Session Victim Q&A — "You have to pull the Korg Trident and Moog Delay out of my dead hands”
Session Victim’s Matthias talks influences, gear, and pinball scores
Words by Rocco Universal
Session Victim have long been Cosmic Tiger favourites thanks to their fresh sounding mutant house-tilted grooves and wildly energetic DJ sets. The arrival of their new EP inspired in us an urge to reach out to the production duo to quiz them about some of the burning issues of the day — such as, which of the pair possesses the greater pinball finesse — and also to show some love and appreciation for their thick and intoxicating musical catalogue.
The characteristic grooves of Session Victim's Hauke Freer and Matthias Reiling have been permeating dance floors since they began releasing their musical funk around 12 years ago, and their new 'Two Crowns EP' continues their exceptionally high-level output. The cultured three-track EP comes courtesy of Delusions of Grandeur, varying in intricate tone from the heavy beats of the title track through to the evolving panorama and gentle breaks of 'Guidance', and on to the harmonic shifts and introspective motifs of 'Village Youth'. It's the title track we've opted to include here, as we've been some way lost in its magnetic rhythm ever since it first cascaded from our obliging speakers. Loose drum patterns push and pull, pads swell, the bass subtly bumps, and all the while the groove urgently summons the dance.
We were very happy to hear from Matthias, who spoke to us from his base in Germany. Read on to learn what he had to say.
Please can you tell us where you met and how your joint production adventure began?
“Me and my partner Hauke are both originally form the small town of Lüneburg. We met around 1997, started a little crew to throw Parties and, about 10 years later, made our first beat together. The debut EP ‘No Friends’ came out in 2008 and now look at us, still doing the exact same shit in 2021.”
We're very glad you are doing so! So, can you tell us about some of your musical influences, both from your early lives and today?
“It all really started with Metal and Punk for me, the next big love after that was Hip Hop. Then came dnb, soul, disco and finally house and techno, roughly in that order. Today I try to look for stuff that could excite me anywhere that comes to mind really. Nerding out in one specific genre for long usually means that I have to let it rest for a while sooner or later, so I try to be careful and go different places all the time.”
That sounds like a sensible approach. Now, what was the first record each of you remember buying?
“The first pieces of vinyl I ever bought were The Specials’ 'Gangsters' 45 and Minor Threat’s 'Out Of Step'.”
Ah, Minor Threat. My elder brother got me into them, also Fugazi, one of Ian Mackaye's other bands. Fierce, straight edge power punk. So, your music seems to be endowed with a wonderfully organic quality which helps to set it apart from much of the electronic canon, is this a result of the live instrumentation you record or is there more to it than that?
“We do work with live instrumentation of course, but the backbone of our tracks and songs has always been sampling. I'm happy to hear that quite a lot of people appreciate this apparently organic texture of what we do – but I can not point my finger on where that comes from exactly. Using instruments and sample records is an important factor for sure, but I guess it comes down to what Hauke and me agree on aesthetically in the end.”
As self-confessed studio geeks, are there any particular pieces of kit or equipment that you couldn’t live without that you can tell us about?
“Having made music in a lot of different studios by now, I gotta say that switching the workspace and gear around you can be very inspiring, sometimes even liberating. That being said, you have to pull the Korg Trident and the Moog Delay out of my dead hands.”
We understand you love to play pinball. What is the appeal, and, more importantly, which of you has the highest score?
“Pinball tables are, in a way the last non – computer game. You have the playfield behind a wall of glass and an interface to control the balls and with them the whole game. Each table is different, with certain obstacles, loops and targets to hit – so although they are similar to each other in many ways, you still have to figure out each game for itself. Oh, and they are obviously total pieces of art in their own right. Talking high scores, we each have had our share of good games, but I have to admit Hauke might have the overall edge.”
Your music seems to incorporate wildly different influences. Do you feel that the dance community’s overall appetite for eclectic sounds and genres has increased in recent years?
“I don't know if that is really the case to be honest. Sound aesthetics, rhythms, tempo, it all comes and goes in waves if you look at it from a trend or fashion point of view. We do incorporate a lot of different stuff because we both listened to and therefore got influenced by so much music, but I guess that is probably inevitable for most musicians on their quest to excite themselves over time.”
Are there any artists with whom you'd love to collaborate but haven't had the opportunity?
“We love to collaborate with people on music and are lucky to have had the chance to work with some amazing ones so far, like our good friend Iron Curtis, key wizard Erobique from Hamburg, Jamie Lloyd from Sydney or Beth Hirsch, who wrote and sang on one song from our last album Needledrop. We don't have a bucket list of people we want to work with, but I hope there will be many more to come. Hmm, now thinking about that bucket list, maybe there is one after all. Not complete by any means, but Lou Rhodes and Beth Gibbons are definitely on it. Malcom Catto of the Heliocentrics is on mine too, along with a bunch of rappers that would take ages to narrow down now.”
Do you anticipate nightlife in Germany – as well as in the wider world – returning to pre-Covid normality or do you feel things will be forever altered?
“That’s hard for me to say. In many ways things will go back to how they were, return to their nature. This will take some time though, in some places more than in others. I imagine things to be a bit more local overall for a while.”
What are some of your favorite gig experiences or places to perform?
“Mad Racket in Sydney is and has been a favourite party of ours for a long time now – fantastic crowd and an amazing crew, all great DJs themselves and good friends of ours, so its always heaps of fun. Another one is Heideglühen in Berlin. Lots of things are done right and for the right reasons here, Woody does an amazing job putting line-ups together and the vibe is just sweet. This is the party I go to regularly if we don't play anywhere.”
What do you feel is the special appeal of vinyl-only DJing, is it the aesthetic, sound, history, skill or something else?
“I don't know if there’s one overall special appeal to it - for me personally it’s a bit of all the things you just listed. I could never have a relationship with a file the way I have it with records. I can also never have that much fun browsing the internet for music than I have hanging out in record stores. When I listen to DJs playing out, its usually more hearable and apparent what the DJ is actually doing, what is happening with and between two songs and that definitely seems to translate to the crowd to some degree. And come on, can preparing an USB stick ever be as fun as packing a record bag? I don't think so. But hey, to each their own. I’m just glad I don't have to look at another screen when I play music to an audience.”
Finally, is there anything else you’d like to say?
“Thanks to everyone out there supporting us! It’s just amazing how many of you are doing that continuously and it means everything to us. We hope you check out and enjoy our new EP 'Two Crowns' - and we got a few more things for your turntable in the making of course. Most of all, we hope to be able to play records and synth and bass for you in person and dance together soon again! Peace.”
Thank you for your time Matthias. We hope very much to be able to dance to your music again soon enough!
Session Victim ‘Two Crowns EP is out March 19. Buy it here
