Fritz Kalkbrenner
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Fritz Kalkbrenner

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With the release of 2010’s debut album Here Today Gone Tomorrow, Kalkbrenner established himself as a rare commodity: an artist able to simultaneously weave his down-tempo and sustained crooning with crisp house beats. It was undeniably fresh work, marked by the influence of American contemporaries like J Rocc and Roy Ayers, while retaining its own individual style thanks to the richness and power of Kalkbrenner’s voice.

The young German singer, musician and producer’s current run of European dates marks the live return of his distinctively soulful vocals and hooks to the dancefloors of the continent and beyond. He admits to the slightest of jitters about the release of his new mixed album Suol Mates on independent Berlin label Suol. “It’s definitely not as painful as last time I released an album. I think this time around I’m just a bit more curious, as I’m waiting to see what [people] think of the choices I’ve made – the album features many more live instrumentations, with live guitar play and many more vocals than I’ve done before. I can honestly say I have no fear, but I am curious to see how people react.”

In the past, Kalkbrenner has collaborated heavily with his brother Paul and childhood friend Sascha Funke; his first recorded appearance was on the single Forms & Shapes on the latter’s 2003 debut album, Bravo. At the moment, however, it seems necessary to keep it separated. “Right now we’re all doing similar projects, but we have agreed that we will not work together because we are all just relentless in our work ethic. We would send each other crazy!” Kalkbrenner says. They’ve still retained an element of collaboration, though. “We do meet in the evening to have a beer and show each other’s production off. But we only discuss the results of what we’ve made, because we made a conscious decision to craft our albums without the influence of the others in the group.

“There is always room to argue when two producers come together,” he continues. “My brother will mean well, but then he’ll be asking, ‘What about extending this break a bit longer?’ or ‘What about changing the kick-drum ratios at this point?’ It can get to be a little bit much, but both of us appreciate each other’s contribution. Ultimately we have been in the game long enough to know when to call the other one out on any bullshit, which is good.”

And if he ever needs another opinion, there’s always a host of producer friends dotted throughout his city. “Most of my male friends are producers themselves; it seems everyone I meet in Berlin is fascinated by the process of music production, which is fine – but sometimes I just need to get away. Sometimes I threaten to my friends that I’m going to move to the Belgian coast,” he laughs, “but this time I’ll just come to Australia instead!”

BY BENJAMIN COOPER

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