First off, Roman, thank you for taking the time out to do this interview. While researching this interview I came to learn that there is not a great deal of info about you online, there is no biog on RA and very little (almost none) interviews. So if it pleases you I would like to get a little background on you and partners in Fachwerk. How did you originally meet and become friends?
I know Mike from my childhood. We first met at the age of 15 and realized we were in love with electronic music, especially techno and house. Some years later we met Sascha and shared our love for music with him. For all of us it was a journey of discovery. We went out to clubs like E-Werk, Tresor, WMF, Walfisch and all of us were caught by the electronic music scene in the early ‘90’s.
Was techno omnipresent in Berlin at this time or was it more of a journey of discovery for you? An uncovering of a counter culture if you will
It was not really omnipresent like today. After the wall came down, East-Berlin offered a lot of space for development for the scene. There were unresolved ownerships of so many buildings and the way for development was smoothed so we grew up with these interesting developments and we soaked it up like a sponge
Berlin as a city has been a focal point of electronic music in recent years, the last wave of music, clubs and producers are perhaps quite removed from what was happening in your city when you guys were getting switched on to techno, in the pre-Easyjet days. Did you guys welcome this renaissance from the view point of native Berliners who witnessed the birth of the scene?
Of course, the scene was more spontaneous, informal, there was more experimentation. Today it's more a clear structure but Berlin still offers many opportunities. Many people from abroad move to Berlin and use this opportunity. Some are more successful than others. Unfortunately, the scene is broken by the fact that it's “hip” to live in Berlin. So many venues will be purchased by large international cooperations to build office complexes. We lost so many good clubs
From my perspective the techno you collectively imbue is very much evolved from that which you would have been dancing to in Tresor in the 90's, while of course music evolves I make the observation because techno doesn't seem to embrace the same revivalism as house does, it doesn't look back, why do think that is?
Interesting to hear that, but we are inspired not only by the sound of Tresor. I don't think we sound like Tresor in the 90's, because we are much slower and more sub-bass orientated. I heard also a lot of old Hip Hop, Funk and Jazz stuff! Every music scene develops. It’s more a question of time. Now we are lucky that techno is more present again. And every week so many interesting techno productions are coming out.
What is the essence of techno in your mind?
• powerful, industrial, metallic
• rhythm orientated - GROOVE is very important for us!!! • based on repetitive arrangements (loop based)
• and especially for us, there should be a little soul in it
It has be noted that you like to spend a lot of time with your music before you let it loose into the world, is this the trait of a perfectionist or the trait of a patient man?
Both of them. I’m very self-critical. On the one hand it’s good, because you think a lot and don’t release everything you create. On the other hand it can inhibit you.
Which of your releases have you spent the most time on and why?
The most time I need is for doing remixes, because you have material you have to work with and sometimes it may restrict you a little.
How has your Fachwerk tour been going so far, does your sound travel well - do the clubs you have visited compare to somewhere like Tresor?
Our Fachwerk Night Concept works very well. We’ve had great parties and many compliments. Maybe one of the reasons is that each of us play a little bit different from each other and we don’t constantly play straight hard techno. We love groovy, funky, raw influence. It is conspicuous that you mention Tresor. Often people want to talk about Berghain ;-) No, you can’t compare clubs today with the old vibe of Tresor.
And your London party, have you visited London before, if so how does our capitals dance floors compare?
Yes, I was playing 2 years ago for a Sinner warehouse event and last year I played with Sascha at Corsica Studios in London. Corsica Studio was a great experience for Sascha and me... wow, we enjoyed it a lot ;-) To answer this question in detail I would have to have play more in London. I think - and I speak for all of my colleagues - we like to play abroad, because the party people in
Berlin are sometimes a little bit tired from the wide variety. Moreover party people abroad have short party times (example: the party time in Oslo is only 4 hours). It can be an advantage, because people use the time to celebrate the party/music more intensively.