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Losoul - a Hero of the Playhouse Label
Интервью · 24.12.2008
By 44100Hz
We offer for your attention an interview with the latest hero of the International DJs podcast, one of the veterans of the famous Playhouse label, a guest of the recent Space It Out party at Shanti, Peter Kremeier, known by the artistic alias Losoul...
44100hz: You came to Moscow last year too, right at the end of December. This is becoming a nice tradition. How did you like our capital back then?
Losoul:
Moscow turned out to be a splendid place to celebrate New Year. The party was very good, with a solid lineup: Seth Troxler, Cesare vs Disorder, Ben Parris and Moscow musicians. I also liked the Gazgallery space. It was fun!
44100hz: Since when did you become a music lover?
Losoul:
My parents were into music, and I remember their parties in the 70s (luckily, they hired a nanny for me). They had a big collection of jazz, soul, classical and traditional German music. My uncle, too, who decided at the time to move to East Africa, would bring back some music from there.
44100hz: Do you remember the first techno track you heard? What made it memorable for you?
Losoul:
I am not entirely sure, but it was probably Steve Silk Hurley's track "Jack Your Body". It was very popular in Germany back then, and even though I was not especially close to underground music at the time, it opened up the electronic sound to me. There were also tracks from Chicago, and, of course, Inner City with the hits "Big Fun", "Good Life".
44100hz: A lot of samples can be heard in your recordings. Will you share the secret of where you get them?
Losoul:
Yes, I use samples, but most of the elements in my music are still synthesized. Although I do like sounds that carry within them a little story from the past, or an imagined story. It is only a faint impression, but it can turn out to be decisive for the whole track. On some new tracks I used samples from ancient hip-hop records. So what? I just like their vibrations.
44100hz: From the very beginning, techno was almost anonymous. No one interviewed the first techno producers, and generally few people even knew about them. Do you think that in an era when, thanks to music social networks, information spreads very fast, techno manages to keep that trait?
Losoul:
Back then the tracks were very abstract, made up, as it were, of a mood concentrated down to the size of a composition. They conveyed the atmosphere of the times and places where they were created. Personality, a persona, was not needed here. And besides, at that time only a handful of producers were working, and they created entirely independently of the needs of the scene. Today some musicians try to push themselves, showing off how cool they are at reproducing the minimal sound. When music becomes more mediocre, there arises a need to promote the persona, the one who performs it. I cannot say whether that is worse or better. It is simply a sign of the times.
44100hz: Do you buy music online, or do you use only vinyl in your sets?
Losoul:
I play from vinyl and I will keep doing so for as long as it is possible. I grew up on vinyl records and I like that special form of contact with the music. But the digital format has its own charms too. Maybe I will be able to combine the merits of both approaches.
44100hz: Which release on the Playhouse label are you truly proud of?
Losoul:
Hard to say. I put maximum effort into every one of my works. That is why each becomes very dear to me. But, looking back, there are favourites after all. For example, "Open Door" or "00000000". I like "Chase Chase Chase", the remix of "Turning Orange 2 Please U" that I did for The Freaks, and another of "Say Goodbye" by Khan. I like the last one for a certain pathos and, at the same time, simplicity. I am pleased with the things I did together with Malte for their special vibe. Also with my two albums, for their depth and their ever-relevant subjects. I like the latest releases, their sound and concept. It is hard to say what I am proudest of.
44100hz: What is new on the way?
Losoul:
A few new releases in the near future. Another album is being prepared for release on Playhouse. I am working on some remixes. That is all I can say for now.
44100hz: Then tell us about the mix you recorded for our site.
Losoul:
This mix is a cross-section of what interests me in electronic music at the moment. I always like to balance between pure electronica and a house sound. That is where it all started, after all...