FRI., DECEMBER 07, 2007
2007 Innovators Q&A: Apparat
by Andy Battaglia
Apparat — known to his parents as Sascha Ring — has played a supporting role in the electronic-music scene for several years now, first as a producer of uniquely melodic IDM and later (and most notably) as a collaborator with Ellen Allien on the epochal album Orchestra of Bubbles. That collaboration introduced Apparat to ears outside the club scene, and this year's Walls went even further in realizing his expansive sound. The album wanders between mesmerizing atmospherics and songs that play like, well, "songs" — with strong vocal melodies and swells of strings and guitars.
eMusic spoke to Apparat by phone at his home in Berlin.
What did you set out to do differently with Walls than with records you've made in the past?
I didn't really "start" working on it at any point — it's mostly a collection of songs I made over a long period of time. I just made music from time to time and was collecting sounds and so there were loads of ideas on my hard-drive. At some point, a friend of mine said, "Hey dude, you have to release this music or else you will never make an album again!" I was a little bit afraid that it wouldn't go together because it wasn't really conceptual, but in the end I think it works, because of the order of the tracks and the selection, as a sort of homogenic album.
How many tracks did you have to pick from?
They were mostly ideas and short sketches, 70 of them or something. Lately I've lacked a little bit of discipline; whenever I had to finish something I would go and start a new track, which is not a good idea if you want to actually make a record. The sound of [Walls] is different because I had gotten tired of synthesizers and electronic instruments. I got more into recording sounds and then messing around with them later. It was a more direct and intuitive — is that a word? — approach than sitting there and programming synthesizers the whole time. I've gotten into micing things and doing real hand work in the studio.
How was the process different than when you worked with Ellen Allien on Orchestra of Bubbles?
Before I did this thing with Ellen I always thought I wouldn't be able to actually sit with someone in a studio and collaborate. I always told Ellen, "Hey, we have to exchange ideas. You work in your studio and I'll work in mine." But she just came, every fucking day [laughs], and we worked on it a lot. When I was sitting there, I was in charge with the mouse, but she was telling me what to do to arrange the tracks. Because I lack discipline sometimes, it was cool to have somebody tell me what to do. I got so used to it that I actually felt kind of lonely when we finished, and I changed my mind about my whole way of making music — of being an "artistic" electronic musician in a studio, completely alone. That's why I've started playing with a band now.
I read that you've been touring behind Walls with a full band. How is it going?
It's important because I've never really had a band in my life, so this is my first try. It took a little while before we actually became a band. We had to work on the whole concept of how we'd do it and then practice and play a lot to get good. Now, after 20 shows or so, it actually sounds like a band. We just played two shows this weekend, in Istanbul and Moscow, and it was really, really cool. A problem was that I play club shows, with just me and a laptop, and then band shows, which is more like the album — "listening" music. The first shows we played in the wrong context, at electronic parties, and people were confused and expecting something else. Now we just play real concerts: we play at 9:00 PM, people come for a "concert," and everybody's happy.
I've never really made techno. I tried with Ellen, but it came out sounding like a different thing.
Will you tour the U.S. with the band?
I would like to but it's so tough, sitting in a minivan and driving nine hours a day. If there were any way to be able to afford doing that in a comfortable way I would. But I don't know if I want to do the complete rock 'n' roll thing because I'm kind of spoiled now. [As an electronic artist] I have flights and nice hotels and stuff, and it's hard to go back.
On your web site you mention playing "rave" sets as well as band shows. Did you grow up going to raves?
Totally. I'm from Easy Germany, and when the Wall came down all the electronic music instantly came over the border to our little town [Quedlinburg]. The cool thing was we had all these Russian military bases that were abandoned then, so West German people would come over, put a sound-system in, and show us how to throw parties. I started DJing really hard stuff, almost gabba music, and did that for a few years. At some point I got tired because it kept on repeating, the music and the drugs and all this rave shit. I decided that wasn't going to be my future and escaped to Berlin. But I was a real rave kid, and it was really cool. We were setting up sound-systems everywhere, sometimes in the woods.
Did you grow up playing instruments?
My dad was in a band, which was a funny thing in East Germany because you were being watched and weren't allowed to play everything. I didn't figure that out when I was young, but my dad told me later that they got in trouble for playing a Beatles song or something like that. People weren't really musically educated in East Germany because music wasn't really available. You could receive some radio stations, but if you were living in a far corner, you couldn't get anything. That obviously changed when the Wall came down. But I went to my dad's gigs as a kid and was always sitting on the drum kit, so I learned how to play drums and went to music school starting when I was 6 for eight years. Then techno came and I was like, "Hmm, why do I need drums?"
