Dark Electro comes back to Slovakia

martin_james_rozhovor

Brat člena Benestrophe, James Mendez, hviezdi v Európe.

Hudba Martina Sanea vás najskôr zviaže a potom nadopuje.

Slovom temnota by sa celkom výstižne dal popísať hudobný žáner Dark Electro. Nielen textami, hudbou a prevedením na pódiu. Na Slovensku patrí tento temný štýl k menej nápadnej scéne. Je akási skrytá. V USA naopak patrila v 80. rokoch k výrazným smerodajcom pre mnohé americké kapely. Kultovou sa stali najmä Benestrophe z Texasu. Mladší brat Richarda Mendeza – člena Benestrophe, James Mendez, pokračoval v jeho šľapajach a založil kapelu Jihad. Vo februári príde na Slovensko so svojim vystúpením už po tretíkrát. Na tohtoročnom festivale Dark EBM Souls sa na stagei stretne so zástupcom nemeckej dark electro scény – s Martinom Saneom z formácie Fix8:Sed8. Skromní James a Martin zvyčajne neposkytujú rozhovory pre médiá, ale Slovensko si obľúbili natoľko, že Musicpressu sa jedno interview s nimi ušlo a o dark electro porozprávali viac.

Musicpress:

V máji ste boli na Depeche Mode Party v British Rock Star v Bratislave. Mávate aj v USA depešácke party?

James:

Nemáme Depeche Mode party v USA v takomto rozsahu. Ak aj nejaké sú, nie všetci sú tam skutočnými Depešákmi.

Musicpress:

Martin, James nedávno zdieľal na FB vašu skladbu a napísal: „My brother from another mother.” Ale veď vy pochádzate z Nemecka a James je z USA. Ako sa z vás stali „bratia“?

Martin:

Bolo to tak pred troma rokmi. Máme spoločných známych – kapelu Pyrroline zo Stuttgartu. Spomenuli Jamesa a povedali, že je super milý chlapík. Už ani neviem, ako sme o ňom začali hovoriť, ale utrúsili jeho meno. Sem-tam sme si písali a prišiel do Nemecka.

Musicpress:

A teraz ste najlepší priatelia?

James:

Hneď ako sme sa stretli. Okamžite sme sa stali najlepšími priateľmi. Je to ako bratská láska (smiech). Martin povedal, príď na dva-tri dni, len si vezmi vlak, príď ma navštíviť. Nemal som poňatia, čo je zač a on tiež nie. Stretli sme sa na vlakovej stanici. Trošku sme sa rozprávali.

Martin:

Hej, spomínam si, bolo to ráno, dal som si vtedy o ôsmej pivo.

Martin:

James: Bol hore 24 hodín. Musel si zájsť kúpiť pivo na pumpu, sadli sme si bokom, pil pivo, a začali sme sa baviť o súkromí. Potom bol kúpiť ďalšie pivá, sedeli sme vonku a kecali tam hodinu a pol.

Musicpress:

James, pamätáš sa, kedy si po prvýkrát dostal k hudbe?

James:

Pred Benestrophe som potiahol tatkovi starú gitaru – Gibbsonovu akustickú gitaru, ktorú mal ako tínedžer. Kúpil si ju v polovici 50. rokov. Našiel som staré noty a sám som sa učil hrať základné akordy. Bolo to asi keď som mal 12 rokov

Musicpress:

Tvoj brat Richard, James, bol členom kultovej kapely Benestrophe. Má to vplyv na tvoju súčasnú tvorbu?

James:

Áno, skutočne veľmi veľký vplyv. V čase, keď bol môj brat v kapele som bol veľmi mladý, možno tak 13-14-ročný. V ´86 – ´87 roku myslím, keď začali nahrávať. Stále som sa zdržiaval v štúdiu a počúval, keď nahrávali. Začal som byť ovplyvnený ich hudbou a tým, čo robili, a tak som si začal šetriť nejaké peniaze, a kúpil môj prvý keyboard. Potom som šiel do ich štúdia, vypytoval som sa, a začal si kupovať ďalšie vybavenie. V skratke, to je ten dôvod, prečo som založil Jihad.

