{"id":6969,"date":"2015-03-03T13:34:05","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T12:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deephouselondon.com\/?p=6969"},"modified":"2015-05-14T22:43:31","modified_gmt":"2015-05-14T20:43:31","slug":"exclusive-interview-oliver-koletzi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/exclusive-interview-oliver-koletzi\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive Interview: Oliver Koletzki"},"content":{"rendered":"

Berlin-based DJ\/producer Oliver Koletzki is a man who\u2019s been at the forefront of the contemporary house scene for his some time \u2013 even if it came as some surprise to us that he\u2019s fast approaching his 40th birthday. Mind you, that\u2019s a good thing, and is probably attributable to the modern textures that abound on his Stil vor Talent label more than anything else. Indeed, Koletzki\u2019s not in any sort of rush to calm down either, and his latest EP, the brilliant She Wants Acid \u2013 a collab with fellow SVT man, Niko Schwind \u2013 is indicative of the fact – check out one of the tracks from that EP over on Deep House Amsterdam<\/a>. Here we caught up with Oliver to talk about his year so far, his future plans and life at the label\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

How\u2019s winter been for you so far? Exciting? Stressful?<\/strong>
\nI spent the whole of January in Australia touring, so it\u2019s been pretty good thus far. We premiered my new live act there together with Niko Schwind \u2013 Koletzki & Schwind. Exciting times indeed.<\/p>\n

Have you broken your new year\u2019s resolutions yet then? What were they?<\/strong>
\nAs I turned 39 this year, I\u2019d like to take care of things I never got round to in my 40th year. That is taking a driver\u2019s license and learning how to ski. I had my first theory lesson last Monday and am going skiing next week.<\/p>\n

So where are you at now with your music? How are things going at the label?<\/strong>
\nI wouldn\u2019t say I\u2019ve reached an ultimate goal yet, I\u2019m still hungry. In the last years I have focused on pop oriented music, which gave me a little more exposure at times than I would have liked to. Currently I\u2019m starting to play harder, more techno leaning tracks again, which will influence my new productions. The label is blossoming \u2013 we\u2019ve reached our 150th release and have been running for 10 years now.<\/p>\n

What do you look for in producers looking to get their music signed to the label?<\/strong>
\nStil vor Talent, as the name suggests, aims to find talented producers with individual styles.<\/p>\n

[youtube id=”ripw3rdr6kw” width=”620″ height=”360″]<\/p>\n

How long did it take before the label got to a stage where you considered it quite \u2018successful\u2019?<\/strong>
\nFor me, the label was successful the moment we managed to actually pay the artists their first royalties, or the moment when someone asked whether they can wear our logo on a t-shirt, or the first time a club requested a label night. It isn\u2019t about the profit you make or the position in a readers\u2019 poll that measures success. It\u2019s about the unforgettable moments we all shared together.<\/p>\n

How do you stay motivated musically? What\u2019s influencing you a lot these days?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m still inspired by the wonderful city I live in, Berlin, with its incredible nightlife. After 20 years of DJing the motivation has stayed the same: the people on dance floors and the kids who buy and support my music.<\/p>\n

Has working with Niko Schwind given you a renewed focus in the studio?<\/strong>
\nDefinitely. I\u2019m a great fan of getting input from others in the studio. Niko comes from a house background and I think that our styles and the way we work has created something entirely fresh.<\/p>\n

What does he bring to the production side of things that was missing for you before?<\/strong>
\nNiko is great at drum programming and arrangement.<\/p>\n

Do you purposefully try and challenge yourself with your sound? Or are you at a stage where you\u2019re very confident with your skills?<\/strong>
\nI always try to set myself new challenges, but I\u2019m also confident that I have the skills to produce what I want to.<\/p>\n

[youtube id=”EGWaxQVID9M” width=”620″ height=”360″]<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the next direction for you as a producer? Would you ever consider deviating away from house and techno?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019d love to do a hip hop or trip hop album some time. As I said, I am currently really into harder stuff again. And I feel I\u2019ve already covered quite a lot of ground on my past albums, which incorporate all kinds of influences outside of house and techno.<\/p>\n

Do you feel then house and techno scenes are in a good place right now? What would you change about them if you could?<\/strong>
\nI reckon electronic music is healthy at the moment. I\u2019m a little worried about ridiculously high DJ fees in EDM and that electronic music is becoming a little commercial at the moment with all this saxophone stuff playing on the radio.<\/p>\n

So can you tell us a bit about your latest, She Wants Acid? How did it come about and what was the idea for it?<\/strong>
\nNiko Schwind and I didn\u2019t go into the studio with a thorough concept, we just knew that we wanted to go a little harder and faster than before. Making the tracks, we always had in the back of our minds that we\u2019ll be presenting them live as part of Koletzki & Schwind. So we just rolled a few spliffs and let the vibes flow.<\/p>\n

So do you think the scene changed much since you first became involved?<\/strong>
\nIt has definitely grown a lot. In Berlin, there are open airs now everywhere in the summer \u2013 every weekend there are plenty of parties. Moreover, it seems as if DJing is just another hobby these days.<\/p>\n

And what\u2019s next with you and the label that we can watch out for?<\/strong>
\nThis year I\u2019ll start work on my sixth studio album, which will be released in 2016. My label Stil vor Talent is celebrating its 10th anniversary, so you can look forward to a big tour and a great compilation. Moreover, we\u2019ll be releasing albums by HVOB, Teenage Mutants and Dan Caster.<\/p>\n

Koletzki & Schwind\u2019s She Wants Acid is out now on Stil Vor Talent, pick it up here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Facebook<\/a><\/span>Soundcloud<\/a><\/span>Stil vor Talent<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Berlin-based DJ\/producer Oliver Koletzki is a man who\u2019s been at the forefront of the contemporary house scene for his some time \u2013 even if it came as some surprise to us that he\u2019s fast approaching his 40th birthday. Mind you, that\u2019s a good thing, and is probably attributable to the modern textures that abound on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":7019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3971],"tags":[4444,4445],"class_list":["post-6969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","category-interviews-london","tag-oliver-koletzi","tag-she-wants-acid","post_format-post-format-audio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}