Staying focused on electronic music - in conversation with Tommy Countach
Illés HalászWelcome Tommy and thank you for the opportunity!
It was great to meet at Superbooth 2025, but now we finally have the time to have a proper chat, so let's dig in!
In your own words, you're a music producer, live performer, and songwriter. That is a lot of ground to cover. How does this translate to your everyday life?
Mainly, I work in all genres of electronic music, ranging from ambient to hard techno. Mostly, I work in the background for other artists and singers, but I also have my own solo project.
I have a weak spot for synthesizers, and I guess most people know me as a synth nerd, and that's quite right. I love playing and doing sound design. I get a lot of inquiries about teaching and doing courses, but at the moment I enjoy production a lot and have plenty of work there, so that might come in the near future.
Teaching synthesis sounds like such a daunting task. How would you even build up the system?
It's actually very straightforward; there are about 5-6 most important forms of synthesis that also share a lot of components. That will cover the basics. Knowing that, you can allocate any sound accordingly and break it down into its components. Digging deeper, you can also look into layering, modular, and drum sounds.
Tell us about your musical roots and upbringing, what brought you to the audio field?
I always wanted to become a drummer, but understandably my parents didn't want that. So eventually they got me a keyboard and told me this had drum sounds as well. It wasn't so bad after all, so I started to take keyboard and piano lessons as a kid. I had two really great keyboard teachers: one played keytar in an Austrian folk band; the other ran a studio and was a music producer. So I guess that affected me quite a bit. Before I got my first synthesizer, I got an '80s Yamaha KX5 keytar imported from Japan. They were super rare, and you could get them only used in the 2000s.
Back then, we had a punk band with some hometown friends. When we recorded our first demos in a nearby studio, I found the recordings so terrible that I thought I can do this better (albeit we were just not very great musicians). So I started to educate myself in that field and eventually started studying audio engineering in Vienna.
During my studies in 2015, I moved to Berlin. I was looking for a band online and got in contact with Ivan (Ivan Beres, one of the owners of Buso Audio). Musically, it didn't really match at the beginning, but we have kind of the same neurodivergence, so we became good friends. At that time, he was playing with Captain Hollywood Project and brought me in as keyboardist/keytarist, which was one of the greatest episodes in my life so far. Doing that, I learned probably more than during my studies and really fell in love with '80s and '90s music. When they retired, I heavily focused on becoming a producer and touring musician myself.
How long was this period? Any crazy tour stories to share?
I played with them from 2016 until their very last gig in 2024. One of the most outstanding gigs was probably New Year's Eve at Brandenburg Gate with half a million people in front of the stage.
What was very outstanding was when we played 4 shows in three days and three different countries, but only two nights of sleep. We went from Germany to Denmark and Poland. The first two gigs were easy, but between traveling, we weren't able to sleep. We had just one hour to freshen up in the hotel before we had to catch the plane again. I felt super shitty the next day and blacked out when we went up the stairs to the stage of the last show. Luckily, our guitarist just pushed me over the last two steps. I don't really remember anything, just that I woke up hearing the crowd cheering. That must have got my adrenaline kicking in so hard that I woke up again.
I really admire Tony (Captain Hollywood). He was well in his late '50s back then, but still managed it easily. He even stayed awake during the flight and all the traveling. To me, he is not only inspiring as a musician, but his lifestyle—being super disciplined, healthy, and sporty throughout his whole life—is also inspiring.
After disbanding, what came next to you, how did becoming a pro producer and touring musician turn out?
To be honest, I feel like I'm still working on that. Luckily, I had a few gigs last year that paid really well. Now I'm building upon that. Most of my money I make from producing, but I'm trying to become a touring musician again. I think it's very important to have differing income sources as a freelancer, especially with AI on the rise.
You're well versed in, and have played a lot of different styles. What are the genres that are close to you?
I grew up listening to punk, metal, and alternative. Back then, as a keyboardist, I was always the weird kid throwing in synth leads on metal songs. Later, I eventually also learned guitar.
To this day, I still very much like to listen to rock and metal, especially '80s stuff. At first, I tried to become an engineer in that field, but early on I discovered my severe lack of talent. Working with acoustic instruments is a totally different ball game. So I focused more on electronic music, which came more naturally, and I was able to build on my skills as a keyboardist.
Let's stop there for a moment! I think I get what you're saying here, but could you expand on that? What was lacking that made engineering acoustic instruments hard and makes it easier to engineer electronic music?