Musicpress:

A ten si založil s bratom?

James:

Hej, bolo to niekoľko rokov potom, čo som sa ja začal venovať hudbe, a v čase, keď sa Benestrophe rozpadli. Asi tak po roku a pol od toho. Spýtal som sa brata, čo si myslí o tom, že by sme založili kapelu. Bol z toho nadšený.

Martin:

Ani neviem, prečo sa Benestrophe rozpadli?

James:

Myslím, že môj brat sa chcel ku koncu zamerať na iné veci, zatiaľ čo Gary a Dwayne mali odlišnú predstavu o smerovaní hudby a kapely. Môj brat sa rozhodol odísť z kapely. Ale nebolo na tom nič zlé. Len sa rozhodli rozísť. Zakrátko ako sa Mentallo and the Fixer (neskoršia kapela Garyho a Dwayna) rozpadli sme sa sformovali my.

Musicpress:

Ako ste si s bratom delili tvorbu hudby?

James:

Texty písaval on zvlášť a ja hudbu. Nemal poňatia ako hudba znie. Stretávali sme sa každú nedeľu v dome mojich rodičov. Pokecali sme s rodinou, a potom sme išli do mojej starej izby a skúšal sme štruktúru piesne dokopy. Veci skutočne klapali. Každú nedeľu sme dokončili skladbu. Obdivujem písanie môjho brata, bol totálne skvelý, jeho texty hovoria príbeh. To čo píšem ja, je viac záhadné, môže ti to znieť ako táranina.

Musicpress:

Takže teraz Jihad tvoríš len ty?

James:

Áno, asi niekedy od roku 1995/1996. Po albume som robil len inštrumentálnu hudbu. Potom ku koncu roku 2009, keď som sa prvýkrát stretol s Pyrolline. V Trnave som s nimi hral na stagei, a začal som dostávať pozitívnu spätnú väzbu od ľudí z Európy, som sa viac dostal do hudby. Vlieklo sa to celé roky.

Martin:

Kapely ako Jihad, Mentallo and the Fixer, Benestrophe a Fektion Fekler sú z Texasu, z Austinu a San Antonia. Tvorili veľmi charakteristicky a rozoznateľné zvuky, sú to matky mnohých iných kapiel. On je jeden z tých chlapíkov, ktorí začali robiť ich vlastný štýl hudby. Vlastný zvuk rozpoznateľnej hudby. Veľmi komplexné, melodické, puntičkárske, nadupané – chytrá hudba. Chytrá, ale strhujúca v jednom. Kolíska tejto pôvodnej starej industriálnej hudby.

Musicpress:

K hudbe si sa, James, vrátil po skutočne mnohých rokoch. Musel si začať od piky, zmeniť hardware na software, robilo ti to problémy?

James:

Bolo to zo začiatku trošku ťažie. Viac som sa zameriaval na to, ako technické kúsky fungujú, napríklad drivery, konfiguračné veci… Moja znalosť výpočtovej techniky mi veľmi pomohla. Spočiatku to bola pre mňa výzva. Znova som sa musel vrátiť do neskorých 80. rokov, kedy všetko bolo na manuálnom hardware, to sa drasticky zmenilo, všetko je teraz viac logické. Potom to už išlo jednoduchšie a lepšie. Dnes len stlačíš gombík a zvuk vyjde. Dalo mi to oveľa viac slobody a možností.

Musicpress:

V týchto dňoch sú noviny plné titulkov o džiháde. Aj meno tvojej kapely je Jihad. Nie je to príliš kontroverzné pomenovať takto kapelu?

