Interview 2004 | DUNE

DUNE




ID World Interview

01/20/2004




The name Dune - I gather it comes from the Frank Herbert book or the film. What was it about that story that inspired you to adopt it as a name?


Well, it was the whole look and the story of the film, the whole thing about "travelling without moving". Basically it was inspired by the weird space travel vibe of David Lynch's film not the actual books.

Can you tell us about the early days of Dune?

Jens, and I were working at a record store, that's how we met. We realized we both loved electronic dance music. Afterhours we would hang out in the studio and play around with sounds, tossing ideas back and forth until one day I came in with the sample that later became "hardcore vibes"...

It sounds like Dune wasn't intended to be an ongoing project. Did success take you by surprise?

The music was first, then the name... yes we never thought anything like that would or could happen. finding a name pretty much became a necessity once everything started to come together... We never had any regrets though...;)

Who currently makes up Dune?

Jens Oettrich and myself, Oliver Froning (djraw)

How damaging to you creatively was the court decision in 2000 prohibiting you releasing Heaven?


Creatively not at all.

Have you been busier playing or producing lately?

I just moved my studio and have played quite a number of DJ gigs in the last few months, alone and with my project drumatix. Also the first record by "MGness" (called Re:EP) is coming out on the label I just founded with my friend Kai Niggemann (aka Canine). This is going to be in stores during the course of this month. So you see, I can't really say... playing and producing... it's all part of the same game...

What is the dance scene like in Germany at the moment?

Pretty bad actually. Viva, the big German music TV station has cut back on many music programming, thus there is hardly a forum. there are a lot of great labels, producers, artists and clubs, though, so the scene is very much alive, it just could use a little more attention from the media...

This is your first visit to Australia - do you know much about the dance scene here? What are your expectations?

Like you said, it's my first visit, so I don't really know what to expect. The closest I ever got to Australia was the Philipines, but I guess that doesn't really count...

After I got the booking request for Helter Skelter I looked at the local scene but from Europe it's really hard to say much... I am very excited to see what people will think of the music I will be playing.

I want to get a feel for the local scene and get in touch with people from Australia to see what Europe looks like from there...;)

Do you still play Can't Stop Raving?

I may sound like the corniest motherfucker saying this, but actually I really love that song and I actually do play it a lot, still... so yes, you can expect to hear it but expect to be surprised, as well...

How has your music developed over the years? What directions do you see it taking in the future?


With changing technology and all the different kinds of work I've done with my friend Kai over the years, I think I have expanded way beyond Techno. We have been exploring a lot of new terrain and don't limit ourselves by the boundaries of any one style. We listen to all sorts of different kinds of music and incorporate a lot of what we hear of what we like into our productions -- after filtering it through our minds, hands and gear, of course...

I love it when I am deeply impressed by a record and there is almost nothing as great as a track that just gives you goosebumps from the first seconds...

Will you be playing a lot of your old music or mainly new tracks?

It largely depends on the length of my sets. When I play long tracks I usually spin all sorts of music, but I don't play sets that consist only of my own material, of course. Sometimes I get a little bored of those old tunes and bring my Powerbook to play some new mixes of older stuff that people are likely to have heard before. Usually I like to play current tunes that have a style that is related to the clasic tracks. that's what really gets the party going...

What kind of experience can you promise we'll have during yur performance at Helter Skelter?


oh oh... a promise...? like I said, I will bring my Powerbook and use Ableton LIVE on it to do some wild remixing of Dune (and other) tracks that you have never heard before. Of course I will have some of the latest European vinyls with me and lots of other stuff. The style will be a modernized version of the vibes that kept us awake all night in the studio when Jens and I were starting Dune. Rave has come a long way since 1995, we all know that, and I select my sets accordingly...

ah, what good is modesty... it will be ecstatic, trust me! ...;-)



© 2004 djraw
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