from Friday, 18 Nov 2011 &ME (keinemusik)

 

Berlin based label keinemusik has earned a name with combining certain artwork with their music and their special way of marketing the whole package gained quite a reputation in Berlin. Their releases are quite popular amongst loads of fellow artists and the crowd.

keinemusik, that are DJs/producers Adam Port, David Mayer, Rampa, &ME and Reznik, the artist Monja and label manager Julia.

To explain, keinemusik has nice printed shirts and just like the gym records always has featured artwork by Danae Diaz, they have a great eyecatcher which you can remember after a while: the artwork for their releases by Monja Gentschow.

keinemusik combines a certain style and taste, you can easily recognize their crew by the beanie added to a mostly debonair outfit, often a t-shirt over jeans, on colder days a simple shirt added. Maybe it is the typical skater outfit, if you would name it, as they are often described by others. Wherever they go, they are accompanied by people dressing likewise, so you can recognize who is playing by looking at the crowd. Some people may mock them just because of that, but you have to admit, this branding-phenomenon is hard to observe with any other artist collective in Berlin and for that they deserve the recogntion they get.

 

&ME

 

&ME is a tall, calm guy with dark curly hair, always friendly to people around him. One of the guys you never hear a bad rumor or negative comment about.

just: &ME

To get things straight from the beginning: First it’s &ME. Not &me, &Me or Andme as some write (including himself on facebook, as there is no other way as you may know), just: &ME.

As a keinemusik crew member, he was the second artist to release on keinemusik, the first one releasing on vinyl as well: KM002 – F.I.R. If you had paid attention to the label due to their first release by David Mayer, you could have observed that with this track, which was a rather big success, keinemusik became a name overnight, so to say.

 

&ME, where is your moniker derrived from?

„Actually, I can’t really recall“, he says and laughs, „I think it was some years ago on my way to the studio in Kreuzberg, where I used to work. I saw a poster with an illustration, it was like a comic. There was a facade of a building with a marquee, and there it was: just a simple „&ME“. So I picked that, but now I think maybe that wasn’t such a very good idea as it is often misspelled and hard to find via search engines.“

About the young history of keinemusik, &ME emphasizes that Rampa is actually the one who pulled all together:

 

What is your story, „how did &ME happen“?

At the time when  I started working as an engineer at the studio in Xberg, I was on a hip hop trip when I met DJ Kaos, whose album was produced at the studio. It was the first time I seriously dealt with electronic music.

He took me to all the clubs which were hyped at that time, like Weekend, RIO, Panorama Bar, WMF… It was a complete new world for me. Before that, I had been to several hip hop parties in Berlin, but they were like „zero fun“. The parties were filled with aggressive people. The electro scene was different. All people had fun there, the parties were just fun. I had a good time. That is how I got into electronic music.

And then I did the first remix with Kaos. That was around 2005-2008.

While &ME was working for that studio in Xberg, he met Rampa.

Back then, Rampa and David Mayer were into hip hop and everything that was not hip hop and had a bit more of an electronic touch got the keinemusik stamp on it. That project was enlarged to the keinemusik crew you now know. Rampa was practically the one who pulled all together, figured out ways to make it work.

Officially, February 2009 was the kick-off of keinemusik. It started really small, distribution channels had to be checked, events had to be planned and promoted, everything by hand. The first keinemusik release was digital, KM001: David Mayer. The second release was the first vinyl that got loads of attention and got them recognition in the scene. „It was actually mine…“ he says and laughs a bit shy.

You have more people in the team

Yes, Monja is doing all the artwork and Julia the label work, vinyls, also organizing the keinemusik-nights etc.

Reznik does all the writing for keinemusik, too, he is an awesome texter.

For the booking Till (*von Sein, stylistberlin) is our man. We are super happy with Clique bookings.

Since Rampa had this „A Rampa & Re.You Thing“, sometimes the Souvenir crew is mentioned with them, like Re.You or Santé.

  

&ME about happiness and life

 

I am really happy at the moment, because I have a job and the work is fun.

I am really happy at the moment, because I have a job and the work is fun. It’s not work in the traditional sense, I am not working on a construction site, for example. I can divide my workload as I want. In some way, it’s like a hobby, and I get money for it. I love it because you get to travel a lot, you have good food, you get to new cities, get to know new people… It couldn’t be better.

