Thu, 18 Nov 2010 / Post a comment
Click on the link to download on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/it/podcast/soundwall-podcast-22-catz/id343417505?i=88926556
Tracklist:
Maya Jane Coles – Nowhere [Loco Records]
Good Times – edit [white]
Martin Nowakowski – Jazz Mojo [Pets Recordings]
Tonny Lionni – Precious (Deetron remix) [Freerange]
Justin Martin & Galen – Tumbleweed [Dirtybird]
SLG & Smolny – Turnat [Play it down]
Hardy Heller – Fred the pink Elephant (c-rock remix) [Ohral]
Terry Francis – Free [Musik]
Counterplan – 90 Degrees (Dj Q remix)
Catz ‘n Dogz – 5-10-15 [Mothership]
Soulclap – The definition (Till von Sein remix) [Airdrop]
Kingdom – Fogs [That Mstic]
Mon, 25 Oct 2010 / Post a commentWe have reached Catz‘N Dogz. Leading producers of this interview and leading producers of poland music scene during these years; we wanted to know something more about them, about their world, in which way they work on music both past times and now a days, and also last released album “Escape from Zoo”.
Welcome to Catz ‘N Dogz, what would you say to introduce yourselves to Soundwall’s readers?
WOOF! MIAUUU !
You grew up in Poland, are you still living there? And now that you’re djing twentyfour hours-a-day how do you spend your daytime?
Gregory: I’m still living in Szczecin which is 1,5h drive from Berlin so it’s not a problem. The food in Poland is great. I mean you can get great food all over the europe but the thing is, food in Poland its not genetic modificated like in all other countries and also bread is much better, it sounds funny but its really important thing to eat healthy if you party so much. (laugh)
Voitek: I moved to Berlin 2 years ago and we build our studio there. We’re trying to live a healthy live during the week so we’re doing gym, eating healthy food etc to keep the right balance. Also it’s not like that that we’re working only in the clubs. We spend a lot of time during the week working on our new tracks, emails, our label and interviews
From the first “Stars of Zoo” in 2008 two years have passed, and now you’re coming out again with your second album “Escape from Zoo”. Imaging a timeline, at which point of your long way road do you feel as musicians? How do you approach to your stuff today and how did you before?
Gregory: I think we’re somewhere in the middle. Finally we’re not afraid to experiment more and that’s a lot of fun for us. First album was made more to the clubs and this one is more various. We used a lot of our inspirations from other music styles we’re listening to. That was a big chellange for us, we spend one year producing this album.
Voitek: The thing is when we start to do the album; our concept is totally different from what we get at the end. It’s weird, but true. Every track on our album is a reflection of a different moment in our life. We are listening to a lot of music at home and visiting a lot of different places, meeting people, talking…There are some months that we are really into dubstep and some months when we are listening to disco all the time. You can also hear it when we are Djing that we are just playing music we like it doesn’t matter if its dub techno or soulful house.
Still talkin’ about approach, experimenting with different styles released on different labels like Trenton, Trapez and Crosstown Rebels, how do you think this way of playing with music affects you musical identity?
Gregory: For us it was always important when we were producing music or playing on the parties to mix all the good styles together. So we were always experimenting on the parties. In the small clubs we are playing more deeper and on big festivals we can play very hard or spacey. That depends from the people and from the athmosphere. We get bored with one style very fast that’s why we were putting our records on different labels.
Step back. In the course of your first years,in addiction to producing and dj performing in Poland, you have had also a weekly radio show on ABC radio, what do you remember about this experience?
Gregory: That was a great time! We had our program on Sunday evening so we were always coming back from the parties and the show was very funny We always had a mission to support our local scene, radio was a great opportunity to spread the good music to more people. Right now we treat our label Pets like that. We’re trying to find new producers from Poland and promote their sound all over the world.
Going back to nowadays, if you should try to define your last album “Escape from Zoo”, what would you say?
Next level of Catz ‘n Dogz
You said in 2006 that you were using more advanced techniques of sound engineering in your productions,focusing more on the structure of the music, the sound quality and the dynamics of the whole track. Considering this, what was the atmosphere in which the production took place in your new album? How do you work in the studio?
Gregory: We started to work on it one year ago. We know that we wanted to do something new and experiment more than on the first one. This was a big adventure for us because we could do whatever we liked. There was no stress and deadline so we were working very relaxed. Some of the tracks we were doing during the travels or after the parties. The athmosphere was great! Our studio is very basic. We’re working there together or alone. Usually were starting the idea during our travels and than finishing it in the studio to fix the sound quality and structure of the track.
In your opinion, what do you think makes the difference in a good record, listening and feeling it on the dancefloor?
Voitek: Its a really difficult question to awnser what makes the record good, its really subjective. I think its always the speciall feeling that you cant describe, we are focusing a lot on good sound quality but unfortunately at the end for most of the people sound uality its not so important. I really like the sentence that somebody told me ones “I like your music cuz it makes me feel like outa space” and thats the thing: when i like somebodys music i just like it and thats it.
After having remixed your “Who’s Afraid Of Detroit?” and after taking in both your albus in his Mothership Records, we find Claude von Stroke also featuring in “Escape from Zoo”(others are dOP and Paul Randolph). How he has contributed to your sessions and what kind of relationship have you set up over the years with him?
Gregory: We’re working with Mothership because we love the label atmosphere. Claude Vonstroke is our good friend and this is what we like. We don’t like too much bussines because it’s destroying the feeling. We have a lot of freedom with our productions and that’s very important for us.
Voitek: Funny thing is that we didn’t even think about making another album. He asked us if we want, and we said yes. We are also happy that the label is based in sanfrancisco cuz after Berlin thats our favorite city in the world.
Finally, many times people have asked you about polish music scene, do you find something changed there, after having played during these last years accross Europe? And if yes, in which way?
Gregory: It’s more professional right now. Clubs have a good soundsystems and lights. A lot of good dj’s are playing. There are also few good festivals with top lineups. Audioriver, Unsound, Selektor Heineken… People are still very open for new music and they love to party. We always have amazing parties in Poland and we love to play there.
Voitek: Of course there is still a lot of places that people never heard about Catz’n Dogz but playing in this kind of places is even more challenging and sometimes better fun.