For me, it is just a very different task and skillset. It is almost like being talented or more interested in playing piano, but not so much in guitar. A huge difference comes from arranging and mixing. When you work with acoustic instruments, they are mostly recorded through a microphone and are very dynamic. Depending on the style of music, you need to control and maybe edit that. Not only in volume, but also in expression, timing, etc.—all the human elements.
While synthesizers, of course, can be dynamic too, it is much easier to control because you have MIDI and line outs, no room response, less variation in timing and tuning. Expression comes more from sound design and production.
Nowadays, it's shifted even more with sample libraries and AI. I often don't even need compressors anymore because everything is already compressed. Same with equalizers: a lot of samples are already very well balanced. However, only relying on that will often make your song very one-dimensional and stiff, so I love to blend in a few imperfect and human sources.
Then there is the arrangement side. I feel in rock and metal, I was mostly making room for elements; that means a lot of cutting, panning, and working with depth, because distorted guitars are so broad frequency-wise. In electronic music, however, I do very much the opposite. You rather tend to layer stuff and make it bigger and more dense.
When you're more of a keyboard player, I think you're by definition drawn to retro electronic music, trance, and EDM, as it builds more on melodic structures and arrangements. When I got better at sound design and producing, though, I also started to like techno, alt-pop, and hyperpop, as it has more space for unique and experimental sounds and structures.
Now I feel confident in doing most styles of electronic music, and I also want to keep my focus there for now.
Is the style you're making the same as you listen to in your free time?
I really like electronic music when I go partying, but at home not so much. I prefer glam rock, emo, pop punk, metalcore, sometimes synthwave.
Unfortunately, I don't listen to a lot of music in my free time. Usually, I work about 12-14 hours a day and enjoy some silence after to reset my ears. I love going to concerts every once in a while, though.
What are the projects you're most proud of?
Although I've been doing music since I was a kid, I still feel like a rookie in the business. I got the chance to work with up-and-coming techno duo Parkerstrange in Ibiza over the last 3 years, which was a great experience and really got me into producing hard techno.
Also, I have a band with my girlfriend called 'Lamborghini Midnight.' She pushes me to the absolute limits of what I am capable of, more than any client would ever do. She is an amazing video director and basically just needs me to do the music for her video ideas. We have songs with more than 200 tracks, hundreds of vocal layers with basically a whole movie sound design and score accompanying a pop song.
What's with the recent ones, what are you working on these days?
Recently, I started to work with dancer and drag queen Pandora Nox. She won Drag Race Germany, but above everything, she is a world-class dancer and performer. So naturally, her next step is to have her own music, and I am super happy to be part of that journey.
Let's talk equipment! You have a long history with Buso Audio products...
My first desk was a Producer 61 that I got in 2016. I really loved it and would have kept it, but recently I moved into a smaller studio, and I had to rearrange everything. 
Now I have an Artist Rise 88, which is amazing. Being a keyboard player, I have the drawer for my favorite synth always within reach, and my most needed rack gear fits perfectly in the shelves. Monitor controller in the middle and audio/MIDI interface on the sides.
Now that I am in my '30s, it is quite a big deal to be able to stand up when working long hours. Being healthy is super important because I want to do my job for many more years to come. The height adjustability of the new Artist Rise desks helps greatly with that.
You've been a Buso family member for such a long time, tested a lot of different models. How do you see our models developing through the years?
The first time I got in touch with Buso Audio was in 2016, and the year after, I joined them at Superbooth for the first time. During that short period of time, I think you guys made a huge step in your product design and functionality.
The introduction of the height-adjustable desks was groundbreaking, and now bringing it to more and more designs is awesome. This year I really liked the form factor of the Producer 3 Rise Pro. Especially when you work with outboard effects, this is amazing and very ergonomic. I think it's especially useful for mixing or mastering studios, or for people who like to use their rack synths.
Which Buso products do you use these days?
I am a big synth nerd and collector, so apart from my Artist Rise 88, I also have a Synthdock 88. Unlike most other keyboard stands, this is more a piece of furniture that can hold your synths and gear. Nowadays, machines get smaller and smaller, but the Synthdock can take desktop synths, drum machines, as well as big workstations, and it always looks clean and tidy. The drawer is a big plus, so you can store all your manuals close at hand.
