ENDORPHIN.ES is a Barcelona-based Eurorack and electronic instrument brand. Founded by Andreas Zhukovsky in 2010 and now co-run with his wife Julia Bondar, over the last fifteen years, ENDORPHIN.ES has made its mark on the Eurorack space and beyond with its creative and playful take on electronic instrument design.

In this exclusive interview with Stromkult, chief designer Andreas Zhukovsky goes into his musical background, his ongoing love for the Virus family of synthesizers, the brand's design process and philosophy, his favorite creations, the concept behind the brand's new hit desktop unit EVIL PET, and more.

STROMKULT: When did you first become aware of electronic music? Do you remember the first record that really grabbed your attention?

ENDORPHIN.ES (Andreas Zhukovsky): I grew up in the 1990s, so electronic music was simply in the air. Pop, Eurodance, MTV, cassette Walkmans, CDs; we listened to everything, regardless of genre. It was all mixed together and that was the beauty of it. A lot of that music was probably considered disposable, but honestly, much of it was brilliantly designed.

The biggest influence on me came from the early Dream Dance compilations from Sony Music. They opened the door to a very polished, emotional, melodic – let's call it commercial – version of electronic music. At that stage I realized that I was not interested in experimental styles, I was drawn to music that was direct, euphoric and very emotional.

Do you remember the first synthesizer you ever bought?

The first one was an Alesis QS6, which I used while playing in a friend’s rock band – more for amusement than for any serious artistic mission – and later I got a Novation X-Station 25, when electronic music started to become the real focus for me. Since ‘clubsound’ and trance were everywhere at the time, I quickly went deeper into that kind of machinery: the Nord Lead 2, the Nord Rack 3, the Roland JP-8000, and then a whole collection of incarnations of the Access Virus: Virus for Powercore, a Virus B, Virus KB, another B, then later a TI2 Desktop, and currently a TI2 Darkstar.

Even in 2026, the discontinued Access Virus remains the most versatile sounding and an all-time favorite synth to me, with commercial presets that nothing else can match; nobody else has really come close. There was also a factory demo on the Virus called “Endorphins” that Access Music product’s director Marc Schlaile adapted for the synths’s internal ROM playback – honestly, the track itself was not that important, but the name certainly was!

Does ENDORPHIN.ES adhere to a particular design philosophy when it comes to the design of Eurorack modules and other instruments?

Sometimes, you just work at the level of the skill and taste you currently have. The more you do, the more you learn and your philosophy evolves. I mostly just follow the feeling. Looking back, I’ve always designed modules that work together as an instrument and not just as separate products. Many brands, especially newer ones, take one idea and keep refining it, adding more and more until it becomes very polished, even perfect – but it’s still just one module.

I think more in terms of an eco-system, a system that lets you create structured, melodic music where different voices and parts work together. That’s why my designs tend to be user friendly and clean, without “double meanings”. During the recent renovation of our apartment, I designed everything from water pipes and electrical communications to custom shelves and table tops. I really just love designing things.

Andreas Zhukovsky and Julia Bondar

As a studio producer, I am a part of my wife’s JULIA BONDAR project. Together we’ve built a nice studio, and I always try many different instruments. For my part, I have the concentration to dig into instruments quickly and I usually instantly get an idea for what I feel is missing.

Julia on the other hand has a shorter temper, and she wants instruments to be easy to use, which is also how the majority of producers are nowadays. She likes to achieve results quickly, so she is always pushing me towards easier to use interfaces, and that helps me think about the interface during the development process. She helps me simplify things so they make more sense in practice.

So producing music together helps us shape the ideas for hardware products that make sense in a live performance context. That is why some of our products, like the COCKPIT, GOLDEN MASTER, GROUND CONTROL and recent NEW GOODSPEED are very specifically thought out for live acts.

Julia Bondar performing at EXIT club Shanghai

Are there any products from the ENDORPHIN.ES catalogue that you are especially proud of?

I love all of my creations since they are all a part of a larger eco-system. But of course, each product also has  its own moment. I loved the FURTHRRRR GENERATOR because it was the product that helped me build the company. Later, I loved the SHUTTLE SYSTEM because I was finally able to shape our eco-system.

I also love the GROUND CONTROL sequencer because making it was a hard and long journey, and even now, Julia is still rocking hours-long live performances with it. Then, I was very happy to see how much people appreciated the GHOST, our collaboration with Andrew Huang. And now, I feel happy and calm knowing that the  EVIL PET has gained so much interest and is expanding the ENDORPHIN.ES brand.

