kollektiv turmstrasse on sheeps and carrots

Exclusive interview with one of the most-in-demand live acts so far, Kollektiv Turmstrasse, about music, life and much more:

Hey Christian and Nico, after Mladen (Solomun) and Holger (H.O.S.H.) it is a pleasure to welcome another great act from the DIYNAMIC family in our network and as i see you came a long way to be where you are today.

You met in 1998 but had already performed solo – when was your first gig ever?

We both started with music in 1995 independently of each other, our region we both come from was not into electronic music and events. To get into that enjoyment of music which shaped our both lives we had only two options. The first was to travel by car and having long drives to bigger cities or to become an event organizer yourself and also play as an artist on stage.

Nico, playing live in the 90’s was a real challenge, no?

Not really a challenge… We were really young and the input was missing what exactly means to play live.. Also the social media network like it’s today was missing so it was impossible to get all the information easily with a few clicks. Besides I had the passion to collect music, the need to express myself and to experience with everything. First it was for me the Mod Track Scene on my Amiga500 and I was able to rage myself out and then slowly I paid attention to the legendary Roland equipment and one thing lead to another. It wasn’t a challenge in the proper sense as there were no expectations, you only used the capablitilies you had and tried to come closer to the issue to produce music  to get closer to that while playing and trying many different things with it.

How did you both come to music in the first place?

Not together but similiar. The first influences in the form of cassettes we both got from our siblings, cousins and older friends. We couldn’t bring the style of music into a line or give a name and for sure not every week new music came up as today. You were swapping your music with each other or you kept it like the holy grail. After the fall of the berlin wall more and more promoter from the Psy Trance Scene came to our region. We had our first visits at Open Air Parties and the first contact with that scene. That was the beginning.

If there would be no music, what would you do for a living?

We both had normal jobs and studied before we made the workings step into that music business and working as musicians/artists/producer. The possibility for us to live without music is still here but we don’t know if we want that. Over the years you get to know how much fun and satisfaction it is to express yourself in a creative way. For sure there is the romantic idea inside of us how it will exactly be to escape from the trouble and to live in the countryside but what should we do then? Breed sheep and grow carrots? Music is and will be an important and central part of us if it is like right now in the club scene or later as a band project or as a studio producer for advertisements and movie soundtracks. Who knows, time will show!

The most funny thing that ever happened on a gig?

There were too many funny things happening within the last years started with improperly music wishes and also appropriate ones. Drinks we serve at the bar and a promoter how didn’t speak english but tried to explain us the next logical step half naked in a tiger slip.

The worst?

We have to say that we are lucky guys and we are still waiting for the moment when everything goes wrong. Surely you have the gigs with little problems if it’s the technical side or you see the whole line up and you know that you have no business there. But we think this happens from time to time and belongs to that as well as the good things in business.

Talking about music, you seem to have an endless repertoire of ideas you include into your tracks, what inspires you?

Everything! Life, our friends, the environment.. Happenings we experience.. We really often try the things we experience all the time to express with our music – it’s not working all time but really often. Also new musical discoveries without a special genre set up some moments and we try to work on new issues only to find out how to implement it.

As you say yourselves, ‘the journey has always been more important than the reward’ – how do you see the development in wages for DJs in comparison with the quality of music they offer?

We are really thankful for every single journey we are allowed to do. A natural development where you can see all different sides of the music world. When you arrive new on the scene you will maybe have a perverted view of it. The music fades into the background and the market value of the artist in the foreground. There are artificial perceptions which strengthen the demand of an artist but not scrutinize the musical performance. Electronic music grows to a product more and more which is totally noticeable. But luckily on the other hand you still have these tinkerers, artists, bands who are not so much into that machinery but to find these people is more and more difficult while the social media platforms suggest us all the new trends.

In other words – how would you feel if somebody would pay you 100.000 Euros to play at an EDM gig in Vegas?

First we just had to google what EDM Vegas exactly is… This is kind of a black-white question and years ago we would have answered „no this is nothing what we wanna do“. But you are getting older and you learn day by day how this music business is working. When someone would ask us to play there and you see the financial issue it would be like winning the lottery. Why to decline something like this when you don’t have to twist musically. When the promoter and the audience wants to see something like that and they are interested in what you are doing you can be really lucky by getting paid  such a fee!

There is a video going viral with Steve Aoki, Armin van Buuren and Laidback Luke ‘performing’ without any headphone and not even touching a knob on any device while throwing their hands in the air – my question is: Is the whole technology killing the art of performing?

Electronic music was always strongly connected with new developments and progress. We both belong to a group who often try something new only to see if this is working or if there is a benefit. Really often we send the equipment back to the dealer of trust. If all the new innovations are helpful is anyone’s guess. There are a few things which help to facilitate the daily routine but also to restrict the creativity because it decreases everything. In the end you have to find your own way to work out the new possibilities. When you have a look on the Midi Fighter Scene what the kids are doing with music in association with controllers and software it is really impressive.

Kollektiv Turmstrasse in 20 years?

We have adorable children, live in the countryside, breed sheep and grow carrots.

How does your perfect day look like?

It’s Monday and we survived the last weekend very well. We meet at the studio and all open projects are done, the batteries of our mobile phones are dead, no emails can reach us and the only thing what we can do is our lovely music without pressure and to our specifications.

Talking about Ibiza, how do you see the island?

The first few times we were visiting the island we weren’t so impressed, too much club tourism, too loud, too expensive and where is the said magic? What exactly do the people like on Ibiza? But this is really simple to say when you come from a country where you can find everything from the music and the top nobs from the international music scene. It took some time to get to understand what this island and the music scene and the magical summer is about. The possibility to connect your holiday and get musical highlights is enormous. During one week you have the chance to see so many artists playing there while they will play in your hometown in maybe one year. And it took a bit time but for us Ibiza converted to a positive place also because we were talking to promoters and they told us the importance of the island for the international scene…

Ibiza has this wide range of parties from complete underground to the most commercial event, is this a part of its magic?

For sure! Everyone gets what he is looking for. The visitors themselves on the island are versatile and changeable as well as the local music scene. The changes bring a new impulse and this is important for the magic on the other hand.

Your favourite place to hang out on the island?

When there is the time we both go to Cala d’Hort in the early evening. There is a little beach with a fantastic view on a small mystic island called „Es Verda“.

And finally, what do you think about dub Ibiza network?

An important platform to get a good overview whats going on in Ibiza, not only with the focus on the music and nightlife also to get to know a bit more about the other beautiful sides from the island.. Keep up!

Thanx Christian, thanx Nico, it is with great pleasure to meet two guys that truly love what they do, without getting a overrated attitude, – it is all about the music and this is why your way con only go up. Keep groovin’ please!

You will be able to catch the guys at the new summer residency of Diynamic in the iconic Cova Santa, finally this club goes back to its roots and offers spectacular music in an even more spectacular environment – more info coming very soon!

get an idea of one of their dj sets here:

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more info:

Kollektiv Tumrstrasse // Diynamic // Kollektiv Turmstasse on Diynamic