Kotelett is one half of Kotelett & Zadak, the idiosyncratic house duo who have clocked up releases on respected imprints including Katermukke, Selador and Natura Viva. Recording solo for his latest single, Kotelett now returns to Poker Flat Recordings.
Connect with Kotelett on Soundcloud | Instagram
Thanks for talking to us today – how’s the year been treating you so far?
The year is off to a good start. It’s been a bit calmer and less stressful than at the end of last year. However, I’ve been working on several different music projects, which has been a bit overwhelming.
First of all, we want to get to know you “from the beginning”. How did your history with music begin?
Early in school, I played the trumpet. But when puberty hit, it became pretty uncool, so I started listening and collecting music, recording songs from the radio onto cassette tapes. I always carried some tapes with me in case there was a chance to play them. Around the age of 18, we started throwing parties, and someone had to DJ. I ended up playing records the whole night, and eventually, my friends and I founded a DJ collective. After a while, my friends left, so now I’m the only DJ survivor, haha. Producing music came a few years later, I started with Ableton 4, I think.
We know you’re a big fan of music by The Undertones, Rammstein and The Doors – do you take influence from artists like this in the music you make, or are they more of a home listening experience for you?
Who told you that? I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of The Undertones, and Rammstein is more of an ‘interesting’ project to me. However, The Doors have had a significant influence on my music. I find the trippy mood they create in some of their tracks to be fascinating and impressive.
How important is harnessing and evoking emotion in the music you create?
That’s the main goal, sometimes obvious, sometimes more subtle. But first of all, it has to evoke me in the process, I don’t calculate emotions. That could probably arouse the fictive listening audience.
How does it feel to be back on Poker Flat with your new EP? Were they the first label you had in mind for it?
Yes, it was the first label in my mind. I’m a big fan since the beginning of the label, Poker Flat is one of the most stable institutions in our music scene. The quality level of the releases is always high, and Steve Bug’s music taste is brilliant, which makes Poker Flat the perfect home for me as a solo artist.
What does your current studio set up look like? Lots of hardware, or are you mainly ‘out of the box’ type producers?
I do all in the box, but there is always 1 or 2 Hardware synth that I use. I like two hands on the machine, the result is mostly more surprising and organic than twisting the knobs with a mouse.
What should we be looking out for from you in the next few months?
I’m working on my own label imprint, let’s see how fast I will be with that, and I started a second project ‘Almost Falling’ with a female singer. It’s a wider range of electronic music, not so much 4 to the floor.
What is the best advice you have ever received as an artist?
Don´t try to copy others, create your own style.
Anything else you’d like to tell us…?
Lastly, I just want to encourage everyone to let go and enjoy themselves on the dance floor. Switch off your screens and immerse yourself in the music, be in the moment.
Thank you.