Kabale und Liebe: Interview

Kabale und Liebe: Interview

8 September, 2008 | 6.47AM

• Written by: Ben Raven
• Filed under: Music News: kabale und liebe, makake, mumbling yeah

Dutch underground house is blowing up and Kabale und Liebe is one of the breakthrough stars leading the charge

Last year’s DC 10 terrace hit ‘Mumbling Yeah’ is one of dance music’s most unlikeliest anthems.

Where previous Ibiza sing-alongs have been based around impassioned diva vocals, 2007’s big vocal tune was a rather more restrained affair.

The track, produced by Kabale und Liebe aka Liron van Daalen and sung by Daniel Sanchez, is all about its mumbled hook and became a perfect signature tune for the compressed intensity of the minimal house scene.

Since then Liron has progressed to become one of the underground’s hottest new talents.

His Shaven Monkey/Makake double tracker with fellow Dutch up-and-comer Lauhaus from March is one of techno’s most forward thinking releases of the year, hammered by big players like Marco Carola.

In The Netherlands he’s become a regular on the circuit of big parties and festivals that make up the Dutch house and techno calendar, playing sets at big events like Welcome to the Future and Awakenings.

Liron chose the name Kabale und Liebe after reading the book of the same name by German author and playwright Friedrich Schiller.

“It literally means noise and love but Kabale has a deeper meaning which is intrigue,” he says. “When I came back from traveling in South East Asia, I focused more on producing and when I finished some tracks I wanted my friends’ honest opinion so I sent them demos under the name Kabale und Liebe.”

What is your biggest track so far?

‘Mumbling Yeah’ came to life at the beginning of the summer in 2007.

Daniel Sanchez came over to my studio to learn some tips and tricks about making music since he didn’t have much experience in producing.

After making some beats and Daniel expressing his ideas by singing the sounds that he thought would fit, I gave him a microphone and told him to sing a little bit.

After about half an hour of recording his voice we chose some parts to use in the track.

When the track was finished we handed it out to most of our favorite artists.

They all started to play it and a hit record was born.

What’s been your favorite gig so far?

My live set at Welcome to the Future Festival in 2007 was really special.

This was in “the summer of Mumbling Yeah” and the ball really started rolling for me.

Everything just fell into place at this gig.

Also very special for me was this year’s gig at Awakenings Festival where I did a special one-off live jam session together with Lauhaus.

We had never done it before, so it was kind of an experiment which turned out really well.

You can listen to this set here.

What label do you produce on most and how did you become close to them?

I will release most of my tracks on 100% PURE.

I released some stuff in the past also on Remote Area and Area Remote, which is owned by the same guy as 100% PURE, Dylan Hermelijn aka 2000 and One.

The idea behind the label 100% PURE is to release music that really identifies the artist, hence the name.

It’s not particularly bound to a certain style, but more to the artists. I’m currently working on my album which will come out on 100% PURE sometime in the beginning of 2009.

The good thing for me to do my album on 100% PURE is that I can go in any direction I want.

For my album I want to create a diverse selection of tracks, not only dancefloor stuff.

100% PURE gives me the freedom to do this.

Who is your biggest influence and why?

It’s hard for me to say WHO my biggest influence is.

I get inspired and influenced by so many things.

Also everyday things.

I can get my inspiration from sounds from nature to a new pop song in the top 40.

From seeing a beautiful view to hearing a cool new (or old) house or techno track.

How did you learn to produce and DJ?

I started DJing at the age of 12.

My older cousin brought back mixtapes from the early raves in Holland and gave them to me.

I got really fascinated by the music and started wondering how the whole tape could sound like one track with no ending.

My cousin explained that they used two turntables and a mixer and after delivering papers for a while I bought my first decks and mixer.

I was 12, I’d never been to a club and never seen a house DJ mix before.

After a few weeks I realized my mixes weren’t as good as the mixtapes and wondered what I was doing wrong so I figured out how to match the beats by adjusting the pitch.

Around the age of 15 I started making music with a really basic program that helped me learn the basics of electronic music.

When I was 19 I moved onto some other programs and after an inspiring year away to the other side of the world in 2004 I completely devoted myself to producing.

If you weren’t a DJ what would you be doing for a living now and why?

When I was 18 I moved from a small city in the south of Holland to Amsterdam where I started studying Law.

I also tried studying Communication Science but both studies had to make way for my musical aspirations.

So if I wasn’t a DJ I’d probably have finished communication science and would be working in advertising now.

What’s next from you?

After a busy summer I’m hoping to get back in the studio a bit more.

At the moment I’m finishing up a release for 100% Pure and I’m also setting up a new label together with Lauhaus called Soweso Recordings.

I will do a release on Soweso as well, but primarily I’m going to release on 100% PURE.

This summer I did some remixes which will come out shortly and I’m working on some new ones as well.

Expect remixes on labels like Rush Hour Records, Tenax, Electribe and Kailash.

As I mentioned before I’m also working on my album that is planned for early 2009 on 100% PURE.

Tell us your top five records?

1. Lauhaus ‘Casamance’ (Area Remote)

2. DJ Q ‘Superclique’ (NRK)

3.  Proper vs. Boogie ‘Magnificent Speech Funk (Kabale und Liebe remix)’ (Rush Hour)

4. Autotune ‘Balou’ (Fumakilla)

5. Attias ‘Hamani (original mix)’ (Rush Hour)

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