Extended Play
With Denise Benson
M.A.N.D.Y.
FRANKFURT LABEL MOGULS REALIZE THEY HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY
M.A.N.D.Y. With DJs Nasty Nav, Jonny White, Nitin. Thu, Nov 8. The Social, 1100 Queen W. $5.
“There was a point when we realized, ‘We have everything here. We're old enough, we have experience, the studio is there, we're working with friends to put out good music. Let's get serious.' And it all took off. Now we're confident about our music; we know what's good because we've done it for so long.”
Philipp Jung is speaking in a rush of thoughts about the success that he and long-time friend Patrick Bodmer have experienced as tech-house duo M.A.N.D.Y. Both had been involved in prior projects, but it was their decision in 2001 to make M.A.N.D.Y. their main musical focus that has won them the greatest response.
That same year, Jung and Bodmer partnered with their friends in Frankfurt, DJ T and Booka Shade (Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier), to form Get Physical Music. One year later, they collectively moved to Berlin, set up a Get Physical studio and began releasing the slinky, subtle, slow-burning tech and house that the label would become famous for.
Flash forward to 2005. Get Physical's principal players – alongside artists including Chelonis R. Jones, Lopazz and Zoo Brazil – have already released dozens of singles. In April, M.A.N.D.Y. vs Booka Shade's deep, delicious “Body Language” becomes a surprise hit. To date, the track has been included on dozens of compilations and spawned a DJ mix series of the same name, with M.A.N.D.Y. mixing the first volume.
In addition to releasing DJ mixes such as last year's fantastic At the Controls, Jung and Bodmer have made remixing a priority. Their new collection 12 Great Remixes for 11 Great Artists essentially serves as a career overview. Listening to M.A.N.D.Y.'s remixes of artists including The Knife, Tiefschwarz (with Tracey Thorn), Rockers Hi-Fi and Ryksopp, we can hear that the duo has long had a flair for reimagining the dancefloor.
“We thought that our remixes had all been so different, but then I listened to them again and again and was really happy to hear that there was the handwriting of this special M.A.N.D.Y. sound, even from the beginning,” says Jung. “It didn't sound like Booka Shade, it didn't sound like T, it had its own character in most of the mixes.
“A lot of them – like with Lindstrøm, Rex the Dog or Prototype – were hard to do because the originals were already so good. I'm happy that I can hear we achieved a different approach and that they all still work really well on the dancefloor.”
The men of M.A.N.D.Y. will continue to tour until the end of the year, but will then slow their DJing and remixing pace in order to achieve a goal that's eluded them: producing a M.A.N.D.Y. artist album.
“We plan to rent a house in Scandinavia or the north of England,” offers Jung. “The first session will be three or four weeks in February, then two more two-week sessions, and we'll keep our fingers crossed that something comes out. We've started on an album a couple of times, but we were unhappy with the results so all I can say for now is that we should have something finished next year. No matter what, our album is going to be a big surprise for me as well.”
He laughs easily, and directs attention back to Get Physical, which has now been crowned ‘Label of the Year' in several publications. Jung is clearly grateful for the recognition and – as someone who worked in A&R for 12 years – aware that they must stay ahead of the curve. Two recent, strong and very different artist albums, by Lopazz and Samim respectively, certainly speak volumes.
“We knew that we couldn't repeat ourselves, and have people say ‘Oh, another electro-house hit from Get Physical,'” says Jung. “You can never be sure, but that's a good thing about running a label. In a way, you get to share your vision of the contemporary music scene.”
EMAIL DBENSON@EYEWEEKLY.COM
