In Conversation: Kame House

Cologne has been an important city in the evolution of modern house music having acted as a backdrop and a hub for several important record labels and institutions in recent times. Kame House is a record label and party founded by Lars Fleischmann aka. uomo di carne & Philipp Carbotta aka. Infuso Giallo, together they have been responsible for releasing a new wave of abstract house music in a playful manner which has been well received and widely supported – they have now picked up a distribution deal from Kompakt. 

The music that they have released sits somewhere between pop, leftfield dance music and the slightly more out there elements of house. It's fun, kitsch and highly danceable. Together they have also worked as disc jockeys across many years and have built up a formidable sense of taste honed on dancefloors across Europe. 

We invited them to talk about their roots and the history of the project. 

Infuso Giallo asks uomo di carne

1. Having become quite the tea-afficinado by now, which type of tea would you recommend to our listeners to consume while enjoying the soothing sounds of our releases?

First of all I wouldn’t call myself an afficinado, since I hate it to over-identify with my gimmicks. Despite this, your question has this fine synaesthetic beauty and I'd love to answer it like this: 

a) Infuso Giallo: Easy fuck. Yellow tea since your name translates to it. Would say: Yun Shan Yin Zhen, the golden needle and Mao’s go-to-tea. 

b) Love-Songs: The earthy notes of their music are best represented in this 2013 Qi Lan Cedar Oolong from Mingjian. It is my favourite Oolong for its precious grapefruit notes. 

c) Conny Frischauf: It’s quite far from Vienna to Japan, but her alpine-avantgarde approach reminds my of the fresh grassy, summerly flavours of Yutakamidori Sencha from Shizuoka.

2. What is your biggest fear about running a label?

I had to think about this for a while. Actually, I'd say, that running our label is just wonderful. There is this monetary aspect which can be a pain in the ass in times with regressive sales and idiots on p2p-networks that are sharing your records just a few moments after release. I love running the label with you and meeting beautiful and super-decent folks, other DJs, musicians, promoters, guests and fans of our thing – talking to them etc. We played this show in Munich and later on some guy wrote us a DM and was super gracious about Love-Songs and your live-set and my DJ-set. And then he shared a superb track that hasn't left my record-bag ever since.

3. With you living in Cologne and me in Berlin, would you say it’s a disadvantage building up and running a label in a long-distance-relationship? 

First of all we have to make a confession: we call each other about 14 times a week – and personally it just deepened our friendship. And I don’t know how it is for you, but I think of Berlin like a second home instead of the far-away place where my friend has moved to. The interchanging and corresponding experiences here and there make our label better, not worse. I suppose that a lot of music that is counting on only one home-base, tends to get idiosyncratic, to abandon a universal approach. Being in Berlin, in Cologne, in Hamburg or in Vienna helps a lot to stay agile and versatile. This rhizome of different musical influences can even grow – I'm open for some new nods.

4. How are the chances of us ever boarding a plane together to intercontinentally spread the Kame House love?

You are such a meanie. I’m an avowing aviophobe and since it’s possible in Europe to reach every place by train – if you have enough time – you won’t see me in a plane from Paris to Berlin. I use to work during these traveling times. But: If the Americas are calling, you just have to drug me hard enough. Would be sad if the good people of the new world would never have the chance to feel the love.

5. Selection or technique?

A question as old as DJing itself. Normally one would suggest that selection always trumps technique. Since I love to compare DJing with telling a story, I think you have to find your own language – detached from out-of-date disputes.

uomo di carne asks Infuso Giallo

1. Hand on heart: what do you miss the most from the early days of our friendship and the very beginning of Kame House? What changed for the better?

I definitely miss a certain kind of fearlessness and recklessness we both had when we started hanging out and playing the first Kame House nights together. We’ve been through the whole spectrum of human emotions together — in the whole club/music thing as well as privately and that changed us a lot. However, whilst we might have become more anxious towards certain things there is also a growing determination in what we want to do and be as a label and as friends. Apart from that I often simply miss hanging out, watching TV, smoking weed and not having to worry about organising stuff.  

2. You have an Italian family background. How much "Forza Italia" is still in you?

I’ve been exposed to both cultures my whole life in one way or another, although not having been raised bilingual seems to have kept me from staying in touch with my Italian roots a bit. Maybe that’s the reason why I’ve created »Infuso Giallo« as my exotic alter ego, while in reality still being quite the »Alman«. Nonetheless I feel that Italian music really clings to me and that ism't only to do with me being half Italian.

3. You asked me about that long-distance relationship and Cologne and Berlin. What do you actually think about leaving the cities and move  to a rural area? Cheap house w/ studio included?

Of course in the current housing situation in Berlin the idea of moving to the outskirts or the Brandenburg countryside in favor of more space and cheaper rent is something that has been discussed a lot in my circle of friends. Though right now I can’t really imagine that, at least not on a permanent basis. In retrospect I really appreciate my country childhood, but it was extremely depressing for me there as a teenager, so I still get very anxious imagining I’d have to go back now. Although I am aware, that at some point maybe I will rethink my priorities as soon as family plans become imminent. But to be honest, if I would change my mind eventually, I’d pick a region that is scenically a little more appealing to me than Brandenburg. Somewhere more mountainous maybe? And probably closer to our hometown Cologne. Nevertheless leaving the city for a quiet place for some time to make music or even just do nothing is definitely something I’d like to do more often. Especially since we get around more and more with the label playing and booking shows in a lot of really nice regions, it’s refreshing to see how much greener it can be on the other side.

4. Wanna B2B?

With you anytime, yes! Though there are a few good reasons why we stopped playing together as much as we used to. First of all: Although I still like the occasional DJ gig in a relaxed environment, I think I’ve grown a bit tired of the whole DJ game in general, because it really has become quite a »game«. How many times have I been approached at the booth by some coked up guy at 4am, armed with a USB stick and the self-conviction that his selection of rare tunes is exactly what my DJ set is lacking? The german word »zocken«, which means something like »gambling« and »playing against each other«, is the perfect term for it really. Half of the people in Berlin are DJ’s nowadays so I won’t be missed behind the decks i guess. But the biggest reason why we’ve stopped playing B2B is that making and subsequently playing my own music live turned out to be a lot more fulfilling and satisfying for me, all while you’ve carefully kept upping your DJ skills of course. 

5. Last but not least: When do I get to hear new stuff from you?

My debut EP is already 2 years old and apart from my contribution to DJ soFa’s latest »Elsewhere« compilation I really haven’t got anything to show for it in terms of solo productions, which annoys me quite a bit, but that doesn’t mean i’ve been all too lazy. I think the liveset from my way more talented brother Jannis aka. Bat Actor and I played at this years Sacred Ground Festival laid a good foundation for a possible future release. And of course the numerous sessions Joshua Gottmanns (of Neuzeitliche Bodenbeläge) and I recorded in the last months will soon bear its first fruits. But I’m pretty confident that at least some parts of my current liveset will find their way on to my next release in 2027, haha. 

Visit the Kame House Facebook HERE.  Visit their website HERE. Photo courtesy of Mathias Schmitt.