Animal Trainer

The Swiss duo who epitomise everything what dance music is all about

Interview : Dan Prince

Adrian, Samy welcome to DMCWORLD…where in the world are you today? 

“Today being Monday Dan, we are hanging out a bit at home, catching up on some extreme “chill-axing”. Monday is a DJs Sunday…so we are in Zürich recovering.”

When I mentioned to the Buzz Chart office I was interviewing you today they replied…”they are crazy, they are always the last to leave the party!”. Boys is this true…are you the crazy boys of dance music – can wild animals be tamed?

“Well, most of the time we live the party and, at the end, we ARE the party. We always try to create that one special moment when we are DJing. We don’t know exactly how this works, but most of the time it just happens. If you are completely involved with the crowd and on their level, it’s impossible to go home. We also like to meet new people and talk a lot, so, most of the time we are the last ones standing…”

The big news this week of course is the release of your new album, ‘Wide’ which is swinging our way on Stil Vor Talent in a few days. 13 tracks of delicious beats, please give us a few words describing each of your babies…

Come Along feat. Jimi Jules

“Come Along is a song we did with Jimi Jules from Switzerland. He is currently on Beatport’s deep house No. 1 with his Buddy Oliver $ on Defected with the song Pushing On. He is a really good singer as well as a really good musician. He plays guitar, trumpet and many more. So this is the perfect intro song on our album and it’s more of a listening.

How Does it Feel feat. Natasha Waters

“We just fell in love with Natasha’s voice when we heard it for the first time. We had to do something with her. On our own label Hive Audio we did a release with remixes from her project Kalte Hand / Natasha Waters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqL55EHz37

Killed You feat. Annek  

Annek is a cool buddy of ours from Berlin. Once we did a remix for a track on Carera Records, after this became friends and it was only a matter of time till we did something together.

Gone 4 Ever

This track was written in a really special moment in our lives. It’s full of emotion.

The Walk

No jokes…we really did the track after a walk in Spring along the Limmat River in Zürich. We made hardly any changes from the first version.

Shane

Shane was one of the last tracks we did for the album. It’s got quite a strong house groove. There is also a really crazy video clip for this one, whereby our friends over at Bildstoerung did a great job. We had shoots in a few different locations and the story is pretty cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nrDk6Pu3mI

Pollen

WHAT A RAVE MOMENT! 

Keep Control feat. Jan Blomqvist

Jan Blomqvist is a really good friend of ours from Berlin. A little while ago we did a remix for him for his cover song Big Jet Plane by Angus and Julia Stone. It was a little hit and we knew we just had to do something together again in the future…

Krambambuli

We did this track in about 6 hours. It’s timeless and it kills the dancefloor, any time, any where, but in a GOOD way! This track has so many classic items and sounds, it could be from the 90s…

Crashed Tuesday

This is another explosive rave track we like. What is especially good about it is that you can spin it as a last track or a main set bomb. Either way, it’s a multifunctional tune you cant stop moving to…

Wide feat. Jimi Jules  

Another track with Jimi. In our opinion, this man has a great future in dance music. Just check out his trumpet line, it’s amazing!

Everybody

This track is weird, in a really good way. The beginning is really smooth, but when the kick comes in after 02:30 minutes, it evolves into this slightly techy style tune. We recorded all the synthesisers without using a midi and we did all the filter moves and live elements by hand.

My Town feat. Otoridia

We have already worked with Otoridia on our own label, Hive Audio. He is a really cool cat from Zürich and he has a lot of weird and interesting stuff in his studio. So after some whiskies we sat down in his studio and recorded everything live and he sang some pretty nice vocals. We love this song and we think it’s the perfect way to end off.”

Wow. An amazing insight into the album guys, thank you. You have smashed some of the world’s finest clubs already in 2014, we were on the dance floor at Warung in Brazil recently when you played. Where have been your favourite gigs this year and why…

“It’s funny that you should mention this…the gig at Warung was really one of our top experiences in recent times. We also love our gigs at Watergate in Berlin and of course at our home, Hive Club in Zürich. We haven’t had a bad gig for a long time. Most of the promoters who book us know what we’re all about and what to expect. We get to meet very nice people around the globe all the time!”

