Dole & Kom x Karsten Schmidt: Coffee, Late Nights, and "Cortado"

Dole & Kom and Karsten Schmidt have been part of Berlin's electronic scene long enough to watch record shops disappear, streaming reshape the underground, and house and techno go from subculture to institution. Their collaboration on "Cortado" started the way the best ones often do, through proximity, shared taste, and a lot of coffee. In this interview, they reflect on what four decades of club culture actually means for the music they make today, why "Phara-Oh" reaching millions of streams never changed how they work, and what it looks like when three people with their own strong directions manage to agree.

Q: The origin story of this track is very simple. Two studios next to each other, two tracks going in a similar direction. Is that how most good collaborations happen, in your experience?

A: I think it matters who you work with. In this case, it works well because we hang out together a lot anyway. But we — Dole & Kom — also work with other people, sometimes remotely or taking turns on a project.

Q: Dole & Kom and Karsten Schmidt are both deeply rooted in Berlin's underground. How much does the city still shape the music you make today?

A: Certainly not as much as in the past, since so much now takes place online. People still meet up in clubs, but no longer in record shops, which used to be a central meeting place and an offline chat room. That's why the location doesn't play such a big role anymore.

Q: "Cortado" is a preview of an EP to follow. Did you know from the start this would be bigger than a single, or did it grow into that?

A: We had those two song ideas right from the start, and they went really well together. So the production naturally followed the same direction to create a great package.

Q: A lot of coffee was apparently consumed in the process. What does a typical session actually look like between you?

A: We often meet up to drive to the studio together, as we live in the same neighbourhood. Once we get there, we make a pot of coffee and then get down to making music. We play our ideas to each other and then decide which ones to take forward.

Q: Dole & Kom, you have been in this scene since the Delirium record store days. How has the underground electronic world changed since then, and what has stayed the same?

A (Dole & Kom): I'm not sure if you can really call it an underground scene anymore, though I don't mean that in a judgemental way. House and techno club culture has been around in our city for four decades now, and most people have grown up with it, so it's taken for granted. Of course, there are still venues where that underground spirit is alive and well, which is brilliant.

Q: Karsten, you are a regular at clubs like Süss War Gestern and Birgit. How does that connection to the dancefloor feed into what you make in the studio?

A (Karsten): My musical range is even broader than my latest release for Sirin might suggest. Alongside tracks similar in sound to our current release, I also play disco, classic house and even techno sets at the Sisyphos Hammahalle. What definitely influences mywork in the studio is the feel for the dancefloor and the audience's reaction.

Q: "Phara-Oh" reached tens of millions of streams, which is rare for underground music. How do you think about that kind of reach without losing the underground ethos?

A: As I said, we don't see it as underground music. House and techno go beyond that. Of course, it's more of a niche compared to rock, pop and hip-hop. It's always nice when a song can break out of that niche. But that has less to do with an underground ethos. Nothing has changed in terms of how you approach production, what inspires you and so on. First and foremost, you make the music for yourself and not for a specific audience.

Q: When you collaborate, how do you decide whose direction to follow when you disagree on something?

A: Once we've agreed on a project, we're always throwing new ideas around. It's a fairly democratic process, and we can usually reach a consensus quite quickly. We've also gained enough wisdom with age to know that sometimes you just have to give in.

Q: Dole & Kom, you also run Smoking Hot Records. How does running a label change the way you think about releasing your own music?

A (Dole & Kom): Smoking Hot isn't actually our first label. We've already had BCC Music, Trance-America and Death by Disco. The initial idea was to be able to release music quickly and remain independent. Even so, it wasn't easy back then, as the high fixed costs of physical production meant there was always a certain amount of risk involved. With today's digital labels, the market is almost impossible to keep track of. Many of them churn out one release after another without taking care of them. Based on this experience, we've decided that we'll only work with select labels from now on, and otherwise release our songs independently on Smoking Hot.

Q: Karsten, what does your solo production process look like compared to working with someone else in the room?

A (Karsten): My productions tend to come from the gut. Much like a DJ set, new ideas pop up during the process and sometimes projects get completely scrapped. With this latest production, there was a basic idea that immediately led Dole & Kom to a clear vision of the finished result.

Q: What artists or records have shaped the way each of you think about electronic music?

A (Dole & Kom): Although we each came into contact with house and techno in different places, our roots and influences are quite similar. We initially looked up to the Chicago Posse. We also made tracks with the likes of Green Velvet, Tyree Cooper, Boo Williams and Gene Farris, whose sound has influenced our own productions. With Karsten, we share a love of Detroit techno and its pioneers, such as Carl Craig, Kevin Saunderson, UR and so on. In the YouTube era, of course, we're exposed to far more influences from all those production videos. All of that continues to shape our sound, and we never stop learning.

A (Karsten): I have always loved dub techno, such as Basic Channel, Rhythm & Sound, and so on. I'm just as keen on the Kompakt Studio 1 series. To balance things out, I also enjoy something romantic from Glenn Underground or the hit-packed tracks of Armand van Helden.

Q: The name "Cortado" is a coffee reference but it also feels like a mood. Something sharp but smooth. Was that intentional or did it just fit?

A: A lot of late nights, endless discussions about tiny details and an unhealthy amount of coffee later, the EP was finished and the titles are basically a direct result of those sessions.

Q: Berlin has so many acts, so many labels, so many clubs. How do you stay connected to what is happening in the city without losing your own direction?

A: We've established a fairly solid sound and scene, so we don't see any risk of losing our way. But that doesn't mean we don't keep picking up new ideas from all around us and making them our own.

Q: What is next for both of you after this release?

A: Keep on keeping on.