On the eve of his first tour of Australia, electro house
whiz kid Klaas catches up with Sydney Unleashed.
Tell us about your earliest memories of falling in love
with music. Who were your heroes?
I got into music by playing drums at the age of seven.
When I was 16, I switched to listening to electronic sounds instead.
This was ten years ago and back then I was into the trancier sounds.
At an age of 18, got into producing and I loved the work of producers
like Armin van Buuren and Tiësto. These days I still love Armin
van Buuren's melancholic sound even if it's not the right sound for
my sets in clubs. In the clubs in the 90´s I preferred house and
trance.
Do you still live there? Does it still have a thriving
club scene?
Yes I still live in Cologne but I liked the club scene
more when I started going out eight years ago. Maybe it is also a kind
of subjective impression because I'm getting older, but nowadays there
is only one event I like very much in Cologne and it's called 'Art of
House'. It's a new series of parties with quite a varied electro and
house style to it and it fits my sets quite well. The organiser of this
event is still a good friend of mine and when there is time and I don't
have a booking abroad, I love to work as one of the residents of the
club.
Tell us about how you and Micha Moor met. What makes your
partnership work so well.
I met Micha Moor during the production of our first Scream
& Shout release Slip & Slide. He is an arrangement-professional,
so he gave the sounds, hookline, and drums that I was creating a king
of system and order. He profits from his very long experience as a well-known
DJ in Cologne. Also I get along very good with him personally and we
help each other by giving constructive feedback for our productions.
Currently he is working together with Dennis Koju on several projects.
What's happening in the studio at the moment? What can
we look forward to next?
I'm just finishing up quite a few remixes, in particular
one for an upcoming Scream & Shout release called 'No More Fear'
by Swanky Tunes and after that I will be working on new vocal records
for one of the forthcoming Scream & Shout releases. I don't know
exactly how this will sound and I don't want to plan it but I guess
apart from pumping mixes, there will be another one which sounds more
melodic like the 'At night' mix of my current release 'The Way'.
Tell us about the record label Scream & Shout. What's
the vibe like at the label?
The collaboration with the two owners (Jens Gimborn and
Michael Müller) of Scream & Shout works very good. I'm sure
that the guys have quite an exact feeling to choose the right productions
to release for the people on the dancefloors all over the world to go
crazy to. When we look back at past releases, I guess we can expect
more electro house releases from the label. These are releases that
have crossover potential and can be played in commercial and underground
clubs.
How are you feeling about your first trip to Australia?
I'm highly excited and very curious about the clubs! I've
heard only positive things about the crazy folks and festivals. I also
can't believe I will have to change my clothes to short pants before
getting off the plane, which is great! So no doubt I'm looking forward
to Australia.
Klaas plays the Cabana bar in Sydney on Thursday 6th
December.
