IN CONVERSATION: MONIKA KRUSE

Revered techno figurehead Monika Kruse's talent and dedication made her one of the world's most highly-respected DJs and producers, who has inspired many in her 25-year-long career. She started the Terminal M label in 2000, and it remains one of the most consistently outstanding techno labels. Monika Kruse joined us for Familia's 5th Birthday celebrations with her label showcase. We briefly chatted with Techno's First Lady… 

You've played the piano since an early age, subsequently training your ear and leading to where you are now in your career. Is current or previous experience with a musical instrument essential learning for a budding producer? 

It's not essential, but it definitely helps. I was learning classical piano when I first started my training and later Jazz; my knowledge of harmonizing and how it affects the way music sticks in your head has given me more space to improvise on my productions and also how I put my feelings into a track. Many artists fall into the trap of perfectionism in their work, from the tracks they produce to the selection and mixing techniques throughout their DJ sets. 

Do you ever fall into this 'perfectionist' category with music production and DJing? How do you overcome something that's arguably a slightly negative way of working? 

Oh, ha, that's an excellent question! I am 100% a perfectionist; I'm rarely satisfied with my sets, and sometimes, I go home and think, "Ah, I could have done this better". This way of thinking is helpful to me; if every time I played, I was satisfied, it would mean I hadn't given myself room for improvement. The pressure now is higher these days than ever due to social media. Everyone is recording you with their phones, or you're being live-streamed, and once it's out there, it's out there. Producing it is hard, as I always feel the track needs to be finished. Still, it is essential to let go of the feeling of perfectionism and, at one point, to release the track.

With news of political upheaval in the daily headlines, tell us about your charity 'No Historical Backspin', and how this combats racism and violence.

I founded this organization in the year 2000 when there was lots of violence against refugees, but also against gay people. Some of my gay friends were getting attacked on the streets after parties, and when DJ Rush was assaulted because he was black, I strongly felt I had to speak out and do something about this. If I went to the club with a message or threw a party with this in mind, people might start to think and dance. I remember a few occasions where we met some really right-wing people at the party (which was good) because we were able to have a discussion and say, "Hey if we can all show love on the dancefloor, why can't we show love off it?" and that's really what the mission is. At a Backspin party, all the DJs play for free, and all the money raised goes to victims of these attacks, usually paying for lawyers or medical bills. We've now raised over € 100,000, so I'm thrilled.

Tell us about living in Berlin, the best place for crate digging, the most outrageous club space, your favorite bar, and the best place for a meal after a night DJing or just enjoying the city's nightlife. 

Hard Wax is definitely top for records; they have a lot of Detroit stuff you can't get in many other shops; it's extraordinary. Unfortunately, many good stores have closed because of the record crisis, which is a real pity. The best place to get a late dinner or an early breakfast is at home. I like to cook; I can make some noodles and then get straight into bed! 

You're no stranger to playing at Familia parties here in Egg; this is your third booking with the Familia clan. What's so special about this party makes you want to return each time?

The thing about Familia and Egg is that we are good friends. I've known Gabby since I DJed at Trade, and now I'm here for Familia. This party, this club, is really about family. If I play abroad, you guys will always come along to my show; you stay in contact even if I'm not playing here; that means a lot to me. This industry is now just about business, but you guys make it more than that. I'm grateful you allowed me to showcase my label here and invite artists who have never played in London, like tonight with Skober. You trust and support me, my artists, and my belief in them.

Credit:

Orginal Intwerview by Egg London:

https://www.egglondon.co.uk/news/interview-monika-kruse

MORE INSPIRED THAN EVER BEFORE: HOW BOOKA SHADE REMAIN AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME

After 35+ years of writing music and heavy touring together under various guises, aliases, and genres, no one would have blamed Arno Kammermeier and Walter Merziger for taking a break from their Booka Shade project during the last two years of lockdowns and allowing themselves a breather from the relentless on-road grind. But no. Quite the contrary…

2020/2021 were arguably two of the German duo’s most prolific and creative years to date as they wrote their 10th album (‘Both’), a compilation of vocal collaborations (‘Voices Of Hope’) and remastered their iconic ‘Movements’ album into a Dolby Atmos vinyl release. They also sprang into action and toured the moment things opened up again in the middle of 2021. Oh, and they were nominated for a Grammy Award for their previous album ‘Dear Future Self’ which dropped just weeks ahead of the pandemic.

