Another huge Diynamic producer getting real deep this summer
Martin welcome to DMCWORLD Magazine. You are in the middle of a very busy summer, in and out of Ibiza starring at Solomun’s mighty Diynamic night at Sankeys. How was the opening night for you? Sankeys looks to have really raised the level this year…
“It was a great night, all of us from Diynamic and everyone else enjoyed it a lot! As i’m playing live only, the soundsystem is an important part for my performance and I have to say, the one Sankeys installed on the main floor is a hell of a system!!!!”
The world knows about how you were efficient on the violin, drums and piano before you were wearing long trousers, but the real changing point of your life came at the age of 15 when you discovered you could make all of these sounds on a computer! What was that realisation like?
“That was one of the most important moments in my life because suddenly I knew what I had to do for the rest of my life (or at least the next 30years!). And I’m very thankful about this, a lot of people I know still don’t know what they wanna do with their life…”
Was it difficult making the transition from playing grooves to producing them?
“Sure, in the beginning it’s quite strange to always start from the theoretical side – nowadays its normal for me. But also normal in terms of accepting not being able to recreate exactly what you have in mind – for me this was very difficult and frustrating at the beginning.”
Most people walk away from electronic producing courses feeling they have learnt a lot. You however look back at your years in Hamburg being told what to press and play by a lecturer, were a complete waste of time?
“No, not a complete waste of time. But in my opinion music is something which works best through learning by doing – simply because the results are more interesting! There is not such a thing like right or wrong – if it sounds right, it is right! If i would have bought good speakers instead of going to SAE I would have mixed better, earlier. But anyway – the school was good for my parents to see their son is doing things right in a traditional way (?!) and I don’t wanna judge people for going to a course or school – everyone should know himself best and what works for me doesn’t mean it works for someone else…”
Your life changed in a nightclub in 2007 when you met Solomun and Adriano who shared your take on house and techno music. They were just about to launch dynamic Music and you felt you had found the musical family you had longed for. Why was that?
“Wow that sounds dramatic Dan! It actually felt more like a process for all of us, but Solomun and Adriano had a plan which I must have felt in an intuitive way. Of course I was searching for people who wanted the same as me: an environment which allows us to pay our rent and do what we believe in! What shall I say – it worked out better then I dreamt of!”
Hamburg is all of a sudden becoming one of the most important cities around the world housing truly great electronic producers and DJs. Who around your home city are you excited about at the moment?
“I like the stuff from Kollektiv Turmstrasse and, of course, Hosh and Solomun!”
The way you look at making albums is refreshing. On Reflections for instance you basically just shut the studio door and poured your heart out reflecting on things that were going on in your life – a shit relationship, late hours clubbing and other misdemeanours going on. You said you didn’t care whether it worked in a club, it was all about the groove, sounds and feelings…?
“…and it’s still the same. Right now I’m working on my third album and making good progress yeah. But also it’s not that I have the dancefloor as priority A in mind…it’s more like: if it makes me move and freak out in the studio, I’m confident others will feel the same. And if a track doesn’t satisfy my ‘energy-needs’ it’s in the trash.”
Your musical education via DJs is fabulous. A love of Grooverider and Krush then developed into the likes of techno god Sven Vath. Who are the DJs today that you are giving high fives to?
“My favourite producer at the moment is Andre Lodemann, he’s very mature and thoughtful. I met him once and he told me how long he needs for a track or even a remix. This is something one can hear and it makes his tracks very worthy. I also heard Roman Flügel DJing a couple of weeks ago and was very impressed of his real and mature approach to Techno. Apart from classic 4/4 beats i’m a huge fan from Amon Tobin.”
An interesting quote from you from 2011…”I think if more producers would include their own mind and feelings into their music the whole scene would be much more flavoured and diverse which would be good for all of us…at least in an entertaining way.” Discuss…
“Well, I think everyone agrees that dance music tends to sound more or less the same everywhere, Beatport (and some other online stores) does its best to keep it like that, just have a listen through the genre charts and you should recognize how similar everything sounds. Obviously they didn’t yet find a way to moderate and select music in a way a record shop owner did. (And no, I don’t wanna start the ‘past was better than present’ discussion). Also there are only a few producers who have something like a ‘brand-sound’. For me, this is kind of sad, simply because I don’t go out anymore not only cause i’m busy at weekends but also cause it’s unusual to hear really interesting and fresh dance music…It’s not too difficult to produce a good sounding dance track, but very difficult to produce an innovative one.”
Another element of your music we love is your samples. You never use the same sample twice and nothing is sacred. Sources of sound in your productions have included a Coke can, a coffee machine, children’s toys, keys, marbles, a rubbish bin, loose change, tube train breaking systems and doors and an Ikea pizza cutter. What have you been sampling in 2012?
“Haha, I just bought a Marantz Recorder and two small condensation mics from Neumann which makes me look weird while recording but the sound I get out of it is fantastic…next week I’m gonna try the zoo in Hamburg…”
What have you been working on studio wise in 2012, what is coming next from you?
“As I wrote earlier, my third album is in the making and I’m very happy with what I have until now!!! There are already two tracks with a female singer from Stockholm finished, one with my favourite violin-player Dylan Naylor (the one from ‘no strings attached’ and ‘the unicorn’) and some other deep and interesting ones are also nearly finished. Yes, I’m looking forward to it all!”
How much production do you get done whilst on the road?
“Not much at all, I need the calmness of my studio to focus, I can’t do this on the road!”
What has been the best gig of 2012 so far?
“The best has been part of my tour to Australia and New Zealand – the one in Auckland was the most craziest and impressive one for me this year.”
What record changed your life?
“Adaggio For Strings from Samuel Barber.”
And finally – how would you describe your style in 2012?
“That’s a ‘lil bit difficult to say for this year because what you hear, release-wise, is not what I produce right now…anyway, as usual I go as deep as possible, and when I reach the ground, I still wanna go deeper!”
Stimming plays Diyanmic Neon Nights @ Sankeys Ibiza on the following dates:
Tuesday 14 August
Tuesday 28 August
Tuesday 11 September
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