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Next summer is a journey through the ongoing lockdown and summarizes Semodi work at his Kreuzberg studio in Berlin during the pandemic winter months of late 2021. While it was exhausting for everyone, for Semodi it was also a time of inspiration and musical exploration that crossed genre boundaries. Returning from his walks through the streets of Kreuzberg, he would often bring home a new tune that he could later incorporate into his music. Semodi came up with three different tracks and presents us with a moving
and emotional record that reflects the perception and experiences of him during the confinement.
We have had the pleasure of interviewing Semodi, and this has been the result.
How and when have you been interested in music? And electronic music?
For a long time I only listened to rock music and played in bands. Then I got first introduced to electronic music back in the 2000s by my room mate at the time, Raphael. He play a lot of James Holden for me. And then a little later somebody showed me some remix by Marek Hemman, “Change of Perception”. That track really made an impression on me.
Can you tell us a little about your experience? Where are you from / how did you get into music?
I’m from the North of Germany, a very little town with almost no live concerts and stuff. When I was 12 or 13 I was listening to a lot of rock music already: AC/DC, Metallica and stuff like that. So I decided that I wanted to play guitar and luckily I got an acoustic guitar for Christmas from my parents. From there is wasn’t far to playing electric guitar and recording some demos. So those were my first recordings.
How is your sound evolving? What artists and genres do you enjoy mixing right now?
I think I play less and less down tempo music, although I still like it a lot and also less deep house. Instead there is more tech house now, I just like the drier in-you-face beats that make you wanna dance.
And there are some many artists I like, so I wouldn’t say there particular one that I like more than the others. Maybe Solomun, French 79 and Extrawelt. They release great tracks on a regular basis that I like to mix.
How do you feel your music influences or impacts your listeners?
I want to take my listeners on a journey through the night and give them the opportune to dive into my music. It’s all about energy and emotion so I hope my music influences my listeners in a way that they can dream and dance at the same time.
What projects are you working on right now? What can you tell us about your last job?
At the moment I am making concepts for one or two music videos for the tracks on “Next Summer”. And also I am hanging out with other producers here in Berlin. So there will probably be some collab releases later this year.
Before working on “Next Summer” I was also working with other artist, like Pyrame and I did some music for a theatre piece, that I will probably convert into some interesting electronic tracks at some point.
Where are you and what have you been doing now?
I am in my studio in Berlin Kreuzberg and just had an excellent breakfast.
Has that sound changed a lot in recent years? What is your musical criteria?
I come from playing guitar in rock bands, so my first electronic productions had more of a band sound than nowadays – especially the drums. And I guess I had more arpeggios and dreamy soundscapes in my earlier tracks whereas I have more dry and rhythmical sounds now.
Do you feel safe now to play a more experimental sound?
Definitely yes! DJs or musicians that play it safe all the time sound boring to me. So it’s always good to throw in some unexpected piece from a different genre once in a while. But in the end the crowd has to like it, so there is nothing wrong with playing a more commercial sound, as long as it is mixed with some interesting unorthodox stuff.
We all know that the digital revolution has affected sales, but has it affected creativity?
For sure is has. In good and in bad ways. I mean it is easier than ever to produce, or a least pre-produce a records with your laptop only. So that’s great. On the other hand it’s really tempting to try all those nice audio and synthesizer plugins and optimizing your production setup. So you don’t ever really have to start producing.
I guess it is a lot more intuitive to work only with a hardware synth, a drum machine and a tape recorders – that’s it. You will definitely have a lot of creative fun with only those. And I also know some producers that try to work a little a possible with their computers and do most things outside the box for that excat reason.
Can you tell us what your present and future projects are?
I am working on more Semodi tracks, gathering ideas mostly. And as I mention earlier, I also hang out with some fellow producers here in Berlin once in a while. So there will be some collab releases later this year.
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