A Moment with Hernan Cattaneo

Hernan Cattaneo is one of the respective figure in underground scene. Talking with him is an opportunity that we can’t missed. We sat down after his energetic performance at Jenja Club Jakarta.

During his second time playing at Jenja Jakarta, we noticed a different style in his performance. Hernan admitted that last year, he played a bit House. This time he played Progressive and a bit darker tune. The first hour he tried to get the groove with the crowd. “I called it lock the room,” he said. Turns out, people responded very well.
 
With the growing popularity of Techno and Progressive scene in Jakarta, Hernan remembered how different it was 15 years ago when he came for the first time to Indonesia. “Probably they need more exposure for this kind of music,” said Hernan.
 
For that, Hernan gives big credit to Jenja Jakarta for doing a good job pushing the scene. One of the factor is Jenja’s resident. Having traveled to numerous countries to perform, he found how people enjoying the music and other were not too enjoying it. “Most of the time, it was because the DJ didn’t play the right stuff,” he said.
 
That kind of situation is never happened for Jenja Jakarta. According to Hernan, all Jenja’s residents really have the top quality. “International DJ come with certain amount of time, but the local (resident DJ) are the one that expose the music to the crowd every week,” said Hernan. He continued by complimented Angga and Alex who took the job as resident that night.
 
Looking back to his career, Hernan started at 12 years old. “When I was started, it was a completely different world. Not only the music scene, but the whole world was different!” said Hernan. Over the time, the technology also evolving. Back then, a DJ started playing with vinyl and now almost everybody playing with a flash drive.
 
“One thing that never change is your music identity. That will take you everywhere,” said Hernan. Back then, only few people decided to be a DJ. Now, millions of people can be a DJ, thanks to the exposure of internet.
 
Every big DJ in the world has certain sound that makes them unique. “Trends change every year. If you follow it, you won’t be a star. Nobody is going to take you seriously. Musical identity is important because it’s what you do best,” said Hernan.
 
To conclude our interview, we asked 3 words that describe Hernan Cattaneo. “Passion. Hard work. Little talent,” said Hernan with big smile. We wish Hernan a good luck in the future!