When a mysterious white label from a new artist known as Synthflut landed on my doorstep during the opening months of last year, I really did not know what to expect. However, the instant I heard the breakdown of No Time to Sleep, this mysterious white label went straight into my record box to become my most championed record of the year!
In addition to the favoured 'Synthflut' alias, Patrick and Dominik also record under as 'Kamui', 'Virus Inc', 'Monsun' and 'Black Phaze', possessing an extensive discography that includes releases for all the major hard trance labels across Europe.
One factor that is hugely surprising about the duo is how they have managed to attain what some industry professionals would have worked for over a decade to achieve! More surprising is that neither Patrick, nor Dominik are out of their teens at the time of writing!
With a multitude of their tracks licensed to compilations worldwide and DJ Support from leading names of hard trance such as Yoji Biomehanika, DJ Dean, Organ Donors and of course the mighty Scot Project, who has signed them to his Druck imprint, I decided a chat to the duo would be high in my agenda of tasks to do!
Starting with the most obvious question, how did you both discover dance music?
Dome: I made my first steps on an Atari (which belonged to my father who worked at a music school at that time). I also listened to the radio, bought some compilations, and started to create a home studio. Massive sets from Reverb and some others, containing tracks that were ahead of their time, led me into the hard trance music scene. I also visited www.myownmusic.de, where I met Patrick
Patrick: I took keyboard lessons and my teacher taught me the basic principles of music production. I got more and more excited and started to spend all my spare time improving my skills.
What other artists influenced you to start your career?
Dome: The artists that influence me have changed over the years as my style has changed too. First it was the likes of Scooter, Flutlicht and DJ Dean. It was Daniel (one of Flutlicht), who introduced me to Drizzly when I was only 15. Other influences came from Scot Project, Sander van Doorn and Cosmic Gate. At the moment there are many artists I respect greatly!
Patrick: The same with me, in 1995 Scooter were one of the first commercial techno acts and I loved their stuff. I was only very young at the time and the only chance to listen to dance music was through the radio. This was the year when my friend showed me a Charly Lownoise and Mental Theo album. The happy hardcore tracks blew me away and my parents became very worried about me! Ha ha!
What is your typical method for working on a production together?
Dome: Usually I start with creating some loops, presets and melodies. Patrick then creates the basic structure of a beat and we just play around until weve got something we like. We then meet at my studio to arrange the track, as well as drink lots of coffee.
Patrick: We just create a raw arrangement of the track. We do the break, the riff and record the synths. We copy everything on CD and I finish the arrangement at my place. After another consultation with Dome, I mix and master everything.
Dome: Another important thing for us is that the sounds are handmade. We program our own loops, and synthesizer presets are our own to guaranty the unique sound of each track.
Your debut set in the UK was for Premonition, what do you think about the UK clubbing scene?
Patrick: The UK is still a large platform for hard dance music. You guys love it hard and fast, so its always great fun to play there! In Germany you can count the Trance Clubs with one hand. Electro & House is so big at the moment, even Hip Hop becomes less popular. All the Girls who listened to Eminem at the age of 14 are now shaking their booties to funky House music.
What are your plans for 2006?
Dome: Of course we want to continue producing music and with our DJing. Patrick studies Law at University and Ill finish school this year. Well definitely produce new singles of our main projects and some remixes. Were glad that the different types of electronic music have began to overlap in the last few years, so we are to experimenting a bit.
Patrick: We have an Australia Tour this September. On the production-side, we will cooperate with DJ Scot Project and his label Druck Records, and some Kamui follow ups on DJ Wags Traffic Tunes imprint plus other nice surprises can be expected!
Catch Kamui in the South West @ Hindsight on the 24th March 06.
For further information on Synthflut check out http://www.synthflut.com