It's an impressive list of achievements, none of which they expected to achieve before things went a little off-track for us all, but most importantly during this time, they feel they’ve truly re-engaged with what Booka Shade means, what Booka Shade sounds like and what it’s capable of in the future. Fully refreshed and vision sharpened, even after all these years of writing and working together, the two friends – who began as electronic pop due Planet Claire back in the late 80s and had a whole illustrious career as popmakers during the 90s – are more inspired and in-tune than they have been in many years. The Standard caught up with them to find out more…

Considering the world is only just getting back to live music in the last half a year, you guys have been so busy. I think perhaps last year was one of your most prolific ever release-wise…

Walter: It’s interesting how much energy you have when you’re not touring! It was a lot of fun listening to things differently because we weren’t in that weekend/touring cycle. So the last few years were us going back to our roots as studio guys. This was like it was in the 90s when we were in the studio and didn’t travel much at all.

I sense a different relationship with the music. Between the two big release last year you have two very different perspectives on the Book Shade sound. Voices Of Hope was far away from the dancefloor while Both highlighted the fresh energy we all had coming out of lockdown. They were written in very different contexts, weren’t they?

Walter: They were. Plus, Voices Of Hope was all collaborations with singers. It’s very vocal-driven while Both is typical Booka Shade. Instrumental and a very pure club sound.

Arno: With Voices Of Hope we realized we could do what we’d wanted to do for some time. We were always going from weekend to weekend and writing music for our sets but with that, we had the time again. And so did everyone we collaborated with. Everyone was interested in collaborating. It was perfect. We had an album finished when the pandemic started too – Dear Future Self.

We had a full tour planned for that, so to cancel that was a bit of a shock. But then we realized it was a bit of a blessing. We could stop and think about everything we’ve done, reflect, and ask ourselves what we would like to do in the future. That’s why we went for things we really liked. We’ve always had our feet in songwriting and music with vocals. We don’t always make it, but we love it when we do.

Plus there was a Grammy nomination in the mix of all of that!

Arno: Yes, it was an exciting surprise. You work all this time and you think you’ve done most things, then all of a sudden something like that happens. You cannot plan for it.

Walter: I thought it was a joke from someone. It came from our German distributors and it felt unreal. I read it and thought, “Ah, that’s a mistake. That’s not meant for us!”

Arno: Just when you think you’ve tried out everything, this comes along.

Deep, deep, deep into a long and illustrious career!

Arno: It shows there’s still a lot to come. And, touching back on Voices Of Hope, what was interesting about it was that we could reach out to people, young talents we’ve been excited by, and see if they’re up for work, and now we’re meeting them in real life. SOHMI, for example, is from the States, and we got to meet him on our last tour. It was very nice to connect in real life.

So much of our life happened online and we all made new internet friends. As frustrating as a lot of it was, technology definitely enabled many things…

Walter: Yes and it wasn’t so much of a problem for sending tracks back and forth. It was the right time to do this collection of songs. That’s what we view that project as. Both, however, was a proper Booka Shade album.

What was it like getting back in the studio for that? I imagine you rolling your sleeves up like, “Right! Let’s get to work!”

Arno: We’ve worked in our own studios for many years. Working together for such a long time, it’s great to be together and the energy is different. But even if we’re not in the same place, we’re sending tunes back and forth and discussing everything on the phone. It’s a very efficient process which we’re very used to.

Walter: We don’t overthink things. In the past, we’ve spent three years on an album, just the two of us talking and talking. Now we see it more as a journey. Not every song has to be this brilliant moment of genius. For us, it’s important that we constantly work and stretch our style and not get stuck in one particular style.

That’s why we’ve explored so many different ideas. But it’s important for us to work constantly as writers and producers to get the shit out of your body. You might write 10 good songs to get one great one. It’s like if you’re a runner, you have to run every day to be trained. It’s the same with music – you work every day every day and sometimes something flies out of the universe and hits you. You have to work for that though. If you miss the moment, it’s gone.

Arno: The longer the time in between releases, the more unsure you become. You worry about expectations and all these things. It’s better for us to have this constant output or otherwise, it gets rusty.

I’ve spoken to some people who have written albums that have taken so long that they’ve dated by the time they’ve come out. Although I guess when you have your own sound you don’t have to worry about it dating so much…

Arno: You’re right. But, in our experience, there was a time when the whole EDM thing blew up and it took a lot of the big riff elements we’d brought into our songs. We suddenly felt like, “Oh this is a sound we can’t do anymore, we don’t want to sound like that.” It was a difficult time.

But after a while, we thought, “No this is our sound, we do it our way”. So not as big or mainstream as the big EDM sound, but rather in our own style. We did what we’ve always done and showed different sides of our sound. And in recent years we’ve come to really understand what Booka Shade is all about. We go on different excursions, but the solid basis of what Booka Shade is has become very apparent and solid to us.

