Kim Brown (Needwant) Q&A

KIM.BROWN.2.FZ.009Your great new single: Batteries Not Included features three tracks. Can you talk us through how you produced one of them?

With “Other People’s Space” it was an odd process. We had the tracks for the B-Side of the EP, but were lacking a proper A-Side. We never really liked sitting down, saying „Let’s make an A-Side hit“. It either happens or doesn’t. But as deadlines kept coming closer, we needed a solution. We had a track lying around for a while which had some elements we really liked, but couldn’t really make the whole thing work. So we kicked 90% out, put the focus on the bassline, added some nice chords and strings and pretty much finished the whole thing in a few hours. Maybe it wasn’t quite as easy as described, but we like to think it was.

Are there any plans to follow up on your debut album: Somewhere Else It’s Going To Be Good. If so, what can we expect to hear on it?

We would love to release a new album next year. But there are no specific plans. At the moment we’d like to collect ideas, improve our live set, see how the current releases work and so on. So we don’t really know what’s going to happen.

You have already released music on number of labels including Just Another Beat, Permanent Vacation and Freerange. How do you find the process of getting your music heard and then signed by labels in the digital age?

We have been in the fortunate position of not having to send out any demos so far. Just Another Beat is run by a co-worker and friend of Ji-Hun and so one thing led to another. All the other labels asked us for remixes or collaborations.
There are definitely a few labels we would like to be approached by, but we are probably somewhere in between shy, spoiled and a bit lazy to send them something.
And as you mention “the digital age”, of course it’s a lot easier to send someone a track these days and get a quick response.

How would you describe the Dance scene in Berlin at the moment? Any positive & negatives you would like to mention?

During the last five years, the club scene in Berlin became a financial and also a political factor in Berlin. The famous clubs became as important as typical touristic landmarks and as Berlin is lacking other economical sectors like banks or industries, clubs are nowadays accepted by the government. Tourists from all over the world are coming to enjoy the club scene, so a couple of things changed. When you play in a club you meet people from Italy, UK, Australia, Hong Kong and Japan at the same evening, which is definitely a cool thing. But there are also many people arguing about the loss of credibility and the lack of a proper native scene. For us, Berlin made many things possible. Most of the labels we worked with are run by friends of ours, so there still is a scene and wonderful network with great musicians and inspiring people.

KIM.BROWN.2.FZCan you tell us about who your main influences are, either in dance music or outside of it?

At an early stage we discovered our shared admiration for Metro Area and John Tejada for their sense of harmonies and arrangements. Outside of dance music both of us have a bit different musical backgrounds. Ji-Hun has more of an Indie/Folk background, whereas Julian has been more into Hip Hop back in the 90s. Both of us always listen to all kinds of music. Except for a few genres, where we share a disfavour.

Where are you looking forward to playing Live/ Dj’ing this summer?

Playing during summer means not to play necessarily in a dark, smoky club at night. We are looking forward to playing on a Sunday afternoon at the About Blank garden or on a boat but also open airs and smaller festivals. So it’s the summer in general we are looking forward to. And for that kind of thing, Berlin still is one of the most vibrant places.

https://www.facebook.com/kimbrownhousemusic
http://www.needwant.co.uk

 

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