Marcel Fengler & Efdemin On... Collaborating With Staatsballett Berlin & Berghain for MASSE

There’s a lot of positive focus right now on on the Osgut Ton staple, Efdemin and Marcel Fengler and the spotlight is on them for good reason. In case you missed the news, the pair recently worked on their first production project together for the jointly curated event by the Berlin State Ballet and Berghain in a production entitled MASSE. Although the pair had previously put their magical touch on the decks side by side before, it wasn't until this year that the two techno talents knocked heads in the studio, drawing inspiration from all facets of their sonic complexity. So, as Marcel and Efdemin continue to drive excitement in us talking about their blossoming partnership in this debut collaborative interview we hooked up before they make the transition from Berlin sensory shock mecca to Room Two this Saturday; the pair have some more news for us. Detailing individual projects such as a debut album from Marcel on Ostgut Ton in July and not far behind with his brand spanking new studio finished, Efdemin will have his third album ready for our listening pleasure in 2014. In the midst of all their ever expanding creativity, read on to find out more about these projects, MASSE, favourite dance moves, Efdemin's revival of his vinyl-imprint naïf and Marcel tying the knot in August. How have you both been recently? Marcel Fengler: I´m very well, thanks. The last few months have been pretty busy. I mean, this project Masse was a great challenge and you have to handle a lot of complex things in the end. Besides that I’ve created my debut album on Ostgut Ton, which is due for relesae in July. I even worked on it during my holiday to Thailand back in February, but now it feels great to have everything sorted. Efdemin: All good - I am in spring time mode. Nice gigs and other projects are on the horizon, I’ve finished setting up my new studio and the Ballett-Piece MASSE was premiered last weekend after a long time in the works. Can you tell us more about MASSE? MF: This was the first time that we’ve worked together, I mean, we have played DJ sets together before and knew each other already but within the producing process of our MASSE interpretation we noticed that we complement each other really well. We even got some support on the idea by Ostgut Ton and have decided to make more music in the future. E: I can only agree here. Our collaboration turned out to be a really great, funn experience and highly inspirational for our other projects too. We both learnt a lot from seeing the other one working in his environment and for the project MASSE we joined forces. There are 16 compositions all together for “MASSE” that will be released in full in June and you have composed the third score called “Evolve.” Can you pick a couple of standout moments in “Evolve” for us? E:Well, our contribution consists of seven parts which involve different ideas of evolutionary processes. We both do like the piece as a whole, but of course there are some standout moments. One is the part where a trippy beat breaks into melancholic orchestra strings and then slowly melt with minimal music inspired FM-bell-arpeggios. Marcel always has to hide his tears when this one comes up. The introduction is a piano piece which was one of the first parts to be finished. That one came out nice and dreamy as it uses a physical model of a piano which sometimes sounds more like a harp then a grand piano. But I don´t want to say too much about the piece to keep some secrets for the lucky ones that could get hold of tickets. How are you looking forward to making the transition from Berghain to Room Two on 25th May? MF: It´s always a pleasure to come to fabric. E: Indeed! We will bang the &%§$ out of Room Two, celebrating Marcel´s album release for Ostgut. It's not the first time Berghain has hosted a ballet performance. Back in 2007 they worked with the Berlin State Ballet on a show called Shut Up and Dance! Why do you think combining modern electronic music with a visual experience of contemporary ballet works so well? MF: Yes, of course. I mean, I do love these changing moments of contrasts but totally symbiosis on the other hand. Plus other ingredients as light, the surrounding building, set design, which makes it pretty special. In these terms Shut up and Dance was perhaps even more an experiment as Masse. When did you start getting into classical contemporary music? E: I used to play the cello when I was younger and I loved the feeling of being part the orchestra. When I discovered stuff like Ligeti, a whole new world opened up and made me research all the stuff like Spektrale Musik, Neue Musik, Minimal and Totale Musik. The interest for noise as a musical happening in contemporary music came to be when John Cage showed the similarities there can be between abstract sample based music and techno. So it came all back together at this point. MF: Honestly there´re no specific influences on that side. In my productions I love to work with classic orchestra sounds and have a lot of admiration for Hans Zimmer but that´s it. I mean, I´m not pretty sure if you need to be influenced by classical music for a project like Masse. Efdemin, when we spoke to you last year you revealed plans for a new album this year. Can you tell us some more about that now? E: I am working on it in my finally finished new studio in Berlin whenever I am not traveling. Due to a busy release schedule at Dial Records with albums coming from John Roberts, Lawrence and Queens (Scott Mou) this year I think we have to wait until early 2014 for my next album. But there will be some 12"s before and hopefully some stuff from Marcel, myself and PIGON as well. Besides that I have revived my vinyl-imprint naïf with tracks from Tobias. And some other friends coming soon. What are you most looking forward to about the rest of the year? MF: First of all I´ll get married in August. There’s a lot of of things to do, you know. But it´s great to feel complete. Producing wise I´m looking forward a lot to playing with new toys in my studio - I didn´t want to touch during the entire album process because it brings too much fun and feels like computer gamin without pressure. In the second half of the year I´ll push my own label a bit more. New releases and maybe also new faces but I don't want to talk too much about it in the moment. E: Honestly, I am looking forward to some sunshine after this crazy winter. Also I am getting nervous about going to Japan for three months from September. Lucky me! Finally for a bit of fun. What’s your ‘secret weapon’ dance move on the dancefloor? MF:The pepper mill. E: Belly dance. Marcel Fengler and Efdemin will be in RM2 this Saturday with Untold, for more info and tickets go here.