DJ Kaos Talks

In preparation of the Discovery Bank Holiday Discotheque this Sunday at the Horse & Groom, Neil Thorton & Jay Rossi talk with DJ Kaos about the influence that Berlin had on him in the 80's, his time in Britain in the 90's and how he's getting on with his world tour.

The Discovery duo touch base with Kaos one early morning while his was enjoying the Californian part of the tour.  Releasing records on K7, Compost Rong, Eskimo, Clone, Italians do it Better and DFA to name a few plus his label Jolly Jams with releases from Tiago, and Kaos himself,  The Backwoods and  the last release Free Love by Richard from Milwaukee, a stunning 18 min remix from Dr Dunks. 

How has American tour been so far? Can you tell us a few highlights and did you do any digging? 

Hey man the tour has been sick! Like every gig was off the hook. Every night and city were very different. But yeah amazing. California is the place I really dig the clubbing and music scene out here. Getting round to hang around with a lot creative people it has been so refreshing, There is too much techno in Europe. Lame sauce!

Jolly Jams is a favourite label of ours what plans do you have for J/J or Kaos releases going forward? 

Jolly Jams is my baby. I started the label because I was bored of whats going and have a something for my friends to release their music. The next release is from Dr Beat from San Sebastian. Killer Balearic house track. All classic like the original sound. I know its all over that "Balearic thing" but this is different from the edits etc. It's HOT big tune. I played it out every night on the tour and yeah 100% approved. So J/J 12 comes out next month and features mixes by Richard Galling and Enzo Elia. Then we have a DJ Kaos release that will be soon hopefully as well. Probably late August. Also I just finished a remix for Felix Dickinson release on DFA too… Wild recording session here in Los Angeles. Yeah a lot fun and good vibes.

Which track would you most like to have produced yourself and which track would you most like to remix? 

Oh man don't know this is difficult. Most the music I am into like classics and stuff don't need remixes at all. But maybe if I could choose a track from Manuel Gttschings back catalogue. That could be cool thing to do…. 

How do you feel about the misrepresentation of deep house by a new generation of young producers? How do you think its popularity is affecting the scene as a whole?

Deep house! Well not sure I listen or get records I am into really. The genre or trend doesnt matter to me. I really cant answer this cause its all about the house isn't it. A recent record I got that's on Thug by Ben Cozmo. It was labelled as deep house. But to me its all just house music.

Can you tell us about Berlin before the wall came down? The vibes, the scene etc.

Yeah man I was born in West Berlin, I was 18 when the wall came down. The whole city changed a lot. The clubs moved over there in the east and the whole techno thing starting booming. But it wasn't about German DJs at all. The DJs I experienced were from Detroit or Chicago. There was Moritz von Oswald of course and some others. But most of the jocks from the USA. West Berlin was very inspiring at the time like when the hip hop came around in the mid-80s and the graffiti. I was really into that. It changed my life. I remember seeing Liaisons Dangereuses at So 36.  I was like whats that shit about the heavy electronic industrial sound with tons of attitude. I thought it sounded like hell. But years later I understood the sound more. A lot of good people in West Berlin. The Dschungel Club was great place, I heard Lil Louis there for the first time. It was great, I will never forget it.

Tell us about your stay when you lived in London in the 90's.

Oh yeah it was a blast. I lived with Judy Blame who was an old queen legend fashion stylist down in Kensal Green. It was in Cameron McVeys house Cam was married to Neneh cherry. I would hang in the studio and make teas. It was such big time for me. Then meeting people like Barnsley who has an Acupuncture shop in Soho. He was a crazy man, but most definitely a very inspiring person. He was into a lot of good shit and played me music like E.S.G way back. I was like wow. Good times. It was around 94/95 and there was so much going on, I was really into a lot of Japanese stuff like Hiroshi & K.U.D.O. and James Lavelle, he created a lot at the time. J Saul Kane, he pulled stuff and gave to a younger generation like the Carl Craig stuff or Liquid Liquid. There was also Tim Goldsworthy, he knew a lot about that sound. 

Have you ever dabbled into more techno orientated sounds?

I did a bunch of tracks that sound techno like Bang The Box from my LP a couple years back. I am not hating techno at all. But the techno I am into its like the more soulful and American as that is where it comes from. I stick to that vibe!

One more thing, its the Champions League final between two German teams Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Who will you be supporting?

Oh shit yeah, its on this weekend isnt it! Ive been here in the USA for 3 weeks. But hey German vs. German its sick!!!! The way they both destroyed Spain. It was pure payback time. A crazy one for sure. I say Bayern. But this whole champions league has been full of surprises…. Lets see what happens!

In preparation of the Discovery Bank Holiday Discotheque this Sunday at the Horse & Groom the Discovery duo Neil Thornton & Jac the Disco were given the green light to raid Berlin disco machine Dj Kaos' prolific Jolly Jams label's extensive back catalogue of releases and a few unreleased gems.

Discovery versus Jolly Jams Megamix by The Horse And Groom Shoreditch on Mixcloud

Richard from Milwaukee's Free Love is now on sale over at Juno and you can get 4 tickets for Discovery on Sunday here.