Feature: Super Flu [Interview + Podcast]

Welcome to a world where crispy baked bass drums give the keynote, where Momratzn twitch to tweaking hi-hats and speech bubbles wave engaging basses to you!?Do you falter on making a tough decision? Super Flu recommend you garlic bread rolls and 6-minute-boiled eggs! ?Is your equipment rubbish? Trust your intuition, tickle the max out of the old stuff and squeeze inspiration out of everything you can lay your hands on!? Are you lacking ideas? Take your cockatoo's advice! Go on vacation and have some beer. Try (you know, doing something you'd never do otherwise). Listen to Jazz. Tinker whatever comes to your mind using funny snack bar names, exotic instruments and kid's toys.? Now with your best mate and at least one mutual favourite bakery, lots of Herzblut and a great Traum behind, nothing can harm you anymore...!

Hey Guys, thanks for joining us today, tell us where you are at the moment and what will you be doing today?
At the moment we are just chilling on the couch drinking a cup of coffee. Later we’re gonna pick up our kids from kindergarten.

I read somewhere that one of you or perhaps both had a collection of Sven Vath tapes when you were younger. Were these the legendary sets at places like the Omen in the early nineties, during the Eye-Q / Harthouse days? And if so how did those sets and music influence what you do as DJs and artists today?
Yeah, some of those sets were recorded in Omen and the Hessentage, and some were transmitted live. All of those things definitely influenced us, but as an artist it is important to evolve and find your own style.

Where do your early influences lie and do you have musical backgrounds? Do either of you play any instruments?
Mathias was big on breakdance back in the 90s. Grandmaster Flash and the likes were the big kings back then, and it was the beats and breaks that really swayed Mathias. Feliks sang in a choir for many years, and this is where he gained his basic musical knowledge such as reading scores. He is pretty skilled playing the guitar and piano as well, we might add. Mathias plays the harp and knows how to work the electronic bagpipe.

At which club or event did you experience electronic music for the first time and what memories have stuck with you from that moment?
During the 90s we loved to drive to Leipzig where we got our first experiences with electronic music in the Distillery. We are happy to say that the club actually still exists, and once a year we are doing a Monaberry Label Night there. Unfortunately our early days are a bit blurry in our memory, but they definitely lead us on the right path ;>

A successful partnership is generally based around balance and compromise; how do you manage these things within the Super Flu dynamic?
It is all based on harmony. We try to keep a healthy balance, and as long as we manage that we hope there won’t be any problems!

Do you have different roles in the production process? And if so elaborate please.
We always try to kind of reinvent ourselves a bit. In the studio it is very important that one fires up everything while one is making coffee, so that we can sit down to work and drink coffee together.

What was a breakthrough moment in your career’s would you say? Did that come when you started Monaberry or was there something before ‘Shine’ which brought a great deal of attention?
I think we can agree that those two were crucial. Monaberry was an important step for us. And we didn’t anticipate that Shine would strike as hard as it did, but yes, that definitely got the ball rolling.

You’ve released three albums thus far with ‘Musik 3’ being the most recent in 2017, each LP sits in a very unique sonic space and seems to have played a major role in the evolution of your sound, when might we see a forth and stylistically where do you think that would sit?
We are not working on a new album for now. At the moment we just want to make some tasty treats for the dance floor and release a few feisty EPs and remixes.

What criteria does a label have to fulfill for you to release your music on it?
If a label likes our music, that’s already a good sign ;>

Tell us about your label Monaberry, what’s the vision you have for it and how has it evolved since you launched it in 2009?
We want to release music without having to compromise. Basically just music that we like. That’s still the same as we did 10 years ago.

You do vinyl on every release is that right?
Yes

How important is it to press vinyl in this age of rapidly consumed music and media? Do you think doing vinyl adds credibility to a record label nowadays?
First of all we do it for our passion and love towards vinyl. Even when a big part of today’s electronic music is consumed digitally, vinyl is still an important part of it to us. Besides that it is also a part of the label’s identity.

What advice would have for an artist hoping to sign their music to Monaberry?
Send us music ;>

Given that you guys are running a label, producing and travelling DJs you're surrounded by music every day. Does this ever get exhausting? And if so what do you do to take a break?
Of course it can be exhausting, especially the travelling and touring part. When we are home we do yoga and sleep a lot.

You’ve recorded a mix for the latest edition of our podcast series, which is stellar btw, tell us a bit about the mix and is this a good representation of what we can hear from Super Flu in a club setting?
You could say that. The mix is very similar is how we play in clubs. For you we of course only selected the most exquisite pieces.

Have you been enjoying the festival season? Where have you guys been playing and what is still left on your festival calendar?
We are always slightly scared of that question. We always enjoy the parties to the fullest of course, But unfortunately we don’t manage memorize our calendar, so we always check the schedule from weekend to weekend.

What are you guys working on at the moment? Anything you can tell us about? What's up coming from the Super Flu studio?
The past weeks we have made a lot of coffee and naturally finished many new tracks. Right this moment we are working on a remix for Claptone’s “Birdsong” and we are just about to wrap up our new Monaberry release. Beginning of 2019 we are also releasing an EP on the Japanese label Mule Musiq.