The Polish superstar duo Getting Physical out there
Grzegorz, Wojciech welcome to DMCWORLD. Your hometown Szcecin in Poland was one of the towns which maintained it’s interest in techno and house music after the initial boom in the 90s, thanks largely to the fact that Berlin was so close by. Can you explain what that time was like for music lovers when you got democracy…
“That was a great and magical time, you know discovering the new music, going every month to Berlin to buy new records. In our hometown there was a lot of illegal clubs with good music. Almost every weekend there were guests playing from abroad and the scene was very big. After we joined the european union a lot of people left the country and our city to look for a job in UK or Scandinavia. Of course most of the people were the ones who were going to our parties. So the situation was not the best for couple of years when you were a promotor.”
Who were the early DJs that had you all rocking?
“Our hometown DJ collective called Family Groove. They were doing amazing parties with DJs like Highfish, Dixon, Martin Landsky, Antonelli Elec. Also the Wighnomy Brothers, Guido Schneider…”
You started your own club night thereafter booking DJs like Wighnomy Brothers and Anonelli Electric. At this stage was this just a hobby for you, or had you set your sights on a career in production and owning a label?
“It was just a hobby. There was nothing like a promotor back then in Poland. So we were just the residents and we were trying to get a budged from the club/pizzeria owner to get as much as we can to invite the djs we were really into. We were doing the parties there for almost 3 years and it was a great time! We also invited John Tejada, Anja Schneider, Guido Schneider, Falco Brocksieper, Sasse and many many more.”
How did the opening of the UK borders affect the clubbing scene in Poland with so many young people fleeing for work?
“Yes the situation in Poland was not the best, and when we joined the EU you could easily go to another country and have a much better job and life. So of course a lot of people left. That was very hard period for the clubbing as most of them were young and creative.”
After the success of your early releases on the likes of Crosstown and Trapez, you started to tour the USA. You have just returned from a big tour of the States – the difference in a decade must be astonishing for you to witness?
“The US scene is doing fantastic now. There are many more clubs, even the parties during the week are full. People know a lot about music and they like to party. Our first party in US when we were there for the first time was Omaha in Nebrasca – that was a crazy time. Parties were more rare and made by people who were not pro promotors, they were just fans. Right now I think thanks to the Dirtybird label the scene knows what to expect when we play and the parties are going wild.”
The EDM scene in the States is getting a lot of flack from some of the ‘serious music’ spinners this side of the pond. A lot of them claim that the American crowd are turning DJs into jukeboxes over there as all they want is hit after hit. Thoughts on that?
“As I said for us it was like that before, you could see a difference between US and EU scene. Right now people know a lot more about the music and the parties are just great. The tour we had was the best ever. Parties like Electric Picnic in Montreal or Verboten in NY, San Francisco, San Diego, Boston, Torronto, Chicago, Detroit… you can see when you go back year after year that it’s only getting stronger.”
Some are also saying that EDM is going to be like Disco was in the 70s, when the American youth have had enough they will simply chuck it in the trash can and move onto the next sound. Discuss…
“Hard to say, if you can tell me what the next sound is I could discuss it. These days, I think you can easily mix the next sound with todays sound as the pop music is just terrible and there’s an expectation to play around with different genres and not only play the newest stuff but you also dig into your archive. So I think when you’re a good DJ it’s hard to be bored and make people bored when you have such a huge music library.”
Next month sees the release of the 12th edition of Get Physical’s Body Language. You have followed in the footsteps of some mighty artists including M.A.N.D.Y and DJ Hell. What was the thought process behind the track selection?
“We’re born DJ’s we love it and we always wanted to do it. We were fighting for the records when we were going to Berlin together and we were always were thinking about making a proper mix. These days you can download a lot of great mixes from the internet for free, so the main goal was to make people interested to buy our mix. We wanted to license a lot of vinyl only stuff but most of it was just impossible as the labels are down and you can’t find the owner. But we made a lot I think, we have some vinyl only tracks that we always loved, we asked our friends to make exclusive tracks for us, we made some edits for example Get Up Everybody. Our friends had the license to this vocal and that was the track that Voitek recorded when he was 13 years old and he was in SF on the tape from the radio. I think that was one of the first times he heard house music as it was hard to access this kind of music in Poland. So the mix is very personal for us.”
Surely the hardest part was finding out who actually owned the rights to some of the old tracks? That must have been some job!
“Yes this process took the longest. We were working on it for a few months but with help of our friends, we made it.”
What do some of these old tracks such as J. Antoni and Rhythm Plate mean to you, what memories did they unearth?
“We just love those tracks, we heard them when we were going to the parties in our hometown when we were young so it’s like traveling back in time.”
