Interview : Efdemin

His second album Chicago released in 2010, was recognized as one of the best of the year. Since then, Efdemin has been celebrated as a talented artist. Last week he was taking part of Jennifer Cardini's "Correspondant" party at Rex Club Paris, and answered our questions. Let's discover our 2010 favorite DJ !

Hi Phillip, first of all, can you introduce yourself briefly ?

My name is Phillip Sollmann. I am a german producer and DJ of electronic dance and sometimes abstract music.
I live in Berlin since five years, after Hamburg and Vienna. Some might know me as EFDEMIN, others may have heard of the label I mainly release for which is called DIAL (based in Hamburg)

Why did you chose this name Efdemin ? What does that mean ?

I picked this name a long time ago - around 1995 but never really used it until 1999. But I don´t remember where it came from and what it could mean... :-)

And about your music, how would you define it ? 

It´s hard to describe my own style espcecially because my music covers quite a broad range from deeper techno to melancholic house and more abstract minimal textures. Most of my dance based tracks contain a narrative element and a kind of yearning inside.

My music isn´t too much focussed on functionality but on creating a unique mood. I don´t follow a formula I once developped. Every track is a new challenge and broadens my repertoire. Some people find it confussing -  sorry!

What are you main musical influences ? 

Detroit, Chicago, New York, Frankfurt, Berlin. Well too many to mention. Besides Techno itself, there are many important influences in my music from different sources and other times - a cosmos of music that has followed me for a long time and influenced my drifting and melancholic approach to producing electronic dance music. Be it the otherworldly music of chicago-based Sun Ra, minimalistic jazz/world-music-studies of don cherry, the enterprising tape music of basil kirchin or the microtonal instruments of Harry Partch to name a few of the influences that layed the groundwork leading up to the production of this album. 

Now, can you speak a little bit about your last new album Chicago ? (why this title, your influences, what's your message on it, what kind of music you are playing inside, ...)

Chicago is my second Album for Dial Records and I composed it exactly one year ago when it was snowing outside and cold for months in berlin. I did some kind of cocooning to prepare the writing process. Listening to a lot of music other then techno. it became a kind of subtle, abstract flow through the duration of one hour. The Music refers to many influences from other fields and times.

Is this a “chicago-house” record? No! But the windy city was the starting point to blow the cosmos with such abstract music developed in a thousand directions.

Arts, literature, architecture, jazz, american folkmusic, hip hop - CHICAGO seemed to be the source of reference for so many important movements crossing my work. Finally CHICAGO is the title for an album rich in flavors and full of directions into contemporary dance music.

Is it important for you to release an album ? What's the main difference between an album and EPs ?

It is a very different approach that leads to different music. For the production of Chicago I took a break from travelling and Djing for more than 4 months and so I got into a special state of mind that lead to a bunch of tracks all connected to each other.

You're based in Berlin like a lots of electronic music producers, how do you explain that Germany is one of the most famous place for electronic music in Europe ?

It has a lot to do with the liberal politics in Berlin, I guess. Although Berlin lost much of it´s freedom and crazyness over the last years it is still a very open minded and a quite cheap place in europe. But it´s damn cold in the winter....

And what about playing in club ? Do you prefer playing live or DJ set ?

I never play "live" myself. It´s so much more fun to play others peoples music then your own compositions over and over again. Every night is unique - every set is totally different. I love playing vinyl records and so I don´t get bored!"

Finally, when would we see you in Paris :) ? 

You can find me behind the turntables of the great REX CLUB in Paris tomorrow night from 2.-4:30 "warming up" for the gifted Jennifer Cardini who invited me (which makes me very proud btw). Come Along Parisien Dancers!

Thanks a lot for those answers and see you in Paris !

Thank you too !

To illustrate this interview, let's remind two of his album's best tracks.

Efdemin - Shoeshine :



Efdemin - There Will Be Singing :

Efdemin, There Will Be Singing (Chicago) from jutojo on Vimeo.

Le myspace de Efdemin