James:

Asi v 1992-93 som hrával kartovú hru, volalo sa to Jyhad. Témou boli vampíri. Možno tak po roku som došiel k záveru zmeniť meno z Jyhad na Vampire, kvôli tomu, čo prichádzalo v správach. Pozrel som sa ale najskôr do slovníka – jihad je ťažiskom pre základnú vieru. Je to otvorený názov pre hocičo, nie je to len myšlienka svätej vojny, môže to byť hocičo.

Musicpress:

O tomto hudobnom štýle príliš nepočuť, aké je jeho publikum?

James:

Z môjho pohľadu táto scéna v Štátoch upadá. Je smutné, že nikto, možno tak na jednej ruke zrátať ľudí z USA, ktorých mám na FB, ktorí poznajú Jihad v porovnaní s ľuďmi z Európy. V Európe sa mi dostáva viac pozitívnej spätnej väzby. To je to, čo ma núti robiť viac, a aj chodiť a vystupovať viac naprieč Európou.

Musicpress:

Na Slovensku je normálne, že hudobníci majú okrem pôsobenia v kapele aj inú prácu. Je to tak aj u vás?

James:

Pracujem v oblasti IT takmer 18 rokov, krátko po albume v 1997, od kedy som prestal s hudbou. Rozbehol som svoju kariéru na 100%, stalo sa to mojím hobby, niečím, čo som desať rokov robil oveľa radšej než hudbu. Teraz je to tak 50/50. Milujem moju prácu, ale tiež aj hudbu.

Martin:

Pracujem na letisku vo Frankfurte a robím doobedňajšie aj pobedné zmeny, takže je ťažké mať takú tú skutočnú rutinu. Vo voľnom čase sa snažím robiť na hudbe. Mám skvelú prácu, aj tam môžem pracovať na hudbe. Dosť hrávam aj poker a cestujem dosť, veľa, veľmi veľa… Všade. V Štátoch som bol tri razy, jeden a polroka, v Kanade dvakrát, v Mexiku trikrát a veľakrát aj v Ázii. A v Bratislave na Slovensku už desaťkrát.

Musicpress:

Aj váš prvý koncert bol v Bratislave. Prečo ste ho nezorganizovali doma, v Nemecku?

Martin:

Pôvodne som nikdy nechcel vystupovať naživo. Nemyslel som si, že by som sa mohol dobre cítiť na pódiu, pretože tam si odrazu v pozornosti každého.

Musicpress:

Tak ako ste sa cítili na stage vo februári?

Martin:

Skvele! Chcel by som to znova! Bola to skvelá skúsenosť, ale nikdy by som nešiel na tour. Desať shows v priebehu dvoch týždňov. Šialené. Uprednostňujem skôr hrať pred priateľmi, tak ako tu. Bolo to ako hrať niekomu na narodeninovej oslave. Poznal som takmer každého v dave. Hudba je o zábave, nikdy by nemala byť o robote alebo o povinnostiach. Je to hobby. Nechcem, aby sa moje hobby zmenilo na prácu.

Musicpress:

Ale keď vystupujete máte kapucňu, pred ľuďmi ste trochu schovaný, nie?

Martin:

Poviem vám, pomáha to! Teoretický som skrytý v kapucni alebo maske, ale práve tu (v Bratislave, pozn.red.), pred tými ľuďmi som to nepotreboval. Každý bol tak milý, bol som sám sebou a vychutnával si hudbu a tú preplnenú atmosféru. A ak nedostaneš spätnú väzbu od ľudí, pokašle sa to. Chodievam často na akcie, takže viem aké to je. Stáť tam a čakať na koniec… Úbohá kapela, ako sa tak veľmi snaží. To je ale niečo, čo ja nechcem robiť. Chcem veľmi pozorne pripraviť moju show, keď viem, že tam budú ľudia, ktorí ma vidieť chcú. Nie tam, kde bude mnoho ľudí. Z nich ma bude možno desať poznať a sto nenávidieť.

