We caught up with man of the moment KlangKuenstler for a quick chat…
For those people reading this who don’t know who you are, briefly tell us who you are and where you are from..
My real name is Michael, I am a producer from Germany and a lover of House music. I grew up in a very small town in Bavaria and after I finished my apprenticeship I moved to Berlin and still living there.
Your song ‘Jam Master Jack’ has become one of the most successful tech house tracks ever on Beatport, whats the story behind the track, what was the inspiration?
Yes, that is a unbelievable fact. But actually there is no whole story behind it. I just like a lot of Hip Hop records from 80s and 90s, even from the early 2000s. So this great record from Run Dmc crossed my way after I haven’t heard it for a while and I directly had an idea in mind so I needed to sample it. I love the casual vibe of old school Hip Hop and I tried to translate that into a groovy Tech House track.
Now, ‘Back To Old School’ seems to be heading in the same direction.. Have you found your magic formula to making music?
I am not sure if I have a magic formula haha I can just speak for myself obviously but I think as an artist, you run through many phases of what you like and what you don’t like. Especially as a younger artist like me, who is in the business just around 5 years, you still learn everyday. The understanding of music in its smallest parts develops constantly, as well as your ear and your producing skills. And another point is simply your character, I personally get bored very quickly, that”s why I am trying out new things which makes me change my formula almost every year, if you can call it a formula, because actually I just do what I like. But that’s why I couldn’t do the same thing for years. Maybe I will change this statement if I am doing music for 15 years, but for now it is my opinion.
Sometimes I asked myself if it is still a self discovery to do different styles over the years, maybe I am still in this phase but maybe it is just me.
What has changed about your production in the last year or so?
If we are talking about the way of producing not much, two or three years ago I was just used to start with a chord progression or a melody but now I also start often with collection some cool drum sounds and then going on with the groove. And my tracks are a bit faster now.
How has the summer been for you so far, what have been your highlights?
Summer is always lovely. I love to play outside when it is warm, which makes me think back to 2 weeks in Asia in March, which was no summer at all in Europe but playing on a little island called Koh Mak at Thaibreak and in Singapur again was definitely a highlight this year. German summer highlights have been two Stil vor Talent Festivals in Hamburg and Berlin, a great night at Egg London even it wasn’t outside, Grüne Sonne Festival in Bavaria, Mystic Garden Festival Amsterdam, Hafen49 Mannheim and Wilde Renate in Berlin.
Over the past few years you have played DJ sets all over the world, what is your favorite place to play and why?
That’s hard to tell because every country has his own kind of vibe I think, also depending how far electronic music is at the place. For example Kuala Lumpur is a place where Techno and House is still rising and not that big than in Germany or Uk and I played there at a place which was a mixture of bar and restaurant, but it was a great vibe though and I really enjoyed the time there. I also loved to play in Bangkok and Singapore because the people were so thankful for the music and appreciated it so much that an artist comes from another country to play there although I as artist appreciate it so much to be able to play music in another country.
But to answer your question I think I can’t go wrong with saying that I love to play in UK, My first time at Egg London was just lovely and I love to think back to playing and visiting Bestival, which is a very special place. And not to forget my first gig ever in UK at Pacha London in 2014, as release party for my track ‘Hand in Hand’ (Soundplate Records), thank you guys so much again for making that possible by they way!
How important is social media for you these days?
Social media plays an important role to me and also in general these days, except for the artists and labels who have been established for many years, like Sven Vaeth or Ricardo Villalobos for example. But even they use the socials or have social media managers who post some content.
But as I am a boy of the new generation I grew up with it, am I am used to it but can also image that it must be sometimes annoying for the older generation. We all know that it is a lot of work to build a tight following on socials and to have some good content all the time because you don’t want to bore your followers of course, on the other hand you can’t just post funny off topic pictures.
So I personally enjoy thinking about new content, new ways to spread the music on Facebook or Soundcloud but through the internet and the overdose of music and promotion from all sides the music industry seems to have become much more fast-moving which also means people are forgetting music and artists faster which exerts pressure on the artists who care about their social media presence.
What do you think about the progress regarding streaming platforms like Spotify?
I was sceptical for a long time but an aspect you can’t deny is, that it brought millions of people back to paying again for music. Something around 10 pounds a month are obviously not comparable with the worth of a song but I think streaming is the answer to the hundreds of possibilities to download music easily illegal on the Internet.
That doesn’t mean I am a fan of streaming platforms – I think it is just a better solution than accepting that everybody downloads everything for free. For me it isn’t about the money but more the appreciaten of music, as it seems like our parents and grandparents appreciated a song a lot more and listened a song much longer than my generation these days. A single vinyl with 4 songs cost almost as much as an Spotify subscription today, which gives you the ability to listen to any released song worldwide. (Although the vinyl sales raised constantly the last three years, not comparable with back in the days, but a good sign though)
Cool, and whats coming up next for you?
I am working on a follow up record for Jam Master Jack on Smiley Fingers. Furthermore I have a track coming out on the ADE compilation of Elrow Music. After that I will release a Ep on Stil vor Talent.
Click here to check out KlangKuenstler on Facebook.