DIEGO KRAUSE

01.04 - Chalet

20.04 - Freudenreich

25.04 - Suicide Circus

18.05 - Watergate

26.05 - Machine Vibes (Open Air)

21.06 - Kater Holzig

29.06 - Ampere Club (Zürich)

19.07 - Schwarzes Schaf (Augsburg)

20.07 - Storchenburg (München)

02.08 - Aerophilia Festival

09.08 - Baltic Spring Break Festival (Usedom)

19.10 - Prince Charles

RESIDENT ADVISOR

Diego Krause is a DJ/producer who was born in Berlin’s eastern districts. After years of producing hiphop, he made the switch to house-music and currently entertains dance floors with a close-knit collective of kindred spirits, organizing parties and releasing records through the newly founded label Beste Modus. Diego’s music is influenced by Funk and Soul, Garage and Deep House and everything that is underground and raw. He has taken his sounds all over Germany and beyond playing at clubs like Watergate, Prince Charles and Kater Holzig.

As part of our ongoing series of mini interviews KMG caught up with one of Berlin’s rising house talents…. Diego Krause. He first perked up our ears when HNNY included his track with Albert Vogt, ‘I can’t take it no more’ from Beste Modus 001 on his Beats in Space show…

KMG - What get’s you up in the morning Diego?

DK - In most cases it’s music obviously. Whether it’s a track I couldn’t finish the night before, a new piece of gear or a new record I bought - it has always been the center of my life. Next to music there is the label work but it all goes hand in hand.

KMG - and the ideal breakfast?

DK - You can’t go wrong with scrambled eggs.

KMG - You’ve recently started your own Label, BesteModus, of which we are big fans… can you tell us a little bit about it, and what you hope it will come to represent?

DK - Beste Modus was called into life early this year. We see it mainly as a platform for our music. Since we’ve all been into producing for several years, we were looking for a way to independently put out our work. Vinyl was the medium of choice, because we think it’s an essential component to house music and it gives you a decent appreciation for the work that somebody put in it. Our sound is mostly functional and dance floor orientated. Most of us come from a funk-soul, hiphop background which creates a soulful note to our music. We are in the beginning of things, but we definitely want to encourage and foster new artists in the future.

KMG - Berlin is a city traditionally associated with Techno, and of course contributed massively to the emergence of ‘minimal’ in the late nineties / early 00’s… has that made it more difficult to establish a ‘house’ label over there?

DK - Not at all. Berlin has always had a big house scene. Of course techno and minimal were big at that time, but right now deep house is at it’s peak again. We’re trying to focus on the crucial things and not to reinvent the wheel at that point.

KMG - Beste Modus (correct me if I’m wrong) consist of yourself, Cinthie, Ed Herbst, Albert Vogt and stevn.aint.leavn… how did you guys come to meet each other?

DK -I first met Stevo and Ed about 5 years ago in a studio during a collaboration with a songwriter for a label presentation. Albert was a good friend of them. We were all producing different music at that time, I think I just started doing some house stuff. But we were immediately vibing on the same tunes and spend a lot of time in the studio and at gigs and clubs. Then after a year or two we started DJing and doing our first parties. We met Cinthie at one of her gigs and really hit it off. So she invited us whenever she was playing and the other way around. She is the one that came up with the idea of starting a label, since she has been in the game for quite some time.

KMG - I’ve read that you originally started out as a Hip-Hop DJ, can you tell us a little bit about how you got into it? what was your first gig like?

DK - I used to produce Hiphop and other stuff before but I started DJing when I was already into house music. I associate Hiphop with my initiations of producing music, but I got to a point where it wasn’t tempting me anymore. Electronic music became really convenient, as I was looking for something new.

KMG - There’s definitely a US house influence in your production, with warm chords and great use of samples… have the hip-hop beginnings influenced the way you work in the studio?

DK - Yeah, definitely. Sampling was an essential element to producing HipHop. When I started making House music, I mainly used Synths but I was listening to more tech-ish stuff at that time. So when I found out about Deep House, where they used a lot of sampling, things have come full circle for me. I still use a lot of synths and keys.

KMG - Is there any synth in particular you like using more than others?

DK - Not really. I’m always trying out new stuff and the core of my productions are samples in general. I don’t use a lot of outboard, so it’s mainly VST or AU. When I think about it, I love a couple of Arturia simulations of the goldies but I like to experiment with new and/or free synths as well. It is more about certain FX and Modulation for me.

KMG - If you had the opportunity to collaborate with anyone, who would it be? and why?

I would love to hang out with ‘The Dø’ for some sessions in their studio. I did a remix for them once which was really fun but that was under a different name. You can’t really describe their music, and they’re always inventing new sounds. Great band.

To hear more of what Diego and the Beste Modus guys have to offer check em out at the links below…. the forthcoming EP ‘Beste Modus 002’ is out soon, vinyle only, and is going to be a cracker, don’t sleep on it.