Super Flu’s sound is talked about in terms of ‘a playful and punchy take on feel-good tech house sounds that fuses quirky pop influences with more robust techno.’ It is seductively light-hearted, a tiny bit trippy and easy to listen to. How would they themselves describe what they do? “Having the best time while playing, learning and failing.” How do they keep their sound fresh and original? “We are simply trying not to take ourselves too seriously and to always redo our ideas. We do not follow any production guidelines; there is no recipe behind our tracks. We rethink our steps and discover new ways and ideas every time we sit in the studio. We are playing a lot with all we have and in the process make lots of mistakes. This is what we find essential or what works for us, at least.”
It’s not hard to imagine you can hear the impact of German electronic genius of the past, Kraftwerk, say, in what Super Flu does. Who are or has been their biggest influences? “As predictable as it may sound, we actually find inspiration in our own lives, the people we hang out with… We find it very inspiring to just play around with things and figure out how they function, interact together, depend on each other. This is applicable not only to music, but to video, art, anything you can think of.” Who inspires them generally, musically speaking? “Artists who rediscover themselves with every production of theirs and manage to surprise us with fresh sounds that touch our hearts.” We ask who their favourites in Australia might be but they’re not mentioning any names. And they’re getting silly again. “There is this one band… Huge guys… With awesome voices. These guys are our favourite band from Down Under.” Right…Can they see the influence of their own work on others around them in the scene? “Yes, it does happen from time to time, actually. Sometimes we would hear a track and then realise that certain parts are taken from one of our productions. But in the end we do not think it is bad. Imitation is also a way of flattery. The important thing is that every artist should find his/her own path and create something new and exciting and not just replicate what we have already done.” Is there any artist they’d like to work with in the future? “Yes, absolutely – Jenna Haze.” Oh, naughty boys! (Jenna Haze is a US porn star).
What do the two of them bring to their work individually? “We have developed a perfect symbiosis. Mathias loves pancakes and Feliks loves blueberries… So in the end we have blueberry pancakes. The best thing you can get.”
Their own advice to the lacklustre is to squeeze the sound out of ‘anything that you can lay your hands on.’ Are Super Flu currently experimenting with any particular technology? “At the moment we are growing green mushrooms and hoping to get them to turn into nice and deep drums. Sometimes we record girls we are messing around with and produce a few number one hits out of the organic sounds they emit.” Where can Super Flu imagine their work heading in the future? “We would love to give gabber and Goa trance a chance, but not sure under which moniker. Any suggestions?”
Beat wonders what their take on a perfect day might be. According to Schwartz it goes like this: “Wake up at 1pm, have a great breakfast with some good friends, play soccer afterwards and have a tasty dinner followed by a big party. Thielemann reckons his perfect day would involve “falling asleep at 5am after having fed some dolphins and then waking up at 1.00 pm to have breakfast with Mathias, followed by playing Mario Cart, having a good dinner (must agree with Mathias on this) and then climbing a rainbow and jumping into a pool full of candy.” Right then. Always nice to know you need never grow up.
BY LIZA DEZFOULI