How is the progress on your third album coming through Dirtybird, what direction are you taking it?
“As we’re touring a lot we don’t have much studio time. We’re collecting ideas we’re working on during our travels. We just built a new studio doing finishing touches now so soon we’re gonna set out on the new tracks. When we start to work it’s always a big mess and it’s hard to say what will come of it. But after couple of months we will know the direction we wanna follow.”
Who are the Polish producers you are trying to push through Pets who we should be looking out for soon?
“CHMARA WINTER, SLG, KIXNARE, GOOD PAUL, VIADRINA, BLCKSHP, JACKNAME TROUBLE..There are a lot of talented guys, we have signed some new records now and we’re excited to release them. Defo worth checking out their music.”
We interviewed Dan Pearce aka Eats Everything for the magazine this week, you saved him from oblivion by signing his ‘Entrance Song’ – what was it about his production that made you want to sign him?
“We got this track from our friend Jessica J.Phlip. At the beginning Voit was not sure, Dan also needed to fix the production but I decided to play it at the party in Barcelona and it went nuts!!! The whole room freaked out and we knew then that we had to have this track.”
When you collaborate with artists, it’s always with people with good musical taste that sometimes surprise you in the studio. Who was the last producer you learnt something off?
“For sure Martin Dawson. He’s an amazing studio engineer and very experienced producer. We learned a lot of tricks from him and he learned some of our tips. So it’s always good for both sides when you work with somebody in the studio. We love to do it as it’s opens your ears and gives you more ideas.”
How many demos do you receive a month at Pets Recordings?
“A LOT !! But we listen to all of them. The Soundcloud dropbox saved us, as downloading the links was a nightmare.”
What is coming out next from you guys and the label?
“Pets 025 is Rachel Row with great remixes from Kink and Trikk. Pets 026 is gonna be Tom Demac’s new EP which we tested at ADE and we can’t wait to release it. I will not tell more to not ruin the surprise but we’re also working on next VA – Friends Will Carry You Home Too, it’s gonna be double cd release with vinyl and digital, 5 music videos and limited clothes collection from a great independent Polish brand Misbhv.”
You have been DJing together for 8 years now, always performing as a duo and usually back to back. Has there ever been an incident when one of you have played a tune that the other one has thought, oh no!!!!!!!
“Haha yes of course! Sometimes we do that or accidentally turn off the deck that was playing. We had a lot of funny stories like that but usually it’s working very well. We have very similar music tastes and it’s very rare that we buy the same music but it always fits when we play.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
“You’ll find that at…
http://www.beatport.com/chart/catz-n-dogz-body-language-chart/118849
What were some of the festival highlights for you this summer?
“For sure Berlin with the Circoloco and Watergate Opener. Opener we played in Munich in May, Picnic Electronic in Montreal, SMS @ Watergate Stage…”
What was your summer anthem?
“Hard to choose one for sure, so…Jay Shepheard & Martin Dawson – Cut A Hole and They Frontin was doing amazing at every party we played.”
And finally, who are the producers from around the world you are giving high fives to at the moment?
“For sure Eats Everything – we play a lot of his stuff.”
Catz ‘N Dogz – ‘Body Language 12’
Label: Get Physical . Out: 5th Nov, 2012
Tour dates…
03 Nov 2012 – PFINGSTWEIDE @ ZURICH, CH
09 Nov 2012 – Trouble Vision w EATS @ Bristol, UK
10 Nov 2012 – GPM 10 years Arma 17 @ Moscow, RU
16 Nov 2012 – Pets Recordings Showcase, Social Club @ Paris, FR
17 Nov 2012 – Pets Recordings Showcase w Justin Martin @ Warsaw, PL
21 Nov 2012 – Pets Recordings Showcase Watergate @ Berlin, DE
23 Nov 2012 – Air @ Amsterdam, NL
30 Nov 2012 – The Warehouse Project @ Manchester, UK
December 2012
01 Dec 2012 – Hive Watergate Party @ Zurich, CH
08 Dec 2012 – Australian Tour Starts
09 Dec 2012 – Subsonic Music Festival, Sydney
14 Dec 2012 – Adelaide Show TBA
15 Dec 2012 – FORTHELOVE FESTIVAL, Melbourne
15 Dec 2012 – Spice Cellar, Sydney
16 Dec 2012 – Dec Killing Time Garden Bar, Secret Garden Party
21 Dec 2012 – Anjulun We Dance @ Bucharest, RO
22 Dec 2012 – 10 Jahre Get Physical @ Loft Ludwigshafen, DE
29 Dec 2012 – Watergate @ Berlin, DE
http://www.myspace.com/3channels
http://www.soundcloud.com/catzndogz
http://www.petcast.blogspot.com
