“Since I’ve started building the Riverside Studios with my other business partner Martin Eyerer, the rooms are now ready – enough for us to host some people and have a decent party with friends and partners,” explains Toyo. “All in all, when everything is finished there will be 15 studios with space for producers from different backgrounds and musical genres. Very exciting times!”
No doubt. But there is some history too and Thomas chimes in to talk about how the duo met. “It was about ten years ago at the school of audio engineering (SAE) in Berlin; after the first few classes we found out that we both shared the same interest in techno.” Tas jumps in to add that he thinks it was ‘love at first sight’ too. “A journalist once called us the first real German techno reunification because of where we came from! Back then, hip-hop was really big so this was a major influence during my teens, but my first rave party instantly caught me and made me want to listen to more and more techno music. It’s funny that our backgrounds still resulted in a love of similar types of music.”
Musically, Berlin is of course an inspiration. “It definitively inspires us,” says Thomas. “Not everything and not all the time,” he adds, “but Berlin is still a very viral place with lots of different music, places and people. There is always something to do and wherever you go you meet new and interesting people and you can hear lots of new sounds. DJs and bands from all over the world play here regularly; it’s a creative melting pot where you can just dig in if you want to.”
Tas goes on to explain their production process in a few words too: “in the past, we used to do everything together and at the same time in the studio, which has always worked well. We still do this and even through we have separate studios in which we can start working on different ideas and bring them together and finish them at a later point, we both work together. I think this is a great approach and works for us in a productive way. In this way too, we are also more flexible and independent and can spend time in the studio when we feel like it. As most producers know, sometimes there is just an output and stream of ideas that make you want to spend days and nights in the studio. On the other side, there can be periods where nothing seems to fit either,” giggles Tas in jest.
Musically, the lads claim they’ve been working hard to finish up lots of tracks for EPs to be released throughout the course of 2014. “I guess it’s no secret that we will start our own label next year as well,” admits Tas. “We want to use it as a platform to release some tracks along with tracks from other artists that we consider close friends. There is also a remix for quite a well-known artist that is also finished. We are not supposed to talk about it yet but it will be released early next year!”
Thomas also adds that they are warming to the idea of another album, especially if they can turn it into something of a concept – but the focus is on the release of a bunch of these EPs. “We are constantly producing and collecting ideas though so an album is just a question of time,” he says.
Finally, the lads are well excited about their first trip to Australia, noting proudly that they never play solo. “We are always together,” Thomas proclaims. “I broke my shoulder recently but it was only a short break from my partner,” he explains. “I am very excited as is Tas to be coming out there for the summer!”
Brotherly love, eh?
BY RK
