It was just a matter of time till we hit it off.

With one of the most outstanding LPs around the corner it is our pleasure to welcome Chi-Thien Nguyen and John B. Muder aka Chopstick + Johnjon to our network.

Hey both, as a lover of slow, deep and intense house music myself i have to say that ‘Twelve’ blows my mind – it is the first review to score 11 out of 10 points –  it was 5 days on repeat – nonstop – and still shakes our booties.

But let’s start from scratch, what did get you into music?

Thien: I started taking music lessons by the age of 4 and played the piano for over 10 years. I also had guitar, harmony & theory lessons for about 4 years. So music was by my side for as long as i can remember and i’m still taking guitar lessons at the moment to expand my musical horizon..

John: Music was always around when I grew up… my parents loved music so when they brought home the new album from Supertramp (for example) we sat down that night in the lounge and instead of watching TV we listened to music. After a quick trip into playing the guitar and founding a band with a friend I started Djing … and haven’t stopped till then!

How did you get to know each other?

We got introduced to each other by a common friend back in Hamburg 12 years ago. John was Djing a lot at that time in Hamburg and Thien was producing a lot of music in his studio so our friend Karen thought it would be a great idea to hook us up.

Was it love at first sight?

We think so … it took a while till we got serious but we had so much stuff in common from the start that it was just a matter of time till we hit it off.

Who is doing what in the studio?

The positions where we sit in the studio say a lot about what we do … Thien sits at the potis and faders of the mixing desk and has the rhodes to his left and John sits in front of the computer. So mixing and playing the keys is Thiens job while John does the editing, programing and arrangement. But of course we both participate in everything.

When you go to play gigs you always play ping-pong?

Yes. We always thought it would be the most challenging but also the most interesting way to DJ like that as a duo. You just always have to see the track of your partner as an inspiration and see how you can follow up.

Before finding your style you experimented with a lot of different ones, tell our readers a bit more about it.

If you listen to the stuff we made as Chopstick & Johnjon you can always tell there is house as the main ingredient. In the beginning there is more of an electro influence in it, then a little techy before it got really slow.

Your style is considered slow house and it is said you can boil a floor at 116 bpm, taking your time to get to this point – just like good sex. Is that right?

We used to play a lot of warm up sets at our residencies and sometimes started the night at 90 bpm. At first people think “what the hell is going on?” when they get in the door but with the time they get into the groove and after another hour 110 bpm seems to be “normal” to them.

The return of house and the ongoing hype of deep house isn’t a bad thing for you, no?

Like we mentioned before … we always loved house and deep house and that’s what we produced, even when minimal was hyped. So we feel lucky that the trend finally caught up to us and we can pay our rent.

Let’s talk about the album, as far as i know you had some ideas in mind and a few voices to go with it but when Chris James started to sing it all took a different direction – you even tailored some tracks around his voice? I mean, his voice is incredibly harmonic with the tracks, as if he was part of the whole process from the beginning…

Two things were the reasons why we chose to work only with Chris on this record. First of all he is a great guy and when we first met it clicked right away. It took 15 minutes in the studio and we were laughing or asses off … it felt like we knew each other for a long time. Second: His voice just complimented every piece of music we put in front of him and he took it to another level so we thought ‘Why work with anybody else?!’

You will have to talk about this track so often it could become annoying but i have to ask – the acoustic version of ‘Pining Moon’ was first or the house version? When i got the promo i played the acoustic version to start my show, followed by the remix from Dead on the Balcony – and the chat just went mad…

First was just that simple guitar loop and that’s when Chris wrote the first lines. Then we gathered more and more stuff for the house version (we recorded an upright bass, live drums, more guitars, more vocals) and at the end we realized, we have enough stuff for an acoustic version of the track.

When we build the acoustic version in the studio we kept looking at ourselves not believing what is happening there.

How long did it take to produce the album?

It’s really hard to say, because we didn’t work on the album in one go. Early 2013 we started putting together rough sketches of the tracks followed up by sessions with different musicians to record instruments and of course Chris’ vocals. Then after summer the two of us sat down in the studio with all the material and finished arranging and producing the tracks. So all in all maybe about 5 months!?

Any further remixes in the pipeline?

We have a couple of pending requests but we didn’t commit to anything yet because we wanna concentrate on our upcoming live shows with Chris and have some more own tracks in the making also.

Tell us about your label Suol – what is the spirit behind it?

When we started Suol it seemed like an “every man for himself” attitude in the business because the mp3 shook up the vinyl sales and illegal downloads came up and so on and on. So we thought that it would make much more sense to gather friends and talent and support each other in “rough waters” rather then being in it alone. That’s how everything started and that’s the spirit till today.

Future plans?

A lot! :) We’re keeping ourselves busy in the studio and are constantly recording ideas.

How does your perfect day look like?

Meet at the studio at 11h with a fresh coffee, not having a real task for the day and start a track from scratch …

Any idea of what you would do if you weren’t into music?

John: Right after school I worked with a carpenter for a year, waiting for university to start and I always loved when we were laying wooden floors for example that you came into a mess and when u left it was a palace … so maybe that!?

Thien: I like the idea of being a chef because it’s also something very passionate and very creative. But since i’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to analogue stuff, i might have gotten into the profession of watchmaking. For me it symbolizes perfection, sustainability and good virtues which these days are pretty rare.

Do you know Ibiza?

Of course we know Ibiza … We both went around the year 2000 for a few times for holidays and then didn’t return till last season when we played a couple of shows at Pacha with Fritz (Kalkbrenner).

Plans to come over soon?

Nothing set in stone yet … but as we mentioned: we have a lot of plans ;)

They are definitely not ‘just two in a million’.

Here is the video to the album version of ‘Pining Moon’:

and – for all lovers of this track – as i definitely am – here are the lyrics:

(btw. – wait for the acoustic version – this is the real deal)

Give me night waves

Forget about

I don’t want to be caught in the middle

Like a riptide

Landslide

I don’t want to be caught in the middle

——-

To annihilate

Its a strip tease

But you’re not just a one in a million

Want to trespass

Forget about

But you’re not just a one in a million

——-

And when you gazing up at the pining moon

I will not need my eyes to recognize you

When you gazing up at the pining moon

I will not need my eyes to recognize you

——-

In a smoke storm

See a killer

Life flashes and you’re caught in the middle

Need a witness

Forget about

Life flashes and you’re caught in the middle

——-

It’s not a body bag

Try to disappear

Say you’ll never be the one in a million

Keep your head down

Don’t be telling me

Say you’ll never be the one in a million

——-

And when you gazing up at the pining moon

I will not need my eyes to recognize you

When you gazing up at the pining moon

I will not need my eyes to recognize you

——-

And when you gazing up at the pining moon

I will not need my eyes to recognize you

When you gazing up at the pining moon

I will not need my eyes to recognize you

_______________________________________________________

Chopstick & Johnjon’s ‘Twelve’ is out soon on Suol. Pre-order here.

more info:

Chopstick&Johnjon // Suol