Musicpress:

Čo to vlastne znamená Fix8:Sed8? Kód alebo šifra?

Martin:

Je to v hackerskej reči. Zatiaľ čo číslo 8 je len verzia pre koncovku – ed, fix8 znamená fixovať niečo, a sed8 znamená byť upokojený niečím. Takže fixovať ako viazať niekoho, ako keby pripútať ťa na stoličku. Sedating znamená nadopovať ťa sedatívami, drogami, utíšiť ťa, stlmiť ťa a stíšiť. Takže znamená to, že moja hudba ťa uspí (smiech).

Musicpress:

Názov kapely je zašifrovaný, dokonca aj vystupujete pod pseudonymom Martin Sane…

Martin:

Chcel som urobiť niečo vtipné, takže ak spojíš poslednú slabiku mena Martin, a pridáš -sane, vznikne Mart Insane, ako Mart nekompetentný. Takže nevieš, či som duševne zdravý alebo šialený. O tom je ten vtip. Ale nie je to vtipné, viem (smiech).

Musicpress:

Našla som na internete tvoje skutočné meno, znelo celkom poľsky. Máš v Poľsku korene?

Martin:

Hej, narodil som sa vo Varšave. A keď som mal 3,5 roka prišli sme do Nemecka, takže hovorím poľsky ako-tak, ale zvyšok života som v Nemecku.

Musicpress:

Martin a ty máš na akú hudbu prvé spomienky?

Martin:

Prvá hudba, na ktorú si pamätám je myslím staré Blondie – Denis, alebo Heart of Glass, Eurythmics Love is a Stranger a Sweet Dreams, v ´81, ´82. Mal som možno tak štyri roky. Moja mama hrávala na klavír, má talent na klasickú hudbu. Ja som hrával na klavír 11 rokov, myslím, že som začal, keď som mal tak sedem. Nútila nás hrať na klavír, povedala, deti, chcem, aby ste sa naučili hrať na klavír. Dlho som na klavír hral iba klasickú hudbu, a neskôr na elektronickú gitaru, keď som mal asi 14. Nikdy som v tom však nebol dobrý. Pomohlo mi to však hrať lepšie na keyboard.

Musicpress:

Vyrastal si v komunite, ktorá počúvala DM, Kraftwerk alebo industriálnu hudbu?

Martin:

Môj prvý kontakt s temnou hudbou bol keď som mal 12 a počúval som The Cure. V osemdesiatich rokoch som šiel na návštevu do Poľska, ľudia tam počúvali Depeche Mode. Aj môj bratranec bol veľký fanúšik. Kúpil som si tam spätne všetky nahrávky.

Musicpress:

Čo robíš ako prvé – texty, bicie, melódiu alebo niečo iné?

James:

Všeobecne najskôr začínam s bicími. Zo všetkého najskôr. Nikdy nezačínam s textom. Slová prichádzajú úplne na konci. Ten vzostup je zaujímavý. Používam mnoho zvukových knižníc, okolo tých zvukov staviam nejaké bíty, atmosféru a základnú líniu a viac a viac a viac, kým z toho nie je skladba.

Musicpress:

Martin, James, ďakujem Vám za rozhovor.

Thank you Slovakia.

Brother of Benestrophe´s member James Mendez stars in Europe.

Music of Martin Sane fix and sedate you.

For a better description of what music style Dark Electro is, the word „darkness“ is quite appropriate. Not only in the lyrics but also in the music as well as in the performance. This style of music is not very well known in Slovakia. In fact. It is quite hidden. On the other hand, this style of music was an expressive indicator for many bands in the US back in the 80s. One cult band in particular was Benestrophe who are from Texas. Younger brother of Richard Mendez from Benestrophe, James Mendez continues in his musical endeavors with the band Jihad. February 26 – 27 2016 will be his third visit to Slovakia to perform at the Dark EBM Souls v2.0 music festival where he will meet with Martin Sane from German act Fix8:Sed8. James and Martin typically don’t do interviews, but because of their fond interest in Slovakia they now have more to say about the Dark Electro scene for the Slovak website Musicpress.