(…)

Everything happens at night, so that might be impedimental to see the cities, but I do not want to complain. You can travel there a bit earlier, eat out, meet some people, you can stay a day longer to see a bit oft he cities. With some of the promoters and club managers you build up a friendship after they book you once.

 (…)

Happiness is health

Happiness is health, loads of things that are natural to others. If you lie in bed sick for example, you think about such things. You can project this onto your whole life.

Of course, you need the right people around you, in the broader and the narrow sense, in terms with family and relationship.

I cannot imagine to leave this place ever

&ME is living in Berlin for seven years now. Before he moved to Berlin-Mitte, he lived four years in Hamburg. He came to Berlin to finish his studies as sound engineer. This one year turned to seven.

„I did not plan to stay longer than a year, but I stayed nevertheless. Why Berlin is like it is, you know how it is, I cannot imagine to leave this place ever.“

Travelling, yes, definitely, even several months, but the base is Berlin.

 

&ME on the development of social media, tools and the DJ culture

 

I found a myspace site of you online. Do you still use it?

(Hehe) No. Myspace is dead. There are enough other platforms like facebook, twitter or instagram. I am fully active on these ones.

Myspace is dead.

 

What makes a good DJ a good DJ then if everyone can produce and play a track on the computer and call himself DJ?

When you get people to dance and they have fun, then you are a good DJ, it doesn’t matter if the tracks are played from computer, vinyl, CD or anything else. But nowadays, it isn’t sufficiant to play a good set. You have to produce good tracks as well :)

 … it doesn’t matter if the tracks are played from computer, vinyl, CD or anything else

 

What are your thoughts on Berlin’s music scene?

It’s awesome. There are so many different quarters and areas, the music as it is unfolds here, you cannot find anywhere else. You have got the tiniest small underground club and everything else to Panorama Bar/ Berghain.

 

There are some concerned voices behind the scene about the monopolized market through some institutions. They say they are „independent“ but everyone knows they have their favourites. Most producers are afraid to speak out loud against that, because hey might be deleted from the charts. What is your opinion about it?

Everything is influenced by some opinions and sometimes also by relations. But you know what happens on which platforms and what you can draw from that. So I don’t think it’s that tragic. 

Everything is influenced by some opinions and sometimes also by relations.

Music

 

Do you have a soundtrack of your life currently?

Frankly speaking, I am dealing solely with a lot of electronic music at the moment, spending a lot of time in the studio. For other genres, I have relatively not that much time. I always tell myself to hear more random music, but I am always on the road or at the studio.

As a DJ, who is your favourite DJ/producer at the moment?

A very hard question. There is so much good music from different people out there. I do like to play music from Rampa, Adam Port and David Mayer.

 

Future of DJing

 

What are your thoughts on the future of the DJ culture?

Everyone can produce, but not everyone gets attention or recognition.

There are DJs, who have a portfolio right now, but new generations will follow. Everything is fastmoving nowadays. As a DJ or producer you have to show continuity if you want to DJ for ten years, twenty years.

Just the medium with whom you play does change.

 

With what are you playing?

I am playing with Cds and a USB stick.

 

About the &ME Release 

 

On November 28, keinemusik released KM012 by &ME: „Purple rain“. Where does the track name come?

There is no specific reason the track is called „Purple Rain“. Sometimes you have a working title, sometimes you name the track after it is done and sometimes you just use words that sound good

 

How long does it take you to produce a track?

Producing a track takes quite long, about one to two weeks mostly.

 

&ME about the topic „future“ 

 

It’s 2011, according to the Mayan calendar, the world will find an end in 2012. Is it just a hoax, what are your thoughts on that issue?

2012, the world will not come to an end. Surely, life will not be as relaxed as it is now, but we can do something to counteract with the shortage of natural supplies for example.

So are you living a „sustainable lifestyle“? Go green, fair trade, what do you do?

I do far too less. I do save energy with alternative illuminants. For seven years, I use green electricity, though.

 

How do you paint your future?

Deep purple.

You know, I see us at the beginning right now, we are new to the DJ business. We just need to keep on going and see what’s next.

At the moment I wished I had more time to chill at home and listen to other music styles …

 

So, what’s up next?

Now, studio time, remixes, new EP… J loads of playing and then holidays!

 

Thanks so much for your time, &ME!

 

Check out:

&ME on FB: https://www.facebook.com/andmekeinemusik

&ME on soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/andmeandyou

keinemusik: http://keinemusik.com