These two filthy Germans released Tank Girl under the name Trashtalk on Craft Music back in 2006, which received support from the likes of Tomcraft, Marco Bailey, Digitalism and Meat Katie, and now their back under the name Hey Today!. Their raucous, hard-stomping, wonderfully OTT track Walk Right Through has just dropped on Kitsune, with a forthcoming remix of Digitalism' Pogo forthcoming on Virgin.
After the Tankgirl release under the name Trashtalk why the name change? How did it come about?
Raik: We was just in the mood to try something different with an other project. Develop our new style and choose a different path. More open-minded Kitsuné is a professional and individual label but nobody mentioned that we don’t do any Trashtalk tracks anymore. At the moment we focus on Hey Today!
How and when were you first infected by dance music?
Rob: That must be in early ‘90s. A friend of mine took me to a rave...that was my first mentionable contact with electronic music. I can say that I was really impressed by that feeling of thousands of people dancing, scream and hyping to the same beat.
When did you start producing, and how long was it before you started making tracks that you were really happy with?
Well it was a couple of years ago when I started to make love with music, and it also took some years to reach a point where you decide to make your artist developments public. Everyone’s got to find his own balance about "I know my abilities and skills aren’t mastered yet" and "but I feel this one is worthy of releasing"
Who would you say your key musical influences are?
Rob: I can’t tell exactly because many influences aren’t musical...if I had to choose some artists I would put: Jefferson Airplane, Carl Orf, Thomas Bangalter, White Stripes and James Brown into my pot. But I think arts and ideas in general are our main influence and inspiration. Names like: Lynch, Linklater, Giger, Dali, Rubens.
Do you remember the first record you ever bought? What was it?
Raik: I guess I was 8 or 9 years old. I saw Moonwalker and was fascinated about the movie and the music. We haven’t got a CD player and I had not enough money to buy one so I bought the Michael Jackson album on MC/TAPE.
What have you got in store for 2008?
Rob: We got a lot of studio time planned, maybe some surprises will be in too
What can we expect from one of your DJ sets?
Raik: RIOTISM! I see the DJing as a classical thing. Read the dancefloor! The people want to have fun and dance, dance, dance.
What has been the most iconic moment in your career as of yet?
Raik: I have nearly everyday iconic moments. When I meet people whose work or art impressed me. That’s iconic for me. For example the photo shooting with Sebastian Heise was one of these moments. He is a very good photographer. I’m impressed by his professional style and his perception. Every studio day with Robert is an iconic moment for me. I like his skills and his point of view. I’m very thankful to work with those people.
What do you plan on doing this time next year?
Rob: Maybe enjoying some ice cream on Mars.
What artists are really inspiring you nowadays?
Raik: There are many very good producers and productions. Producers with very good skills. In the last years even dance music had a global progression. Music from all areas inspired us. From rock productions to classical. Nearly every music inspired me to do things.
http://www.myspace.com/heytoday