Musicpress:

You were at British Rock Stars in Bratislava in May 2015 for the Depeche Mode Party. Do you have Depeche Mode fan parties in the States as well?

James:

We don’t have many Depeche Mode parties in the States to the same extent as I’ve experienced at British Rock Stars. There might be some DM parties happening throughout but I’m not aware of any in the city where I live. One thing I did notice at the DM party in Bratislava was that everybody really loves Depeche Mode and got into the music!

Musicpress:

Martin, James has recently shared on Facebook one of your songs and wrote: “My brother from another mother.” But you come from Germany and James is from the States. So how did you become brothers?

Martin:

It’s been like three years now since we’ve known each other. We have a common friend / band called Pyrroline who are from Stuttgart. They mentioned James and said he is a super nice guy. I don’t even know how we started talking about him, but they dropped his name in a conversation. We started writing back and forth for a while and then I invited him to come visit me in Germany.

Musicpress:

And now you are best friends?

James:

Well, as soon as we met, we immediately hit if off. It was like a Bro-mance (Laughs). Before arriving in Europe, Martin invited me to come stay with him for 2-3 days if I had some free time. I was staying in Amsterdam for 7 days at the time and he said it was easy to get to his place by train. So, I decided to take him up on the offer and I bought a train ticket to the Frankfurt airport. I remember having no idea what his personality was like or what he even looked like for that matter. We met in front of Rewe (Store in the airport) and talked a little bit before leaving. That is when we knew the level of friendship we had was solid.

Martin:

Yeah. I remember it was in the morning. I had a beer at like 8AM

James:

I remember Martin telling me that he had been awake for over 24 hours when he came to pick me up. He said that he had to grab some beer at a nearby gas station so he could stay awake and focus on the conversation, which is what we ended up doing. He bought his first beer and we sat down on the side of the gas station and talked. I think we both exchanged some personal questions and we both got along very well. He bought a few more beers and we sat outside and talked for another hour or so.

Musicpress:

What was your first experience with music, James?

James:

Before my involvement with electronic music, I used to practice on my dad’s old Gibson acoustic guitar that he had when he was a teenager. He bought it sometime in the mid to late 1950s. I found some old notes / guitar tablature and documents in the guitar case that he had written up when he was younger which he used to learn how to play. I basically taught myself how to play some basic chords using his old notes. I think I was maybe 12 years old?

Musicpress:

Your brother Richard was a member of the cult band Benestrophe. Has this band had any influence on your music at present time?

James:

Yes. A very big influence in fact. I was very young, maybe 13 or 14 at the time when my brother was in the band. It was in 1986 / 1987 I think, when they started recording and I would just hang out and listen to them practice in their studio while they recorded. That is when I started to become influenced with their style of music and what they were doing which is when I started saving up some money and buying my first keyboard at that time (Kawai K1). When I would go to Gary and Dwayne’s (M&tF) parent’s house and see their home studio, I would ask questions and slowly started to buy more equipment. Long story short, they are the reason why I started my band.

Musicpress:

And then you established the band Jihad with your brother?

James:

Yes. That was several years after I initially started working with music on my own which was around the time Benestrophe had broken up. Maybe within a year and a half already. I asked my brother what he thought about collaborating with me on some music and he was happy about it.

Martin:

I don’t know myself, why Benestrophe broke up?

James:

My brother’s priorities were focused on other things at that time. Whereas Gary and Dwayne were more serious about wanting to pursue music with the band. In the end, Rich decided not to continue working with the Dassings. He wanted to go off and do other things non-music related. There were no hard feelings amongst the guys, so they just decided to split and then shortly after Mentallo and the Fixer was born.

Musicpress:

How have you shared the music process with your brother, James?

