Owner
of Position Chrome recordings and hard drum n bass icon The Panacea
talks to us about inspiration, image and future projects.
By Chris Biggs
Firstly,
could you tell us about your main influences and what led you to
become involved in electronic music?
I was born into a
musical family. My grandmother was Tilla Briem a famous German
soprano, both my grandfather and my mother were also musicians so I
never knew anything else. At 4 years old I started my musical
education, by the age of 8 I joined one of Germany's best boys
choirs, the 'Windsbacher Knabenchor', where I enjoyed a full
classical education. Whilst pursuing a career as a singer I also
learned to play two instruments. With the rise of techno and rave
culture in Germany in 1991 I became more fascinated by the
opportunities this, to me perfectly new and unheard, musical style
had to offer. I resonated as strongly with some of the early techno
and UK hardcore tunes as i did with pieces by Bach or Handel.
Classical music still plays a vital part in my life nowadays, but i
realised very early that my future lied in electronic music. I am
convinced I have gone further with electronica than I ever could have
done with classical music. I was neither talented nor determined
enough....
The first techno
tracks I heard on the radio were tunes like T99's 'Anastasia', 'James
Brown Is Dead' by L.A Style and 'Dominator' by Human Resource. I was
shocked by the intensity of the music that made it all the way out
through my little shitty radio, I used to listen to the late night
shows they had on the radio at that time. This was at a time when I
had choir practice for 3 hours every day, as well as school and
training in piano and oboe..... Quite the revelation for me at that
time!
Berlin itself is a
very inspiring city, there is something new around the corner every
day and the cultural opportunities are endless. Matthew Barney's work
has been inspiring me for years. Matthew Davis' paintings are a
constant source of inspiration as well. I love my friend Pisa 73's
work, Anselm Kiefer is also one of my all-time faves. Musically I
still love listening to UK hardcore from the '91- '93 era, SunnO)))
and Ruin are bands I have every record of, and I am trying to extend
my collection of '92-'94 acid.
You
obviously have an extremely great passion for music and anybody that
has seen you DJ will know just how much energy you put into your
gigs. The crowd seem to feed off of the energy and passion you
display, which is why it's always such a memorable experience. Would
you agree that a lot of DJs tend to neglect this kind of crowd
interaction and acknowledgment? And how important do you feel this
is?
iYes, I fear that
nowadays the DJ's role as an entertainer is often ignored and
overlooked. Techno originally started out as a genre of music that
overthrew the need for performers, entertainers or any kind of
presentation, and with that obviously all forms of stardom or
identity are overlooked. I experienced some of these early years
where you had no idea who was behind the music you'd buy or hear. DJ
booths were hidden away in corners and the main attraction of the
night was the audience, nothing else. For a time this concept worked
because the genre itself was so fresh and the music so exciting you
simply didn't need anything else. Electronic dance music has been
around for more than 20 years now, and you simply come to a point
where you must admit that it has established itself so much in Europe
that eventually you need to apply to a crowd that might not be quite
as avant-garde and radical as a few hundred Berliners dancing to
anonymous music, played by an anonymous DJ behind iron bars in a
bunker.
Especially in
today's over-saturated society of youth cultures you simply do not
“happen” when you don't have to offer something that makes you
special, makes you stand out from the rest. The choices your audience
has are so endless you need something to really capture and fascinate
them. I fear that it simply is not enough anymore to deliver
interesting, fresh and amazing music. A concept or image will always
give you more depth, not just visually, but also from a creative
point of few, as it is something you can put as much thought or
creativity in as your music.
While pop music is
almost nothing but image, in less popular genres you have an
opportunity to really work with a look or concept and I am happy to
admit that a lot of thought went into my image since I started out in
this game. I had a very clear idea of how I wanted to approach this
business from early on and I have followed that throughout the years.
Even though my transformation feels natural to me, since I'm only
creating an image that I've always had of me, it is still a conscious
decision and didn't happen unintentionally.
I fear lots of kids
who want to become DJ's today do not think of entertaining a crowd,
or consider how they will appear to an audience. Often the reasons to
become a DJ have nothing to do with the need to express yourself
creatively, they are often as banal as wanting to get attention from
women or appearing to be cool in front of your friends, going to
parties for free or getting free drinks. the DJ is an entertainer, he
must entertain the crowd that have payed to have a good time. If you
are a bedroom DJ you might think about how cool it is to perform to
a crowd, but you don't think about how the crowd reacts to you or how
they see you. You seek to become a personality by doing the job,
whereas I believe you already need to BE a personality to be able to
present your music in a convincing way.
I was a raver-kid
(and probably always will be) who had so much passion and love for
the music that I wanted to share it with others and show them how
awesome a time we can have. This passion is the basis of what i am
doing today.
What
are your plans for the close future?
Looks like I have a
busy summer this year with festivals all over europe including the
UK. I also perform at Bangface in London on May 11th. Limewax and I
are playing a hardware live act called “Goldberg Variations” at
various places between now and September, which i am very excited
about. Finally I am going on tour this autumn with Psychodevils, a
hardtechno act from Germany, which will take me around various cities
in Germany, some that I have never played before since I am not
frequently playing in my motherland.
