Moderat: Weltschmerz and rough sex
(© Olaf Heine)
The bands Modeselektor (Gernot Bronsert, Sebastian Szary) and Apparat (Sascha Ring) are both heavyweights in the electronica world. A collaboration under the name Moderat has produced nothing less than a fragmentation bomb, though the first album wasn’t entirely surprising. They have completely redefined themselves with their second album, II. It has a very distinctive sound that is less influenced by their own separate projects. As Bronsert affirms, sitting beside a very quiet Szary, on a sunny afternoon in Brussels. “That is exactly what I mean. This time we didn’t go into the studio as Modeselektor and Apparat, but as friends. And that resulted in a very different sounding group.”
Your projects each have very particular characters. What do they actually have in common?
Gernot Bronsert: We are all from East Germany, and we all discovered electronic music at about the same time. We share the early techno spirit that was in the air at the time. We consequently hear one another’s music on a very different level. We hear the human side. Other than that we’re quite different. Apparat makes emotionally charged, melancholy electronica, while Modeselektor bombards the dance floor like a steamroller.
You are both well-known for being innovative. Was there anything left to learn from each other?
Bronsert: We taught Sascha that he can do much more with his voice. He was only using a small part of it, but on II he totally let loose. He had to put in a lot of effort. We didn’t think he was singing loud enough on a particular song and we ended up having a big discussion. So he angrily went to the studio and finally opened up his lungs. We, on the other hand, learned to be more resolute. Sascha takes decisions faster than we do.
There is an animated music video for “Bad Kingdom”, which is about corruption and the people who always end up being its victims. Did you have something to get off your chest?
Bronsert: It’s actually a timeless political story. It could easily have been set fifty years ago. It doesn’t always have to be LED walls and confetti canons. In the electronic music scene, people often don’t give a damn about messages, but we wanted to be able to express ourselves. Pfadfinderei [Modeselektor’s permanent visual crew – KVD] translated that to the music video perfectly.
Your music is pregnant with emotion. Isn’t that expressed more clearly on II?
Bronsert: Yes, that’s partly because the first album was a try-out. We only really became friends after touring for two years. We saw each other more than our own families, so we became pretty close. That made Sascha feel comfortable more quickly. He’s a bit of a strange, antisocial loner who never celebrates his birthday and flees Germany during Christmas and New Year to go and be alone on an island somewhere. He has no need for a huge social circle. I actually think we’re his only friends. [Laughs]. Anyway, women think that’s sexy. We, Modeselektor, don’t sell sex. Perhaps we stimulate people to have sex. But if we do, it must be really rough sex. [At which Szary awakes with a start and dryly affirms “oh yeah”. Hilarity all around - KVD].
MODERAT 5/3, 20.00, SOLD OUT!, ANCIENNE BELGIQUE, boulevard Anspachlaan 110, Brussel/Bruxelles, 02-548.24.24, www.abconcerts.be
The bands Modeselektor (Gernot Bronsert, Sebastian Szary) and Apparat (Sascha Ring) are both heavyweights in the electronica world. A collaboration under the name Moderat has produced nothing less than a fragmentation bomb, though the first album wasn’t entirely surprising. They have completely redefined themselves with their second album, II. It has a very distinctive sound that is less influenced by their own separate projects. As Bronsert affirms, sitting beside a very quiet Szary, on a sunny afternoon in Brussels. “That is exactly what I mean. This time we didn’t go into the studio as Modeselektor and Apparat, but as friends. And that resulted in a very different sounding group.”
Your projects each have very particular characters. What do they actually have in common?
Gernot Bronsert: We are all from East Germany, and we all discovered electronic music at about the same time. We share the early techno spirit that was in the air at the time. We consequently hear one another’s music on a very different level. We hear the human side. Other than that we’re quite different. Apparat makes emotionally charged, melancholy electronica, while Modeselektor bombards the dance floor like a steamroller.
You are both well-known for being innovative. Was there anything left to learn from each other?
Bronsert: We taught Sascha that he can do much more with his voice. He was only using a small part of it, but on II he totally let loose. He had to put in a lot of effort. We didn’t think he was singing loud enough on a particular song and we ended up having a big discussion. So he angrily went to the studio and finally opened up his lungs. We, on the other hand, learned to be more resolute. Sascha takes decisions faster than we do.
There is an animated music video for “Bad Kingdom”, which is about corruption and the people who always end up being its victims. Did you have something to get off your chest?
Bronsert: It’s actually a timeless political story. It could easily have been set fifty years ago. It doesn’t always have to be LED walls and confetti canons. In the electronic music scene, people often don’t give a damn about messages, but we wanted to be able to express ourselves. Pfadfinderei [Modeselektor’s permanent visual crew – KVD] translated that to the music video perfectly.
Your music is pregnant with emotion. Isn’t that expressed more clearly on II?
Bronsert: Yes, that’s partly because the first album was a try-out. We only really became friends after touring for two years. We saw each other more than our own families, so we became pretty close. That made Sascha feel comfortable more quickly. He’s a bit of a strange, antisocial loner who never celebrates his birthday and flees Germany during Christmas and New Year to go and be alone on an island somewhere. He has no need for a huge social circle. I actually think we’re his only friends. [Laughs]. Anyway, women think that’s sexy. We, Modeselektor, don’t sell sex. Perhaps we stimulate people to have sex. But if we do, it must be really rough sex. [At which Szary awakes with a start and dryly affirms “oh yeah”. Hilarity all around - KVD].
MODERAT 5/3, 20.00, SOLD OUT!, ANCIENNE BELGIQUE, boulevard Anspachlaan 110, Brussel/Bruxelles, 02-548.24.24, www.abconcerts.be
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