We surrender to the pleasure
Pleasurekraft, welcome to DMC. You are in the midst of a huge tour after completing North America in December and are now off to South America. What have been the highlights to date?
“As cheesy as it might sound – honestly meeting all the fans around the world that are so passionate about our music is just so inspirational. Of course being in places like Playa del Carmen for BPM festival and meeting a lot of your peers is quite nice as well. Just had a great time in Pereira Colombia as well – 1000 people in an open air venue until dawn – parties like that you remember forever.”
We know you have a very wide taste in music aside from EDM, what music were you into growing up?
“Yeah, actually Kalle and myself don’t generally listen to a lot of Techno or House in our spare time, of course as part of staying on top of what is going on in the scene and for my DJ sets I HAVE to, not that I mind, but certainly EDM is not the only music on my ipod at the moment. There are songs from people like Junior Boys to Tom Waits. A lot of that stuff is also stuff I grew up listening to like A Tribe Called Quest, Deftones, Tool, Radiohead but there are also people like the Miike Snow (w/production duo Bloodshy & Avant at the helm)/Neptunes/Timbaland/Kanye West all of whom both Kalle and I have an almost religious respect for as far as production ability goes. Whether you like the music they make or not – their production skills are undeniable. And if I could add – everyone should buy Van Hunt’s debut record ‘Van Hunt’ – he’s kind of like Marvin Gaye, early Prince, and early Lenny Kravitz all rolled into one with a unique twist on all of it. He plays all his own instruments and produced his own record and it is jaw dropping how talented he is – not to mention how intelligent his songwriting and lyrics are. Yeah it’s not electronic – it’s just simply great music. OK enough of a plug there!“
What did you want to be when you grew up?
“I am obsessed with food, film, and music. I just wanted to end up doing something in one of those 3 fields and having been in the food industry for a few years (as most people who are trying to make it in music or film can certainly attest to) it was that much sweeter when Pleasurekraft kinda blew up and I was able to just concentrate on music. Kalle wanted to be a marine biologist which is quite funny because he often cannot even stand the sight of seafood.”
Kalle, you are from Stockholm and Kaveh you’re from Washington DC – you both had releases on Anjunadeep, is this how you two first hooked up in the first place? How did the working together thing happen?
“Yeah we both had releases within a few months of each other, and it was kind of ironic because both his remix and mine didn’t really fit the Anjuna Deep sound which was pretty prog house, and both our tracks were much techier, and in both cases the original artists had to fight to get our remixes released. In the end they eventually came out and when I heard Kalle’s (who was producing under a different name) I contacted him on Myspace – and one thing led to another and we ended up collaborating on a track called ‘Dancing with Strangers’ by Rossell, and Pete Tong ended up playing it on his Essential Selection just before its release. Of course it was a shock to both of us since neither one of us had had that kind of success solo, so we decided to work on a few more projects together, but it never really took off until “Tarantula” and I guess the rest is kinda history now.”
What is each other’s forte in the studio – who brings what to the table?
“I think every project is kinda unique. Kalle has been producing for longer so when it comes to sonic engineering and of course the now infamous “vocoder” hook Kalle is all over that. Some tracks one of us might be more focused on the hook and the other the groove, and vice versa depending on the project. Generally though working with other musicians though it can be trying at times when there are disagreements, also pushes your boundaries – and I think Pleasurekraft works because its 2 people pushing each other’s music sensibilites to create something that is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Tell us about your studio set up?
“Nothing crazy really – we are not hardware freaks like some producers. Nothing wrong with that – it just costs a lot more! But a couple of macs, apogee duet sound card, virus ti, native instruments Maschine, and a couple midi keyboards. The rest is all up to the software really.”
You have a very distinctive sound, how would you describe it though?
“Easiest way is just tech house with a hook. Some of the tracks might be a little housier, some a little techier – but generally speaking they fall somewhere on the tech house continuum and they always have a hook.”
What are the plans for the Kraftek label?
“Right now we are just focusing on releasing a few things on Kraftek whether it’s an original here and there or a remix of a track we really love – like last year’s “Antidote” by Style of Eye. But I think we are going to focus more on it as the year goes on with plans to really give it a boost in 2013 making it a somewhat exclusive home for all our future originals kind of the way Pryda is for Eric Prydz. We are control freaks and at the end of the day when you can release your art through your own channels it gives you that more control over the entire process.”
With some absolutely massive dancefloor tracks under your belts already, which song are you most proud of?
“For Kalle – his favourites are “La La Land”, the “We Love” remix and the remix for “The Antidote”. For me, I would say “Zooloo”, “Satyr Song” and “Anubis”. Notice that neither of us lists “Tarantula” in there!”
It’s your birthday, what 4 DJs do you invite to spin?
“Can I just have Nic Fanciulli play the entire show? lol. I don’t know – that’s a tough question – but certainly Nic as he is my DJ idol. It’s an educational experience every time I watch him play. I also would have Bulgarian acid man KINK who I was lucky enough to play with at Exit Festival in Serbia last year and he absolutely blew my mind with his live set. Carl Cox would most likely be in there as well – if you want to know what it means to have stage presence – watch Carl when he gets going – its like a man possessed – plus it helps that he is so down to earth. Lastly would probably be a rare old school hip hop/r&b set from my boy in Miami Jesse Perez who runs Mr Nice Guy records and has an upcoming EP on Hot Creations.”
What advice can you give to the thousands of aspiring DJs and producers out there reading this wanting to be in your shoes?
“I don’t think it’s any secret in this day and age that in order to make it as a globe trotting DJ you HAVE to produce, and produce well, and produce a lot (until you are huge anyway and then you can just do 4 tracks a year – maybe). But in addition to producing, you have to bring something unique to the table sound wise, which with so many producers out there is a daunting task. That being said, I always say the best production advice is to NOT listen to the type of music you are trying to produce – especially if its techno or house. I think the broader your musical taste the richer your productions will be even if its just from all these musical ideas seeping into your brain when you sit down to work on a tech/house track. And you also run the risk of sounding like other producers in your genre if you only listen to the type of music you are producing yourself.”
So we come back to yours after the club, what is the Pleasurekraft Back To Mine Top 10 you spin us to chill?
“So hard to choose just 10! But here goes in no particular order…
Miike Snow – “Animal”
Junior Boys – “When I’m Not Around” – though this entire album could be a Back to Mine album in and of itself!
N.E.R.D. – “Am I High”
Cagedbaby – “Hello There” (Presets Remix)
Kanye West – “Flashing Lights” or “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” – again impossible to decide
Dr Dre ft Snoop Dogg – “Nuthin But A G Thing”
No Logo – Black Star (Francois Dubois Remix)
Lifelike – So Electric
Pete Rock & CL Smooth – “In The House”
Kavinsky – “Nightcall” – and yes “Drive” WAS the best American film of 2011 if you know this reference! 🙂
What is next studio wise in from you both in 2012?
“Well at this very moment some very big projects that are not confirmed yet so I don’t want to tease anyone – but one track that hopefully will be our big track of 2012 is our new original with Green Velvet doing the vocals. No release date yet as we want to make sure to get everything right on this one but hopefully it will be out in time for all the summer parties & festivals. We are also working on some collabs with Tom Flynn & Zombie Disco Squad as well.”