On Position Chrome
we are releasing Current Values "Megalomania EP" (PC073)
this spring, it is a work of art and will easily be one of my
favourite releases this year. Release is due around May.
I have a release
forthcoming on LB Recordings later this year, its a 2 x 12” which
includes my remix of Limewax's “1/2lb”.
For
the rest of this year we plan releases by myself, Cooh and Goldberg
Variations, and I'm currently working on collaborations and remixes
that I will have to announce at a later date.
You
have a great roster of producers in the Position Chrome family, and
have released some incredible records over the years that have got
dancefloors moving the world over. What goes through your head when
it comes to selecting the artists and tracks that you sign?
It takes quite some
time until I feel like I want to offer the artist a release, not only
do I need to be 100% convinced of the quality of the music, I also
like to develop a personal relationship, even friendship, with most
of my artists. When the label wasn't run by me, a couple of poor
choices were made and I saw what damage a bad release can cause,
especially in today's market.
Once I've approached
an artist he can send me whatever he sees fit. I do not ask for
specific styles, only that the artist needs to be fully satisfied
with the tunes. Since I don't sell many and no emerging talent, a
continuing relationship with the artist is in my interest. It is
essential that the release will stand in time as a great work of
music. I am not looking for formulated hits that are played out next
month and disappear forever. A Position Chrome tune should have a
timeless quality to it. Luckily we were able to release such tracks a
couple of times so far with records like Current Value's first
album, the Empire EP (The Panacea & Limewax) and Cooh's 12"'s
for example.
You
mentioned earlier 'Goldberg Variations', a live project with Limewax.
Previous releases show that you two work very well together and this
is something that fans of the genre will be very excited to hear. Can
you tell us any more about this project?
I have the greatest
respect for Limewax, I think he is one of the true great artists in
this genre and beyond that. He has absolutely no intention of
narrowing down his artistic vision in favour of commerciality or
danceability to a point where I am in awe. I am very lucky to have
found such a likeminded producer and every time we finish a track you
can hear that our way of writing music really adds up.
Gareth ('Thrasher' -
owner of PRSPCT Recordings) approached us and asked if we wanted to
DJ back2back at his big Christmas event and we decided we could go
further than that with a hardware set. In preparation for that event
we ended up with something like 4 new tunes and a couple of mashups.
The response to our set was so promising that we decided to continue
with the live show, though it means quite some work for both of us.
Playing hardware doesn't make things easier for us and there is
always a chance our whole set falls apart, but then that's maybe part
of the fun as well.
As I mentioned, I
have a 4 track EP lined up on Limewax's LB Recordings and there will
be a Goldberg Variations 12" on Position Chrome later this
year. I believe we are playing live 5-6 times this year, which is a
surprise because other than the Christmas PRSPCT XL live show we
haven't done much promo at all. I guess a hardware set was something
a lot of people have waited for as it is such so much more intense
than playing off a laptop.
If you had to
name your top 5 tracks of all time, what would they be?
1:
Messiah – There Is No Law
(Kickin Records)
2: AFX – Analogue
Bubblebath (Mighty Force)
3: Mescalinum United
– We Have Arrived (Planet Core Productions)
4: X-101 – Sonic
Destroyer (Underground Resistance)
5: The Hypnotist –
Hardcore You Know The Score (Rising High)
And your top 5
current tracks?
1: Cooh &
Current Value - Misfit (???)
2:
Goldberg Variations - Fuckter (Position Chrome)
3:
Igor - Testify (PRSPCT)
4:
Current Value & The Panacea – Make It Last (Position Chrome)
5:
Gancher & Ruin – The Mark (???)
Catch
The Panacea in the following places over the next few months:
Apr.
13th - Once Upon A Festival - Luxembourg
Apr.
20th – Therapy Sessions - Prague, Czech Republic
Apr.
21st - Kiev, Ukraine
Apr.
28th - St. Petersburg, Russia
Apr.
29th - Novosibirsk, Russia
May
5th - Marseilles, France
May
19th - Berlin, Germany
May
26th - Bristol, England
Jun.
01st - Bratislava, Slovakia
Jun.
08th - Tilburg, Holland
Jun.
09th - Innsbruck, Austria
Jun. 16th - Stuttgart,
Germany
Jun.
23rd - Defqon 1 Festival - Biddinghuizen, Holland
Jun.
23rd - Fucking Beat - Brussels, Belgium
Jun. 29th –
Musick - Gent, Belgium
Jul.
01st - Innovation In The Sun (Therapy Sessions arena) – Lloret De
Mar, Spain
Jul.
06th – Festival - Czech Republic
Jul.
07th – Festival – Slovakia
Jul.
14th – Dour Festival, Belgium
Jul.
23rd - Rotterdam, Holland
On a
cold night down the seafront that could be accurately described as
'Bitter And Then Some' , Converge brought the last show of their UK
tour to Concorde 2. Upon taking the stage vocalist Jake Bannon posed
the questions “Are you
ready? Are you sure?”. Nobody
was.