James:

Both Rich and I wrote our parts when we were apart. He would write lyrics when he had time and I would write the music when I also had free time. We had no idea what the music or lyrics would sound like and we would meet every Sunday at my parent’s house to visit with family. Then, we would go to my old bedroom where my home studio was, and start structuring the song together. We both worked really well together during those times and we always finished a new song pretty much every time we got together on Sundays. I’ve always admired my brother’s lyrics. His lyrical writing style is brilliant in my opinion and his words tell a story. Something you don’t often see and can appreciate in my opinion. The words that I write are more cryptic and it may not make much sense to most.

Musicpress:

But now, Jihad is just you?

James:

Yes. It’s just been me since after the album was released sometime between 1995 / 1996. After the album was released, I continued to write music, which all of it was instrumental. Then as of 2009, that was the first time I met with Pyrroline. I was fortunate to share the stage with them in Trnava, Slovakia which is when I started to receive positive feedback from people in Europe about my music. That is when I started to have more drive to continue with music. Unfortunately, it took many years for me to finally return to music on a regular basis.

JMartin:

Bands like Jihad, Mentallo and the Fixer, Benestrophe and Fektion Fekler; they’re all from Texas, particularity Austin and San Antonio. They have created a very distinctive and recognizable sound that until today has influenced many other bands. He is one of those guys who started to create his own style of music. His own sound of recognizable music. It is very complex, melodic with meticulous drum programming – It is very smart music. Smart but catchy at the same time. The cradle of this particular old school industrial music.

Musicpress:

You came back to music after a really long time. You had to start from scratch; changing from hardware to software. Was this transition difficult for you?

James:

It was a little intimidating at first. I focused more on understanding how all of the technical components worked such as the drivers, configurations, virtual synthesizers, etc. My IT background helped a lot with this. It was a little challenging at first. When I started back in the late 80s, everything was on physical hardware. Things have changed drastically from when I first started. Everything is more software driven / logical now in comparison. In the end, I find that it is much easier now in comparison to how things were before. Because of how technology has changed the way in which music writing is possible, it also provides many options (Too many at times) with how to write music. This gives me much more freedom and many options in how I work.

Musicpress:

In today’s times, there are often many headlines about jihad in the news. Does the name of your band bring any controversy because of what is going on in the world?

James:

I believe it was sometime around 1992 / 1993. The band name was derived from a card game that was called Jyhad. The theme surrounding the game was vampires. I believe a year later or so, the card game ended up changing the name from Jyhad to Vampire. I believe the name change came about to better align with what the game was about. Or, maybe they saw what was coming with the news and all of the bad press associated with what was (and still is) going on in the world today. I looked up the name Jihad in the dictionary at the time, and one of several meanings that I found was “a crusade for a principal or belief”. I thought to myself, this was a generic / open meaning that could be applied to anything. It didn’t necessarily have to mean a holy war. To answer your question, fortunately, I haven’t caught any flack for the band name. Though, I’ve been seriously considering changing the name.

Musicpress:

There isn’t much in the media about this style of music. What about its audience?

James:

This scene, in my opinion, is pretty much dying off in the States. There aren’t many music listeners in the States that know about my music on FB in comparison to those in Europe. I receive more feedback from people in Europe than I do here in the States. That, along with a few other things is what drives me to continue to do more music and also visit Europe more often for more live performances as well.

Musicpress:

Here in Slovakia, it’s normal for band members to work a day job. Is it the same with you?

James:

Yes. I work in IT and have been doing so for nearly 18 years now. Since the long break in music, which was shortly after my album was released in 1997, I started focusing 100% of my time on my career. It became my hobby and something that I even enjoyed doing more so than music for 10+ years. Now, there is more of a 50 / 50 balance between music and my career. I love both the technical aspects of my career as well as the creativity music allows me.

