Dave DK: Berlin Boy

As his new Retake One mix for Sasse's Moodmusic imprint hits the shelves this month, we speak to the Berlin based DJ and producer behind it, Dave DK...

It's no mean feat to have your mix stand out amongst the sea of others which pollute both commercial and online worlds, but Berlin DJing mainstay and sporadic house producer Dave DK (AKA David Krasemann) has managed it with his new effort for Moodmusic. Rich in analogue warmth and crackling vinyl loveliness, the mix takes in all manner of deep and considered house sounds from Nina Kraviz to DJ Koze via Dave's own productions and even some typically quirky techno business from Superpitcher.

In laying down such a perfect soundtrack of deep, dark-but-inviting night music, Retake One showcases the sort of DJing dexterity and that has made Dave such a mainstay in his adopted city of Berlin with former residencies at institutions like Tresor and PBar. As such, we thought we'd caught up with the man to talk about the German capital, his own productions and the evolution of his music tastes over the years...

So tell us about the first time you heard electronic music and how you got into it…. What did you like about it and what was it you were listening to?

I got aware of electronic music mainly through the German Mayday Raves from 1994 on where I joint as a young raver. Having listened to lots of Eurodance music such as The Shamen, Adamski, Snap, Technotronic or KLF, I ended up with some Dancemania Records by Robert Armani which I bought at a Berlin record store spending all my pocket money.

And when/why/how did you start DJing and producing? Did you get gigs straight away and release music straight away?

After several great nights at the Wednesday party Bonito House Club in Berlin I started buying records in 1995 which finally let to deejaying for small parties in the beginning. My first proper gigs I actually had at Globus/Tresor club in 1998 after having released a 12”s on Raummusik and Müller Records.

Your biog says you were turned on by techno initially, but listening to the Retake One mix, it’s very housey. I wonder how you got from techno to house over the years? Was there any main reason for the change or has it ‘just happened’?!

Actually when I started buying records I bought a lot of techno records from the middle of the 90’s. As I was a frequent customer at Tresor club I heard a lot of music from Detroit. When I started working on my own music it turned out quite housy from the beginning, maybe a mix between techno and house. I turned rather to house than techno very quickly after 2000. Nowadays I’m trying to add some pop feel to my music.

I understand you live in Berlin and it seems a lot of your gigs are there – are you happy with that? Is it the best place to play do you think? Are you freer to play exactly as you please in Berlin or…?

Actually I try to play not more than once per month in Berlin now to keep it more special. Though there are always chances to play at a cool location here in town. I think Berlin’s electronic music scene has reached a really high standard, hard to find anything like this somewhere else. But as I love to travel I always discover great new places which I also enjoy. Of course it depends to some extent on the event or location, but generally I represent a kind of Berlin sound.

And how much of an influence on you is the city? Does it not get claustrophobic with so many other artists there? Ever want to get away from it all?

Berlin is definitely a great place to meet a lot of artists and listen to them as well while they’re in town. Sure I get influences from there, but not only. I like to go to the countryside as well to enjoy the nature which I really need from time to time. I’m travelling enough to get different influences from other places as well. At the moment though I couldn’t imagine any other place to live,

How do you look back on your Tresor/PBar residencies? Do you get as much enjoyment from gigs elsewhere in the world? Did you learn anything from those gigs?

Tresor/Globus was a place where I started to enjoy electronic music, it definately had a big influence on my career. From 2000 on there was also Panorama Bar which was even more excitement to see how the club and it’s crowd get bigger and bigger. I learned how to play the longest sets of my life and keep the people on the floor ;) Now I’m playing there once in a while and it’s still a special night there.

What makes those two clubs as special and revered as they are do you think?

The mixed crowd at Panorama Bar as well as the long opening ours are the trademark of this place I would say. You can go there on a Sunday afternoon and enjoy a great party until Monday morning. Tresor is still a name abroad, but unfortunately it has lost it’s good reputation due to organizational matters. Though the location is massive.

Do you DJ any differently now to back then apart from in terms of the music you play?