It's an extremely varied album in terms of sound and song-structure. Do you feel like that's going on a lot around you in electronic-music, or not enough?
If you live in Berlin, you don't really have the feeling that that's happening. The city has a lot going on, but somehow it's happening in a very small range of music. You go out to four clubs a night and you might be listening to the same records everywhere, because everyone listens to minimal techno. Then again, I have all these friends around here who are kind of tired of the basic concept of four-to-the-floor beats and stuff. That music has been around quite a while. I'm still kind of young, but I started DJing 13 years ago and was listening to techno all the time. Now, at home I would never listen to it, and when I'm at a club I have to be in the right mood to enjoy it. It's natural for people to get tired and start experimenting. I could never do "techno" because, for me, sitting in the studio and making dance music is a weird thing. I don't feel what it's about when I'm sitting down. That's why I've never really made techno. I tried with Ellen, but it came out sounding like a different thing.
Walls was mixed in Chicago. Why did you go there and what do you feel like came out of it?
It was kind of the same reason I prefer working with other people at this point. At some point you can't even hear what's going on in a song because you are too deep inside, so you might need somebody else to tell you what to do, especially when it comes to mixing. I met Josh [Telefon Tel Aviv's Josh Eustis] at the Mutek festival in Mexico, at an after-party where we were just sitting there and drinking. When I told him my problem he said, "Well, just come on over and I'll mix it for you." So that's what I did. He showed a lot of respect and didn't really change too much, but there was a big benefit from his sound and his console. And I got addicted to Coca-Cola! I had never tried that stuff before.
What surprised you about the album after it was all finished?
When it was finished I wasn't sure about it, because it's really hard for me to say "That's it!" I thought maybe it wouldn't do well, but then it got this massive press feedback, at least here, and I thought "OK, maybe this will be kind of a big thing." Now it's the biggest-selling record that [the Berlin label] Shitkatapult ever did. And now since I've been playing the songs with a band, it's all different. I started as a techno DJ, and playing a rave set in a club you are so anonymous. But now when I go onstage and people start screaming, it's weird. That's still always a surprise. It's always like, "Cool — so many people care!"
The press release for Walls mentions it being a good "driving record." What's the best drive for it?
[Laughs.] That's a good question, because I don't even have a car. I don't like cars. I hate driving.
eMusic spoke to Apparat by phone at his home in Berlin.
What did you set out to do differently with Walls than with records you've made in the past?
I didn't really "start" working on it at any point — it's mostly a collection of songs I made over a long period of time. I just made music from time to time and was collecting sounds and so there were loads of ideas on my hard-drive. At some point, a friend of mine said, "Hey dude, you have to release this music or else you will never make an album again!" I was a little bit afraid that it wouldn't go together because it wasn't really conceptual, but in the end I think it works, because of the order of the tracks and the selection, as a sort of homogenic album.
How many tracks did you have to pick from?
They were mostly ideas and short sketches, 70 of them or something. Lately I've lacked a little bit of discipline; whenever I had to finish something I would go and start a new track, which is not a good idea if you want to actually make a record. The sound of [Walls] is different because I had gotten tired of synthesizers and electronic instruments. I got more into recording sounds and then messing around with them later. It was a more direct and intuitive — is that a word? — approach than sitting there and programming synthesizers the whole time. I've gotten into micing things and doing real hand work in the studio.
How was the process different than when you worked with Ellen Allien on Orchestra of Bubbles?
Before I did this thing with Ellen I always thought I wouldn't be able to actually sit with someone in a studio and collaborate. I always told Ellen, "Hey, we have to exchange ideas. You work in your studio and I'll work in mine." But she just came, every fucking day [laughs], and we worked on it a lot. When I was sitting there, I was in charge with the mouse, but she was telling me what to do to arrange the tracks. Because I lack discipline sometimes, it was cool to have somebody tell me what to do. I got so used to it that I actually felt kind of lonely when we finished, and I changed my mind about my whole way of making music — of being an "artistic" electronic musician in a studio, completely alone. That's why I've started playing with a band now.
I read that you've been touring behind Walls with a full band. How is it going?
