One Germany’s much loved techno duo, Kaiserdisco recently announced their third album which you can pre-order here. We had the pleasure of speaking with the guys about their craft. Read what we found out below.
Hi Frederic, Hi Patrick, how are you? For starters tell us where have you been playing past few weeks and which gig left you amazed? Any standout moments from 2017 as the year come to a close?
Hey! We are great – thanks. We finally played again in Serbia recently, it was about 5 years ago since we last played, and it was amazing, so we were really looking forward to going back. We also played at the Tronic party during ADE, and another highlight was a gig in Kiev. It’s always nice to play in Ukraine, but this gig particularly stood out as the venue was very special and it was also Patrick’s birthday, which we celebrated together with the promoter.
We heard that you guys met at a concert and then started working together only in 2008 as Kaiserdisco. What made you leave what you were doing before and link up to create what has been a successful DJ duo now for almost 10 years?
That’s true! We met at a party in our hometown of Hamburg, and had a really good conversation and then started to work the next day on a collaboration! We were both a little bored with our current projects back then, and felt that it was the right time for something new. We tried out that first collaboration and had so much fun together the studio, it was a kind of a natural process, so we kept on working it and eventually Kaiserdisco was born!
Do you believe musical background and education is necessary for a producer?
Absolutely. Even if you only drag and drop samples together you need to hear the pitch level to make sure that the bassline, the synths or the vocals are fitting harmonically together.
With successful releases on Drumcode, Tronic, Suara, Snatch and Get Physical, what do you think makes a track good these days? What defines a good track, or makes them successful?
Most of the time a successful track stands out from the masses because of using unique elements, never heard synth sounds, catchy vocals or phat basslines… something you keep in mind for days or even years.
Tell us something about your creative process when in studio.
PATRICK: A typical studio day starts around 11:00 AM. While Frederic is turning on the machines I am setting up a pot of green tea. Then we are talking about some label stuff and booking requests before we get to work. We always work together in the studio. I am generally in front of the computer, doing the programming as I am more or less the educated producer, while Frederic provides feedback, offering ideas when the production is halting a bit, and doing email admin in the meantime. Our way of working on a track is always the same. We start with creating a phenomenal groove, that means we are programming a one, two or four bars groove pattern which is build out of a mixture of single drum machine sounds and sometimes loops or single sounds taken out of loops. After we plan a baseline so that we are having an outstanding and rocking groove at the end, which has to be so interesting that it can run for minutes or even hours without getting you bored. Next step is jamming around on the keyboard until we found a nice and catchy theme that we like.
How are both your labels doing now – what is coming up for both? Any new artists on the horizon you can share with us?
We had a little break for the last 2 months as we had to focus on our album release. But we are currently signing new material from our beloved label artists and looking forward to start 2018 with lots of great techno.
How come you chose to release your album on another label and not your own outlet?
We already released our second album on our own label in 2013, its cool, as when you release something on your own label you generally have full control. However, for this third album, we wanted to try a release on another label, so why not one of our favorites – Tronic. We have had a great relationship with Christian Smith for many years now, and he was really into the tracks when we initially sent them over, so its developed from that point onwards.
Ahead of your album out in November, you have just released your Varuna EP featuring 2 album tracks. Why did you choose these two tracks for the EP?
The decision was not easy because we like all of the tracks on the album of course. But at the end we had to pick two tracks for the EP and thought that with Orcus we get a strong and straight techno track in one hand, while Varuna is a bit more melodic, so they balance each other well on an EP. We’ve had amazing feedback from artists as well as from the dancefloor for both tracks, so they are a teaser as to what people can expect to hear on the rest of the album.
Another Dimension is your first album for 4 years – why now?
That’s quite easy, we just felt that it is time for another one!
When it comes to album, we see another collaboration track with Karotte. After your last release on Tronic earlier this year, which was a success – do you enjoy working together? Where did the album name come from, its inspiration? Some creative track names!
Yes, of course we like to work with Karotte. Otherwise we wouldn’t do it. He always has some great ideas and we also just like to spend time together with him, which is very important if you are working together for a long period of time in the studio. The album name “Another Dimension“ is inspired by a region at the end of our galaxy called the “Kuiper belt“. It has many dwarf planets belonging to it, and each of the track names are taken from these dwarf planets or orbs. With producing a straight club album containing only techno tracks we felt a little bit like entering a new or another dimension.
Where can we hear you play over the next few months and on NYE? Do you yet have an album tour planned?
We always try to play as much as we can and of course all upcoming gigs for the next few months will be a part of the album tour. In the nearer future you will find us in Austria, Spain, Japan, Greece, Bosnia & Herzegovina and of course in Germany. We are quite happy to come back to Tokyo on December 23rd, as we are playing at Womb Club for the first time then. On NYE you can party with us in Banja Luka in Bosnia & Herzegovina at the Winter Fresh Wave Festival.
