Bulgarian Cartrader: "My second name was an accident"

What is your name and where are you from?
Bulgarian Cartrader from Sofia/Bulgaria.

Tell us how you started making music.

I used to have a CD player with a loop function. By pressing two times on the loop button, one was able to create loops. So it felt like making a beat, but I skipped the drums and went directly to melodies and lyrics. I finally recorded both on a voice recorder. That’s my earliest memories of making my own music.

Tell us a little secret (almost) nobody knows about you.

My second name is Oyler. It's a total nonsense name, it was an accident. No one in the family really knows why...

Show us a picture of your pet.

Open question: tell us something you want to share about yourself.

My Instagram profile. It’s all there, please visit!

Tell us the last song you’ve listened to, and tell us something you like about that song.

Haha, just looked it up. It's not representative, more like a nostalgic flashback. Wayne Wonder with 'No Holding Back'. It was a Jamaican top 10 hit, just around the time when 'Get Busy' from Sean Paul hit the charts. It's the same drum pattern. Just love the tropical vibe of it. And the melody is nice. It’s no 'Sir Duke or 'Space Oddity' though... Just reminded me of a certain time.

What's the best gig you've ever been to?

Saw Richard Bona once. Remember being super impressed. I was in my teens back then, wonder if I d still be blown away by it today...

Which song of your own is the most significant to you and why?

Probably 'Embrace', 'coz it’s my vita in a nutshell. And I never thought so many people would listen to it all the way through and ask for it on concerts. How can they listen to a 9 minute-song in which a guy is talking just about himself straight through? Miraculous ;)

What album (or albums) have shaped you the most as an artist and generally as a person? What impact did they have on you?
I won’t forget hearing 'Graceland' by Paul Simon for the first time. And I won’t forget buying my first hip hop CD: Funk Master Flex '60 Minutes of Funk'. And Chemical Brothers with 'Surrender'. Bought that from the black market in Bulgaria. These records really used to spin a cocoon around me and they created a feeling in me that just seems to last longer than other records.

Name a song lyric that has inspired you and tell us why.

Oh, hard to answer. So many great words have been sung. I often catch myself in everyday life thinking about a line from a rather poppy song from Seal: "No, we never gonna survive unless we get a little crazy“. So true!

Is there a song people wouldn't expect you to like?

'Philosophy of the World' by The Shaggs :) You’ll know when you listen!

Any new music you are listening to right now?

I like to skip through stuff like the Spotify viral charts. A lot of junk there, but each time I find something new I never heard of, that seems to resurrect either from the near past because of some TikTok viral moments such as 'Pinegrove' or for some unknown reason peak out of the blue. For instance, I found a guy recently called Take Care. It’s a very unusual listen, almost ambient slacker music, totally unambitious, super chilled stuff with the loosest vocals I’ve ever heard. I found stuff like that super interesting. It's as if you get an immediate glimpse at the very soul of young indie music listeners.

Who is your dream collab with and why?

Blood Orange. Artists like him have managed to build their own creative space with its own logic, own sense of perfection, without being distracted or discouraged by the outside opinion. They pushed their vision and finally got gratified with a wonderful loving audience. I just wanna hang with those kinds of people and be triggered by their individual spirit.

You've created a playlist for us, to give us a peek into your inspirations. Tell us about it!

Songs to test your car Hi-Fi system with.