In these changing times and shedding of trends, one indistinguishable German duo have emerged from the damp and dark depths of their basement studio and onto our dancefloor radars in recent years. Whether it was from their own productions or through the Midas touch the duo possess when it comes to retouching and reshaping the material of other artists. Philipp Jung and Patrick Bodmer are in a league of their very own, among the ranks of the some of the most respected artist/producers on the electronic scene today, keeping the beat coming and the dancefloor pumping with the likes of Tiga, Tiefschwarz, the DFA massive, brothers Dewaele et al. This is their time and with each production and remix they prove that they have no intention of letting go of it anytime soon!
After an exciting but hectic 2005 and a blistering start to 2006, M.A.N.D.Y are finally about to head Down Under, but before their boarding passes are checked, ITM’s Semone Maksimovic managed to catch up with M.A.N.D.Y’s Philipp Jung as he took in some quiet time at home, just hours after returning from a gruelling US tour.
Finding Mr Jung at home is a rarer occurrence these days, as he spends most of his time travelling from foreign land to foreign land with his best friend and partner in crime Patrick, spreading the good word of M.A.N.D.Y and promoting the groundbreaking label they own with good friends Booka Shade and DJ T ‘Get Physical Music’. But time off is something the boys have made sure is part of their regular schedule from now on, after laying down the groundwork throughout 05, they can finally afford to do so. “We’ve just worked out a deal with our bookers and agents that gets us one weekend off a month” Philipp says with a smile “It was just getting too crazy spending so much time on the road and away from the studio and life.”
Time off isn’t something you can usually relate to a successful artist/producer, let alone a part owner of a record label. So how is it these boys enjoy their one weekend off when the disco clock stops ticking each month? How is it that they separate their lives from the music which is such a big part of their existence? “I like to enjoy the normal things in life, just simple things like hanging out with friends, going for nice long walks in the woods and even just going out and having a nice dinner help me distance myself from it all” he admits shyly.
Unfortunately this sort of time off only happens when the duo are at home, touring still hasn’t afforded them the opportunity to take a weekend like this off whilst overseas, to discover the beauty of the foreign lands they travel to and play to every few months. “Unfortunately we’re still not yet at the stage where someone will step in to finance our tours, so when we’re away we have to play as much as possible, so that we don’t end up losing money.”
You’d be hard-pressed to look through your record collections and not come up trumps with at least one M.A.N.D.Y mix, as they’ve blessed tracks by a varied cast of characters like Tiefschwarz, Royksopp, The Knife, Seelenluft, The Sugababes, Hans Peter Lindstrom, Silicone Soul and Fischerspooner to just skim the top of their flavoursome broth. But how is it these in demand remixers approach remixes now that they have every man and his dog approaching them for added flavour? And how is it they choose which tracks are worth taking time away from working on their own artist material for? “At the moment we need to turn down a lot, it just takes too much time away from working on our own stuff and as we’re trying to work on our own album right now, we just can’t afford that” explains Jung, before adding “But if the remix is a really amazing offer, we can’t turn down, then things work a little differently. Like the Roxy Music remix we just finished, that’s amazing, I mean I listened to them for so many years and to be asked to remix them, it was such an honour!”
So a new album is on the cards for M.A.N.D.Y then? What can be expected? How far into the creative process are they? “Well, we went to Mexico in December and talked a lot about it” he laughs “It’s important to start with 10 or so ideas. We’ve been working away on strong ideas for the release for about 2 years now, so we’re looking at having it all said and done sometime in 2006” he laughs “Well we’re hoping to anyway, but things happen, so we’ll see.”
It’s any wonder that they didn’t get too productive on the M.A.N.D.Y side of things last year, with all of the accolades they were busy clocking up elsewhere, for their live shows and of course winning the DJ Mag gong for ‘label of the year’ in November. “That was the most amazing thing to happen to us last year and it really was a standout year. But getting recognition like that from a UK magazine for Germans is HUGE!” But with all this attention and adoration focussed on the boys, Jung remains firmly grounded about it all “It’s important to keep your head out of the clouds and stay true to yourself, cause tomorrow might lose it all. So as long as you’re happy with what you’re doing, that’s all you should be worried about as an artist”.
Catch Philipp in solo M.A.N.D.Y DJ mode this weekend as they fly through and tear apart:
Fri Apr 21 – Berlin Lounge, Gold Coast
Sat Apr 22 - MoS #3, Home, Sydney (BUY TICKETS)
Tue Apr 25 - Watermark Hotel, Melbourne
