As they have always said, ‘good things come to those who wait’, and in 2010 it’s no different; with nearly ten year’s production experience under their belts, it’s no surprise the impact Camo & Krooked have had on D&B ever since their first release in 2008. To you and me, Vienna’s Reinhard Rietsch (Camo) and Markus Wagner (Krooked), may still be the new kids on the block, but this is by no means a reflection on their talent.
With releases on influential imprints such as Hospital, Viper and Mainframe Recordings, Camo & Krooked have got the ultimate set-up and since the release of their debut album Above & Beyond
it’s been full steam ahead. Embracing the more riff-fuelled, high-octane side of liquid D&B, they’ve found big fans in the likes of Annie Mac and Zane Lowe, and it’s been impossible to ignore their invigorating, energy-packed productions of late. We’ve caught up with them before they embark on a jam-packed European tour, including a slot at this year’s Sun & Bass festival in Sardinia late this summer. We talked techno, rumours and hardco’ chillin’. What’s going to be emerging from your studio in the next couple of months? There will be some new tunes out, like Fresh –
Talkbox (Camo & Krooked Rmx) and a BBK 12” and a Viper EP a little bit later this year.
What sort of music were you listening to when you were growing up? Is there a particular artist that you could pinpoint as your main inspiration?We listened to soul, funk and hip-hop, as well as techno and progressive house. We had a lot of different inspirations as we listened to so much different music, maybe that’s why our music is so versatile now.
As we’ve seen with the release of your album Above and Beyond you’re pushing a really dynamic liquid D&B sound. Was this album planned with precision or did it just fall together naturally? How long did it take to put together?Above and Beyond just fall together to be honest. It started as a CD to get rid of a bit older tunes, but it got better and better and in the end it was a proper album. I think it took longer to come out then to get written.
If you guys had the chance to collaborate with one artist, who would it be? Is there a D&B artist you really love at the moment?Maybe we would pick Deadmau5, for whom we already did a remix. In drum and bass Culture Shock is a really good producer.
Obviously working on tracks together means you’ve got double the creativity. But does working together ever have its drawbacks? Is one of you the more creative one and the other more technical, or is it an equal balance between the two?Krooked is a bit more creative and Camo a bit more technically, but overall we sit together in every part of writing a tune and only make the next step when we’re both is satisfied. We can’t imagine working alone now, as it’s very good to have someone who tells you if it’s good enough or not.
You’re remix of John B’s Numbers is a wicked track. Are there any more remixes on the horizon for you guys?We did a lot of remixes lately, also for major labels, the biggest are for Deadmau5, Fresh and Doc P –
Sweet Shop, watch out for them, dropping soon.
Obviously the switch from vinyl to MP3 and the use of technology such as CDJs and Serato has completely transformed DJing in the last ten years. How has this affected your music and what are your views on these technological advances?We started playing out with CDs, and will stick to it as we are really used to it now and like the possibility to play out a tune right after you finished it.
When you are sampling for your tunes, is there any particular place you look - for example, films, old records, computer games?We tried to stop sampling and write everything on our own, because when the name grows and the sales are going up, you might get caught breaking the copyright laws. And we think coming up with own melodies and synths may be harder, but it’s the true heart of creativity.
Artists such as Ramadanman, Alix Perez and Headhunter are creating new aliases and exploring different genres. Tell us about your Chrome project?As Chrome we wrote some techno tunes in 2009, but we stopped that in 2010, as we don’t have enough time and wanted to concentrate on our true love DnB. But Chrome really opened our mind in new directions and we learned a lot working in different genres.
What are your hobbies outside of music?Camo has been skateboarding for 17 years now. Krooked prefers to chill hard.
That’s a good hobby if ever there was one. With D&B tracks being played more and more on mainstream stations like Radio 1 and reaching the shores of Ibiza, do you it’s a good thing that D&B is gaining so much exposure on a commercial level? Do you think it can retain its underground nature?We think it’s a good thing that DnB is getting heard more and more, so the scene is growing and stays alive. Also a good thing about DnB is that the level of production is rising higher and higher.
I’ve heard you have a new single coming out on Shogun Audio in collaboration with Friction and Dynamite MC. Are the rumours true?Yeah, it’s Friction vs Camo & Krooked feat. Dynamite –
Stand Up. He came over to the CnK Studio to Vienna for a few days, and that’s what we came up with.
What are your plans for the future?We are already working on our next album, don’t know the label yet, we have offers from every big label in the scene though. But we don’t know which way to go so we just write tune after tune getting better and better for now.
Camo & Krooked play Sun & Bass Festival in Sardinia, Italy from September 4th – 11th. Head to www.sunandbass.com for more details.