Thabo Getsome is a DJ who had his roots deeply in hiphop and reggae before his love of electronic music took over and became the forefront of his productions and DJ sets.
Now with a recent release ‘The Flute’ recently out on Cacao Records, we sat down with him to talk about those roots, why he made the change, and what he has coming up for us in the future…
“Take your time, find your sound”
How are you, how has the year been so far, what have been some highlights?
Pretty good. Summer in Berlin started very early. And Berlin is good, but Berlin in summer is just lovely. My musical highlight so far was to spontaneously play after Marcel Dettmann on a HYTE party at Epizode festival. Suprisingly he played all kind of old school disco stuff, so even though I was completely unprepared it was easy to jump in.
Summer is nearly here – is that good or bad for you, do you like hot weather?
Everything until 30° is perfect, if there is sea in sight even more.
Does it change the music you make and play? Do you get more open and playful when there sun is out?
I think everything influences your mood and therefore also at the same time the music you produce.
We loved your recent Ep ‘The Flute’ on Cacao Records! The groove on it especially was incredible! What was your inspiration for that particular release?
I loved the Mask Off song of Future and digged for the sample. When I found it, I instantly knew that I wanted to use it. The result is “the Flute”. You Ain´t is the product of a day at a friends studio using all his old school gear like MS10, 909, OB-6.
You have roots in hip hop and reggae – do you still listen to that stuff now? Does it influence the music you make for clubs?
Yes. At first I am a music fan, there is no genre limit to this. There is things I like and things I don´t like. And as mentioned before, I think everything influences you in one way or another. So of course does other music I listen to too.
Do you still feel you are finding your feet and your own sound in dance music? How hard has it been?
I think life is a process and so is your musical development. So I am constantly developing, changing, advancing and then changing all over.
What have been the key lessons you have learnt so far in your time?
Puh, this could go on for pages. Since I also work in the music industry for quite some time, I am of course smarter than before and believe me if I am 100% honest I can´t say that I would do it all over again. To put it as simple as possible: Take your time, find your sound, trust in what you think is right and then put all your energy behind that.
What gear do you use in the studio? Does that matter? Does it change your sound?
Really a lot of different stuff. I am always eager to get to know different gear so I try to visit as many friends in as many different studios and use their stuff 🙂 Still most essential for me is the 909.
You also run parties in Berlin, right? Tell us about them, who they are for, what sort of DJs play them…
I have been running parties for almost 10 years now and a lot of things have changed in the mean time. Right now I am focussing only on one project that is “pau_se”, which is our interpretation of a perfect house party. We have our resident Black Loops and Brame & Hamo and I play with my friend and co promoter Hakan as pau_se soundsystem. We invited guests like Mall Grab, DJ Seinfeld, Paul Woolford, Jasper James, Head High, Jeremy Underground and many more. The vibe of the party is just amazing and I love every minute of it.
What was the last record you bought that really made you go ‘wow!’?
The last one that made me really happy was:” Hird – Keep you Hird (Plej Remix)
What else have you got coming up/are you working on?
At the moment I am working on music when time allows, which is not that often at the moment to be honest. I have an EP ready, but can´t say yet where it is coming out.
Thabo Getsome’s ‘The Flute’ is out now on Cacao Records BUY
