WMC Up Close: Richard Dorfmeister
Kruder & Dorfmeister’s The K&D Sessions is one of the all-time great works of electronic music. The mellow yet compelling double mix-CD blends downtempo beats, jazz, drum ‘n’ bass and hip-hop into a mesmerizing mishmash. Richard Dorfmeister talked about performing at Karu & Y on Saturday, March 28.
Your side projects Tosca and Peace Orchestra have a jazzy feel. Will we hear any of that?
Maybe, but our live mixes tend to be harder and quicker with the tempo, and our productions are slower and more soft, so that’s not easy to combine. Maybe if it’s very late, or in the afternoon, but not if we play prime-time.
Do you ever play stuff from K&D Sessions?
Yeah, it’s always demanded, but even 10 years ago when it came out we were always playing harder drum ‘n’ bass. It always used to be like that, where we produce something and play out something completely different. It’s interesting. We are known for a certain kind of sound, a downtempo listening style, so sometimes people tend to get confused.
What other shows are can’t-miss for you this year?
I’m not up to date with the program at the moment, with the releasing of the new album, but I remember whenever I was in Miami, it was a blast. Wherever you went, it was good. People are so on – it’s good fun.
How healthy is the electronic music scene today?
I think it’s very healthy. Everybody’s downloading stuff now, and I don’t know anybody who still goes to record shops, but everybody’s in the Net now and it’s much more comfortable. You can virtually go to the store anytime, and you don’t need to go to the store and listen to the stuff and buy expensive records – you can check out all of the stuff all of the time, and you don’t even pay much for it. It’s very seductive, and it’s the future – I love it.
It sounds a bit weird because we always supported the vinyl so much and the philosophy of organic things, but recently it’s changed so much that you just have to go with it. It’s better sound quality as well, better than any vinyl, somehow. There’s the discussion that vinyl sounds warmer, but I’ll tell you from experience, if you go with digital, it sounds better – more powerful, more defined, no trembling with the needle. And you don’t have to carry any boxes.
What do you think of Miami?
Well for people in Europe, they still have winter, and they come straight to Miami and suddenly it’s holiday feeling, and they love it and the mood goes up and everybody’s into partying. It’s nice. And everybody knows when they go back it’s still winter.
This story was originally published March 19, 2009 at 8:03 AM.