Wow after 35+ years you’re still discovering your sound. That’s amazing. It’s really interesting regarding your take on EDM. That must have been around the time of the Eve album maybe? Or Galvany Street? Or between those two albums? They’re two very different poles of what Booka Shade can be and the years between those were released were very much peak EDM.

Arno: Absolutely correct. So we escaped and wrote something very different. Most artists will have at least one album like that to their name. Where they’ve completely refreshed things. And it was a fulfilling feeling. Like, “Okay that’s out of the system.” And by then EDM had calmed down a bit and we made our peace with everything.

Walter: We couldn’t compete with all the big fireworks and big mainstream sound so we went on tour with a singer and did something very different. It was more like a band and was very different. It was a shock for some fans and critics, but on the other hand, new people discovered us through the album. It was more alternative; it wasn’t club-style music but a lot of electronic fans saw something in it and liked it. In retrospect, it was a good thing but at the time we wondered if it was too much for our fans. Galvany Street was our first Dolby Atmos album and we sold 6000 Blu-Ray copies, which is a lot for a niche medium.

And this is still a niche music in the wider scheme of things. Niche overload!

Arno: We are the masters of niche!

Love that. That’s a testament to the loyalty of your fans, too…

Arno: Yes. And at the end of the day, we’re speaking about art. We started doing this because we love it and we wanted to create art. You have to follow your feelings. I’ve seen this fantastic documentary about the band Sparks. They are so inspiring and every album they do is different. They do what they love and it’s difficult for fans to follow them because they’re a couple of steps ahead, but that’s very inspiring from an artistic perspective and gives me confidence. They’re in their 70s and they’re still creating and releasing incredible, inspiring art. They are always reinventing. You’ll lose fans along the way, but gain new ones too, and you need to be at peace with that.

I think shows faith in fans and not spoon-feeding the machine or resorting to formula…

Walter: After a long career it’s always nice to see when you’ve been influential. We don’t want to bash EDM and some of the biggest guys in that particular world have told us they are fans of our music and how we inspired them with our music. That was nice to hear. They blow it up and make it a lot bigger, but the emotion is the same. It’s nice to hear when people say something is important.

I guess you don’t realize what influence you’re having when you’re putting things out into the universe…

Walter: Totally. And there’s so much out in the universe now. In fact, we realized that there had never been a vinyl edition of our Movements album. So another thing that we did during the time away from the road was to go back over the original tracks remaster it and create a Dolby Atmos mix. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it and the reaction to that was also huge. It sold out in a day!

Vinyl is having such a great resurgence…

Walter: Yes, it’s great to see! It’s great to have a range of outlets full stop. Blu-Ray, vinyl, Dolby Atmos, and of course streaming. I know people have different opinions about that. You can always say people aren’t paid enough, but I believe it saved the music industry. For us, it was an important factor to survive these times. It gave us a form of income when we couldn’t tour. We focused on streaming from 2017, we were creative with playlists and things like that and this all paid off for us during the pandemic as people listened to a lot more music. It pays and that’s very important – there were times when we didn’t get paid, like the times of Napster and torrenting platforms. So the fact we get paid is very important. We set a goal to reach a million monthly listeners. Once we hit that we make new goals.

You hit that recently, what’s the next goal?

Arno: One particular goal is to find new collaborations and singers and artists we want to with so we can keep this balance between the typical Booka Shade club sound, and the sound we have with singers and vocals. We want to do as much as possible before the live playing starts again, but we’ve also become a lot pickier about the selection of gigs. It’s a bit of a turning point. We’ve said, “Do we want to go every weekend? Or do we select where we know it’s going to be fun and the people are nice?”

Walter: The goal is not to do the same thing every day. It’s always important to have new challenges and play places you’ve never played before, or explored a concept you’ve not explored before. That’s always been interesting to us. That’s why we’ve always said we won’t do a new Movements album. The future is important – not the past. We want to write new things and work with people who aren’t from our world. Things that make us go, “Oh, wow! I’ve never thought about that in that way.” We’ve learned a lot from them, and they’ve learned a lot from us. You always learn a lot from collaborations – it’s important to learn and push the boundaries.

Yeah definitely! You guys seem very inspired and engaged right now…

Walter: We feel that too and we’re very proud of what we’ve achieved over the years. And the best thing is, Booka Shade was never created to be huge in any way. Not like when we did our pop productions in the 90s, where everything had to be big or a hit or a number one and things like that. Booka Shade has always been an outlet to create our own little universe. The fun part is to always let it grow, do different things with it, and keep it on a smaller scale. When you want too much, and you push things too much, it destroys things more than helps you. It has to come naturally and when it does it just flows. You don’t overthink, it just happens. This is the best feeling. We love that.

