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Efdemin and Rndm bring the funk as Pigon on this week's RA podcast.
If the RA podcast were a sitcom, this one would be a "very special episode." In our very first repeat performance, we've got Phillip Sollmann, AKA Efdemin, returning to the controls as one-half of Pigon. For those unfamiliar with Sollmann's collaborative project with Oliver Kargl, AKA Rndm, it's basically their jam band outfit, music "mostly done live with simple edits."
For their RA podcast, however, the duo have chosen to go the DJ mix route, selecting a host of classic and shoulda-been-classic tracks from the likes of Jesper Dahlbäck (as the Persuader), Jeff Mills, and Soul Capsule. Up-to-the-minute fetishists need not worry, though, Momus's forthcoming Dial release leads off the cast and Pigon's new joint on Beatstreet helps close it out.
Since RA already spoke to Efdemin for his own podcast, we quizzed Kargl about Pigon's name, the software they use, and who might make a better freestyle rapper.
Why Pigon?
Why not? We got to know each other two months before painting walls in a big gallery in Vienna. It was hot and we had a discussion going on the whole day about conscious hip-hop. We really started to hate each other, but at the end of the day we decided that Prince is—and was—on top of things and that we also both love techno music.
Shortly after, we found ourselves making music together. And one day we came across a file called PIGON on Phillip's computer. We didn't know what it was or what it was for. We were looking for a name for our project at that time. Also, it fits Phillip's gusto for weird names like Efdemin, Tobin, Duma...
Where and how was the mix recorded?
The mix was actually recorded in Phillip's apartment, because we have no studio at the moment. We both made a selection of our favourite records and picked the best of them and tried the whole day to get a cool mix together. This is what we ended up. It presents some typical Pigon-DJ-team selections and also our upcoming track for Beatstreet, which also features Marcel Dettmann and will be out in September.
Your software is called Rocker. Can you tell us about it and the importance of the live vibe to Pigon?
The software is called Max/MSP, the patch we use is called Rocker. A really stupid name, I know, but we kept it after all those years. It's a Max/MSP patch that we developed
In 2004, Phillip was doing the programming and I was the first excited beta tester. Soon, I began to demand more features, which ended in a lot of work and after endless discussions about music, synthesizers, and house, the thing wasn't working. A real great mess. It took hours before you could hear actual sound which were normal and really cool when you work with Max. Nowadays, we don't use it so much, as we have some nice hardware. But it's still an important tool in the work of Pigon and will be updated soon.
You claim Big L as an influence on your MySpace page. Which one of you is the better freestyle rapper?
We both would be lousy freestyle rappers. Phillip is a good soul singer, like a white Barry White. Big L was listed in our influences because he was so raw and uncut. He was dirty sounding, there was no polished bling bling—the total opposite of what was big in hip-hop during that time. He never had much major success, but everyone that was into hip-hop knew about him.
We both listened to a lot of hip-hop when we were growing up. (Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim, De La Soul. Later, it's been stuff like Wu-Tang, Rawkus, and Stones Throw.)
What are you up to next?
Make more music. Spread the PIGON-vibe while playing records together (and some special live shows). And become wiser with time.
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