Elektro Guzzi - The Ransom Note Mix

Music

Elektro Guzzi deliver us this week's R$N mix.

We started writing about them and then we read the press release… and had to include it verbatim below. There's also the Mix Q&A with them below that.

Hear me now:

"Live performances of electronic music have gone a long way since the seminal decision of a few men from Düsseldorf to leave their Krautrock beginnings behind and become machines. Since then, the list of successors is epic and technologically refined in the process: from the musicians who on stage incorporated electronics into their post punk aesthetics to today's laptop PAs blurring the lines between performance and DJ set in a club context. Of course the evolution of according concepts also proceeded in reverse, with electronic musicians implementing their sound into traditional band structures, and performing their music as modern interpretations of the latter, combining the sounds of the according analogue and digital equipment.

Taking all this into consideration, Elektro Guzzi from Vienna are none of the above, which is exactly why Macro didn't hesitate to sign them. Though their sound most certainly suggests that Bernhard Hammer, Jakob Schneidewind and Bernhard Breuer also decided to become machines, they strangely enough don't use any (it took several confirmations in mails and personal meetings and a rehearsal video to convince that they don't).

Elektro Guzzi are not interested in exploring their minimal and dubbed out soundscapes in long epic jams, where coincidental ideas born out of improvisation are the unofficial band member. Elektro Guzzi are interested in structure. They produce and perform like any modern electronic producer and performer wanting that every element of a track is exactly where it is intended to be. There is no computer backup material they

prepared earlier, no loops and things, no overdubs. However hard it is to believe, what you hear is 100% live.

As fascinating as the resulting music already sounds on their debut releases for Macro (produced by Austrian legend Patrick Pulsinger), the band is perfectly able to bring it on stage. There, they connect the hypnotizing force of their analogue techno with the visual treat of a band doing it all right in front of your eyes. You hear it, you witness it, and you dance. .

You witness it, and you dance…"

OK? Right, let's go:

Pease introduce yourself…

Who are you:

We are Bernhard, Berni and Jakob and together we are Elektro Guzzi

Where are you:

Most of the time we spend our time in our studio in Vienna, on the weekends we are always somewhere else…

What are you:

A Techno Tanzband

Where was the mix recorded?

In our 3 flats. Since no one of us is a real/serious DJ we decided that each of us is doing one part of the mix. Jakob did the first, Bernhard the second and I did the 3rd part of the mix. Then we put it together at Top Sound Studio.

What would be the ideal setting to listen to the mix?

Probably the best setting would be in a car while travelling trough 3 different land-scapes, because each of the 3 parts of the mix is quite different – so it maybe could be this journey:

What should we be wearing?

Tracksuits, racing suit or 70ties style tennis outfit

What would be your dream setting to record a mix: Location/system/format?

Somewhere at the beach with 2 turntables, a function-one soundsystem, and a lot of dancing-happy-people!

Which track in the mix is your current favourite?

It's a mix of current favorites, hard to pick just one, but if I had to I would choose "do me back" by Bootleg Bitches

What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time?

Definitely Jeff Mills Exhibitionist!!!

If you could go back to back with any DJ from throughout history, who would it be and why?

John Peel, because his radio shows have been a big inspiration for us!

What was your first DJ set up at home and what is it now?

It´s still my first DJ-Set: two 1210s and a (very) crapy Fostex mixer, akg K-267 headphones and dynaudio studio monitors.

What’s more important, the track you start on or the track you end on?

The opener is usually the bigger issue for us, but I think the first and the last track topic is quite overrated, because a bad chosen second track can destroy the whole beginning as well.

To find the last track is always easy for me, because I have a big collection of mellow-sunrise records!!

What were the first and last records you bought?

First: Michael Jackson – Off the Wall;

last: Surkit Chamber – The Melding

If this mix was an edible thing, what would it taste like?

"Marillenknödel" (apricot dumplings) – an Austrian speciality. But maybe the best choise would be "Happy Haze" and some Marillenknödel afterwards.

If it was an animal what would it be?

Most likely a Squirrel with a lot of fur!!

One record in your collection that is impossible to mix into anything…

Like I mentioned before, we are anything else than proper Djs and it´s just a hobby for us to spin the records. So we have nothing to loose and tend to mix everything with anything.

Upcoming in the world of Elektro Guzzi…

We just recorded a remix for Kink which will be released on Macro this year. There is also the 20 years compilation of one of our favourite labels "Pomelo" coming out soon. We had the honour to provide them with a brand new track for this celebration!!