Following their spellbinding Somerset EP on Sasha’s Last Night On Earth, the ever-momentous GHEIST unveil a brand new label project, Radau, which they are launching alongside their single entitled “Frequent Tendencies.”
Their own label, built with no creative boundaries, Radau is a playground where the Berlin quartet remove all limits and expectations and dig deep into the mindset and experimentalism that united them in the first place.
With plenty more music due on both Radau and beyond, it seems GHEIST’s impeccable acceleration over the last two years will continue for a long time to come. It is for this reason that we decided that this was the perfect time to speak to the four artists and dig deeper into what they’re all about.
Hi guys, where about in the world are you right now?
Currently we are in Berlin but we are very much looking forward to travel to Barcelona playing Sonar next week.
How is the weather there? It’s sunny and pretty much proper LA summer here now.
We had a beautiful spring in Berlin with nothing but sun and we hope summer will continue being that way.
Have you ever been to LA?
Yes, we’ve been to LA but actually that’s a while ago and we haven’t been playing there as GHEIST, yet. Hopefully soon we have the chance to be a part of LA’s club scene and play some shows there.
Berlin… how do you guys like living there?
Berlin is an amazing city you can’t compare it to any other place in the world. It has a very rich cultural history, especially in terms of club music. It’s a place of freedom and we always love to come back after a weekend on the road. For us it’s the perfect spot right now.
What’s your favorite thing about the city, and what’s your least favorite?
It’s kind of hard to point out just one thing, we think it’s the vibe in the city when spring comes and everything starts to happen outside. People spend their days in parks or little cafés all over Berlin, or go to one of the many open-airs that are happening on a weekly basis throughout summer. Everybody is in a good mood, open-minded and simply happy. We think it’s hard to express it properly, you just have to visit Berlin during summer. As great Berlin is during summer as depressing it can get in the winter, but honestly we don’t want to get into that too much.
Any hidden gems, food spots, etc that I should check out when I visit in the fall?
You can always visit us and we’ll give you a great time. I think the best way to experience your first time visit to Berlin, is without agenda or what so ever. Just go with the flow and you will stumble upon many hidden gems, you’ll see.
You both have extensive background as musicians, playing in bands, etc. How did your love for music first begin? Do you remember that moment?
Actually we are a four piece. Sometimes we enter the stage all together and sometimes we switch constellations. We all come a long way and we share our musical journey for a very long time now. But most of all we are not just friends, we are more like a family. We can say that about each of us, our love for music started at a very early age. We were given the opportunity to learn several instruments so music grew on us.
At which point did you know this would be a career?
I guess it was in our system all the time, but the moment when you’re a teenager and your parents disapprove your idea of becoming a musician for a living, might have come in useful to us.
How did your paths cross?
We met more than ten years ago while we were studying music.
Did it take long before you began working together?
Actually we started hanging out right away, meaning we did music together. It wasn’t planned, it just happened naturally out of respect for each other.
Your project is a fairly young one, but you guys have been in the industry circuit for a while now. What key lessons are you taking from previous/other projects into this one of GHEIST?
The best thing you can do is not to compare yourself too much to anyone else. Creating music should be mainly fun and your personal self-realization. Of course you have to put a great deal of work into it and it definitely will get very intense, but at the end of the day it should be something you love in a positive way.
You do both DJ and Live sets. How does the musical output differ and when do you choose to do one versus the other?
We actually do mainly both at the same time. We are entering the stage as a hybrid act, means we’re mixing a life performance with a DJ set. This allows us to play long sets and still gives the audience the feeling and experience of a life act. On top of that we can play whatever track we want and adapt it quite easily to the situation we are in.
What do you incorporate in your live set? Is this much different from your studio set-up?
We have collected lots of nice gear over the years, so we for sure can not bring all of that to a life performance.
But we usually bring a synth, a step sequencer, a drum machine, quite a few effect pedals, a full vocal set up and a sampler.
You’re launching a new label. Why?
First of all it was on our bucket list. But most of all it gives us the freedom to release any piece of music at any given time and at some point maybe even help other great artists to put out their work. It´s good to shape the environment you’re in rather than being exposed to it. Nearly everything in music distribution works digitally nowadays, so you don’t need lots of money to reach out to people all over the world. You just need to gain the knowledge of how to do it, or find someone who does it with you. In the situation we are in, the better question is why not to do it.
You’re releasing a new single as part of the launch. Why did you pick this piece of music in particularly as the first to be released on Radau?
“Frequent Tendencies“ is to us a very positive but still pushy track for the dance floor. We simply love the vibe of it, so it’s a perfect start to something new. It has everything we stand for, it’s a bit melancholic but warm and hopeful, it has a nice groove to it and harmonic twist, so everything you need to tell a story.
What’s your goal with the imprint?
For starters we want to put out our own music and we’ll see how that goes. Of course it would be nice to become a platform for musicians to release their music and we for sure would love to start our own parties. But first things first, it’s often not very helpful to put too much pressure on something that just started.
Where does the name of the label come from?
Radau is a German word which basically means “noise”. It’s a word you wouldn’t use very often in German language, but it has a certain “punk” attitude to it, which we think is great.
What else can we expect from GHEIST as we get into the second half of the year and near toward 2019?
We will constantly keep on working on new music and there will be more releases coming out. The next one is on a Berlin based label named “Exploited“. On top of that we will play quite a few shows in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Swiss, France, Spain and more. We are very much looking forward to everything that is ahead of us.
Do you think you will ever leave Berlin?
You never know, but no (laughs)
What do you guys get up to when not working on music?
Most of the time we do music, but we enjoy doing sports or going out for a nice dinner with friends. If we can, we check out Berlin’s art scene. There are often very nice exhibitions or great concerts to go to, or we simply spend time with each other and have a drink.
What’s your favorite club in the city? Why?
It’s quite easy, we love Watergate because they have been supporting us from the beginning and we had really great shows there. The people that are working there our true friends. But on the other hand it’s always great to mix things up and go for a dance at Berghain. There are so many amazing clubs in Berlin that there is no need to only go to one.
Any plans to come to the States soon?
Sadly no, but we are quite confident that we’ll get the chance to tour the States at some point.
GHEIST’s “Frequent Tendencies” is out on Radau and available on Beatport
