Kollektiv Turmstrasse is a story of two people crossing paths who couldn’t be anything but best friends. Christian Hilscher and Nico Plagemann where musicians in their own right before becoming a duo who fatefully became friends after being booked to play at the same party in 1998. Due to the fact that there weren’t many “music nerds” in their area of Germany at the time, it was somewhat inevitable that the pair would form a duo. Since that fateful night in ’98, Christian and Nico have become renown across the world with their minimal techno taste. This March, the duo are set to head to the land down under for shows at Pitch Muisc & Arts festival and Days Like This in Sydney.

First things first, are you two excited to be coming down to Australia to play both Pitch Music & Arts and Days Like This festivals? Is there anything you want to see or experience while you’re in Australia?

Yes for sure we are excited. Travelling to the other end of the world is not something you do every weekend. And when you are on such a tour most of the time something goes wrong so it’s guaranteed that this will be an adventure and spiked with new surprises. We have been in Australia within the last few years and this will be our fourth visit. For us it would be great to experience a tourist classic: seeing a real kangaroo would be fantastic for us.

What was your initial reaction when you found out that you were coming to play these festivals in Australia?

We were really happy when we saw the booking requests for this year. Two amazing festivals with a huge line up. Also the perfect time to be in Australia as we have still winter time. When we saw the complete lineup we were really surprised as a few of our musician friends will be also there at the same time playing there so it will be like a little family meet and greet.

Pitch Music & Arts festival is set in the wondrous Grampians mountain range, and Days Like This is held in the inner suburbs of Sydney. Both locations are very contrasting. Do you prefer to play at venues in the middle of nowhere or around urban areas?

For us nothing is better than to playing open-air events. When we are at a special location it is almost perfect. A club without a roof is the best stage for us.

Australia is a unique spot for outdoor festivals as our bush lands are a definitive part of the country? What have you heard about Australian bush festivals?

We heard a lot about it and on one of our last visits we were right in the middle of dirt, sand, dust and wind. When we came back home and unpacked our equipment we had fine sand in the cracks many weeks later. We are well prepared this time!

Kollektiv Turmstrasse was born out of two friends sharing a passion for the interaction between technology and music. What first sparked this intrigue with electronic sounds and when did you know it was something that you wanted to follow?

At the time we first got contact with electronic music we were really really young and the scene was in the emergence. You can’t compare it with many things today but from the beginning it was totally clear for us to be a part of it. We never suspected that we will be still into it 15 years later and its still a great journey for us.

What were you first experiences like trying to get fully embedded in the music scene to the point where you were being booked for shows overseas? Was this something that took a lot of time? The competitions between amongst the newest generation of producers is a very tough one as more and more people are becoming producers. What would your advice be to this younger generation and how important is being patient with your career?

We started small and in the beginning we went to our first gigs without a budget, we only got money for the fuel, that is until the first invitation to perform in London came through. So everything started quick, not the success, but the structures in the background which we put in place. We were working together with our first booking agency, the first label, more bookings from out of Germany, and every year everything went even further bit by bit to the point where we even toured Australia the first time. This is a special point when you realise that your passion for music brought you there.

In 2006 you started your own record label Musik Gewinnt Freunde (MGF). Why do you think, for a producer, that starting their own imprint is a very natural thing to do? What have you learnt from your experiences in running your own imprint and what are the plans for MGF in the future? Your last release on MGF was in 2013. How do you decide that you want to release your own music on your own label? Do you plan to release some more of your own content on their in the future?

We can’t say if its a must as a producer to have your own label. We are little nerds and are also interested in what is going on next to the music production. With our label its the same and we never planned to start our own label. It was more the interest we had to see the processes of how a label works, and to take care of it by ourselves: How music makes it on to the vinyl. Our record was available on the market and the distribution wanted another one directly afterwards and suddenly we had our own small label. We can’t tell you anything about the future of our label right now, everything is open as we are. We don’t have the pressure to release regularly, we want to have it as a platform for our friends and to work with interesting musicians. When we have good productions we will release it…… or not……

Tour Dates

Pitch Music & Arts Festival
March 10 – March 14: Mafeking, Victoria
Final Round tickets available from: http://pitchfestival.com.au/

Days Like This Festival
March 11: Royal Randwick Racecourse
Final Release tickets available from: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/days-like-this-festival-2017-tickets-30155651365