“Imagine Rick James dating Chaka Khan, dancing to Daft Punk and Technotronic, making sweet love to a Stevie Wonder ballad, when suddenly a group of German robots and a Yellow Magic Orchestra come rushing into the hotel suite and ... they all decide to go to France instead.”
That’s how Dusseldorf’s Lorenz Rhode describes his sound, and it’s pretty spot on we’d say. After kicking off his career in a housey vein, this fiercely talented producer has expanded his horizons to serve up an eclectic mish-mash of house, electro (both new and old), dancehall, hip-hop, funk and disco that pushes all of our buttons.
Following a tasty EP for Compost Records a few years back, Rhode was signed to Shir Khan’s excellent Exploited Records label, where he has been busy producing a slew of excellent cuts, including the new Something Hot EP, which is absolute dynamite. His music is equally at home at erm, home, or on the dancefloor, and has both a little something for the head and something for the feet and hips. The man got funk! One of our tips for 2010.
How and when were you first infected by dance music?
1990 I visited my father who was working in Rome at that time; in a magazine they had a Eurodance giveaway CD, Disk Joy, with all that Italo house music, 49ers and the likes. Looking back, quite the trashy start! And I loved Black Box - Ride On Time, Technotronic…later I had a Pet Shop Boys phase.
When did you start making music / producing, and how long was it before you started making tracks that you were really happy with?
Been playing piano and drums since I was a kid, but sequencing… must have been around 1995, still very unfocused. The first actual release wasn't before 2004.
What have been your personal favourite tracks / productions so far?
You mean my own productions? Of the older housey stuff I still like the remix of Mateo & Matos - Akara. The B-side of my Compost Records single, Back. And I'm pretty happy with the new Something Hot EP.
Where does your name come from?
My ID card.
Who would you most like to work with?
Actually, I discovered that collaborations I never thought of work surprisingly well! The more different to my own style, the better, I guess. If you're asking me to dream, it has to be Stevie Wonder. But it would be like winning the lottery.
What have you got in store for the coming months?
Two more remixes are finished, yet to be disclosed. If you like the Exploited EPs, I hope these will be up your alley, too.
What can we expect from one of your DJ sets or live sets?
Last year we played some rare gigs as an actual band of 3 guys. In that setup, we've really got our hands full on stage with old Roland machines and synths and talkbox - stressful, but a lot of fun! I am going to do solo gigs, too, that's what I am currently preparing for. I still want to keep it as "live" as possible, ‘cause nothing rocks like playing big basslines on stage and seeing people bounce to it.
If you weren’t a DJ/producer/artists, what would you be?
I might have finished studying language and literature, so I'd probably be a taxi driver.
Which other producers and DJs and artists do you really rate?
Jamie Lidell - incredible voice, and funky like a whole train station. Siriusmo - wonderfully inventive. Alan Braxe and Fred Falke made some tracks that are among my all time favourites (Rubicon!). Hudson Mohawke - just crazy.
www.myspace.com/lorenzrhode