Interview: Re.You

Le label berlinois Mobilee Records a donné les commandes de son 9ième volume de la série Back To Back au producteur Re.You. Notre équipe a eu l’occasion de s’entretenir avec ce dernier et de faire une petite rétrospective de son parcours, de son actualité et de ses projets.

For your readers, who don’t know you yet, could you introduce yourself in few words?
I’m a DJ & producer based in Berlin and have already worked with labels such as Cocoon, Saved, Moon Harbour and Kompakt. I’m a part of the Mobilee Records family for three years now and a close friend of the Keinemusik Crew. I also have a live project with Rampa which is called RAR.

Before speaking about Back To Back Volume 9, let’s talk a little about your past. How do you discover “electronic music”?
I played basketball to a high level and after a knee injury my passion for music grew and I started experimenting with sounds. I started a project with my two brothers and ended this 6 years ago to focus on Re.You.

And at which moment do you feel the need to transform it into a “job”?
It was a flow. I worked for a film company as an editor and motion graphics designer. In the evenings and at night I produced my music. At one point I just decided to focus fully on the music.

Have you also some other musical influences?
Of course I’m a big fan of older hip hop stuff like Mobb Deep, Gangstarr, Wu Tang,…

You have also strongly collaborate with Rampa from Keinemusik. How did this collaboration come about?
We met a few years ago at a gig at Weekend Club in Berlin and were just like « Let’s go to the studio together » – the other day we went and started with out first track « Work ». We became good friends as we have a quite identical taste of music and like to hang out together.

Before Mobilee, you worked also with labels like International Deejay Gigolo, Rebirth and Souvenir Music? What are the stories behind those collaborations?
Souvenir was my home base. I was playing great shows alongside Tiefschwarz at clubs like Fabric or Robert Johnson. I released frequently on their label and started to grow as an artist. On DJ Hell’s Label Gigolo I released together with Rampa – he knew him a long time and we both love Gigolo from the older releases.

You start on Mobilee in 2012 with Mind Your Head? How did you meet the Mobilee team?
A friend of mine told me that Anja likes my productions, so I just send over a demo. She liked it and wanted to release my tracks on their sub-label Leena. But for me that was not what I wanted, so I persuaded her to release it on Mobilee. This was the beginning at Mobilee.

With strong EP like Anyway (2013), Did I Know? (2013) and Watching You (2014), you’re quickly become one of the headline of the labels. It seems that do you feel like home on Mobilee?
Yes, I have my studio next door to the office and we have a good team. So we’re very close.

Now let’s talk about your present. You’re selected by the label for the 9th volume of its serie “Back To Back”. Did you immediately accept? Without any doubt?
It was in Croatia when I played a festival together with Anja. She asked me if I wanted to do it and I confirmed immediately.

How do you select to track of the first CD? Are you free in your selection or Mobilee give you some guidelines?
I sat down with Mobilee’s label heads to discuss which tracks we put together. We suggested different tracks to each other. I think it’s representative for the past year and it’s a really cool mixture.

The second part of the compilation is completely exclusive. You picked up some elements of track from the back catalog to present two sessions of 30 minutes. What’s the process behind?
I roughly knew which tracks from which artist I want to use. I decided to ask every artist for one or two parts of their work. Then I started to create two 30 minutes tracks and integrate the different parts. I used a vocal from Anja Schneider’s ‘Lovetube Thinking’ or a pad from Sebo K’s ‘Scenario’. It was a challenging project but I really enjoy the result.

The both sessions have quite different. The first one is more intellectual and the second seems to be more instinctive and emotional. Are they two faces of your personality?
No, I wanted to create two different ones. One for the daytime, a little bit quieter and one for the night which should be more freaky and emotional.

The last track of the second CD is collaboration with Ninetoes. A new “duo” is born?
We’re good friends and just sat down in the studio to jam a little. There is nothing more planned yet as Rampa and I are already playing live as a duo.

About your future now, have you already in your luggage some new projects or tracks?
Yes, I have an upcoming EP on Kompakt/Speicher in April which is pretty exciting for me. Furthermore I have another release on Moon Harbour and planned another vinyl only release with Rampa on our own label aRARthing. So it’s quite busy.

And a last question before ending this interview, what kind of advices could you give to young musicians, DJ or producers?
Never give up and try to find your on style.

Thank you for taking the time to have answered to our questions.