Johnanna Knutsson
www.pulseradio.net

Every time I’ve seen you play, you manage to seduce the crowd with your music. Every tune feels like the perfect follower to the previous one, that you couldn’t have choose a better one. This is what makes an outstanding DJ, someone who has the ability to read the crowd and knows what’s required to keep us listeners satisfied. Is this something you are able to prepare before you enter the DJ-both, or how does it work?

I always try to be in the club a while before i start to listen to the DJ before, i think it helps you to get into the mood of the night and you can also react on what he is doing. It is important to know who you are playing for, thats why i like it a lot if the DJ-booth is not overlooking the crowd but is on the same level as the dancers, so you can actually see faces. When packing my records, i often put on a record i really would like to play that night and then it comes natural that i choose records who go with the flow of that tune.



You have a incredible way of mixing classic tunes with future classics, is there any personal favourites that you have but is to afraid to play out (to cheesy, to experimental, to weird)?

If i have the posibility to bring more then one bag of records to a club, i bring a lot of records wich i will propably not end up playing because they are to weird or so. But one of these records can become the one big record of the set if the mood and time is right. Some records are so unique that is hard to include them into the flow of a set, so i kind of have to wait for that special moment wich can not enterely be created by me but comes as a inspiration by the party.



You seem to put a lot of love in to the stuff you play, how do you manage to maintain the interest and inspiration to play music and produce?

I often remember the feeling i had when i listened to a record for the first time, so playing or listening to a track often takes me back to that feeling. That might be the reason why some older records never become boring for me. Same happens with new records, they become a link to an emotion. I am very aware that i have a job wich has been a dream for me for years and i am still extremely happy about it, its a great gift i was given. And its not just a job, its a passion and i dont think it will ever become just a job, that would be the day when i should propably quit. I have been spending most of my lifetime listening to music, next to some close friends, its the most important thing in my life. And i love it when after all these years of listening to music and digging for it, a track blows my mind and shows me that there is still more to discover. About producing, i think it is important to not push yourself, I work on music when there is the need of a feeling to be translated into a track.



How has the journey been to come this far in the house & techno scene, where and when did it all start for you?

Basically it started when the Hard Wax recordshop in my hometown Saarbrücken opened in 94, thats where all of a sudden i had access to thousends of records and put every cent i had into it. I do have a talent for DJing but in the end, it is my recordcollection wich is essential for what i do. So the basis of that and also a lot of knowledge about music, i got there. I started DJing for an audience in 97, first in a bar, then also in a small club. In 99, i moved to berlin, was playing small partys i organized with friends but nobody seemed to really care about what i did. So for years, sucess and fame and all that had nothing to do with my DJing and i think that is a good thing in the end, it helps you to stay focussed on what you really want to do and keeps you close to your passion instead of "working on a career". I started releasing records and when my EP on Playhouse was coming up, Panorama Bar opened in the new location. I got a call that Ata was sick and they wanted me to play at Panorama Bar to replace him. It was months later that i realized what that actually ment, that through pure luck, i became a resident there.



The album ”Serenity” was like a breath of fresh air 2008, the feedback has been only positive, and you guys (Murat and Elif) went out on tour. What are the future plans for this magic trio, or was this a one-time experiment?

Right now, we are not working on new material and not touring. We started out as friends and since Murat is not living in Berlin, we spend more and more time "professionally" together wich can be tough for a friendship. So right now, we are focussing on our friendship. We have no fixed plans but i guess that the three of us will be working on the project again. Elif will come up with solo-material next year, i guess during the work on this, it will happen naturally that we pick up on where we stopped.


Considering the amount of people that are DJing today, it sure requires something special to stand out from the crowd. You definitely have this gift, but which DJ’s can keep you out on the dance floor all night?

Put your heart into it and chances are good, you will have me dancing. :-) When touring the clubs, i meet a lot of residents who do a brilliant job out of passion, they cannot make a living out of DJing. So they play what they really want to play and they know their crowd and are not focussed on "delivering". That always works for me. From the DJs i get the chance to listen to more often, it would be people like Tama Sumo, Lexx, Soundstream, Shed, and the ToTheBone-Guys, to name some.




The past few years it has become easy for everyone that has (or hasn’t) a passion for music to download and buy MP3’s over Internet, but you only play on vinyl’s? Do you think there will be a backlash, will people get tired of the easy access and go back to chase vinyl again or can this the beginning to a end of an era?

