Interview Deja-Move

Seconda release con lo pseudonimo Deja-Move per Andreas Bingel aka Aaron Bingle, segnato da una sorta di ritorno al passato: elementi hip hop fatti aderire ad andamenti soul, basslines reaggae che si adagiano su seriche vocalita' femminee, il lo-fi idealmente compenetrato nell'hi-fi. Il risultato e' davvero notevole e richiama alla mente molti ascolti dal passato, per l'appunto. Ne abbiamo parlato col simpatico ideatore che ha risposto alle nostre curiosita' da un locale della citta' in cui risiede e lavora da tempo, l'affascinante e dinamica Amburgo. Deja-Move "Remember The Past" (Audiopharm/SPV, Distrib.Audioglobe) 01.Intro 02.Warmin' 03.Affected feat.Lizz Fields 04.Stay With Me (Sunshining Mix) 05.Get Down 06.More Than Average People 07.Fresh 2 07.Brach Interlude 09.Further High 10.Never Again 11.One 12.Keep On Searching 13.First Summerlove 14....to the Sunshine (1973) 15.Outro

Hi Andreas. How are you? Hey, thanks, I´m doing fine…. just sitting in one of Hamburg's nicest oriental coffeespots, answering your questions.

I'm just relaxing listening to your last album. First of all, could you explain the reason why you entitled it "Remember The Past"? Yes. I had that strong urge to give an impression about the importance that the past has in our lives. The way you already walked is who you are. A lot of people just try to cut the past and want to forget it, because they made a bad experience, instead of understanding that this is a part of you. It´s a typical problem of our consuming society - the old is bad, the new is good. I disagree. I always try to see the whole picture, including my roots. Musicaly I wanted to express the whole picture of the "Deja-Move" project. The record has styles from "Hip-Hop" and "Downbeat", over "Easy Listening", "Soul", "Reggae" up to "Loungy" and "Electronica" elements in it… All is kept in the dress of the "Deja-Move" sound, it´s a journey, a honour for that way I went and music that influenced me. I wasn´t all about doing something totally new. I did a development to a songwriting orientated, nice listenable downbeat album that shows up the whole range.

It's strange to notice that you're following the opposite path of artists and musicians (e.g.Zero 7) which started from the so-called "international sound" and now trying to come back to their musical roots in a certain sense. Funny. To be honest I never thought about that as a strategy… I just started to work out of my personal microcosmos on music that made my heart feel happy. Back in ´95 to 2000 I was a singer/songwriter, running a spokenword project called the "Ich-Zwerg". The language was German. Signed to "Mercury Records", I travelled with my band all over Germany, played a lot of gigs and I sung about feelings and stories out of my live. From there I came to a point where more and more parts filled the picture of a puzzle that seems to become "one" the longer I looked at it. For me it is a natural process to grow step by step. I guess I grew projectwise. There came a time when I wanted to get in touch with the world, not one nation, as I didn´t feel too much being just a German, than more a world citizen. That´s why I started "Deja-Move" and "Aaron Bingle", worked on "Downbeats" and "Electronica". I just started it the same way than the project before. I´m very thankful about the releases and the experience out of the last years with my different international projects that made me see a bigger picture. Released music on a wide range of labels such like "Wagram", "Universal France", "Watermusic Records / U.S.A." and many more. This all is mirrored in the sound. I´m growing from the inner to the outside. Maybe I´ll end up understanding that the personal identification is the most important thing to do for an artist and will do only roots music again?… It´s a way.

It's quite interesting the way you combine tropical flavours with more obscure atmosphere in tracks such as Affected. Any source of inspiration? No, not a special source of inspiration, more a story… I had a pet, a bird for a long time, he was screaming on every recording I did. He just became happy when he listened to music and since I really liked this bird and just could not make him stop screaming, I started to integrate him in the records, he is on every longplayer now… Also it is a real nice technique to include some atmospheres in music as this brings you associative closer to the point where the music emotionally should happen. It makes the sound more interesting and thicker. A lot of tracks uses atmospheres.

What's your favourite track in Remember The Past? Why? I guess "Stay With Me" is my favourite track on the record. Just because. I like the symbiose of styles and I like the lyrics "Jantey" has been singing on it. But I think that "Affected" feat. Lizz Fields is a very strong track also.

Which is your beloved audio device in Octopuss studios? :) Can´t say that, love all of them… as the most beloved device is always the one I´m actually working with in that moment. Maybe the most beloved gear ever was an old "Wersi" organ I had for years in my studio. This organ was able to give an unbelievable range of sounds and had a very strong influence on the first "Deja-Move" record. For now..: sometimes it is the "Virus", sometimes the "Roland Space Echo" or my "Fender Rhodes" piano…. It really depends. My studio keeps on changing and changing. It´s alive… it´s completely been changing about 4 times now.

What's your relation with time in general? There should be more time… way more. I can´t get everything done I wish to do. There is so much I want to do musically that I get troubled with myself sometimes, as I can´t decide in what order I want to do things, plus there is a private life. And everything is just a moment. I mean I could swear that when we have to leave this planet, we wonder what has happened, because we will have the feeling that we just arrived a minute ago.

People criticizing relaxed downtempo music generally argue that such a style has the same function of an arabesque on a wall or a carpet in a living room... Only ornaments for interiors in your viewpoint? There are a lot of moments and situations that would not have been happening without this kind of music. It has such a strong impact as any other kind of music and vibe. Every music style can become just a function if it is produced without meaning and faith. The world would be a poorer place without the early producitons from bands like "Air", "Nightmares on Wax" or "Underwolves". Depending on the deepness of the head behind the vibe/production it can give an impact that brings the listener on the same level of depth. Relaxed downtempo is one colour of the spectrum live gives us. There are times when you want to go out to party …then this style of music is probably not hitting the point. But it is definitively hitting the point when you come home and want to enjoy a relaxed time with people you love and just want to feel comfortable with…

Any suggestion in order to better appreciate your record? I guess the order comes by itself, when you listen to the record. But I never tried to listen to it under the shower… wonder what might happen then?

Apart from Deja-Move, are you working on other projects? Oh yes, right now there is happening a lot with another project called "Channel Two", together with my L.A. based partner Terence Yoshiaki (ex founding member of the Black Eyed Peas) we are just about to release and promote our first longplayer "Artful Time Reduction". Channel Two hits a symbios between "American Soul Music" and "European Electro Music", we got features from artists such like Patrice, Apl. D (B.E.P.), Ming (Spookes), Tré Hardson (Slim Kid Tre/Pharcyde) on our record. Watch out for this name, as we plan to do a lot of activities in the future. Also… I keep on working on new floorish material I can involve in my Dj sets with my "Electronica" project "Aaron Bingle". There will be some compilation releases this summer on Stereo Deluxe, Clubstar…and so on. I´m always working on 3 projects at least, as I want to express a bigger range than one project allows.

Are you going to visit Italy? Any possibility to see you perform here? I was in Florence some time ago, loved the city…right now I´m working with my DJ-setup, playing regular gigs over here and would love to do a small European tour with the project this summer. So maybe I find a chance to come in Juli to Italy, which would be great! In the long run I´d love so much to do some live-shows with a band again. I´ll built this up step by step from the Dj thing…