Cristina Tașnic is an independent electronic music producer whose work moves freely across bass music, footwork, hip-hop, minimal techno, electronica and soundtrack territory. Her approach is strongly rooted in experimentation: unusual samples, field recordings, foley sounds, deep subs, retro synths and unexpected rhythmic ideas often become the raw material for tracks that resist being placed neatly inside one genre. From early club experiences and breakdancing to underground scenes in Chicago, her musical path has always been shaped by curiosity, movement and the search for new sonic spaces. Here is the Xenon Magazine top-ten-questions interview with Cristina Tașnic. 
Xenon Magazine: When did music production stop being something you simply enjoyed and become something you genuinely felt you needed to pursue?
Cristina Tașnic: For me, joy and the urge to make music are woven together. Each new experience fuelled my confidence, which in turn nudged me to aim higher. Playing with sound feels like stepping through a secret door to happiness, a place I think we all long to reach. There was never a clear turning point, just a natural, evolving journey of growing skills and deepening drive.
Xenon Magazine: How would you describe your sound to someone discovering your music for the first time, and which elements do you feel have become part of your artistic signature?
Cristina Tașnic: Since my sound experiments are all over the map, I turned to a friend for help describing my music. His words just clicked — they really capture my vibe. “Interwoven 808s with deep subs and lush retro synths. Her cross-genre work reflects an eclectic mind that rubber-stamps every track with a sliver of eccentricity.” Put simply, my music lives in the worlds of electronic, bass, footwork, hip-hop, minimal techno, electronica and remixes of classic R&B, plus a few soundtracks. I always try to weave in a sense of story. For me, music is a cosy shelter when life gets stormy. As a kid, I was making my own compilations and liked to sing. I was really fond of Missy Elliott, George Michael — my first and only musical crush — Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, Dr. Dre, Members of Mayday, Burial and the unmatched Prodigy. As a teen, I picked up breakdancing and became a club regular at just 14. Those nights on the dance floor shaped my taste. Xenon Magazine: When you begin a new track, what usually comes first for you: a melody, a rhythm, a particular sound, an emotion, or simply the urge to experiment? Cristina Tașnic: Usually, it all starts with a sound or rhythm that grabs me. I’ll often capture quick audio snippets of my own voice or interesting sounds on my phone, later transforming them into melodies, lyrics or beats. If anyone ever finds my phone, they’re in for quite the sonic surprise 🙂 I love weaving in unusual samples, especially foley or ambient sounds, like pens scribbling, footsteps echoing, doors creaking, water pouring or even the snap of a punch. One of my tracks is built entirely from karate punches as percussion. It was a fun project! Xenon Magazine: Your music reaches listeners through SoundCloud, a platform strongly associated with discovery and independent creativity. How important has SoundCloud been in shaping your journey as a producer? Cristina Tașnic: Back in 2010, SoundCloud was a lifeline for indie artists like me. It was a place to connect, collaborate and get discovered by underground labels. Sadly, the platform has changed a lot. Now big labels with hefty promo budgets rule the scene, and the spirit of discovery feels different. The algorithm changed dramatically, the subscription fee went up and, honestly, the benefit isn’t worth the cost. It’s also full of bots and spammers, and your music doesn’t reach the right audience unless you promote it heavily. I have a gazillion unpublished projects on my hard drive. Xenon Magazine: Are there particular tracks of yours that you feel represent you especially well as an artist? Cristina Tașnic: these tracks: Xenon Magazine: Music production involves both technical precision and instinct. When you are working on a track, how do you know when to keep refining it and when to trust your intuition and say, “This is finished”? Cristina Tașnic: When I work on a music piece and am not happy with the technical result, I let it rest for a while to avoid ear fatigue. Typically, you lose creative objectivity when you overfocus on the technical part. For example, when NOISIA remixed a Prodigy track, they spent two weeks tweaking a snare in a high-end studio custom-made for their genre. Amon Tobin, an innovator in electronic music, can write a track in a few hours, but sometimes it takes him a year to craft an album. So, it varies. Sometimes I step away from a track, come back and realise it still needs work. But when I’m just playing around, experimenting for myself, I let go of perfection. Ironically, the songs I love most came together quickly, probably because there was no outside pressure or endless revisions by labels or collaborators. I do, however, have a perfectionistic approach to what I publish. Sometimes I’ll ask a friend to lend an ear to get a technical opinion. Xenon Magazine: How much does experimentation influence your creative process? Do unexpected sounds, mistakes or spontaneous ideas ever become the most interesting parts of a track? Cristina Tașnic: Yes, absolutely, always. Xenon Magazine: What has been the most challenging aspect of developing your own identity as a producer, especially in a musical world where listeners are exposed to such an enormous amount of new material every day? Cristina Tașnic: Chasing a distinct identity was never my goal. I hate being put in a box. It’s both good and bad for personal branding. Creating several monikers is a solution many artists adopt. I create what I love, mainly for my own joy. My music has popped up on radio shows with artists I fondly admire and also found its way into indie films, which I happily shared with fellow creatives for free. Fun fact: some of my music ended up in post-modernist films by a female Argentinian director. We used a translator to communicate. Both films screened at festivals in Argentina and Berlin, and both took home awards. Yeay! In 2026, breaking through the noise takes a hefty budget, the right connections, ideally somewhere in LA if you want to go big, and total commitment to music production. Any music veteran who isn’t backed by a major label like Sony, etc., will tell you that gaining visibility these days is much tougher and significantly less profitable. Plus, the entry point has gotten much lower. My puppy can be a producer if I show him how. Xenon Magazine: When people listen to your music, is there a particular feeling, atmosphere or state of mind you hope they take away from it? Cristina Tașnic: I hope my music opens up new sonic worlds for listeners and stirs something deep inside them… or sparks curiosity. Xenon Magazine: Looking ahead, where would you like to take your music next? Are there new styles, collaborations, live performances or creative ideas that you would especially like to explore? Cristina Tașnic: Absolutely. When I lived in Chicago, I dove into the underground Juke, Footwork and Ghettohouse scene. The raw energy and authenticity of the dancers blew me away. It was like stepping back into the late ’80s and ’90s, a living documentary. Picture people battle-dancing to 160 bpm beats, pulling off wild street moves. I’d like to keep the genre alive, breathe new life into it and blend it with Afro and other influences. For example, my latest project drew inspiration from my favourite fashion icon, Thierry Mugler. I crafted a compilation with a catwalk vibe, aiming for eccentricity while keeping the rhythm in step with Mugler’s otherworldly style. Maybe next time I’ll push the boundaries even further, or dive into dark soundtracks. AI offers quick shortcuts in production these days, but I’m not chasing an instant result; to me, it’s more of an aid to optimise the workflow and focus more on the creative part. Xenon Magazine: Thank you, Cristina Tașnic, for your time and for sharing such an open look into your creative process. We wish you plenty of inspiration, experimentation and new sonic territory to explore in your future projects.