Currently, I am planning to rent a second studio space, and I really want to get the Modular Rise there. At the moment, I have my modular gear spread all over my studio, but I would really like to have it all together in one place. With the height-adjustable legs, it's very ergonomic as well; for example, to program while seated and to stand up to perform.
Turning a little bit back to the music, who influenced you and your art?
As a kid, my dad showed me a lot of his favorite jazz albums. What stood out to me was Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. At their time, they were at the forefront of electronic music and really pushed the boundaries. Apart from that, I was always interested in heavier styles of music, and that somewhat translated into what I do now with electronic music, especially in the harder styles of techno.
As mentioned before, my time as keyboardist at Captain Hollywood Project was also a big influence. In general, the early days of dance music were very influential, as people worked with hardware drum machines and synthesizers. That was and still is very fascinating to me.
Only recently, I discovered the musical genius behind Phil Collins. Sure, I always liked his songs, but if you dig deeper, you can find the true mastery in his art. The songwriting and the lyrics are astonishing and so well put together. He understands how to have these crazy chord progressions and spaced-out sounds and puts them in a pop music context. Also, the variety of what he did, starting with Genesis, is fascinating.
Is there any band, in your opinion, these days that carries the torch of prog rock?
Last year, I was very lucky to attend a masterclass hosted by Chromeo. In my opinion, they do a fantastic job in exactly that. It is not very obvious, but if you look into their songwriting, you will recognize their unconventional approach to writing music while still being very pop.
Moreover, I think the focus of being prog shifted a bit towards sound design and production styles. In the '70s and '80s, you had many prog rock songs in the charts. Nowadays, I hear progressive elements more in other genres like Future Bass, Techno, or Dubstep in the 2000s.
To get back to your question, unfortunately, I am not very familiar with modern prog rock bands, so I am probably not too qualified to answer this.
What about the audio world? Who influenced you in that regard?
Three names come to mind:
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I really like everything Jack Antonoff is doing. I was a Bleachers fan from very early on and still admire pretty much everything he is putting out. He is probably the most successful pop producer at the moment, and there is a reason for that. He understands how to craft this perfect balance of modern and retro, synthesized and organic, pop, and at the same time, artsy music.
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When I was in my early '20s, I was a big fan of emo and scene music, and when I started music production myself, I was interested in who made these records. One name that was always in the credits of my favorite songs was Ian Kirkpatrick. A few years later, he had huge success in mainstream pop. What I love about his productions is that you often find this huge wall of synth sounds, but it's never cluttered and always super smartly arranged. His songs were blueprints for a lot of my productions. I tried a lot at copying his style and learned a lot from analyzing his productions.
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As mentioned, there is a big place in my heart for overproduced, cold '80s pop music, and in my opinion, nobody can do this better than Michael Cretu. Most people will probably know him for Enigma in the '90s.
When it comes to mixing/mastering, how's the gear situation looking in that regard?
I like to use hardware for my sound sources; once it's recorded in the computer, it rather slows me down and interrupts my workflow. I travel a lot, so I like to have everything inside my laptop.
When recording, I like to use my synths and outboard effects. I have a few guitar pedals I like and hook up to my keyboards; sometimes I also route it through the modular to get some crazy results. Also, I very often use the Roland MX-1 mixer that I have 3 of in my studio. They are digital and don't really have a sound, but I like the built-in effects very much. It has effect sequencers, so you can do glitchy stuff, which is fun to do with hardware.
It may sound obvious, but the Artist Rise has greatly optimized my workflow. Usually, when I am in the writing process, I work standing, playing with my synthesizers or other instruments. Before I got my height-adjustable desk, I always went from standing at my synth racks to sitting at the computer in rotation. Now I can just elevate my desk to the height I need and run around my studio to play and record without any interruption.
I like to ask our interview guests for their thoughts on the analog vs. digital debate. It could be an obvious question, but I'm still curious where you stand on that.
I really like analog, but I also really like digital. It is just two different sounds that often go well together. I love the late '80s cold, digitally sounding era with stiff MIDI-sequenced phrases, early digital effects with lots of aliasing, FM synths, or early lo-fi sampling synths. It has a super interesting sound texture that I often replicate with my digital gear.
At the same time, I like analog, especially in contrast to digital. That way, I can get more depth and variety in a production than, for example, only working in the analog realm.
Tommy, thank you so much for taking the time! It is my pleasure to ask you to contribute one song to our Buso playlist!
I will go with my latest release, 'Mess in my head' !