Dossa & Locuzzed Interview
Dossa & Locuzzed, a duo from Austria have released a new single Fuse/Shake with Viper Recordings, the pair have been moving from strength to strength alongside their latest release and proves that funky dnb is bringing a unique and flavoursome sound to the scene. I had the privilege to have chat with the guys and get their thoughts on music, gig life and their plans for the future!
1: Hi! Thank you for taking the time out to talk with us. How has 2018 been treating you so far?
Thanks for having us! Released a bunch of good tunes, played some big shows, made some really good friends in dnb.. Could be worse!
No worries it’s a pleasure! Sounds like things are moving forward nicely!
2: So could you tell us a bit about the music you liked and listened to while growing up in Austria?
Benni (Dossa): "Bravo Hits" was deffo a thing here in the 90s. It's basically a youth magazine which also released music compilation CDs. I remember hitting the repeat button on Rammstein - Engel and Prodigy - Breathe all the time - So typical 90s music really. Around 2005 I got into Dance music through my Brother, what led me to Drum & Bass later on. Full Cycle, Ed Rush & Optical, Pendulum and Taxman were my favourite artists back then.
Rene (Locuzzed): Haha yes I remember the Bravo Hits aswell. I was really into the cheesy guilty pleasure dance records like Eiffel 65, The Bloodhound Gang was always on heavy rotation on my cd-player, and in my parents car there were always Disco Records playing. Stuff like Abba, Bee Gees, Boney M etc. When I was around 15 i was into Heavy Metal/Screamo things. A friend showed me Pendulum's Album Hold Your Colour. Back then i thought electronic music was not cool, so i always listened secretly to this album haha. But yeah then i realized that there’s good music in every genre!
Lexie: That’s Awesome! Rammstein Pendulum and the Bee Gees! The range is in there! I love that you guys have both a large array of music that you’ve listened to over the years. I’m sure that helps make for a distinctive sound.
3: Speaking of sounds, yours is quite unique! Considering there are many genres, how did you progress to the style you have today? You guys definitely bring something fresh to the scene!
Wow thanks! This is actually what we try! The whole funky thing came along as we were joining forces in 2015 - consider it as a glue for our individual styles. We keep getting props for Shag and I think some expect another tune like this. The thing is we really don't want to repeat ourselves and try to push our own boundaries all the time - guess this is it what makes each tune kinda unique.
4: Viper Recordings is a great label. How has the journey with them been so far?
Really great! I mean you have to say nowadays you don't really have to be on a label as musician as there are ways to release your music like Bandcamp and Soundcloud. But Viper has really helped us finding and pushing our brand identity aswell as finding our sound in a quite supportive way. It's also really great to have a connection to the UK scene, as the most stuff in dnb just happens there!
5: Your new release Fuse and Shake is really very good! Could you tell me a little about both tracks, how long they took to write and what production techniques you use at the moment?
So actually we were thinking about which tunes to put together on this single for a very long time. Shake was started almost a year ago - we tried to make a sequel to our track Dance from 2016. The idea for it was in our minds already, so we basically just wrote it down. Production-wise, in the last year we really have gone through a journey as it's the first time in our production state that we can use different techniques properly and then compare or combine these techniques. We use pretty much everything for everything now - making drums out of synthesizers and use one shot samples for pads - no boundaries left!
Benni (Dossa): I came up with the idea for fuse after working on Cargo VIP, it was like 1am when I started that tune and I remember Rene telling me it was a lead balloon when he heard it the next day. It seems it just had to grow a couple of months and so we decided to finish it and look what the community thinks about it, so really glad you like it!
Rene (Locuzzed): Yeah i remember calling you the next day like "new Mixdown on Cargo sounds cool.. But that new one? Naaah". Things like that happen, when you are in a completely different mind-set through working on different ideas at the same time. That’s why we rarely abandon any ideas, we rather get some distance for a few weeks and work on it later on.
6: As one of the more prominent artists in the scene now, how is the gig life? Are you enjoying it?
Are we prominent? Deffo not feeling like this! We are enjoying every minute, being incredibly thankful for what we have achieved so far and what we can experience. The single fact we travelled to Australia, the literal other side of the world, because someone wanted us to play our music there is still surreal for us! So there are definitely moments where we're about to tap our shoulders, but in the end of the day we sit down in studio in boxers and struggle around with that snare again – you certainly don't feel prominent doing this lol.
