It’s Thursday January 15, 2015 – this is the 13th TEA at the ZOO and the first one of the new year! We wish you a great one!
To be honest, we had a fantastic 2014, packed with inspiring artists and amazing sounds. So how’s 2015 gonna be? As for us, we’ll continue spreading fine sets from great DJs, hope to please your senses and grow our community!
The new year starts with a blast! We’re more than happy to present an exclusive set by HOURS from Affin, Agentur Lehmann | Stuttgart. HOURS is another talent at the decks from Southern Germany who’ll prove that they don’t only have heavy beer, but heavy beats as well. As a Lehmann Club resident, HOURS has rocked the crowd for more than 3 years now with his deep, intriguing sound. Enjoy the interview and drop a line if you liked the set!
Where are you from? Hi there, thanks for having me! I’m from Nürtingen, a small town near Stuttgart.
Where are you living most of your time? I’m basically commuting between my studio (www.xcubestudios.com) which is located a bit outside of Stuttgart, and Stuttgart itself.
How old are you? I’m 27 – the big 30 is looming already!
When and why did you start DJing? I started 9 years ago in a little club in Nürtingen after winning a DJing competition which I spontaneously took part in. We played mostly mixed music on 2 HiFi-CD-Players by Sony without a pitch fader and a DJM 600 by Pioneer. Shortly after, I got a residency at infamous Club Prag (precursor of Lehmann Club) on Fridays where I played Rock and Metal. I’ve always listened to a lot of different kinds of music so my desire to improve my DJing skills took over quickly. I also played a lot of Funk and Hip Hop Vinyl Sets at other venues in Stuttgart. About three years ago I got back into Techno and that’s where my focus has been ever since.
Which equipment/set up is your favourite and why? I really don’t care about all the Software vs. CDJs vs. Vinyl hate, as long as the music is great it doesn’t matter where it comes from. I’m able to DJ with all three of them. Usually I use 4 decks of Traktor alongside my trusty DSI Tempest, a Boss DD-7 and an Eventide Space, all of which runs through an A&H X:One 92. When playing b2b or in case there is not enough space I prefer using CDJs. I don’t play Vinyl as HOURS because I just don’t have that much electronic music on that format. My Vinyl collection consists mostly of Jazz, Funk and Classical Music with some Old School Hip Hop and Rock tunes.
How would you describe your music? Deep, groovy and atmospheric? Still plenty of drive in it I’m told. Just listen to the Podcast 😛
Who are your idols? As DJs, Chris Liebing, Speedy J and Ben Klock come to mind. The first two because of their use of technology, the latter because of the atmosphere he is able to create with just one record. On the side of producing, artists I look up to are Drumcell, Trent Reznor and Black Asteroid. But there are many more, some from genres that don’t have anything to do with electronic music, like Björn Gelotte from In Flames.
Where do you get your inspiration? Movies, Books, Science Fiction. I’m kind of a big nerd. I love the classics like 2001: A Space Odissey, Logan’s Run or Blade Runner. I just love that these kind of stories are back en vogue at the moment with fascinating stuff like Interstellar or Gravity. We need to get people back into futurism!
What was the first vinyl you bought? Placebo – Sleeping with Ghosts.
What was the last vinyl you bought? UVB – Second Life EP (MORD).
Where was your first gig? Club Kuckucksei in Nürtingen. Some private parties before that… I can’t recall anymore.
Where did you like it the most to DJ and why? Some friends of mine do an Open Air every year in a forest that is called Odenwald. It’s a charity event where all the raised money is donated, and the DJs play for free. I’m not a big fan of festivals, however, this is something really special for me. The place has something like a holy vibe. I love playing there, people are great. Another great place is Lehmann’s second floor. It’s small, dark and can get pretty crowded, but I love the atmosphere. It’s where everything started for me.
What was the funniest/craziest thing that happened on a gig? I once played in a railroad cabin that was stuffed. People started moving simultaneously so the whole thing started to shake. In that moment you could feel the music with all your senses. Pretty sick!
Are there any upcoming releases or recently released stuff? I’m currently looking for a nice little place for my next EP, and there will be some more remixes out soon, so stay tuned!
What are you plans for the future? I’d like to play a few live shows again, I’m currently working on some more material, and maybe I’ll have enough at the end of 2015. On the other hand I love to play completely improvised live sets, so maybe I’ll put the focus there. We’ll see, I’d like to cooperate with somebody in this case too.
What is your favourite animal? I’ll go with a Wombat. Have you seen them? They are like Killer-Ninja-Gerbil-Hamsters.
Try to catch Hours playing one of his driven and playful sets at Auf & Davon Heidelberg /w Philipp Kipphan and Philipp Heumann, 06.02.2015 or at CLR Stuttgart /w Chris Liebing and Raphael Dincsoy, 21.02.2015. Don’t forget to say hello from us!
– Larry
www.facebook.com/hourstechno www.soundcloud.com/hourstechno www.twitter.com/hourstechno www.beatport.com/artist/hours/377546 www.agenturlehmann.com/ http://www.lehmannclub.de/artists/hours/
Booking contact: rapha@agenturlehmann.com info@agenturlehmann.com