boys noize interview.

and the interviews just don't stop. i was a hardworking ninja turtle on halloween night and got to sit down with boys noize. he's one of the nicest, most down-to-earth people. we got to chat about the peak and aftermath of the scene that he helped build, a few of his new projects going in a few interesting directions, and how he still manages to get inspired amongst all this musical overkill.

so you're not wearing a costume? i guess halloween isn't much of a german holiday, is it?

no, i put on this very boring batman shirt. it's quite common i guess. you know germans are more boring.

no, not with their techno music they're not boring. are you still working on your side project?

yes i'm working with gonzales (feist's producer). we've already written two songs together. he's an incredible songwriter; a genius. he plays and can be creative with every instrument. i've turned down alot of production requests just because i've wanted to spend more time producing with people like him. his creativity inspires me to try so many new things.

what do you two sound like together?

boys noize - shine shine (shadow dancer unreleased remix)



he sends me his work on the piano and i build everything around that. it's not going to be very clubby. it will be a bit more electronica disco, i'm not quite sure how to describe it. we don't have vocals yet so i'm not sure if we want to keep them instrumental. its a big experiment.

well, that's probably a good thing you can't describe it because that means that there aren't alot of similar sounds out there. so you're trying to take your music somewhere new. do you still do your other side project, puzique, with d.i.m?

we just did a new track but won't come out until next year. we plan to do new stuff, but time is limited and we live in two different cities so it's difficult to be very productive.

i know that 'don't go' had a very distinct sound from the rest of your other tracks that i've heard. it was nice because i ended up hearing it played in alot of unexpected places, so maybe it enabled you to branch out into different territories like your feist remix did, as well.

to be honest, i was a bit ashamed of that track. but it was kindof characteristic of our label to release something like that which goes against the trends of the moment.

speaking about 'the moment' i saw that you got to mix the cd for the 'i love techno this year.

it's quite ravey, i must say. there's some real classic techno and some newer stuff. it's more difficult to define techno as it was in the 90's. i always looked up to this festival and thought it was one of the most cutting edge talent lineups. the booking seems to be evolving with the current trends because it went from guys like richie hawtin and audion to having an entire ed banger room. the tastes are changing and techno doesn't exist in the way that it used to. for the compilation i tried not to be totally up to date, but i had to put the proxy track on there because it has been one of the biggest tracks of the year. but i also come from a techno background so i think the compilation reflects that, too.

i loved that len faki track, too. being german must have influenced your sound because people are able to pick out a track of yours from any dj's set. it's a pretty distinct sound.

it's a good and a bad thing. i just had a conversation about this with a few friends. we helped build this scene in the last few years and now it's at its peak. but thats the thing about a hype; it can only last for a certain time. we are waiting for the backlash. i've been djing for ten years so there's always something different that gets attention and hype and i've seen them all come and go. you have to be smart enough to move on. i get bored with alot of stuff these days.

yes you play out all the time so it must get a little redundant.

well that's a different thing. i like to play out all the time. that's not what bores me. there's just too many poor copies of the good stuff.

do you have a preference between playing out and producing? which do you schedule more time for?

they're so different. but i really enjoy sitting in my studio and trying out all different kinds of creative processes. now i'd like to spend more time in the studio, but touring has been eating up most of my time. i'm taking two months off at the beginning of the year to finish my new album.

have you started performing live yet?

not yet. i can't see myself only with a laptop. it's not so exciting for me to watch, much less do myself. if i were to prepare a whole set on ableton, it would just be me pushing buttons on stage. i don't really want to bring my whole 808 drum machine, too. i was thinking of maybe putting something together for larger festivals next year, but it would probably be more like me having 3 cdj's, 2 turntables, and something for extra effects. i also like being able to choose whatever tracks i want based on the crowds reaction as opposed to being restricted to a preselected ableton playlist.

with all the music that you have access to and all the talent that you see/play with, what manages to inspire you still?

there's not alot of djs that i find exciting. i try to avoid all the blog things (also a love/hate thing). there's a few german electronica guys that i love alot. but, yeah, not much...

who are your main sources for trading music with that you play out in your dj sets?

oh ya its cool when mr oizo sends me his new tracks on ichat. i still buy records and usually play more vinyl. as far as what i like to play out, i try to support my berlin crew like housemeister, modeselektor, errorsmith, smith n hack.

well i can't wait to hear what you play tonite. i'm prepared to be wowed.