When the underground reclaimed techno back in 2002/3, slowed it right down and made it hip again, there was a collection of forward thinking artists at the vanguard of that movement. One who stands tall amongst that motley bunch of musical pioneers and psychonauts is the subject of our dialogue today - Phillip Jung, one half of the notorious two man fire starters M.A.N.D.Y. With an inimitable energy, the duo has carved out a style crammed full of individuality but also with a great personality and sense of fun rarely found in an industry that’s sometimes way too cool for school.
Establishing themselves as one of the masters of the modern mix CD, ‘Body Language Volume 1’ way back in 2005 kicked it all off. A year later saw their second comp ‘At the Controls’ smash it globally (mix CD of the Year from Resident Advisor, BBC Essential Mix and Mixmag), sharply followed by a Fabric mix CD in 2008. Now, building on those successes Renaissance have dived in to secure their services for the next compilation* released on the 26th October.
As the years flash by, the schedules seem to get crazier and crazier and this summer has flung Phillip and Patrick to the four corners of the globe (again), to Ibiza and back like a boomerang and to the summer festivals for some major out-door fun. We managed to slow Phillip down long enough for a chat and convinced him to take some time out on the treatment couch with the mighty BP and a big bag of green tea. Ohm…
But where do you start with this lot? From tennis partners to global superstars, this is a story of friendship and intrigue, from lowly beginnings in Frankfurt and Cologne, to the sprawling ranches of South America, and to creating body heat with wild animals (I kid you not. Read on…). But first…let’s try and get straight to the point…
M.A.N.D.Y. What IS that all about? Cross-dressing antics or scorned ex-girlfriends? There isn’t ONE VIP room across the globe from Wichita to the Tierra del Fuego that haven’t pontificated wildly on the theory about ‘Where that bloody name came from’...There have been many exotic explanations bantered about, but can Phillip really convince us that fact is a lot less thrilling than all the mythology? ‘Regrettably, the truth isn’t very exciting. In the early days, we invented some stories, every time something different just to keep ourselves interested in the name, but actually it just means ‘Me AND You’ –Patrick and Me, the crowd and us, etc etc.’ Damn. And I’d heard some crackers out on manoeuvres...
How very apt. Cos you see, M.A.N.D.Y. are all about friendship. Phillip and Patrick grew up together on a tennis court in Saarbrücken (well, not actually ON the tennis court, you understand) as pubescent 15 year olds. After University taking the pair off into different circles and cities, gravity brought them back together in Cologne – Philip having secured an A&R post with JIVE records. He started nurturing a couple of musician/producers types for the label, Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier, who recorded under various aliases; most famously in the future they would go on to become Booka Shade. The four of them started making music together ‘...under a name we don't even want to mention, it was some horrible music! Hey, you have to start somewhere.’ But Patrick and Phillip learned some valuable production techniques from Walter and Arno and they progressed to making big noises together, and some legendary parties. They caught the eyes and ears of DJT, who was then editor of highly influential music periodical ‘Groove’ magazine, and Patrick Dechent, both from Monza Club in Frankfurt and the rest is history. From separate careers in the music industry and art world, their DJ sets started getting important people talking and they relocated to Berlin en masse in 2002 and birthed the seminal record label Get Physical with pals DJ T, Walter and Arno. After a couple of releases and remixes, a joint endeavour with Book Shade called ‘Body Language’ was a worldwide smash. It helped establish them as serious artists and cemented their labels importance within a burgeoning techno scene. The stage was set…the arena waits.
BP wonders about the status of Phillips memory… ‘You look back and you realise that loving this music for 20 years is a pretty long time, but as long as we still get excited by some of the new releases, you don’t question yourself too much’. As with any long-term situation in life, it’s difficult to keep the fire blazing in the belly after so many years. Does he still get ‘that feeling’ when he hears a great tune? ‘It takes a bit more to get really excited nowadays, and you have to see where the excitement comes from and look deeper than just partying. We would immediately stop if we could no longer find great new records.’
Great new records indeed…the Renaissance collection’s credits are a techno warriors wet dream. Isolee, Martin Buttrich, Koze, Ben Watt and Hell, to name a few. It’s jam packed full of the forward thinking, unconventional artists that have accompanied the duo every step of the way during their remarkable rise to DJ superstardom…but the two CD comp is also interspersed with some ‘out of this world’ less established newbies. ‘ I’m really excited. Renaissance came to Berlin and explained to us where they want to go and what they had in mind, so at the end there was no doubt we wanted to be a part of it. It was great working with them.’ So did they approach the mix any differently considering it was a Renaissance mix? ‘We approached it similar to our ‘At the Controls’ mix and that was the briefing from them too. One side with special leftfield tunes for home listening and home raving. Music we like to open our sets with or songs and artists we listen to at home or have a special relationship with, like Sebastian Tellier, who I signed to V2 a couple of years ago.’
