It’s been a very busy last couple of years for Florian Kruse. After a number of years perfecting his studio skills in Hamburg, Florian finally burst onto the deep house scene in 2007 with a number of releases on Om Records, Heya Hifi and SlipNslide. Collaborations with Nils Nurnberg and Stel followed in 2008, as well as a number of solo releases that found their way onto forward thinking dance floors the world over.
Florian’s expert skill in infusing dub influenced melodies with the more conventional deep and tech-house grooves have found his production skills and DJ sets in high demand, with his recent remix of Scope’s ‘This Rhythm’ on NRK holding a top ten place in the Beatport deep house chart for six weeks. This feat was crowned with a headlining set at the Cocoon Club in Frankfurt at the end of January this year.
We managed to grab five minutes from Florian’s busy schedule ahead of his Leeds debut at Cognosco to discover what has been making him tick over the last couple of years.
Hi Florian! We are all very excited to catch you playing at Cognosco on the 26th. Leeds has a reputation in the UK as the clubbing capital of the North; are you looking forward to your debut in the city?
Oh yes, I’m really excited! I met Steve Jones from Leeds last year at Sonar (Barcelona) and he told me something about the club scene. It sounds all good and promising!!! I also read an article in the DJ Mag last week; Leeds – I’m coming! Hahaha....
You were recently booked to play Sven Vath’s Cocoon Club in Frankfurt... surely one of the greatest accolades a DJ can receive! How was this for you?
That was amazing! My studio buddy Nils Nuernberg and I had a good time in Frankfurt, we played with Motorcitysoul’s C-Rock and met some guys from Hed Kandi. We were really pleased to play at Cocoon and totally enjoyed it.
Your releases have been championed in house and techno clubs the world over in the past couple of years. What releases and remixes do you have in the pipeline?
Lately I’m doin’ a lot together with Nils Nuernberg. We are joining forces and sharing a studio in Hamburg. We are pretty busy at the moment and have a long list of remixes and originals upcoming. I’m so proud of the new releases for example 'Drenched’ on Kolour Recordings including remixes by Motorcitysoul, Kris Wadsworth & Don Melon and the remix we did on Will Saul’s Simple Records. We have an 2 track EP upcoming on Slip N Slide including remixes by DJ Sneak & Scope and a lovely release on Noir Music called 'Lovers n Fighters' coming soon with a fantastic floor filler remix by DJ Madskillz. We also did a remix for Santos and there are a few other things coming. We have no reason to slow down... hehe ;-)
Which artist’s productions find their way into your record bag? Which track is really doing it for you on the dance floor at the moment?
Well, there are a few good artists around. Really hard to mention names here. I’m so flashed by the track of Hermanez called 'Soms’ at the moment, this one is massive for the maintime. For the warm up set Shur I Kan’s upcoming release on Dark Energy really hits me, especially the track 'Joe’s Joint’. Just brilliant!
And what is your favourite record of all time? Do you have a ’never fails’ record that always keeps its place in your bag?
Yeah, there is one tune from Irfane called 'Just A Lil’ Lovin’, I don't have this in my bag anymore, but this record was in there for a long, long time!!! It’s such a positive vibe and a secret weapon for special hours ;-)
You’re most well known and respected for your house productions; how did you get into the electronic music scene initially?
My older brother is Vincenzo, so I've always grown up with house music ! I’m still his biggest fan ;-)
In the UK, Germany (especially Berlin!) is known as almost some kind of house/techno ‘Mecca’. How do you feel the UK compares to your home scene?
You are right, Germany is known for good electronic music and we have a big scene especially in Berlin, but I think that the UK, for example, London, can compete with it. You have so many big labels in the UK and a few good clubs. It’s funny, but I’m actually working more with international than German labels and most of them are coming from the UK (Simple, NRK, Slip N Slide, Urban Torque...).
What has been your favourite gig over the last 12 months?
Cocoon, for sure, but I also enjoyed last year the party at Sonar at 'La Terrazza’. I played with Marc Romboy, Shur I Kan and Mike Monday, that was big fun...
And finally; what does 2010 hold for Florian Kruse?
I’m goin’ to marry this year. I wanna play live’ and hopefully see many places in the world I’ve not been to.
Read the Interview here at Ugroove.TV
1 comment:
Ignore the fact that the interview says 'by Pete Mad'... I sent him the interview and he has had the cheek to try and pass it off as his own!
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