Brand new German talent collective Fresh Mode have been taking 2020 by storm embarking on a series of releases including remixes, singles and collaborations. As an electronic & pop crossover act, they have reworked some trance classics such as Robert Miles’ ‘Children’, remodelling it for the current day in a collaboration with Stupid Goldfish. Meanwhile they’ve had further success this year with ‘Just Like That’ in versus with ESH. They caught up with DMC to chat about the creativity that comes with artist collaborations, reinterpreting classics and the (almost) faceless digital animation that they are famously becoming recognised for.
First, we must ask – who is Fresh Mode?
We’re a collective idea lead by a main producer coming from a village of Germany who likes cheeseburgers more than anything.
Where are you from? Do you think your location or hometown has had any influence on your sound or passion for music?
We Germans really got a thing for ‘four to the floor’ – so probably yes, people may notice some German village influences in our tracks. Hopefully not “Schlager” tho.
You’ve had a busy year of releases including singles and remixes. Can you tell us a bit about these?
Working with other producers is always a creativity boost and we totally love what’s the output of those collabs. ESH already had very strong ideas for “Just like that” and together we polished and pushed it into the right place. We love the outcome of quite a unique housy club track.
Reinterpreting “Children” – probably the most iconic trance song by legend Robert Miles – was a huge honor and we really wanted it to sound “Fresh Mode” but still keep up the vibe of the original song. Our brothers from another mother ‘Stupid Goldfish’ really helped us to achieve that and we are glad that people love it.
What else is in the pipeline? Tell me about your forthcoming releases.
We love to surprise people and we’re really about to keep that up in the second half of 2020. Our pipeline is packed with new tracks, collabs and of course also more remixes.
There’s definitely a signature sound that comes across in your productions. How did you come to develop this sound? What are your inspirations?
You can clearly say that we’re influenced by classic house music and we always give it a modern and unique touch. We love the sound of tape machines and what analog and vinyl crackles can add to a song. It’s the salt in our soup.
You also have become renowned for the (almost) faceless digital animation. What’s the mindset behind this and how do you put together the visuals?
We love how the visuals give our collective idea a face – someone familiar who you’d recognize in the streets. Your house music dealer of trust. And a WAY better dancer than we’d probably be.
How have you been spending your time during lockdown?
Producing, food and cold beverages. You gotta make the best out of the situation. We also learned a lot about how to ‘meet’ people and collab, record and develop ideas with other producers live without actually seeing them
Do you miss performing and DJing? Will the scene recover in your opinion?
Yes, we really miss performing, meeting other artists and of course our fans. The scene is strong and versatile – always full of brilliant ideas. It will of course recover and evolve into its next stage. Music always finds a way and so will we.
Is there anything you would change about your beginnings? Any advice to give to a new artist or someone thinking about taking the plunge into production?
The way you go makes the person you are. There’s no need for a reset button. If you’re in the love of music and want to create – just do it. So did we and we met awesome artists, inspiring people and helping hands.
What do you feel passionate about at the moment? Do you have something you would like to share with the world?
People should stick together again – we’re all in the same team. We believe that music can also be a real helper in hard situations.
Don’t let a virus, a wrong and antiquated mindset or even an idiot in charge of a whole country divide what’s meant to be together.
Follow Fresh Mode: ► https://www.instagram.com/itsfreshmode
