love Call (And.Id & B.A.N.D. Version) 04. Anja Schneider & Sebo K - Rancho Relaxo (And.Id & B.A.N.D. Version) 05. And.Id - First Talk (And.Id & B.A.N.D. Version) 06. Pan-Pot feat. Vincenzo - Faces (And.Id & B.A.N.D. Version) the original versions 07. Sebo K - Horizons (Original) 08. Dan Curtin - Other (Original) 09. GummiHz - Love Call (Original) 10. Anja Schneider & Sebo K - Rancho Relaxo (Original) 11. And.Id - First Talk (Original) 12. Pan-Pot feat. Vincenzo - Faces (Original)

BACK TO BACK TOUR
February 2010
12.02.10 Régine Club / Paris / FR w/ Hector
13.02.10 Blogos Club / Bologna / IT w/ Miss Jools
19.02.10 Harry Klein / München / DE w/ Hector
20.02.10 Alter Ego / Verona / IT w/ Anja Schneider
27.02.10 Mad Club / Lausanne / CH w/ Anja Schneider
March 2010
20.03.10 Fuse / Brussels / BE w/ Anja Schneider
27.03.10 Basel City Studios / Basel / CH w/ Miss Jools
April 2010
04.04.10 mUmU / Liverpool / UK w/ Hector
17.04.10 Romy S / Stuttgart / DE w/ Ralf Kollmann
23.04.10 Studio 80 / Amsterdam / NL w/ Sebo K
24.04.10 Suxul / Ingolstadt / DE w/ Martin Landsky
30.04.10 Panorama / Bar / Berlin / DE w/ AS, DC, PP
mobilee-records.de | www.myspace.com/andidnon