Disfunktion is considered one of the brightest DJ/Producer duos in their genre and has numerous successful collaborations to show for it, teaming up with the likes of Paul Oakenfold, Dash Berlin and many more. And as their very own studio album is now here, the next step in their increasingly awe-inspiring career has been taken.
We got a chance to speak to them about various topics surrounding their album, like its timing and the title, collaboration with Fehrplay etc. They also discussed their studio setup, most memorable instances, and their plans for the rest of 2015. Have a read. :)
T.H.E – Hi Guys, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. What are you up to at the moment?
Disfunktion – We just got back from a great show in Shanghai at club Muse! Love the city and the awesome food they have. We are also currently preparing for the release of our album ‘We Were Young And Needed The Money’ on Armada on june 26th and the next single ‘First Light’. Also in the works is a full video for ‘First Light’, which we are looking forward to so much!
T.H.E – Tell us how it all started. How did both of you get into DJing and Production?
Disfunktion – We had a mutual friend who had technics sl1200’s and a mixer. So we started getting into playing around with vinyls and started hanging out. We went to get a burger and spend the rest of the evening at the recordstores once a week, every week. We would be hunting down the coolest vinyls and play in our bedrooms. From there we just figured we could try making our own stuff and thats kinda how it started.
T.H.E – Describe your current sound. Has it evolved over the years?
Disfunktion – Very much so! When we did our first tracks they were bad sampledisco, and we evolved into making our own sounds and playing our own melodies. Offcourse since then you also see the ‘sound’ switch a bit towards more real music vs mindless hands in the air stuff. We decided at the end of last year that we only wanted to make stuff we really liked, which meant doing something that is not aimed at what is doing well in the current bp top 10. The result is the upcoming album and we’re really proud of it!
T.H.E – Massive congratulations on the announcement of your own studio album, “We Were Young and Needed the Money”. How did you decide whether the timing was right to launch an album?
Disfunktion – We wanted to make a collection of tracks that we feel represents where we are at right now. With the spectrum ranging from ‘Nova’ with Fehrplay to our upcoming track ‘First Light’ we feel we have done just that and think that we can give the listener something worthwile. Also we had Armada on board from the beginning, so it was really inspiring to have them work with us so closely from start to finish. A big thanks goes to Onno vd Kemenade for believing in this project as much as he does!
T.H.E – We know for a fact that producing on an album is pretty hard work. How long has this been in the works? Any inspirations you Guys looked upto during the process?
Disfunktion – We started with the first ideas at the end of last year, and it took us about 6 months to complete. We definitely had a lot of inspiration, ranging from Eric Prydz to Hard Rock Sofa.
T.H.E – We are pretty sure that a lot of people are going to relate to the album title (including us! :P). How did it come about? What is the message you want to share via this album?
Disfunktion – We actually wanted to create a ‘serious’ album with some badass music and cool collaborations so we figured we had to put a little joke in there somewhere. Bart actually mentioned it quite early when we were thinking of names and it always sticked with us. Doing what we do means doing what we love the most, but also has a lot of uncertainty. The expression ‘I was young and needed the money’ refers to doing silly stuff you might not be proud of, like stripping your way through college. Which is funny because this album is exactly the opposite, as making it was such a labour of love we would probably do it without even getting any money for it.
T.H.E – There are 8 tracks featured on the album out of which, the collaboration with Fehrplay, “Nova” was released quite recently. And judging by some of the comments that we came across, fans have loved it. How did it come about?
Disfunktion – We actually met Jonas (Fehrplay) at the legendary Burning Man Festival in Reno, Nevada two years ago where we were staying at the same camp. We just had a blast with him and last year we were there again and so was he. So we decided we just needed to get together and make some music. We then hooked up during the Amsterdam Dance Event and did two studio sessions with some truffle pizza and beers and Nova was born. Jonas actually put the finishing touches on the track a few weeks later in New York, so the track went from Burning Man to Amsterdam to New York.
T.H.E – Could you unveil some production secrets behind “Nova”, any plug-ins or techniques you have used?
Disfunktion – We used Sylenth, U-He Ace (bassline), Fabfilter ProQ2, Korg M1. Lots of compression, subtle and not so subtle. It was cool to see the things Jonas did and showed us. When we are in the studio with another producer, it is always cool to see what sort of things they do differently or the same. We always keep learning and that is what keeps it fun!
T.H.E – Looking at the production side of things, walk us through your current setup. Which are the 3 main plug-ins or sounds you cannot do without?
Disfunktion – At the moment we work in Logic 9 , but we might switch to X, after seeing Jochen Miller work with that (we had some studio time together last week). We use a lot of Sylenth1, Waves and Fabfilter. We just got the Spire plugin and we must say it is awesome! And we love the cleanliness of IK Multimedia stuff, very cool plugins !
T.H.E – Along the years you had multiple successful instances. Which one is the most memorable?
Disfunktion – We loved playing at Burning Man, that was our best set ever, between Diplo and Paul Oakenfold. The stage and the people just made it so great, it was like a weird dream.
T.H.E – After the album releases tomorrow, what else have you got lined up for 2015?
Disfunktion – Some new bootlegs! Right now we are doing a track with Jochen Miller too, which is sounding great. Hopefully some more collaborations, we love working with other people.
T.H.E – Thanks Guys for this interview. We would like to wish you the very best with the release of your album. :)
Disfunktion – Thanks for having us!!
If you still haven’t, pre-order the album here.
Khushrav’s passion for dance music started early on as he began creating weekly podcast episodes of the latest electronic music across genres and has mixed over 200 episodes over a span of 5years. As a dance music enthusiast, Khushrav still keeps up to date with every week’s releases, contributing to THE’s Spotify playlists.
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