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"No one really knows how the world is gonna look like after the pandemic, but I am also optimistic that we will somehow continue our life as music lovers"
Sascha Funke, his genre-bending productions spanning intercontinental labels, from Kompakt to BPitch, Multi-Culti to Endless Flight, and his unpredictable, emotive and body binding sets, have withstood the impulsive currents of a volatile music scene across decades. Not many artists have the cultural richness, social chaos durability and complex artistic intellect the post-wall Berlin of the 1990’s etches into one’s DNA, but even fewer are those who are able to fully comprehend the ambiguous, perplex and equally enigmatic languages of techno, house, disco, wave, electro, cosmic, Krautrock and everything in between, and translate sounds into musical experiences that transcend time, space and dimension. But here is Sascha Funke in 2021, father foremost, post-Saschienne, post-Berlin Calling, making moves, seaming sounds, digital crate digging, still relevant.
We had a chance to talk to him, so enjoy your reading and check out his latest releases.
First off, happy new year! Can you tell us how and where you welcomed 2021? Where can we find you right now? How did you start off your day?
At home, like everyone I guess. I had a little tour with my bike in the neighborhood this morning.
How are you living the current situation because of COVID? Has it affected your work a lot? Do you think there is hope?
The weekly hours are quite the same. Being in the studio and making music was also before the pandemic my usual way of living. But the weekends look quite different now without traveling and playing in clubs.
I feel that the underground scene will continue to persist. Do you think we can go back to ‘normal’ events and festivals? No one really knows how the world is gonna look like after the pandemic, but I am also optimistic that we will somehow continue our life as music lovers.
How have you had to adapt as a result of recent circumstances? As I said my life didn`t change that much during the weekly days. I work in the studio and at the weekends I can spend more time with the family. Financially I received some compensations from the state which helped a lot.
What can you tell us about your remix of "Eunuque"? How was it born? What was your production criteria? I really like the music of Strapontin and was happy that I was asked to deliver a remix to the ep. I aways try to use as much as possible from an original track. And in this case it worked pretty well. I could fill in the gaps i was missing in the original. My synth sounds came all from the Moog Voyager and the drums from the TR 8.
Your music appears to be tied to locations, landscapes and moments - what else plays a pivotal role on your music making process?
I guess my sound changes with the gear I use and last year I did a few changes in my set up. I was a bit bored from certain synths. Beside that I find often inspirations from new artists or labels.
How has your sound evolved so far? Also the project with Niklas Wandt for Multi Culti has taken my music into a new direction. He is a very talented musician and I will definitely continue on that road with him. What is your current production setup, and which instruments are essential to you? I use a lot the Atlantis modul from Intellijel as well as the Peak from Novation. I also purchased the Hydrasynth, a quite interesting machine. Drums come to 99 % from the TR 8 S. My main effects are the Dynacord VRS 23 and the Roland RE 501. Are you the type of producer that can create music on the fly, or do you need to be rooted in a studio? I like to get to the point very straight. If an idea takes too long i rather start again. I don’t have hundreds of sketches in my folder. For the Strapontin remix everything happened quite fast and natural. I guess the reason is the quality of the original track ;) What projects are you working on at the moment?
I am working on a new EP. and a couple of remixes at the moment. There will be also a remix EP of my Genex series on Permanent Vacation coming out early this year with contributions from Sleep D, Mattheis and Manfredas. And i will start soon with the production of a new Funke/Wandt together with Niklas.
Do you have any final words of wisdom?
Take care
