by Peter Van Hoesen, celebrating Prestige, 1988

“I always thought running soundsystems and owning sound and throwing parties was my only identity, even though I DJ’d a lot and DJing was my love and why I got into this. I ended up selling the soundsystem to pay off some of the debt, but it was a weird twist of fate because I then realized that all of this was a distraction from doing something for myself. When I’d get home after a party, I’d never want to do music. Losing the club, going into debt, getting rid of the sound, it allowed me to refocus my energy.” [link]

“It’s a problem of insularity. In talking to Dozzy, who lived for a short time in Berlin a few years ago, he reminds me of how important travel can be to creating scenes back home. ‘I learned as much about myself as I did about other people… There are so many things to learn and see outside of here. Italy is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. But it’s not enough. You need to go outside, so that you can appreciate better what your own country has to offer.’ When Obtane and other young Italian producers finally see Berghain, fabric and other clubs for the first time, it will be interesting to see if they ever want to go back.” [link]

“No one takes home a record, puts it on the stereo, looks over the artwork as it plays. That’s the only reason I bought Bowie’s “Young Americans.” Luther Vandross was on the back of the record, and he was one of my favorite singers. Marcus Miller, a bass player, I’d follow him around from record to record. I’m going to be a dinosaur, I know. But that’s just how I am.” [link]

“A friend of mine’s brother is a semi-famous ukulele comic. I’m working on a project with him. I’ve been asked to co-write songs for Kylie’s album and make beats for Flo Rida. It’s cool, but it’s not as interesting or as challenging as working with a ukulele comic. [laughs] That has a certain appeal to me. That’s a zag. I’m zigging, I’m zagging. I’m over here. I’m over there. That’s what I like.” [link]

“This field of work is quite intellectual. But I’m not an academic. I’m not really interested. I don’t have very much to say to the musicians that I meet because we come from different worlds a lot of the time. Both of my parents are working class, and I escaped this somehow. They were somehow able to provide a middle class upbringing for me. I’m quite lucky to be in this situation. I don’t think anyone in my family can believe what I’m doing. It’s very far removed from what they think music is.” [link]

by Patrick Walker, celebrating Pure, 1996

“Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Two Norwegians walk into a bar; one is named after cheese, the other biscuits. They record an electronic album, put it out and all anyone wants to talk about is the fact that they produced it using samples of cheese and biscuits. Yeah, they don’t help matters much by calling it Some, But Not All Cheese, Comes from the Moon and dressing up like Dick Tracy and Dr. Watson come to life. But, come on, right? The thing is, people love it. And they start to record more electronic music. But they’re still not taken seriously at all. Yeah, the music is great. The everything else, though. That’s better.” [link]

“Popkiller 2 signals a slimming down of Datapunk to just Rother. The producer spent a month of 2008 in India, reassessing his business and his life. ‘Nobody could reach me. I had a book, and I wrote in it every single thing that came to my mind. All of the situations with the business, my life…. I realized I was a label manager instead of an artist…. When I got back, it took a year to rebuild things on an artist level,’ he says. ‘Now, Datapunk is my outlet.’” [link]