What is the current top 10 you are spinning…

Animal Trainer – The Walk

Adriatique feat Name One – Midnight Walking

Oliver $ & Jimi Jules – Pushing On

Dario d’attis – The Good Old Days

Monkey safari – Watching The Stars

Andrea Olive – Decomposing

Animal Trainer – Pollen

Patrick Topping – Stop

Animal Trainer feat Jan Blomqvist – Keep Control

David K – Insane Dub

A load of great festival dates already confirmed in your DJ diary for the next few months with the likes of Marvellous Island, The Lighthouse Festival , Click Clack Open Air, The Sea You Festival and Utopia Island coming up. Couple of questions…what has been your best ever festival experience?

“The Lighthouse Festival last year was a big highlight and we can’t wait for this year’s gig. Once we played at the Sonne Mond und Sterne Festival in Germany, which was also a blast, for which we are lined up again this year AND have been requested to mix the CD for the festival. The hugest thing for us is the Streetparade in Zürich every year. Last year we opened the stage B2B with our friends from Round Table Knights. After 45 minutes we had about 25’000 people in front of us. Was just mind blowing!!! We are very proud to also be requested to mix the deep house cd for this year’s event.”

…and also, the 3 things that are essential to have a good time at a festival? 

“Good friends, a lot of love and an inflatable rocket…”

Your Rakete parties in Zurich down at The Hive club and beyond have been nothing short of legendary. Tell us about the idea behind these nights…

“In the beginning we were just crazy ravers wanting the perfect night. So we set up an amazing sound system so the DJs could do their best. After this we started doing crazy decorations. Some people stepped in the club and were like: “What the f*@%!”. Most of the time we are bookers, artists, guests and ravers all wrapped into one person…which tends to bring on slight multi-personality disorder characteristics, I won’t lie! Money making is definitely not a priority in this project. Most of the time we go way over our budget for pimping the place with decor, sound and lighting. Last month we rented a whole roller coaster for the front of the club, so all our guests had to do a round before entering the club! After that everyone got a LED finger light in different colours so that they, themselves, could be the light show. It was totally insane! The artists we’ve been booking for 8 years also realise what it’s all about…people come from France, Germany and Austria to get a piece of this magic. It’s pretty much all about having the time of our lives!”

You burst onto the scene in 2008 with ‘Talkshow’…but let’s rewind for a moment even further. How old were you when you first discovered dance music, who were the artists that first pricked your ears up?

Adrian: “It was a loooong time ago! My first glimpse into the scene was with a band from France called Motorbass. After this I was, and always been, a big fan of Armand van Helden…as well as Daft Punk and all the French stuff.”

Samy: “It sounds a bit nerdy, but my first electronic record was Kraftwerk. It’s not my fault…”

What was the original idea – Djing/event organising or was producing always the main goal?

“When we originally met, about 10 years ago, we both worked for a hip hop club called UG. At a summer’s staff party we got thrown together on the resident decks for the first time. Well, four hours later we were still the entertainment, but only for 5 people in the end!!…Anyway since that day we have been inseparable. After a while we realised that Samy had been to jazz school and Adrian had some samplers and other gadgets at home, so we started to produce. The party then fell into place with our friend and partner, Luke Dyer-Smith. It all started purely out of passion. So, there was no idea, we just did what felt right at that moment.”

Tell us about some of the up and coming DJs and producers on the Swiss scene we should be looking out for in 2014…

“We have some really cool dudes about at the moment. Jimi Jules, Dario D’attis and Manuel Moreno are guys who everybody should be keeping an eye (and an ear) out for…”

What is each other’s best quality as a producer?

“Samy is our big melody guy with a lot of emotion. Adrian can easily sit on a break for two whole days till he kills it.”

You work, play and travel together. If you could change 1 thing about each other what would it be?

“To be honest, nothing Dan. Sometimes we have some serious discussions, but we think this is really important for any relationship to develop. Our friendship is really tight, based on our like-minded humour and crazy, binding experiences we’ve had.”

What is the greatest record you have ever played to a dance floor?

“Too many to mention! There is always the perfect record, for the perfect time with the perfect crowd. This is when “it” happens.”

What is coming out next from you guys studio wise?

“The album had a lot of listening material on it, so at the moment we are busy with a few real dance bombs. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see which way the wind takes us.”

And finally…gotta ask. What is with the name?

“There are a few stories out there, I’m sure…but from us…there’s no comment at all!”

Animal Trainer – Wide [Stil Vor Talent] – OUT NOW
http://www.beatport.com/release/wide/1243171

https://www.facebook.com/AnimalTrainerMusic