I have also worked with Julia behind the scenes at her gigs for all of those years. We got a lot of creative inspiration from her China tour in autumn 2025 (Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing) specifically. My concern was to improve our GOLDEN MASTER multiband processing, which you can only really fully test on venue and club sound systems. 

That ultimately pushed us to rewrite the code of the GOLDEN MASTER (both pedal and Eurorack versions) from scratch so it comes close to actual multiband mastering units or plugins. The test is very simple: raw techno must round out nicely and be as raw and loud as possible while not overlimiting the club’s volume meter, which is usually around 100-105db. So that update for the GOLDEN MASTER version X is something I am especially proud of.

Julia Bondar performing at OIL club Shenzhen

What was the inspiration behind your newest product, the EVIL PET? Is there any particular reason for why you decided to go with a tabletop format for this product?

We initially started with the idea of creating a granular processor, but the original concept was quite simple and, honestly, a bit like another “Clouds”. And I have spent many years building things for Eurorack, so this was not about abandoning that format, but about being honest about what the product wanted to be, and the EVIL PET did not want to be squeezed into a rack. It wanted to sit in front of you, as its own little world. 

The tabletop format also lets us control the interface proportions, the key layout, the visual balance, and the playing experience in a more complete way. It also opens the door to musicians that may love the idea of the instrument but do not want to build an entire modular setup around it.

What the EVIL PET eventually became is something I owe in large part to my friends and collaborators who helped shape and expand the original idea. For example, the FM radio was Julia’s idea. She often comes up with crazy concepts, some of which are quite challenging for me and my colleagues to execute! As developers, we don’t always have the technical possibilities or mental resources to bring every idea to life. So it is a process. When our dear friend Jon Modular made some presets for the unit (which eventually became the factory presets) shortly before the release, he structured them into the folders “live effects”, “synths” and “generators”. It was only then that I realized it had actually evolved into a full-blown synth.

The keyboard-style buttons on the EVIL PET are also very eye-catching! Were they inspired by classic drum machines like the 808 and 909?

I’m a big fan of mechanical keyboards, and I’ve been touch-typing for more than 25 years, so I’m very sensitive to tactile response. I’ve tried most keycap profiles and switches, and these were the ones that immediately made sense to us. And yes, there is a direct visual nod to the TR-909 as I very deliberately chose those specific RAL tones. The keycaps are double-shot PBT: they start with a translucent base, are painted over three times, and then are laser-cut so the illuminated windows appear.

We also wanted to move away from the traditional footswitch language of guitar pedals. Those switches are designed to be stomped on, which is perfectly logical for guitarists, but I think more synth-oriented pedals and instruments can benefit from a slightly more elegant solution. Also, mechanical computer key-switches are almost indestructible, so they gave us that rare combination of precision, durability and a more distinctive visual identity.

Are there any plans for future updates for the EVIL PET?

We try to react quickly to firmware feedback, and at this point most of the obvious bugs and functional issues have already been cleaned up. Some of the remaining requests go deeper into design territory, and there we prefer to be a bit more conservative — not every additional feature improves an instrument, and sometimes the limitations are exactly what give an instrument character and creative focus. Additionally, we have also recently released major firmware updates for the GHOST, GOLDEN MASTER and GROUND CONTROL.

Are there any particular things you like to use the EVIL PET for in your own productions?

Speaking frankly, since the unit’s  release, the ongoing demand and our workload in the office have been so intense that we haven’t had much time to explore, listen, or brainstorm together with our customers. We usually tend to work in cycles or ‘seasons’. Sometimes, there is time for creativity and contemplating new musical ideas, but those moments tend to be quite rare. Most of the time, our work requires a lot of self-discipline, organization, and routine!

Julia loves to use the EVIL PET with her piano. It instantly transforms simple melodies into something much richer, and even basic notes will sound like a fully developed composition.

Lastly, do you have any forthcoming news you can share with us?

At the moment, we are working on several proof-of-concept ideas for three or four potential products, together with different developers and partners. Some of them are very exciting, but over the years we have learned to be more disciplined about when to speak publicly. In the past, we sometimes announced or showed things a bit too early at the SuperBooth or NAMM, and then development naturally took a bit longer than we had anticipated.

In a competitive market, it is generally better to start communicating once something is truly ready, rather than talk too far in advance. So these days, we are a bit more selective about what to show at trade shows and are more careful with early announcements. And of course, we also try to focus our energy not only on our products, but also on maintaining a work/life balance with our families and travelling when possible.

You can find our more about ENDORPHIN.ES over at their website and show up their modules over at SchneidersLaden.