Arno: The small long steps always work best for us. Step by step.

THE TRANSFORMATION OF HITO

We are always learning; about the world, about people, about our interests, and things that inspire us. But most of all, we’re always learning about ourselves. Take Hito, for instance. An established international DJ for 10 years, and a Berlin-based DJ for many years prior to that, the Japanese headliner has come out of the lockdowns enriched with a fresh perspective on many aspects of her life.

From her creative approach to DJ formats to her own relationship with her Japanese roots, Hito describes the effect of the last two years as a profound transformation. It’s one that’s still ongoing and, most importantly, involves her listening to herself and her own wishes much more than before.

Fresh from an extensive world tour and starting to lay the foundations for an exciting new chapter as a producer, we catch up with Hito to discuss this moment in her life and find out what comes next…

Travel has always been such an important part of your lifestyle. So how was that during the lockdowns? Was it challenging?

It was a challenge, but also I was lucky to travel and be able to play a few times. I could enter Japan and do some shows and projects and see my family. During the lockdown time, I actually spent five months in Japan.

Japan had very different lockdown rules, didn’t it?

It was very different. It wasn’t 100% stay-at-home. There were different rules – like you can buy alcohol but only until 8 pm. Or a venue could be open until midnight but not sell alcohol, or clubs could open but with masks and hygiene. We’ve been wearing masks for a long time, so it’s not new for us and we take care of the next person. This has been taught to us for a long, long time. It was a very different situation over there.

It sounds like you made the best of your time and embraced the change that the global situation imposed on us all…

It led to a big change for me.

How so?

Let’s go back; I started Enter Sake with Richie in 2012. We did four seasons, up to 2015. Then I toured with Richie as an Enter Sake pop-up project. We went to so many different places in the world for three years. So I was with Richie for a total of seven years.

Then, after that, I became more independent and could do my own projects, like Hito Presents Oto. It started in Watergate Berlin and the concept is that I invite older professional DJs and younger up-and-coming ones. I am in the middle, like a bridge.

Oto means sound, doesn’t it?

Yes. We present the sound. For me, that is my life. I have come to understand this; that my personal purpose or mission with my work is my life itself. My lifestyle is music. Everything. Staying here in Naples; it is music. I see beautiful scenes, old buildings and architecture, and the people and the history. It’s all sounds to me. All these beautiful things I see. They transform through me, through my music and my perception. This is how I am. So I translate this concept into Hito Present Oto. So, the first seven years. Then three years. That’s nearly 10 years of working internationally.

You go back further than that though, right? You were DJing in Berlin for a long time before. I think DJing was a happy accident for you, wasn’t it?

Yes, that’s true. I never set out to be a DJ for my career. And I also met Richie through a happy accident. We met through sake culture. I was playing more locally then. Correct. I didn’t care where I was or what plans I had for the future. I don’t really make some goals in that way, but I used to study languages. That’s my curiosity – to get to know different cultures, different languages, different ways of doing things. That was my only goal; I always wanted to work globally. But now, after these two years of changes, these last few months I’m completely transforming.

How many languages can you speak?

I can speak four languages.

Five including music…

Haha! That’s very true. I listen. Everything is like sound to me. I hear many things all the time. I don’t concentrate on what’s being said, so I don’t follow up the conversation. But I hear a lot of sounds from morning to bedtime. Some sounds are annoying, or I have to be patient, but every situation is sound. It’s like a smell or a taste. A stimulant. But now I am listening to myself a lot more.

What are you hearing?

Finally, little by little, it comes to me… I ask myself, “What do you want to do now, Hito?” Before, I was paying attention and taking care of other people. It was normal for me to do this. In Japanese culture, we pay attention to others and, through that, we forget ourselves sometimes. So I needed to pay attention to myself and my own expressions. My pure feelings. It’s hard to keep them wrapped up like they do in Japan. That’s why sometimes in Japan you might find interactions artificial.

So it’s taken you all this time to listen to yourself?

Finally! This is the result of the pandemic. As a beautiful consequence, I am surviving. I realized I still have new feelings in me. Feelings I have not thought about. For example, if you focus on my kind of life, for the last 10 years, it has been this… “When is my set time? Where do I have to be, and when do I have to be there?”

