Scooter Posse (SP): Hello, Phil! First of all, let me congratulate you with your first album together with Scooter. What are your feelings right now? Are you tired, happy with the result or maybe you think that you would add something to the album right now, if youd have a chance? Phil: Thank you! Im really happy with the album. We all are really enthusiastic, we even party to it by ourselves in the backstage all the time. I think the album is great as it is. I wouldnt change anything. I think you should really listen to the album from the beginning to the end. It contains different styles but everything fits together... Its like a dance music journey. SP: Its really interesting for the fans to know, how have you guys produced the new album. Are there any tracks on the album, that were made only by one of you (for example one track was produced by you and another one by Michael, and so on)? And who was the main ideas generator this time? Phil: I think there are some things quite different when it comes to production if you compare it to the last albums. All the tracks from first to last note happened on my desk. Only this can guarantee that all fits together that much I guess. When i came to scooter we really had the problem that I felt like that in the last 20 years the guys used already all the good hooks that you can find. It was always part of the formula to «cover» hooks from other acts and to make something completely different out if it. We searched a lot but we didnt find hooks like Supertramps Logical Song or Nessaja, but we wanted to have great ones... This is why we did the first song camp in Scooter history. I think covering and sampling is an essential part of dance music but nothing beats own original hooks. I did a lot of those camps before but for Scooter it was the first time. Let me explain what a song camp is, because Ive got the feeling that some people have a completely wrong idea of that. Basically you can imagine it that way: one option is that Ive got a draft of a song on my Mac, where we wrote lyrics on with the songwriters or we developed completely new hooks on the guitar or the piano. Hook in our case is the singing chorus in our songs. So after the song camp we had a bunch of hooks. Some of them only recorded on the iPhone with vocals and guitar and for some other hooks i produced a really basic draft and we recorded an acapella on that. So we got a couple of drafts and then the production begun. Mostly I just took the acapella and then we developed the song out of it. I think also for H.P. it was like a kind of reset.. We had really great teamwork. SP: I remember that once youve said, that youre not only the House producer, but also you have worked for many people and produced music in different styles. Have you ever produced Hard Trance and Uplifting Trance? Have you produced Hardstyle? If yes, can you mention some tracks in these styles by other artists, which youve produced for them? Phil: When it comes to Trance and Hardstyle I have to say that on T5C you can find my first productions, that got released in that genre. Fallin for example was at first something I just did for fun at home cause i was inspired by oldschool Trance records I listened to. I came up with the vocals some weeks later together with the singer. She has an amazing voice i think. SP: Weve talked with H.P. a few days ago and he said that you guys have a bunch of tracks that were not included in the new album. Can you please tell how many tracks exactly were not included in the album and in which styles they were made? We really hope that youll release them too :) Phil: We have some other songs and ideas already, but I dont know yet how the next album will be and how they will fit to that new record. SP: What are your relationships with Rick Jordan? Have you worked together with him before he left Scooter? Maybe he showed you some secret techniques that he used all these years, being the main Scooter sound producer, which are important to make the real Scooter sound? :) Phil: I only met Rick once in the studio. He helped me with the vocal sound of H.P., because its really uncommon. At the end Ive found a new solution for the vocals to make them more «brighter» and «upfront» so they fit in our tracks. SP: As we have heard, the next Scooter single will be Radiate. Will you rework this track especially for the single release? Phil: I dont know yet. There will be a Scooter Remix for sure. SP: Have you used only software to produce the new album? What do you think about the hardware usage? Do you like to work with synthesizers? Do you think that the software for music producing has completely replaced the hardware nowadays? Phil: Its mostly software, because I work with a MacBook, so I can also work on tour or in my home studio easily. SP: What is your story of joining Scooter? How was you invited to the band? Was it some kind of competitive selection or something? Or maybe the invitation was totally unexpected for you? Phil: Simple. H.P. contacted me through a friend. I came to the studio, we had a chat and Ive started the next day. SP: Bigroom Blitz was re-released on iTunes with the re-recorded vocals. Why? Did you, guys, had problems with Wiz Khalifa? Phil: With Wiz everything was cool. His record label made us troubles, that nobody could expect... SP: What do you feel when youre playing some old Scooter tracks during the live shows? Maybe you have your favorite Scooter tracks that were produced before youve joined the band? Can you name them? Phil: It doesnt feel strange. Also as a DJ i did not only play tracks that i produced. I got respect for the old tracks. They are somehow timeless. SP: And the last question. The new Scooter album is not released yet, but the fans already heard the sound snippets from it. The opinions are polar, as always. Someone likes the freshness of the album and another one says that theres too much EDM and you need to make more classic Scooter tracks. Maybe you want to say something to the fans? You can say whatever you want about the new album, about the sound, about the possibility of producing the more oldschool stuff for Scooter in the future. Phil: I just want to say... Free your mind and have fun. Its not a bad thing that time changes. Be nostalgic and keep the good old times alive with the great old songs, nobody cant take you that. But also live in the past and join us on a musical journey into the future. After the interview weve talked with Phil a little bit more and I said, that I like many tracks from the new album, but personally I think that theres too much female vocals. And also I said that the last Deep House track on the album, which is called In Need is really cool and sounds like an oldschool House track from 90s. Phil answered: «There are quite some tracks without MCing. We really like vocals in general. The Deep House track Ive made on a sunny day. I didnt thought that we will put it on the album, but it felt good as the last track. Same thing with Jaguare» I hope you liked the interview, guys and girls. And one more time: Phil, thank you very much for your answers! And also I would like to say thank you to DJ Hooligan and SKYDIVE. Thank you, guys!
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 10:52:15 +0000
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