Innovative German dance duo Modeselektor have spoken of how they “paid in blood” producing new album Moderat in collaboration with electronic whiz kid Apparat.
Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary quickly won praise in the dance underground for their mischievous fusion of disparate sounds as Modeselektor, and they garnered wider attention after releasing critically acclaimed 2007 second album Happy Birthday.
The pair returned to Scotland on Friday for a sold-out show at The Arches as part of the Glasgow Film and Music Festival, teaming up with visual design collective - and fellow Berliners - Pfadfinderei for a special audio and visual spectacular.
“Collaborating is not the right word, but we play with them together,” said Bronsert as they relaxed before the performance. “When we started making music they started making visuals; now we are touring with big bands, and they make commercials for big car companies, but we are still a crew together.”
Buzz is already spreading about their new project with Apparat under the combined moniker of Moderat, the German trio recording a self-titled debut album to be released on April 20. It’s a considered step away from the more playful nature of Happy Birthday, incorporating the more subdued tones of Apparat’s own work.
“It’s totally different music. The idea and the artwork, the photos we did and the music, the show and everything is different,” Bronsert explained when asked about how the two records compare.
“It’s not Apparat and it’s not Modeselektor. We had big fights in the studio and it is a collaboration. We paid with our own blood. It was really a tough job to make this record. Three big egos in one room, it takes a long time and a lot of words.”
“Sometimes you split it up,” added Szary. “Okay, I go back to the Modeselektor studio, I can’t anymore!”
Moderat is set to be released with a limited edition DVD produced by Pfadfinderei, with the trio going on a series of shows throughout the summer.
“We will go on tour from May until September, all over the world, and we have a huge stage set-up with the Pfadfinderei guys, they made a stage design with LEDs and visuals,” Bronsert said. “It’s so exciting, it’s too much for us at the moment.”
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