Coffee With Modeselektor

I can only imagine what it was like to be in Berlin during that period.

G: it was a crazy time.  For me what is important is to not be able to predict what you are going to get. I would hate it if people knew exactly what we were going to do next. That would be predictable and boring. I don’t want anything to feel standardized. I don’t like the feeling when I walk into a club that I am there to be squeezed for money and that a VIP area where buying bottles is important so it’s important that it is first and foremost about the music. That is what we are about.

Definitely. In regards to the label, do you still do most of the A+R for 50 Weapons yourself? I imagine it’s important for you to maintain the ethos of the label when signing new artists.

G: For sure. Although the music is obviously our first and foremost concern I would say at least 90% of the artists we sign to Monkeytown or 50 Weapons are friends of ours so and having a good relationship with our acts is something that naturally we find essential to the progress of the label.

S: It’s just fortunate that we’ve met and befriended so many talented people!

Has running a label changed your attitude towards music production at all? It must be an odd time to be running an imprint with GEMA looming so large on the electronic landscape in Germany.

G: Well we are premium members of GEMA as we realize that if you want to affect change on something you do not agree with then it is easier and more effective to change it from the inside than it is to just complain about how terrible it is. We’re planning on killing the monster from within in classic movie style. Or that or we’ve just going to fuck it up from the inside and piss all over the place. We’ve got the gold card with them so we can do what we like…

You seem to have quite eclectic tastes. Are there any emerging scenes  or artists for the future that you’re particularly excited about?

G: Yes, lots!  The music scene in Paris is very strong right now with lots of promoters putting on strong programs of new guys which is good for everyone. Guys like Bambounou are definitely ones to watch.

May we be seeing a collaboration in the near future? We’re always interested to see who you’ll team up with next from Thom Yorke to TTC or Marcel Dettmann and Shed…

G: We like working with our friends and we like working on new projects so you will be seeing new collaborations from us in the coming year. Working with Marcel and Shed is great under A.T.O.L is great but it is really difficult to organize as the schedules of us rarely match up to enable us to perform together but I think it is a project that has great potential.

S: We have plans for post-Moderat touring but we aren’t allowed to say much about it for the time being.

We look forward to finding out about these fresh projects but obviously you’ve been concentrating on your work alongside Apparat as Moderat. I’m told you found the second album a stressful process…

G: Yes. It was very intense and I think we all agree felt like it aged us like 10 years as we wanted to get it right. It was a huge challenge for us and pretty intense for us. We’ve known each other for over 15 years now and are still experiencing new aspects and dimensions to our friendship. We also didn’t want to compare the first album with our second studio work so began work fresh, just experimenting.

S: It has much more of a live aspect to it was a different process to much of our other work but I’m looking forward to playing it out to crowds. Hopefully they’ll enjoy it.

We’re certainly looking forward to hearing it at Eastern Electrics for the live premiere of it. I remember really enjoying seeing Moderat at The Warehouse Project a few years back.

S: That was a while ago now! Yes we’re excited to be playing it on its release at a festival after many months hard work in the studio putting it together. Now is when the fun part starts! We’re more of a band and we can’t wait to play live again.

You can catch Modeselektor live alongside Apparat as Moderat at this Eastern Electrics Festival. For more information and tickets click here