This time I was able to chat with the two guys behind Neosignal.
These two German guys are producing a very new sound of Bass Music and in my opinion they are pushing the world of EDM into places that it hasn't yet seen.
Ladies and Gents, Neosignal!!!
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1. How did Neosignal start? Give us a bit of history on what you guys are all about and the direction that you see yourselves going.
Florian: The idea to build up the musical identity called Neosignal came up at the end of 2008 when both Michael and I were tired of working in the framework of others in terms of releasing our music. First it was a label and a brand for audio/sound-design jobs only, but at the end of 2011 we realized that Neosignal means more to us and decided to call our collaborative productions Neosignal as well. We wanted to create a sort of new digital two man band, away from the pure Drum & Bass sound we have been doing the past years.
About the direction we see ourselves going, I honestly cannot really give a name or label to what we are working on atm. I also do not know where it will lead us to…. All I know is that we absolutely enjoy working on music again, writing different stuff, free from any limitations and expectations. We felt the need to step away from the music people would expect when we do something as Phace & Misanthrop to keep our excitement in music. We knew this might be something critical to do for the fans of our past music, but it was just a frustrating thing if you only do the same thing over and over again till the end of your life just to keep the momentum going. For us music never was or is about the success that might come with it, but about the music. Surely you got to pay your bills and life won’t get cheaper. But life is just too short and multifarious, and even though our sound is quite techy and digital I am not a machine but a human being who loves to progress and to experience new things. So it was essential for us to find a new name to put it all under. To also name this project Neosignal was just a logical thing to do, even though people might confuse it with our label Neosignal recordings and might expect us to only produce the music we started the label with. I must “warn” you, the music we produce as the Neosignal digital band is way different in terms of tempo, grooves and styles to the stuff we have released before. No risk, no fun.
2. How would you sum up your sound in three words?
Florian: Neo Digital Krautrock
3. Neosignal isn’t only a Production/DJ duo… Tell us about your other projects.
Michael: I´m producing and DJ’ing drum and bass under the name "Misanthrop" and I also work as a freelance video editor and sound designer (commercials...) for several years. I try to combine my musical background with the visual domain, which adds variety to my daily routine.
Florian: Yea, like mentioned in the first question, we also run a label and do audio / sound-design jobs on the side. Our Phace and Misanthrop aliases are our other musical projects one need to look at as something separated from the music we do as Neosignal two man “band”.
4. You guys have a really different sound compared to most other bass producers in your category, can you tell us what program and plug-ins you’re using to write your music?
Michael: At the moment we are using Ableton Live and the usual plugins everybody uses. Nothing really spectacular, besides some various outboard analog gear and synths we use while jamming without a computer. In my opinion hard- or software does not make any difference for the neosignal sound. I guess the difference is that we try to use sounds we really like and we´ve never heard before, instead of doing music by the genre rule book. We want to make new things, that´s why we call us "neosignal".
Florian: Like Michael said, we use a little of everything we feel I'd say. For me it isn't all about the tool or instrument that does the sound, one need to spend even more time on the creative process and on trying to educate yourself in production methods, song-writing, sound-design and harmonical matters. If you want to sound a little different to the rest you got to find your own way to express your ideas and you have to move on with the progress. A program or Instrument won’t make the difference, but only the way you use or mis-use it.
5. Tell us about your most memorable gig…
Florian: To me must be Phat 08 in New Zealand and this year’s Dirty Dancin' at Toulouse's Bikini Club.
Michael: It´s hard to choose one, but as a DJ it was always great to play at "the end" in London. The " uuuhs" and "aaahs" by the crowd when you played a new tune was memorable.
6. Tell us about your typical DJ setup for your live shows.
Florian: As for Neosignal live performances we do not really have a setup yet, as we are not performing as Neosignal yet, so I can't really say how it looks like. Surely our setup will be Ableton based and minimal. We are no real instrumentalists but producers, and Ableton for us offers the best solution for an audio/video performance. To me a true live performance doesn't really exist in electronic music anyways, as you always just trigger something. I also think that complex electronic music is impossible to perform live in comprehensive and pure form, as within the actual production process of a track there were so many decisions and modifications taken you won’t be able to simulate live and real-time. This surely is different if you do more minimal music or something similar, when the sources of your sounds are reduced and limited so you are able to control everything live.
7. What genres of music do you think are going to take off this year? Which genres are going to fade away?
Florian: Personally I don't really know. To me music comes and goes but only good music stay’s timeless.
Michael: To be honest, I don´t really care about trends. I might be influenced too much by other artists if I would do so. Nevertheless it is very inspiring what is happening in the music scene nowadays and it is positive that you are able to play sets across all genres.
But as I said before, I don´t really pay attention to media hypes, I stick to what I like and not what others think I have to like because it is new....
8. When can we expect to see a Neosignal show in Australia?
Florian: Hopefully at some point in 2013 when we plan to take the Neosignal project on road.
9. Which artist, dead or alive, would you give anything to see live?
Michael: Allman Brothers live at Fillmore East in 1971. I love it.
Florian Harres: Kurt Cobain, Peter Steele and Jim Morrison.
10. And finally, what’s next for Neosignal???
Florian: We are working on an LP in terms of our Neosignal digital band project since January 2012, but everything is still undecided at this stage. We do not want to rush things but make it right for us in every aspect. Expect something to happen, we just do not know when, what, where and in which context. We practically disappeared into nirvana and are stuck into our studio wormhole.
