You moved to Berlin from San Francisco where you have a successful career. What does Berlin give you that you did not have back home?

It was a tough move, for sure. Though I am often homesick I know that I have made the right decision. It's mostly just a matter of where I was and am in life. There were a few things in my personal life that prompted me to jump ship. In Berlin I'm surrounded by an massive group of like-minded, hard working people. Of course that's not to say that SF is missing this (it is a very creative-driven city), but it's just on a more grand scale here and my peers in Berlin are almost all doing this as their exclusive job. The struggles, the achievements, the daily trials and tribulations of being a professional artist in a world of music that changes daily... these are all things that almost all of my friends and acquaintances are familiar with and are eager to talk about at almost all times. This path is just taken more seriously here and it's nice to be immersed in this electronic music culture that's been refined over so many years. There's times in the US where you still feel like a derelict or something when you tell people that you make electronic music or DJ for a living. Otherwise I just really like the general vibe of the people in this city, I like being in a place with four distinct seasons and I definitely like being in location that makes it so easy and inexpensive to see more of Europe.

Recently you started a new label. Can you tell Sweatlodge a bit about the label and its plans for the future?

I started Bad Animal for a few reasons. First and foremost I wanted to release the music that my friends and I make that is in a more personal and creative vein. I have been making this music for a long time, and only recently do I feel that I have found my unique path to pave. I know my close friends are on the same page and I wanted to provide an outlet for works that might fall outside of the box a bit for all of us. It's still dance floor oriented thus far but it's generally a bit left-leaning and I want there to be little concern of borders for the artists, though I think we all kind of dig a certain esthetic and know where things are, generally. Furthermore there's the joy of releasing music on your own. It's more liberating this way and ultimately helps fuel the creative fire. I have also been seeing so much greed, egotism and materialism running rampant in electronic music - not to mention the world in general - that I wanted to do something to offset it as much as I can. I was definitely inspired by my friends Jay Haze and Claude VonStroke who have both been so devoted to benevolence via music. I am quite the animal lover and I chose to help them with the profits from digital sales. The charity I chose is the Wildlife Conservation Network, a top-rated fund.

As far as label plans go, we just released the first single and it's doing quite well. My Thirsty Eyes single has been very well received and though it was a long, arduous process to release it, it's finally seeing the light of day with incredible remixes from my friends dOP and Adam Port. The release that's currently in promo is by two of my best friends, Marc Smith and Clint Stewart, under their Safeword moniker. It's an absolutely beautiful, soulful, dusty house release and we are all blessed to have the Smash TV boys on remix for that one. Beyond that I won't say much for now, but I'm very happy to have Professor Inc., Varoslav, Basic Soul Unit, Tim Toh and a few other friends involved in the upcoming releases. This is a very personal project and I'm not out there to just sign a million artists and develop a "brand".

Like many dj/producers you are also a graphic designer. Do you see a obvious connection between the professions and are you still doing design work?

Yeah I guess it's a bit of a cliche, isn't it? To be quite honest the connection for me was laid out by entities like Büro Destruct, The Designers Republic, et al. I was always drawing, doodling, designing something in my youth. But the sparks flew when I realized how design-centric the world of electronic music really was. The majority of my work has been or electronic music-related clients. I have tried to work in advertising, interactive, video games... but nothing really inspires me like working with people involved in music. I don't really know what the less-than-obvious connection really is between the two careers, but I guarantee you many people do both because it's easy to find the cracked software that you need, make something barely passable and call yourself a professional.

I'm very busy with design work at the moment. I am lucky to have great clients, most of whom are in San Francisco. I can't see myself living without making music, DJing and creating visual art. I just hope find some time to pursue the less commercial end of design some time this year and work on some art for gallery walls.

What's next on the agenda for you release wise and where can we catch you playing next?

I have originals and remixes coming out on the mighty Poker Flat, Hallucination Ltd., Wazi Wazi, Girlscout, Trenton, Bang The Box, District Raw, Plant74, Opossum, Hector Works, Siesta Music and of course my own Bad Animal label. I'm working on my second album for late summer release. It's a lot more creative and definitely a new direction, so I'm taking it slow and really feeling it out. I'm not playing around Berlin so much at the moment, unfortunately, but my next gig here will be 17 March at this new space called WYSIWYG, just after I get back from a few weeks of taking it easy and celebrating my birthday in San Francisco.

Artist of the Week: Alland Byallo will air Tuesday February 14th at 18:00, with repeats Wednesday at 12:00, and Saturday at 10:00.