Back in 2008 he released a phenomenal club banger called ‘Doppelgaenger’. If played today it will bring the roof down for sure.
Citizen Kain’s ‘Doppelgaenger’ is very much still alive and soon out in a 2016 version on TRAPEZ LTD. The first release in 2008 marked the beginning of Citizen Kain’s international career. Many artists have played his club banger .It’s actually a real classis already. Artists like Kolombo have been playing ‘Doppelgaenger’ again in front of a crowd of 3.000 thousands people in the beginning of 2016 …. So be ready for this phenomenal re-release.
The Dutch artist Egbert’s remix is a tour de force through what feels like a swampland. His warm but mighty baseline gives the track a massive dimension, his drummings explode like fireworks and his arrangement is as tight as a mosquito net! The EP also holds the bonus track ‘Meanwhile’ a mighty one, that connects to ‘Doppelgaenger’ in terms of stoicism very well.
So in order of this celebration, as it is a celebration, we urged to have a chat with the man himself. We really wanted to know why he wanted to make a new version of his classic. While we were at it, we got a little more in dept about his person and what’s next to expect. Enjoy the interview.
Meet Citizen Kain
Hey there. Let’s start with this one. Are you a fan of Orson Welles?
Well, I can’t tell you that I’m a fan but I really loved his film Citizen Kane.
Back in 1941 when his movie Citizen Kane was released it was seen as very innovative. Was this the way you wanted to approach the scene with your music?
No, it’s not so pretentious. The explanations of my name compared to the name of the movie are more into the double life of Rosebud, the hero of the film. When I choose the name, I was working into a small shop selling DVD and video games and in parallel I was living a lot in the nightlife, so I found my life was a bit similar to the story of the movie and I decided to change some letters and take this name.
How did it all start out for you?
I was guitar player in numerous bands of Punk Rock & Hardcore when I was teenager but at a moment my band mates was studying a lot and it was harder and harder to regularly make rehearsals, I started to go in the French Raves and discovered Techno & House, I understood that deejaying was a meaning to play music without always waiting on my mates. So I bought 2 decks and a mixer and I started to learn to make people dance and so it became a real passion …
Where you always into electronic music or did you grow up with let us say, punk or new wave or acid house from the nineties?
Not at all, I grew up with the ears stuck between bands like Joy Division, New Order, Depeche Mode, Kratfwerk as well as the Hardcore bands of the 90’s like Cro-Mags, Sick Of It All, Biohazard, Exploited, Discharge, Misfits and co … I only discovered Electronic Music, Techno and House around 1993.
Did it influence your music?
Yes of course, all the music of my childhood are big influences. I think you can feel it when you are listening my music of today, there’s always a fat sound like by example in the Hardcore bands like Biohazard. And a groovy, sometimes also melodic side like Depeche Mode.
How did you come to create the club banger ‘Doppelgaenger’? It’s still played by many and it still gets the house on fire.
To be honest, I don’t have special strategy to compose a track, I do what is in my mind when I produce it and it works or not …
What is the reason to do a rework of this phenomenal track you released already back in 2005?
Because I still love and play this track but I was very frustrated by the sound that is not very actual. When I produced this track, it was the beginning of my career and since this time I learned a lot about the sound design. So at the beginning I just wanted to rework the sound and finally I worked a little bit on it to make it more actual. I was was very happy with the result and sent it to Traum Schallplatten to know if they would be interested to release this new version and they agreed …
We can’t wait for the release as this is already one of our highlights of 2016. We think it’s going to be as massive. It will get the crowd go wild. What’s your expectation?
I already tested it in all my sets since a few months and indeed it seems that this new version is working very well. So I hope all the dj’s who like the original version will also like this new one.
Only recently you dropped another sublime EP called Meantime. This one together with Kiko. And it’s out on Noir. Why on 2 different labels (both great labels) in such a short period of time?
It has been a hazard, Noir music decided to release ‘Meantime’ for the beginning of the summer and Trapez wanted to do the same for ‘Doppelgaenger’, so we decided to do both releases over 3 weeks. But it’s true that’s a short time.
Can you give your opinion about next quote that comes from UNT records label head John Norman in an interview we had with him recently?
“A lot of people in dance music stay so heavily focused on what’s next that they very quickly loose interest in what is happening right now. This creates a scenario where artists feel they need to be releasing 2-3 tracks a week to stay relevant. As a result, it doesn’t stay around very long and there isn’t time for a track to gain a following, or to gain any recognition.”
I totally agree what he said, he’s right. Artists often release too much tracks in a short period of time and it’s not a good thing. They need to keep their tracks alive and promote them correctly. Same indeed in my case for ‘Doppelgaenger’ and Meantime. As I told you it’s a hazard and I respected what the labels wanted. I don’t like to do this, usually I only release an EP every 2 months. Often, artists release a lot of tracks at the same time, have a short moment of glory and suddenly disappear … One day label boss asked me, what do you prefer? To be a marathon runner or a 100 meters sprinter? I choose the second option …
What’s next for you? Touring this summer, already working on the next release, taking a break , …?
Some others releases are planned for the end of summer. I think I will stop producing new tracks during this period because I’m touring a lot. Also while I’m not on tour I would like to concentrate on my live act that I’m currently preparing and I plan to be ready for the end of the year. Furthermore I will also do some remixes …
What’s your all-time favorite track (any genre)?
If not music, what would the alternate chosen career be for you?
I would love to work with animals, specially studying all what’s happen in the sea ! I’m really passionate by the sea world
Happy or grumpy in the morning? What can change your mood (good or bad)?
I always wake up happy ! Bad news of course can change my mood, but Iim usually a happy guy, I love my life and have no reasons to be grumpy.
Thank you very much!
Thank you very much to you too and greetings to your team.
Follow Citizen Kain’s journey on
https://soundcloud.com/citizen-kain »
https://www.facebook.com/citizenkainmusic »
https://twitter.com/citizen_kain »
https://www.instagram.com/citizenkain »
http://www.citizenkain.com/ »