Martin:

: I work full-time at the airport in Frankfurt and I work shifts (early / late), which makes it difficult to have a real routine throughout the week. I try to work on music in my free time but mainly I make music at work actually… That’s right. There are jobs like this. I used to play poker a lot and I travel a lot. Everywhere. I have been in the States 3 times now in the past one and a half years; Canada twice, Mexico 3 times and Asia a lot. Bratislava in Slovakia 10 times already as well. All that kept me from working on music after “Dormicum” but I was never entirely gone.

Musicpress:

You’ve had your first performance here in Bratislava at British Rock Stars. Why didn’t you organize your first performance in your homeland, in Germany?

Martin:

My tendency was to never play live. I didn’t think I would feel comfortable on stage because you are in everyone’s center of attention.

Musicpress:

So how did you feel on stage in February 2015 at the British Rock Stars club?

Martin:

Great! I would do it again. It was a great experience, but I would never go on tour. Like 10 shows within 2 weeks or something like that. Crazy. The thing is I prefer to play in front of friends like here. It was like playing at someone’s birthday party. I knew almost everyone in the crowd. Music is about having fun and it should never be about work or about obligations. It is a hobby and I don’t want my hobby to turn into work.

Musicpress:

But you performed with a hood. You are quite hidden from the people, weren´t you?

Martin:

I’ll tell you, this does help! In theory it helps because you hide behind the hood or a mask or whatever and you’re not out in the open so to speak. But right here (in Bratislava) with all of these people, I didn’t need it. Everyone was so nice. I could just be myself and enjoy the music and the crowd and the atmosphere. If you don’t get any feedback from the crowd, it sucks. I go to shows so often and I am like that too. Standing there and waiting for the band to end their set. The poor band. They’re trying really hard. But that is something I don’t want to do. I want to pick my shows very carefully where I know there will be people who want to see me perform. I prefer to play in front of 10 people who are having a good time and want to see me instead of being in front of 1000 people of which only 10 like the music and the rest hate it.

Musicpress:

What does your band name Fix8:Sed8 mean? Is it some sort of code or cipher?

Martin:

It’s like hacker speech. While the number 8 is just version for letters –ate, fix8 means fixating something and sed8 means sedating something. So fixating like binding someone, like tying you to a chair. Sedating means to pump you full with sedatives with drugs, to calm you down. To make you quiet and still. So, basically it means my music will put you to sleep (Laughs).

Musicpress:

The band´s name is cryptic. You perform under the name Martin Sane…

Martin:

I wanted to do something funny. So, if you put the last syllable of “Martin” and add “sane”, it becomes “insane”. Mart-Insane, like Mart Incompetent. So you don’t know if I’m sane or insane. That’s the joke about it. But it’s not funny I know (Laughs).

Musicpress:

I found your real name on the internet and it sounds like a polish surname. Does your family come from Poland?

Martin:

Yeah. I was born in Warsaw and moved to Germany when I was 3.5 years old. So I speak polish ok I guess, but I spent my entire life in Germany..

Musicpress:

Martin. How are your first memories with music?

Martin:

I think it is the old Blondie – Denis or Heart of Glass, Eurhythmics’ ‘Love is a Stranger’ and ‘Sweet Dreams’ in 1981 / 1982. I was maybe 4 years old. My mum used to play the piano and she’s gifted when it comes to classical music. I played the piano for 11 years. I think I started playing when I was 7 maybe. I never liked it much but my mum kind of insisted. For a long time I played only classical music. Later electric guitar, when I was maybe 14. I was never very good at it though. The whole classical education does help me to play the keyboards better than others though which speeds up the writing process to a certain degree.

Musicpress:

During the music process, what do you write first? The lyrics, drums, melody or what else?

Martin:

I usually start with drums in general. I never start with lyrics. The lyrics come at the very end. Another way to start a song is to search through all of the sound libraries and pick an interesting sound and build a song around it. I start with a single sample and add some beats and atmospheres and baselines and more and more until it becomes a song.

Thank you very much Martin and James for the interviews.