Previous releases with top-shelf techno imprints such as Kneaded Pains and Orange Recordings have made Germany’s Drumcomplex into something of an underground hero on the techno circuit.
For the longest time his productions have soundtracked dancefloors all across Europe, and 2023 has been undoubtably his biggest year to date, which he closes out with his debut on Sven Väth’s renowned Cocoon Recordings.
We recently welcomed the German producer to our Let’s Talk series, where we spoke to him about everything from his new Frank Sonic collaboration titled ‘Lacalate’, to his plans for forthcoming releases, and more. Read the full interview with Drumcomplex below.
How are things going for you over in Germany at the moment?
First of all, thank you very much for inviting me for an interview. Things are going pretty well here and I’m very thankful. I’ve been playing a lot in the last few weeks and after the great festival season I’m looking forward to getting back into the clubs. In August, I was in India for a 2 week tour, with 7 shows, which were great. In December I will be in Bali, Indonesia like last year and will play at the Burning Beach Festival, and then I will end the year with a show for my good friends at Die Rakete in Nürnberg.
Let’s talk about your latest single ‘Lacalute’, how did the track come together in the studio?
Frank Sonic had programmed this analogue synth sequence in the studio last year and then excitedly sent me a video of it via WhatsApp. Shortly afterwards, the recorded sequence ended up in my studio, where I edited the drums and added 2 more synthesisers. We then sent the whole thing back and forth several times until it was perfect. The process was typical for us working together. While Frank is more of a sequencing guy, Arnd, as the name suggests, is more of a drum pro.
And it’s a collaboration with Frank Sonic as you mentioned, how did you two come to work together?
We have known each other for a very long time and around 2010 we started to first release together. Especially in the last few years we have been working on new material very regularly. It’s just a lot of fun to work together and the two of us are very close. We are also best friends and are not only connected through music.
It comes via Sven Väth’s seminal Cocoon Recordings, how does it feel to get support from someone like Sven?
Frank and I have always been big Sven Väth fans and have always admired and respected his work, his art, and his music. Through our friends Mario Hammer and Ingo Boss from Cocoon we got in touch with the office and had a 2 track vinyl cut and sent it to Ingo. He was so enthusiastic about our track ‘Lacalute’ that he sent it to Sven. A few weeks later Sven started playing it and we had aroused his interest. A real honor for us. In fact, Cocoon Recordings is one of the labels that have always fascinated us the most.
You’ve also released on labels like Kneaded Pains and Orange Recordings in the past, which other imprints might we expect to see you on soon?
The last few weeks I’ve been pretty active in the studio, working on my solo stuff, as well as on collaborations with Frank Sonic. Until summer 2024 my release plan is set and EP’s are coming out on Kneaded Pains, OFF Recordings, and my own imprint DCMX. It remains exciting, I am currently testing many unreleased tracks in my sets and look forward to finding new platforms for them soon. As you can see there will be enough new material coming out, which is very important to me.
What advice would you give to any aspiring producers that are aiming to work with these kinds of record labels?
It’s not always easy to get your foot in the door of a big label. It takes a lot of work to get their attention. The most important thing is to stay focused and to put your energy into what you want to achieve and not give up. Once you’ve made it, of course, things get a bit easier, but our path was also a very long one and we are all the happier that we were able to build our standing.
Is there anything else you want to mention before we finish up?
I would also like to say a big thank you on behalf of Frank Sonic, to our family, and especially to our fans. None of this would be possible without you. Thank you for that.
Drumcomplex & Frank Sonic – Lacalute is out November 17th on Cocoon Recordings.