Oliver Huntemann (DE)

Whilst hordes of German producers and DJs set their coordinates for Berlin, Oliver Huntemann chose to head back home. He does not, of course, live in a snowy forest or at the edge of the polar oceans. The sun does however, on occasion, shine down on Hamburg.

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In "Brighter than the sun", the English music theorist Kodwo Eshun depicts the birthplace of Kraftwerk, Dusseldorf, as the "Mississippi Delta of Techno". Oliver Huntemann's tracks may well have dragged themselves out of the same primeval soup, but it was the far north which fired them with the necessary steel for clubland.

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Oliver Huntemann's concrete roots can be traced back to early techno. Had he been any younger, he would undoubtedly have sucked electronica like mother's milk from a C64 chip. Like so many of his colleagues, his route to techno took a tour through electro and rave.

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Since 2008 Huntemann has been running the Ideal Audio label. A new chapter after more than fifteen years Confused Recordings plus a host of sub- and sister labels, as well as numerous 12 inches and almost as many remixes (for Underworld, Chemical Brothers and Depeche Mode, to name just a few).

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His fourth studio album, Paranoid, will be coming out November 2^nd, 2011.

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CZB: When did you first realize that you would like to try and make a living from your passion for music?
Oliver Huntemann: Since I was a young boy I was addicted to music and DJ-ing. I always worked on turntables wherever I had the opportunity. After professional education I became an electronics engineer and a journalist, and then I decided to take the risk being an artist. I always took more attention in doing music than in my other jobs but I found it very important to let it grow inside me without the pressure and also having the security of serious jobs in the background. That's why I tried other things too.
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CZB: How did you get to know André Winter and how old is your friendship?
Oliver Huntemann: André and I are from the same small city in the countryside from north Germany, but we came closer when I moved to Hamburg in 2004 where he already owned a studio. He did a few tracks for my former label Confused. To be exact, he did the first single under the name of Motion Unit on Confused. At that time we only had sporadic contact but I already respected him as a great producer. When I was new in Hamburg, André and I spent some time in the studio and it immediately worked pretty well. In the meantime we are like an old couple, knowing all the quirky sides of the other.
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CZB: How did you get in touch with acts such as Underworld and Chemical Brothers – or were these collaborations confirmed through management?
Oliver Huntemann: All these big name remix requests came from their managements. That's the normal way. I never had contact with the Chemical Brothers themselves, but I had the chance to meet the Underworld guys through an Australia tour two years ago, where we were playing together. It has been a big honor for me to work on the music of some of my heroes in electronic music.
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CZB: Why did the Live mix albums stop after PLAY! 02?
Oliver Huntemann: It didn't stop after PLAY! 02, I already recorded PLAY! 03 last year at Cielo club in New York. Then I was concentrating on producing my new album. There will be another PLAY! again as soon as I get a bit of time to plan it.
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CZB: You have tried to keep close to Oldenburg, working with the Bremen and Hamburg scenes ... was it because of local friendships and regional patriotism that you did not decide to move to Berlin, for example? How important do you consider local patriotism to be for the development of a cultural scene?
Oliver Huntemann: I'm a patriot of the northern part of Germany which includes Oldenburg, Bremen and Hamburg. I love living close to the sea. I have strong friendships and business partnerships here. I really like the down to earth attitude of Hamburg. Always more understated than that of Berlin or other German cities. Berlin is flooded with tourists and wannabe artists. Don't get me wrong, I really like spending time in Berlin, meeting friends and playing at clubs like Watergate but in the end I feel home in Hamburg, where I can be creative without diversion. In Hamburg we have traditionally a strong music and club scene from Indie-Rock to Electronica. I don't think it is very important having a local patriotism for the development of a cultural scene, as you can see in multi-cultural cities like London or Paris, but it can't be bad either. That depends. In Iceland, for example, many good artists are coming just from there and that's the reason for an outstanding cultural scene... which is completely different to a melting pot like Berlin.

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CZB: Do you remember the first Single or Album you bought?
Oliver Huntemann: My first 12" vinyl: Trans X – Living On Video (1982).
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CZB: What was it like for you when music stores started dedicating more space to CDs and less for vinyls?

Oliver Huntemann: To be honest, I don't care about it. It's all just mediums to play or hear music from. I like the music, not the piece of plastic. Even if I play TraktorScratch with vinyl control, that's only because I like the feeling how to mix with it. Nowadays everyone can play with the material he feels most comfortable with. No one's a better DJ because he's playing vinyl, CD or via laptop. People forget that it's more important to know how to build a DJ set which is rich in variety than the technology. Music is emotions - and so is a good DJ set.
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CZB: What was your inspiration to turn from Rap to Electronic Music – how did this happen?
Oliver Huntemann: I never used to be into Rap. I come from the early 80s Electro Funk, which divided into Hip Hop and House later on. I decided to follow the way of House music as I didn't like the direction that Rap took. I still like to listen to my Streetsounds Electro Series, which includes all important tracks from that decade but I'm still not into this bad boy dirty talk thing. The grooves are cool but the words are often not so good.

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CZB: Travelling around the world and coming in contact with many different cultures, what would you say are the principles or emotions that bond us as one human race?
Oliver Huntemann: Hm, I would say there are some common values which count everywhere and which are important to make life liveable. Respect is one of these values. Most People I meet are nice, kind and interested. There are few fanatics in the east, south, north and west of our planet but I don't want to talk about them. Most people I know have a similar attitude of freedom and happiness. Doesn't matter which religion, culture, colour or country they belong to.
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CZB: Why did you name the new album Paranoia and is there a certain theme that links the songs?
Oliver Huntemann: I already started working on the album with the intention getting more extreme than before, combining stronger contrasts. The theme Paranoia contains this as lot and soon it grew to a concept. It's not that the tracks became darker than previous stuff of mine but the inner conflicts, the suspense as soon as the highs and lows of a paranoia provide a wide and interesting range to make music of.

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Luckily I personally have been spared from paranoid states so far. I just liked the ideal of converting it into an album concept.

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www.huntemann.tv

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Thanks going out to Ben Molen and the people @ Beatnik for this interview.

CZB INTERVIEW by RiCo

Intro: Ideal / Plantage13 artist CV

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On Paranoia, Oliver Huntemann’s prowess and versatility as a producer is evident, from the space age minimalism of Magnet, through to more melodic, upbeat productions such as The End, in which warm sounds resonate through the listener. Moreover, tracks full of pulsating bass, thudding rhythms, twisting synths and metallic industrial sounds are sure to appeal to those who love techno that is expertly programmed and synth heavy, creating dramatic sonic soundscapes, which transport the listener away to another world.

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And to make the November 2 release of Paranoia even more special, there will be a free bonus DVD with an accompanying set of videos. Oliver Huntemann has commissioned a hand-picked group of global film-makers, and some musical peers in Sebrok and Xenia Beliayeva, to produce a video for each track.

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LINK Artist BIO (RO version)

http://czb.ro/articol/2032/

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