We’re delighted to have the German duo COEO on decks for our Select Cut series this week! With releases on imprints such as Toy Tonics, Madhouse Records and Lagaffe Tales just to name a few, the lads are fast building a top notch rep. They took time from their busy schedule to sit down and have a chat with us too. They shared with us their thoughts about the vinyl format, their musical background and lots more. While you’re readin’ the full interview below treat yourself with the tape they provide us today. Enjoy 🙂

WWD: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us guys! How are you doing today?

We’re fine, thanks! Nice to e-meet you!

WWD: You have frequently released on the Toy Tonics imprint, how did that relationship start? And how have you built on that?

We’ve been following TT for some time and when we realised that they were located in Munich we felt a need to get in contact with them. A few weeks later we had an USB flash drive full of unsigned material and met Manuel Kim (TT Co-Head) in front of one of Munich’s best clubs “Charlie”. Well, that’s how it started. In general we really like the label and especially the guys behind it- great musicians and Djs with a very professional attitude and great taste in music. We think we are in good hands… 😉

WWD: Vinyls are a big time again, do you feel pressure releasing music on the medium?

Not really. If you want to make quality music, it’s not about the medium on which it’s released.
But it’s nice to see vinyl experiencing this renaissance.

WWD: This is a topic that intrigues us at the moment – the lasting value of a track or a composition in electronic music seems to be diminishing by the second in terms of listener consumption. As a an artist how do you view this situation?

That’s a difficult question. The digital age has a lot of advantages. One of them is that everyone is able to publish music, no matter if he’s signed on a label or how many followers he or she has. On the other hand artists flood the market with so many new stuff that obviously not everyone delivers this high-end quality tracks that should be published. In the end it’s part of an evolutionary process that we have to go through. It’s pretty likely that the best music will succeed. As kids that grew up in the 90’s we had to listen to a lot of radio & tv shows that only played the popular stuff. The Eurodance (& in the early 00’s Fatman Scoop) stuff etc clearly wasn’t the best music out there. You always have to dig deeper to get the best songs- and we’re sure the best songs won’t be forgotten. Refering to your question: good songs will last and the importance of a DJ might even grow because he is the one to sort out between the good and the bad and the obsolete and the timeless.

WWD: How do you approach how often you release tracks?

Haha, think, we release songs, when we (and the label :-)) think the tracks are good enough. So, nothing will be released or sent to a label before we are 100% convinced of it.

WWD: You guys are high school buddys, how has the relationship you have impacted on your studio work? is it easiest to be honest with each other?

First and foremost we are best friends. So we spend a lot of our free time together. We don’t necessarily have to work together in our studio. We found a good way of task-sharing. To be honest it doesn’t have a big impact on our studio work.

WWD: You guys definitely have roots into soul and hip-hop music, what one your number one tip be for sampling?

You definitely have to dig a lot. So our number 1 tip is: Love music!
You probably spend so much time in records stores, on discogs, youtube and music blogs. You should not get a feeling like “I could have done something better instead of listening to tons of songs”, but enjoy exploring new music.

WWD: Just before we let you go, can you tell us more about the tape you provide us today?

Think, we should let the music speak for itself 😉

Follow: COEO