Sevensol (DE ) Kann records

Summer atmosphere, great coffee, pure house music on good sound… all these things you can get in one place: At the MUAH festival in the Czech city Brno. With great headliners Sevensol and Bender from Leipzig represented by Kann records, you won´t leave this event disappointed! C-heads is pleased to talk with Alex Neuschulz aka Sevensol about his early beginnings, Leipzig and the future of the Kann label. Enjoy this interview and see you at the MUAH!

So, Alex, how are you today?  I slept horrible. Maybe a bad dream, I don`t remember. When I woke up today I didn´t want to go out of the house.

Oh, really, do you often have nightmares?  No, most of the time I have good dreams with nice stories. Just today not. But finally I left home at 12 and the day turned out better with every hour.

Glad to hear that :-) So, as far as I know, you currently live in Leipzig. Did you grow up there or you have moved there from somewhere else?  I`m a Leipzig native, born and grew up. The same story as Bender (Dennis).

Cool. So you have been friends since childhood?  Yes, innocent schooldays. A month ago we also shared a flat for a couple of years, including our studio.

And when came the first decision to start with djing/producing together? What`s the story behind? Maybe a story a lot of DJs or producers would tell. There was a girl in our class, who was hanging out more with the older cooler guys, and one day she said, that we should join her and visit this danceclub called “Opera”. Dennis and me told our parents that we will stay the night at each others place. So, we went to the club and listened for the first time to a DJ who mixed with records and turntables. For us it was completely new and for a few weeks I thought, he just a put some effects with the records to the music. At this time there was no internet to read and learn as fast as nowadays. So we visited a recordshop and bought one record (I think it was in 1994).

Women are behind it all :-) Cool story! What was the record that you bought?  Brainchild EP on Eye Q records (hardtrance). So we started to DJ a bit in the local youth center with a couple of CD compilations and this one record and every week some new records, because it became an obsession.

Kann records Crew

I totally understand. What was your musical background from your childhood? I mean.. did you like electronic music before visiting that club in 1994?  Before this I had some CDs with electronic music but more commercial stuff like 2unlimited, Mr. Vain. Dennis was more into underground because of his cousin. He had Depeche Mode and early Sven Väth CDs. Before that I also listened to hardrock, but not that much. During your childhood you listen to what your parents listen to and in my case it was not very cool music that my mum had chosen.

And did you play any instrument or attend a musical school and get a musical education?  Nope, unfortunately.

OK, back to your begginnings. How was the musical scene in Leipzig at that time?  To be honest, we were not into the Leipzig scene. We stayed in our area.

Like private parties?  A couple of years, yes, private parties. And someday we played in a pub/club in the city centre with a band as a support DJs. And one promoter who is a kind of legend in Leipzig “eiko” came in and asked us for another gig some weeks later. I was really happy because I visited his parties. So we played, met new people, played again. Constantly playing and promoting parties in Leipzig with other girls and boys. I joined a crew called “Repertoire” who was into drum and bass. At this time my favorite music was nujazz and broken beats.

So you started as a DJ of these kinds of music?  No, this was later – around 2000 I think. I started with hardtrance, became harder. Jeff Mills, Surgeon stuff.

OK, more into techno sounds? Dennis explored house music really early, I was more into chord techno. Then the broken beats. I really loved Jazzanova sounds.

And when came the first thought of establishing a label (Kann)?  Much later when we met Jan (Map.ache). We started DJing together as Manamana and became friends. We all made beats at home and at one point as a DJ you want to realize your own record. Just to hold it in your hands with your music. So we decide to do this by ourself instead of sending promos and ringing at doors. We like it DIY, you know? It was around 2007 and in the beginning it was all about one record.

What format did you use for releases? Only vinyl and then also digital?  Both. We don`t want to be restrict by format. For us, it`s definitely vinyl but not everyone has a vinylplayer. So at the end it´s about the music.

And who is behind the artwork of the releases? I love it!  Iska Kaek is responsible for the artwork. She`s a good friend of a former room mate. She also runs a small gallery in Leipzig. And works now in the pressing plant since she met us. We are really happy to work with her.

Kann feels to me like a family thing.. how do you see the future of the label? Don`t you have any plans to open the label for unknown and undiscovered producers? Or its still gonna be a label for “the family” around?  No plans. It depends on the music. We are open for new things, but for sure we started the label to release our own tracks and we like the idea that we know all our artists personally (most of them). With the latest release we decided to invite some artists who we really respect like Efdemin, Event Tuell on one side and some young bloods on the other like Falk, who is a really young guy from Leipzig. We really like to discover new artists. It`s more interesting than looking for the chart-hot-list.

Yeah, Family Horror is a great release! But why this name? :-)  It was the name of a track which Dennis and me started and never finished and we looked for a name for the compilation. We thought it fits and has enough space.

It`s pretty cool and definitely suits. What equipment do you use for making music?  I bought a Roland 707 this year. So we use it for the hi-hats or rimshots. Then we have a Korg Polysix, old synthesizer and Ableton Live as sequencer and other things. Now it`s a bit complicated because we moved. So I have some things here and Dennis also in his new flat. We have to re-start.

I understand.. Where do you gain inspiration for making music?  This is really hard, because beside DJing I work in a recordshop. So you listen to a lot music. At the end of the day I often feel not inspired.

Really? How come?  Inspiration are things excluding the music you do. Like going into nature or holidays with your partner. I don`t feel like a musician more as a DJ who wants to create some good tracks. But not every day, you know.

Got it.. however, you stay on vinyl or do you think you switch to Traktor for instance someday?  No, I don`t. I collect vinyl for more than 15 years, why should I switch? The collection is getting bigger and non-transparent but for me as a DJ I should play records one after the other. But I use more CDs now.

Ok, let`s talk about Leipzig now. I`ve heard from other people that Leipzig is like a “small Berlin”. What do you think about this? For example, what would be your advise to a young producer who wants to move – Berlin or Leipzig?  Hmm, as young producer you can move to Leipzig and have a good time here. There`s a nice scene, familiar too. But I know it`s really slow here. So if you want to boom, maybe Berlin is the better city. I really like Berlin, but mostly not more than 2 days. I would prefer Hamburg instead. Before Kann in Leipzig there was only Moon Harbour recordings and everyone who produced, was really shy. Now it`s a good time, because the people know that it`s not so hard to start a label. But we all do also other jobs beside the Kann-thing at the moment.

I see. Tell me, what do you usually do when you want to just get off the music and relax?  Spend time with my girlfriend, she studies in another city, playing volleyball and sleep. I think I`m good at relaxing.

Which artists are blowing you away now? Now and before – DJ Koze.

OK, now a very important question for everyone who is thinking about visiting the MUAH festival – tell us, what can we expect from Sevensol & Bender at the MUAH festival?  Proper housemusic I think and some deeper technotracks and hopefully a good party. We are really looking forward.

So, see you there. Big THANKS for your time, Alex!  Thank you! It was fun.

Interview by Simona Hypsová