Based in Germany, Pierrot Hoepfner, aka Fin, and Benjamin Will, aka Stanley, have taken center stage in the DJing world and certainly raised the bar within the music industry as a whole. Their pumping and driving tech-house filled with smooth deep, minimal beats and groovy baselines are highly recognized leaving their audiences wanting more.
Brazilian-born, Dublin-based electronica DJ and producer, Jean Castro, aka Artdate focuses on pushing an infectious fusion of synth-laden house and minimal tech. With recent influences such as Solardo, LSG, Hot Since 82, Camelphat, Cuartero, and Max Chapman, you’ll be hard-pressed to argue for a lack of diversity within his sets, which comprise of both his own productions and others. His tracks go from the deeper end of minimal and breaks through to the tougher grooves of house and techno.
The trio team spoke with 6AM as they team up to release their EP Dark Vinyl on Ole Recordings.
Thanks for meeting with us, how’s the year been so far?
Depends on what you are looking at the year from. If we look at releases of this year, it was the best year we had so far. From the live performance perspective, it was very bad, but at least we were able to perform four times at open-air events. Personally, the year was very grueling and took a lot of strength.
What first got you both into tech house and to actually pursue it as a career?
We love the genre because you can connect and combine any other genre with it. We can bring in our youth when we listened to a lot of hip-hop, but also the music of our parents, who shaped our childhood with soul, jazz but also new wave, Kraut Rock and Neue Deutsche Welle. We went from listening to and producing house to tech house.
Why do we want to do this professionally? We have noticed when DJing how nice it is to connect music and people. We go together on a musical journey and we connect with each other. That feeling is why we want to do this professionally.
You guys hail from Germany, and we all hear about the techno scene there, but what is the tech-house scene like out there? Is there a huge following?
We also have to admit that we don’t know anything concrete, but have a strong feeling that there is a big need – which we are hoping to be able to verify at some point in time :) When we have our performances, we are happy to have guests but of course there could be more!
“To connect music and people. We go together on a musical journey and we connect with each other.”
Fin & Stanley, Artdate on why they make music
Are there any artists who’ve really inspired your work as artists?
Definitely. When producing there are lot of New Wave influences, – like from Bronski Beat, the Beloved or Fine Young Cannibals. It’s the feeling that comes from it, the tingling in the stomach and heart. Also the hip hop of the 90s and 2000s has a big influence on our production, e.g. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg or the Stieber Twins. And of course Millie Jackson and her big brother – yes, we are children of the 80s and 90s ;-) And when it comes to DJing, we spontaneously think of Carl Cox, Roger Sanches and Fatboy Slim. The legends have great feeling for the music selection in their sets.
What excites you the most when it comes to you and music?
When we make music, time is relative, no matter what was before, the good mood is there and you can hear that in our music and see it in our faces. What we really want is to give our listeners and fans a good time when they listen to our music or party with us. We want to provide a space for new connections supported by us and the music. We want to have a good time together every time, especially when we play music. The feeling of what music does to you when you produce it, the flow you have together. If that ends up being shared with our community, that’s fantastic. And that’s what drives us to keep going. That’s what we believe in.
What’s been one of the most challenging aspects of both your artists’ path?
Our biggest challenge, besides Corona, is to stay true to ourselves. There are so many temptations that want to lead you astray and sometimes manage to do so – then finding the way back can cost a lot of strength, but also give. Secondly, we both often have a strong position and that does not always lead directly to a result that both find good. Then it goes into the extra rounds until both are satisfied with the result.
“What we really want is to give our listeners and fans a good time when they listen to our music or party with us. We want to provide a space for new connections supported by us and the music.”
Fin & Stanley, Artdate on what excites them about music.
Anything else you’d like to share with us?
1. Listen our new EP Dark Vinyl!
2. All joking aside, let’s take care of each other and try to make each day a little better than the last
