»I hated most electronic music until my start twenties, and started pretty late with that. To this day I’m still feeling more like a musician than a producer.«
Having released a single at the end of April and with bookings at festivals all over Europe, this has been a super fast, super busy summer for David Kreutzer aka. Solvane. In the midst of a festival season that has taken him to Norway, Poland and England as well as several shows in Germany, we caught up with the Ritter Butzke-resident and Stil vor Talent-collaborator to talk about his own development as a producer, being a resident DJ at a major nightclub, and his impression of the Danish electronic scene.
I listened to a lot of the songs you’ve previously produced, and your music seems to have come a long way stylistically from your first tracks.
»First of all, I’m not a very nerdy producer. I’m a musician and I produce, and most of the time I work together with an engineer. All my life I’ve mostly been playing in bands, so I’m coming from more of a traditional musical background.
I hated most electronic music until my start twenties, and started pretty late with that. To this day I’m still feeling more like a musician than a producer. Having said that, I’ve been making electronic music professionally since 2008, and had a lot of projects before Solvane, some of them a lot more successful. I was more electro back then, whereas Solvane is more of a techno-vibe. I tried to do something completely different this time.
You’re a part of the Ritter Butzke nightclub and label. How does that work?
I am not really part of the club, more a member of the family, I would say. I do the radio show for them, but by myself, and I’m part of showcases around Europe. At the nightclub I have a residency and play around six times a year.
How would you describe the club?
It’s definitely one of the major ones in Berlin. There’s easily 2,000 people on a normal night, and it has different floors with different vibes. Of course it’s all electronic music – there’s no mixed music. It’s more fluffy than Berghain, though – it’s a club living the idea of tolerance. You can easily get inside as long as you’re not a racist, homophobe or aggressive. If you’re peaceful and willing to party you’ll have a good time.
You headlined Culture Box in Copenhagen this January, and have played at the CPH Deep IG60 party as well. How did you experience the scene in Copenhagen compared to Berlin?
I was at Distortion three years ago, and it was just awesome. This year I played a few days after New Years Eve at Culture Box on the 5th of January. I was still recovering after playing three gigs in 24 hours on New Years Eve, where I was in different countries and didn’t sleep until the 2nd in the morning, so I was still super tired when I got to Copenhagen. I was surprised when I got to the club, because the promoters were really scared for the night, and didn’t expect much. They told me “Don’t be sad if it’s super empty, we’re gonna have fun anyway”. The party itself was like a smash in the face, though, lots of people and it was really, really good. We had such a wonderful time.
With IG60 it was a similar story. I arrived pretty tired to Copenhagen, and I was just overwhelmed by the audience. The whole vibe was euphoric throughout my set, and it was definitely one of the best gigs of the year for me.
What did you make of Culture Box?
When you’re here from Berlin, you usually don’t look too much towards other cities. We’re lucky to be in a position where we’re kind of the capital for electronic music in Europe. Having said that, you hear of other cities through friends and social media, so I knew of two clubs in Copenhagen – Culture Box and KB18. Those clubs have a good reputation here, and I know a lot of people who have played them. Culture Box is a club made just like how I would have designed one. It’s dark, nice lights, and the booth in the main room is placed in the centre. It’s very stripped down and that can create an awesome vibe.
You recently released the single “Octopus” with Prismode. Have you got anything lined up apart from that?
I have another single coming out mid-September with Prismode, but with remixes from Nikoné and Seth Schwarz – two super hot producers. With this track we’ve tried something else, and it’s a bit more afro, house-ish than what we usually do, but it ended up quite nicely. I’ve collaborated with other guys like Danielle di Martino, and with him we usually meet up at the studio and play our hearts out, and then see what comes of it, but with Prismode it’s the opposite. Before we go to the studio we almost have a tactical plan of where we want to go with the music – it’s very strategical. Beforehand we send a lot of tracks to each other and discuss the sounds they use, the build up, all kinds of elements. It’s important to have both positive and negative examples. We only go to the studio once a month maybe, but up to that point we’re communicating and talking back and forth. It’s a really interesting way to work.«
You can get more info and catch Solvane @ his webpage solvane.de
By William Sass