Point to point. That was me going through life. Between those two points, it was always a different bed, different temperature, different place. That was my routine, I couldn’t have a pet because I could not take care of one because I was moving around so much. If I stay somewhere as long as a week then I’ll buy a flower – to add a bit of life to my room and give it a bit of my own personality.

I do these things continually and it became my discipline. My Samurai way, if you like. But those two years have given me time with my family and time with friends who I’ve known for 30 years. I explored my roots and reconnected with them. Home! I would meet my parents, which was strange for them. I was seeing them every day for five months. They had to get used to this because I had been away for 20 years! It was all very new and a different way to see where I come from, you know?

Seeing your roots for the first time, as an adult…

Yes. Since 15 I have traveled. A summer in the USA, come back. A season in the UK and come back. My parents are professors in physical education, so they also traveled.

Are your parents proud?

When I left, no. My father, he loves me, but he was disappointed. We didn’t talk for two years. But they realized I was okay when they came to visit me in Ibiza. Space. They came to my console. Then came again to Paris, Barcelona, and the Mexico BPM Festival. Also sometimes while touring in Japan, with Richie, and they’ve met friends like Joseph Capriati and everyone.

What do they make of it? Did they dance?

Oh yes! I have the videos!

Beautiful. Let’s chat about your tunes… Producing is a very recent piece in the Hito puzzle. You started with that collaboration with Background, I think?

To be honest I am more of a DJ than a producer. I remember I asked Richie… I said, “I don’t know how to produce, but do I need it now to represent myself?” He said, “Don’t worry, it will come automatically.” One day I will have the realization, “Okay, now I have to do it.”

He said, “Just go with the flow. Don’t pressure yourself – observe and try and start when you feel the call to.” I started in 2019, just before the covid. I got Ableton lessons with a professional trainer. That was on the internet, but I also wanted to have more real experience, so when I like a producer’s sound, I ask them if I can visit them. I don’t like talking online so much. I want to share the same experience with them. Eat the same food, take walks, discuss things, and share thoughts. So I visited Background. It’s not far from here, he’s in a suburb of Naples.

Excellent. Shared experiences!

I also want to share my culture and elements of my life that they might participate in, so we both learn from each other. For example, I went to Thessaloniki, where George Adi lives. We make tracks… One track is “White Tower”, which is a symbol of Thessaloniki. And the other is “Sonic”, because of the waves of the sea and the music. Through our experiences, we made that release.

And now in Naples, I have a friend who is living in London, but he’s from Ischia Island, which is just near Naples. His name is Blackchild, maybe you know him. We spoke on social media little by little, and he’s sending me his tracks, and he was asking for feedback. I sincerely listened and wrote back to him. I thought he was very mainstream and I didn’t have much of a connection with mainstream. In the underground everything is your creation, your invention and you just experiment. I didn’t know why he sent it to me, but we got to know each other and we realized – “Okay, I have an opportunity to visit you. Why don’t we have a session?”

So before Christmas, I visited Ischia Island. We had a little boot camp, we listened a lot, we shared ideas and we tried to make a track. We had a very nice experience. I met his family and even his grandmother. I like that. I do the same – I’ll introduce my family to friends touring in Japan. Like the music we create, it has to be authentic. We eat the food where the locals eat. I transform something of my culture, and we see the differences and things we have in common. It is something that transcends genres and generations – to make that connection. He said he hadn’t collaborated much before, but it worked with me.

Did you end up making a mainstream record?

Well, it is a little in the middle. I asked him, “Why me? It’s not like I am a big producer.” He said, “That is why.” He told me I represented underground culture and that he wanted to know what underground was. He explained how he wanted to learn about vinyl and how it was new to him. He’s very brave. I call that courage. For me, the same. I started to go to school to study how to use the Rekordbox properly.

Oh, wow! I thought you were vinyl forever!

This is transformation time for me. Why don’t I open up to challenges? No judgment. I don’t need to judge. Everything has good points and bad points. Why limit myself to just vinyl? “So Hito, let’s do it,” I said to myself.

Totally! How do you find Rekordbox?

I prefer vinyl because I have full control over it. I’ve grown up with it and I like how it’s by hand. But I enjoy the loops, the EQ, and FX, I love that. But I realized I play different styles with different technology. I play melodic techno on vinyl and I play more tech house and deep tech on Rekordbox, which is more groovy. I get used to FX the techno way with looping and filters, so whatever genre I play, it sounds like techno. But this is life. I try new things. If I enjoy it, I take it, if I don’t, then it’s not for me.

This is the transformation of Hito!

Yes. Now, after the covid, I feel like my transformation is now. I feel like I’m growing up in a way. I am super happy to be at this stage in life. I know myself more.