Pleasurekraft interview

Pleasurekraft rocketed to house fame off the back off 2010's bouncy, vocodered 'Tarantula'. Since then the mysterious duo have scored numerous hits, from their massive remix of Cajmere's 'Satisfy' (produced alongside Tiger Stripes) to a similarly ubiquitous edit of Josh Butler's 'Got A Feeling'.

We caught up with them ahead of their appearance at Sabajaq on Saturday February 27th.

More info and tickets here.

What can party people expect from your set, styles and sounds at the Sabajaq party ?

Fireworks, pasties, sharks with laser beams.

Do you have any secret weapons you can share with us ?

Well, I'm personally a pacifist so I generally don't meddle in such things, but I'm sure those interested can find a copy of The Anarchist Cookbook somewhere.

Can you tell us what's new for you in terms of productions, remixes, projects etc etc ?

Our newest EP comes out the Monday following the Egg show on Nicole Moudaber's label MOOD. It's called 'Defiler' and I'm sure you can find a clip somewhere on the internets. Otherwise just come to Egg on Feb 27th and hear it the way its meant to be heard - on a proper system surrounded by a roomful of passionate techno fans.

How does playing in London, especially Egg London, compare to other cities or countries, and do you count London as one of your favourite spots?

I have had really mixed experiences of London. While I quite enjoy playing some of the proper clubs in the city (including my previous gig at Egg a couple years ago) some of the off-location parties can be really good or, as I have also experienced, hugely mediocre. I think when you play at a proper club that understands 'vibe' the show is good and the crowd feeds off that energy, which is fully what I will be expecting when I see all of you on the 27th!

How does it feel to have been working in house music for the last six years or and what are your proudest moments/memories?

I don't know that we have really done much of any 'house' music per se - though we have been very fortunate to work with some of our favourite artists, including Cajmere (aka Green Velvet when he puts his green mohawk on), but I wouldn't really say Pleasurekraft is a house act. That being said since 2010, when 'Tarantula' first came out, it's been surreal traveling the world, meeting fans who so passionately support what you create and, of course, meeting all these musical heroes in places all over the world - in some cases being completely disappointed with who they are as people, and in rarer cases finding those persons whose music you admire but whose character and personality are even more stimulating than the art they make.

How do you manage to keep it fresh, new and vital? Is it a case of pressure as a DJ/Producer to always be one step ahead in the house/techno scene?

I feel like those peers of yours who you really respect and admire are the ones who unknowingly push you to be your best. When I hear an amazing track from one of my favourite producers inside there's a voice that says, 'OK, so now we have to make something better than this as the bar has just been raised.' Of course, that's not to say I feel like any of the music we make is categorically better than any of these tracks that I'm referring to as records I admire - simply that they provide that necessary push that drives us to take our own work to the next level.

Recording and producing must keep you busy. Do you have your own label and is there anyone or any tracks that you’re particularly proud of?

Yes, I own/run a label called Kraftek Music. The output is varied and broad, as is my musical taste in the dance scene. I can't imagine just releasing one specific sub genre of dance music as I love too many different types of techno/tech house/deep house to pigeonhole the label in such a manner, plus I have musical A.D.D.. We have some of our own upcoming material on there, as well as new stuff forthcoming from Paul C & Paolo Martini/Clio/a collab with Re.You & Thomas Gandey, whose vocals are just incredible, as well as a collab with Carlo Lio later in the year.

What was your first break and first big record and did it set you on your path?

'Tarantula' opened up all the doors to working with great labels and producers, first and foremost being Green Velvet who sent us a Twitter DM asking if we wanted to remix 'La La Land'! So yeah, you could say that set us on our path!

How much of an influence did the neighbourhoods around you have on your path towards music when you were young?

I grew up in Washington DC, where at the time I was too young to attend clubs legally. Deep Dish (Sharam & Dubfire for those who don't know) was gaining worldwide notoriety, and being that they were two guys with whom I shared the same heritage – Persian - and city, I always looked up to them. When I was finally old enough to get into clubs and had my own car, the vinyl shop Deep Dish owned in Washington, Yoshitoshi Records, had closed, so I would drive up to Philadelphia twice a month with my buddy who taught me how to spin records. We would spend all the little hard earned money we had on gas (petrol as you all call it) and vinyls at Josh Wink's 611 Records just off South St, also now closed. Now, sadly they're all sitting in storage collecting dust. But anyway, that was a very important time for me personally as far as learning about how to create an atmosphere and tell a story with your set - something DJs then were masters of. Most DJs now just play one record after another - there is no musical narrative - and hence everyone and their mother thinks DJing is simple and anyone can do it and, indeed, anyone can DJ that way. But that's not the way I learned how to DJ, and that is certainly not the way I like to DJ.

So what does the future hold for you?

If Oedipus Rex taught us anything, it's that it's perhaps best not to know what the future holds for us - or we might end up killing our fathers and sleeping with our mothers and none of us want that.

And before you leave us, can you tell us something you think we should all be listening to before we head out the door to Sabajaq?

Tool's 'Ænima' album. And if you are expecting dance music, you will be in for a real surprise...