By Nitzan Hermon
How did you guys meet?
Yannick : before we started producing we actually met in Rainer Truby Parties in Freiburg, since we both come from that area, which is in South West Germany.
And then you started Djing Together?
Daniel : Actually no, we met in the party there and didn’t really talk to each other…we were pretty much the youngest kids.
I then moved to Berlin and Yannick Moved here a year later and then we met here again.
Yannick: I remember that the first time I went out in Berlin which was actually a week after I came here we went to “Delicious Donuts” and that was the first encounter in Berlin.
It seems that delicious donuts was a centre point for many artists (i.e. Eva Be interview).
Daniel: Yeah, there were loads of stuff going on but I think that we were a bit too late, we were at the downfall of DD.
So both of you live in Berlin now?
Daniel: yes yes….
Can you still find parties like that in Berlin these days? Which are more freestyle and not so hard techno
Daniel: well, it depends on what you consider freestyle… the nu jazz freestyle is pretty much dead ….now its more like rocky, danceish cosmic obscure… 80s new wave stuff
I think that the nu jazz, acid jazz has been dead for a while now, it might even get a revival sometime soon…it has been dead for long enough
Yannick : I guess so, that’s what people say at the moment…
Ah yeah? Is that the word on the streets?
Yannick: The people who want it to revive say it….(laughter)
I would like to have a revival of that to be honest….
People are under the impression that over there it’s all about the minimal. Is there room for any other genres?
Daniel: oh yes…plenty of room…minimal is still around but people are getting more and more bored by it. I think that straight house is hitting back, kinda cosmic vibe…
What music designed your musical taste? what sot of stuff you were into when you were growing up?
Yannick: Queen. We are both big queen fans
Daniel: people day that we were great jazz collectors on or teen years but that not rally true, we were really into Queen. It was only Queen and nothing else…
We didn’t know each other on those years but we still both were really into Queen.
Have you seen ‘We Will Rock You’?
Daniel : hehe …no actually we didn’t… its funny cause people tend to ask us that…
Yeah cause it’s the first connotation people have of Queen in London… yeah but it is an excellent band.
Daniel: it’s more than an excellent band.
What was the turning point for some more underground and dance oriented music?
Daniel: there is no tuning point.
Yannick: we are still very much into queen but yeah…the turning point must be ’s parties for us…
Daniel: yeah…I had all of the Queen records and listened to them more than a hundred times I got more into rock and funky stuff like Rage Against the Machine and Chilli Peppers. After the metal punk episode was over I read about acid jazz and then I bought a Jamiroquai CD, it was boring… but later when I saw the flyers for Rainer’s parties it looked quite interesting so I went there and it was a whole different story. It was loads of fun, it was a whole new universe of music for me.
I think that the nu jazz, acid jazz has been dead for a while now, it might even get a revival sometime soon…it has been dead for long enough
Yannick: after the Queen phase I got into the Sepaltura and Pantera pahse by that time I was shouting(as a singer) in bands… I did a trip to London when I was 17 and that was actually a time when I was really into the whole pulp fiction thing and I was looking for things to sound sort of old and I got a big tape and went to the park and just got into this great party…then when I went back home I was looking for a DJ to play funk records but that sort of stuff didn’t exist in a small town like the one I am from… and then I saw one of Rainer’s flyers saying deep funk and that why I went there and that was the tuning point
Daniel: actually for years and years it said deep Funk Acid Jazz… no no… future jazz and something else…
Yannick: Deep funk , yeah future jazz and drum n bass
Daniel: rap..
Yannick: something like that… (laughter)
When did you start you want to DJ/produce?
Daniel: when I got into music I bought one deck and started buying records and started mixing one cd and one record. When I had one box of records I decided I am a DJ now and bought the second deck and organized a little party which was completely over the top for me, since I couldn’t really DJ. I did it with a few friends and we had like 400 people showing up.
Yannick: I was doing a radio show with a friend, not in a pirate station but a very small one. We used to play rock and heavy metal and one time we decided to play a techno master mix, just for fun and somehow I took it more seriously than the other guy and got some vinyl and then things started to get going.
Did you get any musical education at home?
Daniel: I did some piano when I was 6, until I started playing football.
Yannick: I got loads of musical education. I played piano, saxophone, drum and bass
It really shows in your music, tracks like ‘Power House’, with a strong piano like Detroit feel…
Yannick: thanks…
That hidden track after ‘Black Rose’ is amazing as well…
Daniel: that actually the first track we ever did together.
Yannick: it a really old track, we did it in July 2004.
Daniel: we were completely just following the audio and tried to some audio illustrations to the lyrics
Yannick: it was some very ambitious sound design work…
(Both laugh…)
It seems like the album is getting a strong following. How do you feel about being more recognized outside the scene you originated in? Purist might be cynical about breaking out of the crowd that gave you the first support.
Daniel: Fuck purists, it is music and its fun and people enjoy it.
Yannick: that’s just the thing about purist, they are always going on with their finger up their ass, saying; oh… you should do this and you should that but actually its completely useless…
Daniel: most of good new music didn’t appear from purists, it always comes from some sort of a mixture, when people are open minded and not pure.
Yannick: and also being too purist also involves being too conservative. What can you create when you are being conservative?
In a way it’s the opposite of what your doing. You combine genres rather than separate them.
Yannick: defiantly, when you have all of these influences: Queen, funk and jazz to house and Detroit. It’s hard to keep things separated.
It’s all part of your musical education.
