Viktor Talking Machine is a jovial duo hailing from Eastern Germany with a great passion for music and vinyl. Believing that music is an art form and one of the most important things in life. Who are we do disagree? Also, as they are playing with wax, they are true believers that vinyl creates a better connection through its feel and look: “The record is the materialized appreciation of music.”.
They understand this as a dystopian vision of the future as their claim is “Digital Dead” because all digital music will eventually disappear, either because it smears the hard drive or Spotify goes broke. 🙂
With regular releases on labels like Monaberry and carrying their love for House Music all around, we ought the time was right for another chat. Especially after their official remix for Acid Pauli and their current release LINE EP with two refreshing remixes by Lauer (Running Back) and Italo Brutalo.
Sit down and enjoy the music and the interview.
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Welcome again. How is it going boys?
Hola, nice to have us again. We are super busy these days, but very happy about all the steps we are taking. So we look into a hopefully bright future.
We last spoke almost three years ago. A lot has happened since then – can you give us a short overview?
Three years? Time is running so fast. It was one of our nicest interviews we gave. We hope we can hold the standard. Some things that changed our lives are for example becoming dads again and for the first time. Then moving into a new studio with new people and new energy. We made some (for us) great remixes, tracks and sets and played some really nice venues. It feels like we are growing steadily and that is a good feeling.
It feels like we are growing steadily and that is a good feeling.
Has your production style or sound changed over time? Where do you see yourself stylistically?
We would say it is all about house music. What stays unchainged is the great variety we have in our sets and we think you find this variety in our tracks and remixes as well. We always try not to stick in the stigma of producing and playing sets. But also to get back to the question of thinking to be more focussing on Italo and 80s influenced house. That touches our hearts and we want to put this feeling in our productions.
You are still closely connected with the label Monaberry – the imprint of Super Flu – how would you describe your collaboration?
We would call them family. We have a studio together, running Monaberry together and spend most of our time together. It grew from a small meeting when we were studying to this deep friendship we have today. We help each other in every way and share our sandwiches for the brake.
Your latest EP on Monaberry called “LINE” went with all tracks straight into the charts. Did you expect this success?
Never. We did the tracks and showed them to Super Flu. They straight wanted to release them and always gave us the feeling, that the tracks are super hot. If you work such a long time on your music you lose the objectivity to classify it correctly. But in the end, the guys were right. Good luck for us that all our wished for remixers said yes, so we got this massive package with Lauer and Italo Brutalo.
The original track “Line” on the release has been picked up by the masters of Kollektiv Turmstrasse different times. How does that make you feel?
At first, we were not aware that the guys were playing our track on a frequent basis. Storken, a friend from Sweden with a great release on “running back” watched the set at Tomorrowland and told us that they played “Line”. After that the track got noticed by so so many people. We would say thank you guys for the support and it made us proud, that such high rated artists like and support our music and our ideas. Seeing other DJs play your music is always the best and long-lasting feedback.
Seeing other DJs play your music is always the best and long-lasting feedback.
The release is now also available on vinyl. What feeling did you have when you held the record in your hands for the first time?
Holding your own record is always goosebumps time. It is great to have a physical carrier for your music that means so much to you. You know that a lot of people worked on this small piece of vinyl and that gave us a really great feeling. Putting those beauties in your record bag and look forward to the time you play it the first time is even more intense.
You are playing in selected clubs like the Kater Blau and Sisyphos in Berlin. What is important for you at a club?
The most important thing is just having a good time together with the people in and from the club. It starts with the booking and ends with falling asleep in a nice place. In between are dozens of points that have to be fixed. Did we get all the information? Is there artist care when we arrive at the club? Is the club packed? Is everything on stage? Is the DJ before playing some nice tunes? Did we get a connection with the people? Do they give us a chance to take them on our journey? Do we have something to drink? Is the monitoring nice? Is the light fitting to the music? If we answer all those questions with “yes”, then it is a great night … like it always is in Sisyphos.
What are you planning for the next few months?
The next few months are filled with work. Working on new material, finishing the studio and playing some nice venues. We would like to travel a bit and get some new impressions, but that’s not fixed. We will let you know. 🙂
Thank you guys!