It's important because I've never really had a band in my life, so this is my first try. It took a little while before we actually became a band. We had to work on the whole concept of how we'd do it and then practice and play a lot to get good. Now, after 20 shows or so, it actually sounds like a band. We just played two shows this weekend, in Istanbul and Moscow, and it was really, really cool. A problem was that I play club shows, with just me and a laptop, and then band shows, which is more like the album — "listening" music. The first shows we played in the wrong context, at electronic parties, and people were confused and expecting something else. Now we just play real concerts: we play at 9:00 PM, people come for a "concert," and everybody's happy.
Will you tour the U.S. with the band?
I would like to but it's so tough, sitting in a minivan and driving nine hours a day. If there were any way to be able to afford doing that in a comfortable way I would. But I don't know if I want to do the complete rock 'n' roll thing because I'm kind of spoiled now. [As an electronic artist] I have flights and nice hotels and stuff, and it's hard to go back.
On your web site you mention playing "rave" sets as well as band shows. Did you grow up going to raves?
Totally. I'm from Easy Germany, and when the Wall came down all the electronic music instantly came over the border to our little town [Quedlinburg]. The cool thing was we had all these Russian military bases that were abandoned then, so West German people would come over, put a sound-system in, and show us how to throw parties. I started DJing really hard stuff, almost gabba music, and did that for a few years. At some point I got tired because it kept on repeating, the music and the drugs and all this rave shit. I decided that wasn't going to be my future and escaped to Berlin. But I was a real rave kid, and it was really cool. We were setting up sound-systems everywhere, sometimes in the woods.
Did you grow up playing instruments?
My dad was in a band, which was a funny thing in East Germany because you were being watched and weren't allowed to play everything. I didn't figure that out when I was young, but my dad told me later that they got in trouble for playing a Beatles song or something like that. People weren't really musically educated in East Germany because music wasn't really available. You could receive some radio stations, but if you were living in a far corner, you couldn't get anything. That obviously changed when the Wall came down. But I went to my dad's gigs as a kid and was always sitting on the drum kit, so I learned how to play drums and went to music school starting when I was 6 for eight years. Then techno came and I was like, "Hmm, why do I need drums?"
It's an extremely varied album in terms of sound and song-structure. Do you feel like that's going on a lot around you in electronic-music, or not enough?
If you live in Berlin, you don't really have the feeling that that's happening. The city has a lot going on, but somehow it's happening in a very small range of music. You go out to four clubs a night and you might be listening to the same records everywhere, because everyone listens to minimal techno. Then again, I have all these friends around here who are kind of tired of the basic concept of four-to-the-floor beats and stuff. That music has been around quite a while. I'm still kind of young, but I started DJing 13 years ago and was listening to techno all the time. Now, at home I would never listen to it, and when I'm at a club I have to be in the right mood to enjoy it. It's natural for people to get tired and start experimenting. I could never do "techno" because, for me, sitting in the studio and making dance music is a weird thing. I don't feel what it's about when I'm sitting down. That's why I've never really made techno. I tried with Ellen, but it came out sounding like a different thing.
Walls was mixed in Chicago. Why did you go there and what do you feel like came out of it?
It was kind of the same reason I prefer working with other people at this point. At some point you can't even hear what's going on in a song because you are too deep inside, so you might need somebody else to tell you what to do, especially when it comes to mixing. I met Josh [Telefon Tel Aviv's Josh Eustis] at the Mutek festival in Mexico, at an after-party where we were just sitting there and drinking. When I told him my problem he said, "Well, just come on over and I'll mix it for you." So that's what I did. He showed a lot of respect and didn't really change too much, but there was a big benefit from his sound and his console. And I got addicted to Coca-Cola! I had never tried that stuff before.
What surprised you about the album after it was all finished?
When it was finished I wasn't sure about it, because it's really hard for me to say "That's it!" I thought maybe it wouldn't do well, but then it got this massive press feedback, at least here, and I thought "OK, maybe this will be kind of a big thing." Now it's the biggest-selling record that [the Berlin label] Shitkatapult ever did. And now since I've been playing the songs with a band, it's all different. I started as a techno DJ, and playing a rave set in a club you are so anonymous. But now when I go onstage and people start screaming, it's weird. That's still always a surprise. It's always like, "Cool — so many people care!"
The press release for Walls mentions it being a good "driving record." What's the best drive for it?
[Laughs.] That's a good question, because I don't even have a car. I don't like cars. I hate driving.
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