Not really I guess..

And how has 2010 been for you? What were the highs and lows?

The first half of 2010 I wasn’t in the best mood as I was working on music a lot and was not in the groove somehow. I wasn’t really happy with the results at that time, but luckily got back on track now.

How has your musical taste evolved this year – what has been turning you on?

There were a couple of highlights this year, many albums I was listing to and enjoying a lot, i.e. Walls, Thomas Fehlamann and Superpitcher on Kompakt, Matthew Dear on Ghostly, Lali Puna on Morr or John Roberts on Dial which is my all time favourite label anyway. I got influenced by this electronica pop feel and working on some news in that direction.

Your productions seem sporadic... is it something you’d like to do more regularly? What’s holding you back if so?

I’m working on music a lot to be honest, my output is just not too high. I’m taking a long time and get bored quickly if I’m working too much on music. I’m happy if I can finish 1 or 2 12” per year that I’m really happy with in the end.

Can you tell us about the ‘Will Be Gone’ track of yours… what inspired that, how and when you wrote it etc?

The main theme is actually made from a jazz sample of the 60s that I recorded from Vinyl. I love this warm crunchy feeling. I have done the track around spring time and have some others I’m working on with a similar atmosphere, let’s see how they end up.

How did you initially hook up with Moodmusic and how did this Retake One mix come about?

I met Sasse a couple of years ago through James Flavour. At this time I didn’t have a proper label to release my music. We had some good times at some parties together and then he asked me if I wanna release a record. Since that time we get along very well. The idea of the mix came up when Sasse released his own “Starstyling” mix last year which contained Moodmusic only tracks. We were excited to start a proper mix series that represents the artist’s style with all influences.

What sort of vibe would you say you aim to create when you DJ? This mix is very sexy, deep, moody, but dancey, too… where do you look for new music and what do you look for in a record before you play it?

Thank you! That was exactly the vibe I was looking for. I tried to show my influences in this 80 min mix as well as my DJ style which is not so easy, some people need 2 or 3 CD’s which I could have filled easily as well. But that’s maybe the challenge to compile one CD with a idea behind. I love to play sexy tracks in the club that make the chicks dance. I’m checking out new records every week at the Melting Point record store which is much more fun than listening to audio files only. Also I still love to collect my favourite labels on vinyl or CD, which has much more value for me.

Did you know how you wanted it to sound or was it done on the fly? Is it representative of one of your DJ sets at the moment?

I knew that I wanted to record the tracks mostly from vinyl except ea few new ones. I love this warm vinyl sound with some dust on some parts, there are some mix CD’s from the past which have also this feeling. This can definitely be one of my sets. I also tried to create a mix which you can enjoy many times at home without being bored quickly, timeless is the right word maybe. To reach this I used some tracks from the past years as well as brand new music from friends.

And how many tunes did you set aside for Retake One and how did you narrow them down? Was the flow of the mix (the overall ‘journey’) or the records themselves most important when programming it?

I think I recorded and collected around 100 tracks. So it wasn’t easy to combine the right ones. Finally I had to change one track in the last minute, because the licensing wasn’t clear. Most important for me was to have my favourite artists and friends on the compilation as well as influential material. After I had chosen the tracks I arranged them in order to get the right flow.

And how did you record it – on what kit?

It was recorded with 2 Technics and a CD player, then edited in Pro Tools.

Is the ‘how’ important to you (ie digital or vinyl or CDJs or 1210s or Traktor etc?)

I like the oldschool way of playing vinyl, maybe 70 % and CD’s 30 %. I need to touch the music which I can’t really when it’s coming from the computer. I also don’t like to be concentrated so much on the laptop during my set, I want to concentrate on the crowd.

Finally, what else have you got coming up?

Tomorrow I’m going on a bigger tour to Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, US. After that I’ll do finish my 12” for Ada’s IRR label - International Records Recordings – which I’m planning since a long time. The I’ll work on remixes for ID10TS from Moscow and Bertie Blackman from Australia.

Kristan J Caryl