Vienna-based Austrian artist Dubesque has previously released tracks on the likes of Kneaded Pains, Nervous Records and Turbo Recordings, making him a real contender amongst his home countries emerging production talents.
Next up on his release schedule is an excellent four-tracker titled Jetzt EP, which is set to drop this month via Andres Campo and Eats Everything’s EI8HT Records, a label that in the past has seen tracks from Truncate, Dok & Martin and Avision.
Chatting to him about the forthcoming release, Dubesque told us all about his approach in the studio, how he came to release it with EI8HT Records, future releases and how he’s been spending his time this year. Get the full discussion below.
You’re on our Inflyte Radar this month! Let our readers know what you have going on?
Thanks for having me! To be honest there’s not a ton of things going on at the moment – I’ve tried to make the best of all the utter madness going on in the world right now and wrote a lot of music that’s not entirely music for clubs or DJ Sets. I think as a producer its important from time to time to step into unfamiliar grounds, change production habits or try to create hybrids of stuff that’s not necessarily meant to be merged together.
So, writing music without the kind of ‘pressure’ that the tunes have to fit into DJ sets or have to work on the dance floor is quite relieving and inspiring. So, there will be things coming, but for now I appreciate to not worry about release schedules or fitting into certain boxes.
You’re about to debut with Eats Everything and Andres Campo’s EI8HT Records imprint, tell us about the release?
You know, I always loved to play versatile DJ sets, playing tunes that nobody has heard of before, play different styles and tempos and just take people on kind of a journey – even if by now that sounds pretty corny. But the same goes for when I’m in the studio, I don’t like to repeat myself or sound like somebody else. If you listen to my last releases nothing really sounds the same.
So, for this EP I decided to package four tunes that are all unique to themselves, without taking the same line. I didn’t want to use the same kick drum or synths for all tunes to create a pseudo kind of ‘leitmotiv’ or so. The idea was to have an EP where every DJ in the techno world can relate to at least one of the tunes.
And how did it come to land on EI8HT?
I met Dan last year when he performed in my hometown Vienna. We had a little chat prior to his set, he gave me his email and I’ve sent him a selection of tunes I had done back then. I was pretty shocked, but obviously in a good way, when he emailed me back saying that he’d like to sign all four tunes I’ve sent for the EP on EI8HT – because that I didn’t expect really!
You’ve also appeared on Turbo Recordings, Nervous Records and Kneaded Pains, is there a label you’d love to add to the list down the line?
To be honest I don’t write music with a certain label in mind, so there’s no label per se where I think ‘OK, this is where I want to sign’. What’s important to me is that a label loves the tunes as much as I do and shares the same vibe and excitement about releasing music and just spreading good vibes. So, any label I will appear on in the future is the label I just felt right about to add to the résumé for those particular tunes in that particular moment!
And which labels can we expect to see you on in the near future?
As already mentioned above, there’s no particular release in the pipeline for the rest of the year. But I’m working on a few projects and releases for 2021 that I’m really excited about – and I hope I can share that new music with you all soon!
2020 has been a rough year for the music industry, how have you been spending your time over the past few months?
I tried to enjoy the time ‘trapped’ at home or rather in Vienna as good as I could – although I’m very aware that the word ‘enjoy’ comes from a very privileged point of view. I basically spent the whole summer with my wife and my daughter in and around Vienna, gathering inspiration for the studio and rejoiced in the slowing down of life. It was a good opportunity to rethink priorities and focus on what’s really important.
And what’s the thing you miss most about being in clubs and playing to a crowd?
Playing to a crowd, no matter if it’s in a sweaty, small basement or at a huge festival, is something that I will always miss. But it’s always a matter of your standpoint: I prefer to look forward to the first rave after this pandemic, because anticipatory joy is the greatest joy. Other than that, I miss leaving clubs or parties without telling anyone!
Dubesque’s Jetzt EP arrives October 23rd on EI8HT Records.