One of the most recognised and acclaimed names in the dance music industry today would have to be Global Underground. Having established themselves with the release of some of the most sought after and highly praised compilations mixed by the world’s best DJs, it was time to try something new and launch the GU:Music label as a means of releasing some of the most cutting edge dance music available today. There was much talk when word came out that a full length artist album would be the inaugural release of this newly developed division of Global Underground. On various message boards around the world, there was great speculation as to who would be given the honoured role of being the first chosen to christen the company’s new direction. It wasn’t long before the guessing game was over and an announcement was made that the artist album in question would be created by Dutch duo Pako & Frederik. Not long after, ‘Atlantic Breakers’ was released to much acclaim by reviewers and GU fans alike. While still bass infused, the overall structure of sound has been regarded as ambient and cinematic with a healthy nod towards the breaks side of dance. To many, it was a surprise in sound, yet openly welcomed.

The name Pako & Frederik may not be overly familiar with some but the Dutch pair has been quietly gaining a solid reputation as producers and DJs for the last 10 years or so. Many of their production work has appeared on some the most highly respected compilations released, in particular Sasha & Digweed’s ‘Northern Exposure - Expeditions’, Carl Cox’s ‘F.A.C.T.’ and Anthony Pappa’s ‘Renaissance’. The release of ‘Atlantic Breakers’ will not only help further establish their name amongst those already familiar with their work but it will also attract a plethora of new fans. Pako & Frederik took some time out of their busy schedule to chat to RA and what follows shows a pair who are enthusiastic about the industry that they love. Much respect!

1. Congratulations on your debut artist release. Being the first full length feature album to be released through Global Underground’s new GU Music label, was there any extra pressure placed on you given that GU’s diehard fans would be eagerly waiting for this release?

Thank you! Well, you know people are going to listen carefully when it’s on GU. Then again, GU released has some pretty far out stuff in the past, so we had the advantage that their die-hard fans would have an open-mind for music which is not only 130 beats per minute slamming stuff. The fact that this is our first album after years of releasing twelve inches, was enough pressure. How much pressure can a man take?

2. How has the general reaction been so far? Has it been to a surprise to some?

The reactions have been great, from all over the world. Yes, some people were surprised about the album not only being 3 o’clock at night dancey stuff. But that was a bit what we were hoping for too.

3. Do you have any further plans to release your own production work through GU Music?

Yes. Next up will be a 12” taken from the album: ’45 minutes’. There will also be a mix more geared towards the dance floor. And this spring we will have to think up a second album, which is also being released by GU.

4. Do you think GU played a vital role in your success, especially with tracks featuring on many GU mixed albums?

They have been great to us. When your tracks are on their compilations you reach so much more people than with a couple of thousand 12”es. As 12”es are obviously only bought by people who have decks at home. Years ago they asked us do some remixes for their previous label (Coded) and also released some 12”es by us. For any beginning artist it’s important to get your music out there in the world, GU helped us a lot.

5. Apart from your production work, are there any plans to release another mixed compilation?

Frederik: No specific plans yet, but I’m always thinking about what a next should sound like. Which is difficult, because with every great new record I find, another has to be deleted from my imaginary tracklist.

6. “World In Progress” was, from my perspective, quite epic in sound especially for a progressive compilation whereas Atlantic Breakers is generally more ambient, almost chilled. Where are you currently where the ‘Pako & Frederik’ sound is concerned?

Well, in our opinion a mixed CD is a great way to present dance music. It’s a great way to capture the sound of a DJ-set in a certain era, and to make records known to a wider audience. When we do live shows it is a lot of pumping tracks all blended into one. But we did not want to recreate that on the album; now we had the chance to do something different. When you make 12”es you always have to keep the DJ and the people on the dance floor in mind. But an album can be listened to in other situations other than a club – so we included some stuff which isn’t really geared towards a dance floor; we finally got the chance to do stuff like that.

But to get back the question: our sound is allover the place – it depends on the situation really – playing in a club, or playing for people at home (through an album)

7. Now I understand that you met in 1992, but didn’t start working together until 1993. During the first meeting did either of you even consider the possibility of working with someone else as a long-term co-operation, or were you both very much-focused on working solo for the majority and then collaborating with others occasionally?

Back then neither of us had a studio – and both of us were more focused on DJing. Then both of us started to buy gear, we started combining it and setting up a studio together. It just happened gradually really.

8. Holland seems to be a breeding ground for DJs and producers. It would appear that every important music direction seems to start from your homeland. What’s the general perception of dance music in Holland? Is it held is such high regard as it appears to be?

Because Holland is so small, the market doesn’t make it worthwhile to target only Holland. So, in Holland you’re forced basically to keep a good eye out for what is happening in the rest of the world. And the advent of house, which is mostly instrumental, was great for the Dutch: Dutch artists don’t have to worry about our terrible Dutch accents when singing in English.

We would never go as far as stating that ‘every important music starts in Holland’ though! But yes: dance music got unbelievably big in Holland – incredible numbers of people go to festivals, clubs and raves. For example, the national news stations and newspapers run stories on Dance Valley or Tiesto when he got voted nr 1.

9. Given that Holland is known for artists such as Van Gogh and Rembrandt, how much of the country’s rich artistic heritage is an influence on yourself and your fellow DJs/producers? For such a small country, the creative output is quite unbelievable. Is there something in the water?

Maybe it’s because we are such an insignificant country as a whole, we try to do big things…but it could be the water…it could also be the relaxed drug policy of the Dutch government.

8. The festival circuit, especially Dance Valley, is a must on any clubber’s calendar. In Australia, we generally get 15,000-20,000 people to the larger festivals but for something like Dance Valley, the numbers are phenomenal. These days, how important is it for a DJ/producer to make an impact on these events especially when promoting your own productions?

Festivals are great fun, and there’s always a chance that people who go there will discover music, DJs or producers that they didn’t know yet. For us, the good thing is that we get to meet up with all of our friends from around the world; people we don’t see often because everyone’s always playing in different clubs around the world.

Still we think that it is in the clubs where the really new and exciting stuff tends to happen. It was in the clubs that it all started! In Holland you could even say that there are too many festivals: from May to September there is a big one every weekend, so clubs suffer a bit during the long festival season.

9. Who holds which roles in the studio? Often in production relationships both parties have different roles and if both are used to being ‘the driver’ it might not work, how do you two manage?

There are no roles in the studio really – every tune might start in a different way, by one of us separately or with the two together.

12. Currently, who are some of your favourite DJs and/or producers? Any up and coming DJs we should be looking out for?

Some producers that blow our mind are 02 Prods, N.E.R.D., then there’s a lot of great dance producers from Australia…well, as far as dance goes every week there’s awesome tunes turning up from new guys from allover the world. A guy from Sweden called Rouzbeh Delavari has been doing some good tracks recently…but there is way too much to even start mentioning. The DJ that is making the biggest impression is Qbert…he played with only one turntable, imagine that!

13. Finally, we would love to have you come to Australia. Any plans for a holiday or a tour in the near future?

Yeay! Neither of us has been in Australia yet and we both wanna go as soon as possible! We really hope this will be the year for us to visit our downstairs neighbor.