US-born, Berlin-based Kevin Knapp is a club scene mainstay who has been making music for more than a decade releasing on the likes of Hot Creations, Crosstown Rebels and Toolroom – and collaborating with Carl Cox, Shiba San, Hannah Wants, Audiojack and many more. It has already been a busy 2021 for Knapp thanks to his recent collab with Berlin/Chicago producer KC Wray and his inaugural release on Plump Records ‘Plump Sounds’ with his creative partner and fiancé Hutch and childhood friend Baby Luck. DMCWORLD now checks in with the main man as he returns yet again to Plump with a trio of standout tracks for his new EP ‘Baby Don’t Stop’…
Photos by Maria Staggat
Hey Kevin welcome DMCWORLD! Can you tell us how you’ve been keeping busy during these bizarre and unprecedented times?
What’s good DMCWORLD? Thanks for having me! It actually feels like in many ways I’ve become busier. The launch of our record label Plump has been keeping me very busy. I also have been hosting a weekly livestream on Dirtybird’s Twitch channel on Saturday nights. Between maintaining an online presence, working on several music production projects, taking care of our new miniature schnauzer puppy, Alfie, & managing the aforementioned new things on my plate there is never a dull moment really.
You are a Berlin resident, how do you find the City? What are your favourite parts of it?
I love Berlin. Before moving here I asked my homie J.Phlip if the move from San Francisco to Berlin would be beneficial in terms of my career and it certainly has been. To me this town is really a tale of two cities. In the winter (when not locked down) there are lots of cozy bars to nuzzle into and it’s always my favorite time to go to Panorama Bar as it’s not too hot and it’s not insanely packed from all the summer tourists. In the summer the city really comes alive. Depending on where you are, it really can be the city that doesn’t sleep. In the summer I love renting speed boats and getting out on the water. The urban wasteland feel of the streets gives way to really beautiful lakes and waterways on the city’s edges. If you come to Berlin I can’t recommend getting out on the water enough.
Tell us a bit more about your label Plump and the upcoming release on it?
Plump is a new Record label from myself and my life partner Hutchtastic. We wanted to create the label to release some of our personal material, as well as use our platform to help amplify more marginalised voices. We are really interested in returning dance music to its roots where POC and queer folks often had primary roles in pushing the culture forward. I’m super stoked to release my first solo EP on the label, Baby Don’t Stop. The tracks are special to me because they really exemplify my sound, and celebrate the achievement of a career goal I’ve had for a really long time, starting a record label.
You collaborate with your partner and fiancé Hutch on Plump and on the first EP, tell us what it’s like to work together?
That’s a great question and thanks for asking! Hutch and I are basically inseparable, so I think it would actually be a bigger deal if we were not collab’ing on this! Haha This will sound beyond cliché but she genuinely is strong in the areas where I am weak and vice versa, so I really believe this project is better served by us working on it together than if either of us were to attempt it on our own. It can be tricky once in a while to turn off the romantic cap and put on the business one, and the opposite is also true, but I’m proud of us being able to navigate it as adeptly as we have thus far. Hutch is a creative powerhouse, so I really don’t believe there is anyone better for me to be doing this with.
How’s the rest of the year shaping up for you? Can you give us an idea of any further projects you have?
I’ve got releases coming on Repopulate Mars and Cuttin’ Heads as well a string of unreleased cuts I cannot wait to find homes for. I suspect a few more may land on Plump. I am also excited to start wearing my A&R cap as we open up Plump to release music from other talented artists, It’s always a blast to hear what other people got cooking in their studios. Other than that, I am just excited and hopeful about the world potentially reopening, I’m sure I’m not alone in that.
Your first gig, big or small, out of lockdown would be? And why?
My hope would be that it would be Kater Blau here in Berlin. It just feels like home, and it would be awesome to play there before catching that first flight back into the world touring lifestyle again. I genuinely cannot wait!
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Kevin Knapp – ‘Baby Don’t Stop’ (Plump Records) is out 5 March 2021