I dont think vinyl will die. If you really love a track, a file wont do the job, you want something physical, something more valuable. I love the physicalness of vinyl and that will never change and i think i am not the only one like this. The crisis for the vinyl industry is definately not over but i guess once the labels and distributers finally realized that putting out more and more instead of focussing is not helping them but making things worse, things will change again. A fun tool i will have forgotten about in 3 month does not need to be put out on vinyl in my opinion, i dont see a record as something disposable. For files, that works fine and fast. But i am aware i am speaking out of a luxuary position, i live in Berlin and work at Hard Wax, so getting hold of the records i want is easy for me and i can afford them. Other citys have no recordshops and ridiculous taxes on vinyl, i can see why they go for files.


The technology for music making is quite different nowadays comparing to 20 years ago. Which tools do you use to get your unique sound in your productions, what do you have in your studio?

I switched from an old atari to ableton live some years ago for syncronizing and small aditions but basically all sounds come from vintage gear. I got a 707, 727 and RZ1 for drums, a Juno, 101 and an Hohner sampler for sounds plus a Memory Man, Space Echo and some more effect gear. I guess the fact of having a 16 track studio mixer and recording on reel to reel tape is as important to my sound as the other gear is. The last track i did with Tama Sumo was done without a computer involved. So i like it to keep things simple and i need to be able to touch my gear, not click with a mouse.


House music has really got a revival the last few years, it has definitely made a huge comeback in the clubs. Is there something you are missing from todays productions, that you only find in the early house productions?

Todays producers know better "what to do". So they do what works and that can be a bit boring. We all know the quote "House is a feeling" and according to that, i personally wouldnt consider some of the tracks labelled "House" nowadays as House because i don't feel them, they lack uniqueness in my opinion. I like a certain roughness in a track, it actually often helps when it is not technically perfectly executed but expresses a feeling directly, without working to much on it. I like the naivity wich some producers back in the days had, it feels more real to me then hyperpolished new tracks. And a groovy chord sampled and put on top of a minimal beat doesnt make a Houserecord. But there is plenty stuff released nowadays wich i love, not based on effectiveness but feeling.


Being a resident at the no.1 house-venue. Panorama, does that make it more difficult for you to appreciate other clubs? Is there a big difference between Panorama and other clubs, even now when it has a broader audience?

A residency always is different then anything else, you know the system, the club, the crowd (yes, even at Panorama Bar). You feel at home, so it is always something special and i am very happy i have the possibility to play there. But i definately can appreciate a lot of the clubs i play at and i have a lot of respect for the guys running the clubs. In berlin, you live in the world of plenty, elsewhere, it is a tough job to run a club, they got to be passionate and not be relying on a buisinessplan. So the passion the people put into their work is immense and that qualifies for a good night. Music works the same way most places and that is a great thing to see. So you meet people everywhere who feel the same and dance the same and enjoy music the same.


You have been doing this for quite a while now, but do you ever get nervous or anxious before you go up to the decks?

Sure i do, every time. There are nights where i am more calm, there are nights when i am shaking. I love to DJ, that helps, without the urge to go to the decks and play it would be a lot harder. I put my emotions into my sets, that makes vulnerable and because of that, i will propably always be nervous.



What has been the most exiting experience in your career so far?

There is not that ONE exciting experience. It is the whole ride of the last years wich excites and amazes me. Being able to make a living from doing what i love, heartwarming feedback from people in clubs, going to Japan and Israel, being happy and proud with Elif and Murat about what we did, being moved to tears in clubs, playing a record i loved for years and never dared to play and seeing it totally works, seeing smiling faces on the floor, people still humming the last track i played way after the club closed, my parents playing my records to their dinner guests, being there when the new record is cut. I love it and am very happy and greatfull.


What’s on the schedule the coming months?

Playing liveshows with Soundstream where i do vocals, 20 Years of Hard Wax Party at the beginning of december, having the 5 Euro Admission Party (the deephouse night i do with Tama Sumo and Steffi) on the 24th of december, new years eve at panorama bar. Two or three remixes coming up next year, a solorelease on steffis new label, working on more tracks with Tama Sumo, producing on Elifs first solo-release. Plus going on a holiday. And a lot of DJing. :-)


You can catch Prosumer playing at mulletovers xmas party on the 28th of this month
full event details here