With a history of A&R for major labels, Phillip has always been at the forefront of sniffing out new talent. He sees a trend occurring more recently. ‘It’s changing quite a bit. There are often new stars shining, but after a year, there’s no interesting follow up coming.’ Maybe that’s symptomatic of music becoming much more of a throwaway product nowadays, but Phillip thinks the scene as a whole is as buoyant as ever, with exciting acts always forcing themselves through. ‘To really like somebody, and to be a real fan takes a longer career – like DJ Koze. But there are some great new kids on the block, like Masormenos and dOP - both from Paris. And I like My My and Holger Zilske; both on Playhouse. It’s future micro house, or something like this. Of course it’s not for the big floors, but very interesting and danceable music.’
I’m wondering if Phillip takes the time out to pass his thoughts and wisdom to the new guard of electronic pioneers he comes into contact with. Young artists of course have to create their own energy and make their own way - young enough to make mistakes and learn by them, but are they more equipped to deal with the pressures than artists were, say 10 years ago? ‘There’s no real advice to give those kids. A lot of them know much more stuff than we did at the time – for better and for worse, I guess. It’s along way to the top if you party like AC/DC! In reality, it’s 90% hard work and 10% fun – but the 10% fun is great so it’s well worth it…’ C’mon…be honest Phillip, we all know it’s more like 75/25 for you chaps, but who’s counting…
Good time junkies, girls and parties are a huge part of it, where would we be without it? But there always comes the time in every DJ’s life when the fooling around stops (albeit temporarily) and the hard work begins. M.A.N.D.Y. have always been very choosy about their studio and remix work, from Royksopp to Roxy music. To them, there’s far more to it than just pinching a vocal and creating a new track around it. ‘The thing is, that the bands and artists you admire most should be untouched as their songs have everything it needs already and we would have too much respect to make a different version and cut the vocals into pieces. We always like real songs to remix as you can actually really remix something! If there is a song, you can find a different angle. A lot of the remixes have only 1 or 2 sounds from the original; otherwise it’s a completely new track. Not so interesting for us.’ Their ‘12 great remixes for 11 great artists’ collection of 2007 validates that point.
So where do two electronic super heroes go when they’ve achieved almost all there is to achieve in dance music? Where does Phillip still find his inspiration and motivation from after all these years? ‘We haven’t achieved everything and we probably never will. The very first and most important thing to do now is our album. Although we spend the same time on our comps like other people do on their albums, we still have to finish it. And that’s probably priority number 1 right now. We were getting a bit lost in heavy partying over the last 3 years, so now it’s time again to channel that energy in the studio and try to translate all the very nice and sometimes very odd experiences into songs.’ So it’s back to basics then. Using real life to inspire art.
It’s all too easy to get caught up in the flux and furore of the scene and forget the real world exists away from the recording studio and discothèque. Outside music, is Phillip having his head turned by other means of existence? Take your pick between families, lost dreams and mixed doubles. They could probably still get on the tennis master’s tour with a bit of work down the gym… ‘It’s important to find a balance in life. Patrick’s got a girlfriend and he’s doing pretty well. I’m moving to NYC right now to experience a new city and a new life. Not sure about the tennis masters, but we’d be in the quarter finals in the RAVE masters!’ They’ve got every chance of lifting the trophy too. Sven Vath’s backhand is well weak and Villalobos wears a little skirt, or so I’m told…
Talking of little skirts, the path to righteousness is fraught with danger and temptation. More DJ’s than I care to remember have told me bog-eyed tales of crazy goings on in far off distant lands and, as our time on the sofa draws to a close, I get the halcyon ‘time’ specs out and ask Phil (for I think we’ve bonded now…) to travel back in time and highlight one of the best, and more importantly one of the worst moments he’s had on his travels. ‘One of the nicest experiences was when we were playing in Cordoba in Argentina and after we went to an Estancia – a South American country house owned by an international football player. He lived there with his whole family and his Mama was cooking for us and we were riding horses and in this beautiful country and playing with all kinds of animals. We were sleeping in the cot (that’s M.A.N.D.Y. for hammock I think…) at night, truly freezing our little butts off, but this was a true romantic and very exceptional experience. You felt totally disconnected. These three days will always be remembered. There are some great photos too…
Amazing grace… and a tale from the darker side of the moon?
‘The total opposite is just too hard to explain. Maybe just watch the opening scene from the movie ’39,90’. It’s a French movie. It’s just after heavy partying and you wake up and you see the whole mess and chaos…and regrets and achievements…like in the film ‘HANGOVER’.
These guys have it once every now and again, and we have to live with this too. Except the part with the Tiger in the bathroom…’
‘But, Once I did wake up and a Lion was sleeping next to me hugging me…’
And God said ‘Let there be light.’ Amen to that.
*(you can listen to some excerpts on the Renaissance release micro-site at
www.renaissance.dj.mandy)