Music producers Tesla 286 and Freestyle Man continues to explore the theme of electro minimalism as waves of left-of-centre deepness entwine with refined harmonies that delicately wrap around the instantly memorable, freaked-out voice of infamous German actor Klaus Kinski to create charm all of its own.
They recently released a new song ‘Yssabeau’ from Tesla 286’s new EP “Time Dilation”, which was released on the 24th of April 2020.
See our exclusive interview with them below:
What are your earliest memories of parties and DJing?
Klas: Late 80s, early 90s we started going to warehouse parties and experienced the first electronic music. I started to DJ in the early 90s doing parties in empty spaces in my hometown Pori in Finland.
Jan: Defiantly the early 90’s, this times in Berlin when the wall teared down and the rave scene crowed up in illegal locations with no promotion and no flyers. the government and police didn`t care of all because Eastern Germany was going to be part of Germany. I played my first gig in the old Tacheles at the “Gartenhaus” in the backyard.
What are your favorite tools for producing music?
Jan: Ohh it changes from time to time… but I like to work with sequencer, especially with Elektron Octatrack, the Arturia MatrixBrute, and the Moog DFAM.
Klas: I really like the Pioneer Toraiz as standalone sampler, reminds me of the Akai MPC times when you could just load up samples and get a track going with one machine. Now I of course love to use lots of analogue gear, but my main drum machine is the Toraiz.
Where do you go when looking for new music?
Klas : I love Bandcamp for checking out new artist and obscure music.
Jan: Seriously if I watch out for new music, I’m mostly overwhelmed. It works better for me to listen not obviously to music and channels and platforms. But I love to listen to Radio instead.
What is the most memorable response you’ve had to your music?
Jan: Hmm, I think it was the moment while playing at the WIRE Festival in Japan, can’t remember when exactly but maybe 2004.
Klas : My first house EP on my label Moodmusic was well received in Germany and the first gig I ever played in Germany was in Offenbach with Ricardo Villalobos and Zip from Perlon and the guys loved the strange house tracks I produced back then. It was a real eye-opener for me. Also, the feedback on my first Electro EP on Sähkö in 98 was well received by some big name DJs back then, it was really warming my heart.
Please list some of the most influential albums on your creative outlook and output:
Bomb The Bass – Into The Dragon
The Other People Place – Lifestyles Of The Laptop Cafe
The Streets – Original Pirate Material
Martin L. Gore – Counterfeit²
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be?
Klas – Dunno, there is only one way we know – music.
Jan: I would like to create Fragrances.
Tell us about what your upcoming releases or projects?
Our latest EP ‘Time Dilation’ which came out at the end of April was a collaboration between us on Anja Schneider’s label – Sous Music. Jan and Anja also running the label. We also run Blackhead Studios, which is an established mixing and mastering studio in Berlin, so it was a very natural progression on our daily routine of working with great artists and labels. The tracks came out from a late-night session during the weekend after a long working week and I feel you can hear it on the EP, something soothing and deep for these hard times we are living in.
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