7: So what do you prefer? Playing at festivals or venues? Do you think they have different energies when you play onstage?
Both is awesome. There are definitely differences in terms of crowd control. Mostly on a festival the stage is really big and so you don't really have eye contact with the crowd - you just have to bank on your own vibe, whilst in club shows you really feel what’s going on, on the dancefloor as the dj booth might be right next to it. We definitely have more respect for festivals tho, as you don't wanna fuck up anything when a couple of thousand people watch you..
Lexie: Yeah, that is very true actually, bigger crowd bigger responsibility I suppose...
8: What is the most challenging thing when making your music? There are two of you! How is the creative control dished out between you both?
Rene (Locuzzed): For me the challenge is to keep being focused and not drifting away too much from what I initially wanted to do. You have so many techniques & possibilities that it happens really fast to get carried away working half an hour on a sound and then you forgot that incredible idea you just had. The key is to find your own workflow, that’s why now I’m doing sound design and sometimes even melodies in a separate process & save stuff for later.
Benni (Dossa): For me the hardest thing is to stay creative. Since I'm into music full time I have to build my daily schedule and so my experiences because I could stay home or in studio all day. I learned that you need to live life to be even able to make something, otherwise you just get stuck with your own mind..
Being two of us has many advantages like when you finish an idea you get feedback for it within a few minutes normally. Sometimes tho, when you're really hyped about an idea you started, it can be frustrating getting told "this is shit" immediately after spending half a day of creating it - thankfully in meanwhile we can bear criticism and feedback pretty well as there's always a way to make it constructive, so the discussions between us are definitely a thing that push our production quality! (We're basically really different types of personalities so there's loads of discussion.)
Lexie: That’s good then. Bouncing off one another’s ideas, working things out like that. Discussion is key!
9: If you could collaborate on a track with anyone who would it be?
Benni (Dossa): I'd love to create something with the musicians around Vulfpack – They are really great guys and probably the best ones on their instruments. And definitely the funkiest ones!
Rene (Locuzzed): For me it would be Daft Punk - they got the funk and it would be really interesting how they approach a DNB Track.
Lexie: Nice! Some amazingly fun tunes could be made from these partnerships. You should definitely look into it!
10: What is your favourite thing about making music? What keeps you going?
Rene (Locuzzed): I remember being at Let It Roll this year and hearing people sing along our Track "Funkyfied" - that was surreal! It always gives me a push, when you get props from other producer’s aswell. I love to exchange with them and chat/learn about new production techniques. What really keeps me going is whenever i hear a new tune and I'm like "how the f... did they do that?". That’s when I’m really motivated to go back and work on stuff.
Benni (Dossa): The best part is when you play a tune you've made to someone and the person says "yes. This is great". Besides the obligatory "you never stop learning", "you can do what you want" and "travel the world", that's the thing that keeps pushing me!
11: Do you have any other tracks in the works you could tell us about?
Yes we actually have a full bunch of tunes, as we're working on our debut album atm. We have all the ideas locked now, so we're in phase 2 where we make them sound properly. We'll try to release it next year, until then there'll be another single on viper, a tune with some Austrian brosephs and a remix, so watch out!
Lexie: Ah that’s is brilliant news! I cannot wait to hear what’s in store next! Sounds like it’s going to be an interesting one, I am looking forward to it!
12: Ok so last but not least! Where would you like to see yourselves in the next 5 years? Do you have any goals and ambitions?
Always afraid of this question. On the one hand you should clearly see your goals, but on the other side we don't want to be disappointed. I guess we'll just keep on doing our thing and see where this leads to, we both have a quite good education so we can still sell sausage rolls then haha!
Lexie: Hahaha! Well yes you could! Even though I am sure you guys are much better at making tunes :) I completely understand though! Keep on doing your thing, trust your intuitions and who knows where it could lead!
13: Well thank you so much for taking the time out to have a chat! I wish you all the best with your awesome new release and hope to see you at the raves in the UK soon! Any Closing thoughts or shout outs?
It's a pleasure! Yes props going out to our Families and Friends aswell as all supporters. And big ups Asad, our man for (almost) everything!
Dossa & Locuzzed
#funkydnb
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Interview conducted by: Lexie Pierre
