Ten Minutes with Tensnake

Ten Minutes with Tensnake

28 May, 2009 | 12.28PM

• Written by: Jack Spontan
• Filed under: Music News: endless flight, mirau musik, radius, running back, tensnake

In a country famed for industrial-sized techno beats, Tensnake must be considered one of Germany’s more idiosyncratic producers. 

Hailing from Hamburg, Marco Niemerski has spent four active years on the scene developing a rather unique brand of dance music and commanding increasingly more respect and admiration along the way.

His sumptuously warm melodies, interwoven with bountiful rococo grooves, are best served with a Piña Colada while the sun sets on one of those languid summer days at the beach.

EPs for labels Radius and Endless Flight are must-have classics for anyone with the slightest interest in the contemporary disco scene, with remixes for big-hitters Foals, Junior Boys and Sally Shapiro only adding to the growing Tensnake hype-storm.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg. Tensnake’s long awaited third EP ‘In The End (I Want You To Cry)’ has just dropped on Running Back Records, and the man has delivered a veritable tour de force. 

Support from the likes of Radio Slave, Prins Thomas, Bill Brewster and Mark E is an early indicator of just how big a deal this record is going to be in 2009.

For those of you whose radar hasn’t sounded him out yet, we decided it was about time introductions were made. So without further ado, boys and girls, please meet the mighty Tensnake…

While your new EP on Running Back is vintage Tensnake, insofar as it sounds like a beloved classic after just one listen, it is perhaps a slight departure from your previous sun-kissed, disco-friendly beats towards a deeper, housier sound. 

Was this a conscious decision? Are you trying to avoid being pigeon-holed?

No, actually, I don’t think so.  It’s something that just happens, you know.  It’s not like I’m sitting down, starting a track - it simply develops by itself. There’s no plan.

Though you do seem to have a general aesthetic that seeps through all your tracks. For example, upon hearing your track ‘Congolal’ for the first time, a colleague of mine described it as being: ‘Like an African love story, with better clothes’. 

I personally think listening to a Tensnake number is like stepping into a Henri Rousseau painting… what’s this tropical thing all about?

Well, if you’re talking about my Myspace genre, that’s just something I picked because you have to, and I guess I felt it was the best.  I could just as well have put ‘Gothic’!

But yeah O.K., I suppose I do have a soft spot for these equatorial, African sounds! Though it’s really just something that happens organically.  There’s no fantasy that I’m heading off to some tropical Island when I write a track!

It takes something very special to not only get away with sax-solos and pan-pipes in dance music, but to pull them off masterfully.  What’s your secret, and where are you drawing the inspiration from?

Ah, you’re talking about that remix I did for The Embassy?

Yes, but you’ve used that sleazy sax a few times… Yet you get away with it! How?

Well to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure whether I could pull it off or not, you know? I just thought, ‘Man, it’s time for some pan pipe action again!’

I just think it’s time to put some fun back into music. There’s a lot of serious stuff out there.

I couldn’t agree with you more…

I just think it’s time to put some fun back into music. There’s a lot of serious stuff out there. 

It’s always good to mess around and enjoy your music.  And hey, it worked for me! I don’t know if it’s working for everyone, but at least I enjoyed it!

The Pan-Pipes definitely get my vote. But where are these far-flung ideas of yours drawing their inspiration from?

Nowadays, I’m listening to quite a lot of podcasts and using their variety more as a source for creative ideas.  I don’t really buy vinyl anymore, so I don’t spend hours upon hours in record stores digging out the latest stuff.

Why is that? Is there too much? A distraction maybe?

I just stopped buying vinyl some years ago.  It wasn’t really a decision, it just happened.  I was always a fan of the new digital ways of zipping your music to have it smaller and smaller, organising you libraries, etc.  It’s just much more comfortable. 

I’m not one of these ‘purists’ who thinks your only a ‘proper’ DJ if you work with vinyl.  If you want an mp3, good for you.  But then again this is exactly what you people at Beatport wanted to hear right?!

I’ll slip you that tenner later.

Ha. But going back to your question, I think the main inspiration for my music came from my older brother, actually.  He was always listening to a lot of funk and disco and that’s where I got most of my musical knowledge and insight from.

Tell us a bit about your musical background. The almost baroquely structured music you make suggests some amount of formal training?

Well actually I never learnt an instrument– I mean, I played the piano for one year when I was six, but that doesn’t really count, does it?! But I think what it is, is that I like song structures. 

I also do like straight-forward dance tracks, however while producing I have a tendency to get bored pretty fast! I mean I would totally love to do just a simple, dirty track - I just get bored so easily. 

What I’m actually trying to do is produce something and make it ‘classic’ in a way.  You know the kind of thing you can listen to in ten years and it still works.  Something timeless. 

But that’s just another way of saying I get bored too easily [laughs].

Can we look forward to an album?

Yeah, I hope so - the only problem is I’m so slow!  I am working on an album currently, but I’m not really satisfied with the stuff I’ve done so far. 

It’s just a lot easier for me to do a remix. I have certain parts in front of me. I pick the stuff I like – the rest I drop immediately and I build something around, which is a really fast process for me.  Regarding an album of my own, when it does materialise, it won’t be a plain, straightforward club album.

It’ll be something to play at home, something to play in your car driving down the highway, cabriolet down, shades on…

A lot of people won’t know that you’re also involved in other projects and dabble in the administrative side of music with your label, Mirau.  What does Marco Niemerski get up to when he’s not being Tensnake?

I started Mirau, the label, a few years ago with two friends. 

It began more as a hobby, it wasn’t really professional.  I mean, we knew what we were doing, but there was no masterplan, no written schedule for the year as other labels will have.  So it developed really slowly, but that was cool as it allowed us to concentrate on the music without there being too much pressure. 

I also have another label, Glossy, which I’m doing together with a friend, putting out classic bootlegs, or rather edits of old disco, funk and soul stuff.  Together with my own music, it keeps me a busy man!

Indeed! Are you left with any time at all to get out into the clubs gigging?

At the moment I’m talking to a booking and management agency as I’m really bad at handling all that stuff on my own somehow. 

I’m planning to get back out more in the autumn because I want to continue working on my album and hopefully get some of it finished.  When that’s done, then I think I’ll have good reason to go out to the clubs again - to do a little tour, pass through some nice little clubs.

And last but not least, what do you reckon to the concept of a ‘deep-disco’ supergroup? You on keys, Mark E on drums and Toby Tobias on bass? That would be pretty awesome don’t you think?

Haha. That’s a great plan actually!

Ok great, I’ll get the contracts written up!

So you’re going to do the management? Did you talk to them already?

I’m on the case! I can make things happen pretty fast…

Yeah, I would join immediately!

• (1) Comments
• (4010) Views
• Get Tensnake 'In The End (I Want You To Cry)'