‘You´re part of that system whether you like it or not’
Sometimes you cannot be oblivious to certain little bugs, cracks and imperfections to The System That Binds Us All. But how to express dissatisfaction? D&B doesn’t really do ‘f*cked off’. Then… THEN it turns into something else. Let’s not go there.
So how to deal with real issues, without sounding like you suffer from them?
Step up Misanthrop with his über-stylish, slow-burning salvo Greed of Gain.
Is the title ‘Greed of Gain’ political? Is it about abuse of power and wealth?
It is a political statement.
For me ‘Greed of Gain’ is the status quo of the western human capitalistic society at the moment. Money has a huge influence, whether it´s positive or negative. You´re part of that system whether you like it or not!
The artwork I designed and created shows key personalities on banknotes from countries mainly responsible for this condition…
Got to ask directly about your roots: breaks and vitriol once meant Atari Teenage Riot and DHR to me…
Exactly! Some of my teenage heroes from back in the day, as well as Christoph de Babalon, ATR, Shizou (RIP) and EC8OR.
What about punk and alternative influences?
Yeah, that seems to be a logical progression with a DHR background, but I’ve never really been into punk music actually. I´m more into 70s psychedelic, prog rock, soul and blues music… overall, a lot of rock from the 60s and 70s as well as blues and soul from the same period. I´m also very interested in electronic music that doesn´t really follow a certain formula or mechanism.
I look for stuff that sounds fresh and original.
So can you give four tunes- any era and genre – that you think people should hear because they MOTIVATE you to seek change?
60s: Iron Butterfly ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’
httpv://youtu.be/UIVe-rZBcm4
70s: The Allman Brothers Band ‘At Fillmore East’
httpv://youtu.be/H33THbpNAj0
Soul: Marvin Gaye ‘Trouble Man’
httpv://youtu.be/F1O-edOOXKI
DHR: Alec Empire ‘Generation Starwars’
httpv://youtu.be/GOq2UyUi9PU
… and the bonus ball: Lalo Schifrin ‘Starsky & Hutch Main Theme’
The music sounds like it’s a lot of fun, when all is said and done, considering the subject matter: you are going to bulldoze through a set with this music…
Of course it is a lot of fun! I would stop producing music immediately if it stopped being fun at all. I don´t understand why a lot of people take music so seriously. It should be fun and there´s no reason to take it too seriously.
I´ve always tried to create memorable melodies and sounds but, for me, these are often dark and menacing rather than light and pretty. I think that is what causes the music to have that ‘bulldozing’ quality.
What’s the starting point of creating a tune, for you?
I always start with a theme or a concept of what the track should tell the listener. I love to have a concept before I start because it gives you so much inspiration where to take the project in the creative process.
Got a tune on Greed of Gain to talk us through?
‘Deadlock’ for me is a perfect example of a tune that is well thought through and created within five days. It took me exactly nine project saves to finish it. That rarely happens to me because my tunes normally go through a very strange and intense metamorphosis. But with ‘Deadlock’ it was different.
I had the idea to make the term ‘egoism’ audible and I recorded that minimal loop with several synths within hours and rolled it out as fast as I could to maintain the actual vibe and not to get bored of it too quickly. I really like the minimal sound of it and I remember that I had a maximum of 35 tracks in the tune, no fill sounds or other fx that distracted too much from the main groove. I like it when a sound stands out in a mix and does not need other sounds to make it seem bigger.
For me ‘Deadlock’ had one of the most ideal workflows of my career by far.
Can we still get the limited edition of this?
Yes! The limited edition should be in the usual online record stores or the ‘real world’ record stores as we speak. So hurry up, get one!
What shouts have you sir?
Big shouts to my girlfriend Anja for her patience and understanding while I’m deep into the production process, as well as to Florian aka Phace who always believes in what I do! And of course the people who support Neosignal Recordings.
Thanks a lot!
