Sebastian Szary had just taken a short tour of Ciudad Juarez when we caught up with him. He, along with bandmate Gernot Bronsert of Modeselektor, traveled non-stop from Berlin, Germany to perform at Ole Ole concert venue; their first show of three in Mexico. Over a few beers by the pool, we spoke about Acid House, Szary’s musical influences, and the birth of Modeselektor.
Szary, when you first began DJing you would mix “Acid House” music?
That’s right. That was the first thing I bought after the wall came down with hard money. I was 15 years old. I spent all my money. I didn’t have a job. I was in school. Every week I went to the record store and I bought records with hard money. I started Djing. I learned it by myself in my little room. Two years later, I bought my first drum machine and bass synthesizer.
What was Acid House like in Germany during that time?
It was like the Techno scene: the move, or the morph, in electronic music, from house to acid house. It morphs slowly to Techno; that’s called evolution. Yesterday we call it “Acid House” and one week later we call it “Techno House.” I think it was the same scenery or same movement and the celebration of parties were the same.
In terms of Acid House, was there any influence from the U.S., specifically “Chicago Acid House” in Germany?
Yeah, of course. One of the main influences came from the United States and also from the U.K., from London, from Manchester: like “S’Express,” “The KLF.” Then we had the Chicago influence; the Detroit influence. During this time, it wasn’t important for me were the music was from. I was interested in how it sounds and the tunes.
What were you influenced by musically?
Acid House is part of my, and our, influence. I think one big part of our influence is Hip-Hop: “Public Enemy” of course; all this late 80’s Hip-Hop stuff, and “Beastie Boys.” That was the main influence, Hip-Hop and Acid House.
What tools did you use when you first began DJing?
Two turntables and a shitty mixer, but not “Technics” turntables. Very cheap turntables with a pitch button. It was very hard to mix on those turntables because they ran very untied. It was hard. Hard to learn, but I got it.
Can you tell me a little about Fundamental Knowledge?
That was my first bedroom project I started. I started making music with machines, Atari computer, 808 and 303. I was on a search for a name. I found a German book about physics. I did a translation, maybe it was wrong translated, but I called it “Fundamental Knowledge.” It was the title of the book. For my first cassettes, tapes, I recorded for my friends, I cut out from the book some parts where it was written, Fundamental Knowledge. So, that’s where the title is from. Fundamental Knowledge was my pass to begin to make Techno tracks.
How did you emerge into Modeselektor?
One day I met Gernot in the same small village I lived close to Berlin. Its really close to Berlin. In the beginning we started as a DJ team. It was in the mid 90‘s. In 1996 we did a remix, our first remix ever. Then we ran a search for a name. The studio had a Roland Space Echo; its a delay tape, delay machine. It had a function named “Modeselektor” and we thought it was a cool name for a project. Let’s call it Modeselektor. So, that’s the story.
How did the idea of using an ape as a mascot develop?
The Ape came up one day as an idea by the guy who was doing the graphic thing for us. One day, he did the artwork for a 12 inch called “Turn Deaf!” and we added The Ape in the middle. That was Gernot’s idea. On the flip side of the 12 inch there was a second picture of three apes. The ape in the middle is holding his ears and the other two apes are screaming at the ape in the middle. That was the face, which is the famous face (laughs). We like apes!
PHOTOS BY: HECTOR RIVEROLL © 2012
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