German residing Kashawar sports a deep, smooth and sexy blend of uplifting house music. Slight percussive nuances in sound and patterns sit atop uplifting chords and melodic progressions, creating a deft mix between eerie strains of minimal and deep house. But who is Kashawar and why should we be paying attention? After his remix of Zahran Brothers’ Winds of Change in 2012, the underground proprietor of deep and enveloping house music has watched his stock grow, earning the respect of his peers and the most niche of house music circles as he follows his own non-determined path, which has provided the kudos to release on uber-cool labels such as Autoreply, Body Parts and Project London and more. Here, MEOKO introduces Kashawar further and the many projects and musical aspirations he finds himself immersed in.
First off, you recently just played at the infamous Club Der Visionaere, what was it like? Was it everything you expected it to be?
Well the gig at Club Der Visionaere was a special one for me, as it's one of my favourite clubs and has been a little dream for a long time to perform at that place. Unfortunately it was a rainy day, nevertheless I really enjoyed playing there and hope to be back soon.
Which other places have made an impression on you in the last year? What plans touring plans do you have for the near future and is there a London date to look forward to?
One of my highlights was Klubd in Cyprus, with their great soundsystem and a friendly crowd. Loud at the Macarena Club in Barcelona was also a great experience, the promoter and resident DJs are super nice guys, we had a lot of fun.
At the moment there are no requests for London, but you can catch me soon at Club Heisenberg in St.Petersberg, Anita Berber in Berlin, Grelle Forelle in Vienna or in Wuerzburg at Neozoen, which is a party series of some friends and mine.
Not too long ago Moments and Lost memories was released on Autoreply, how is this project series going and what is the structure/plan for it? How far along has it progressed until now?
Moments and Lost memories is a selection of old and new works, which I've been collecting over the past 3 years. Each track on that project has a special personal meaning to me. As the name says, it's like putting some special moments and memories together. Third and last part of that series will be out after the summer.
Are there any other different projects or upcoming releases you are working on?
I will have an EP on the dutch label Ruis, consisting of 3 tracks. Further more there will be a few releases under different aliases.
What's it like collaborating with artists under Project London Records? There seems to be a very friendly relationship between you guys...
A friendly relationship is one of the most important things to me, when it comes to work with labels or other artists, this is how I pick the labels to work with, everything is based on friendships and trust.
As you've also previously collaborated with Hdnsm, what are your thoughts on any of the new releases? Such as the Variant EP for example or whichever else you've found interesting to you.
"Man Spider" on the Variant EP is one of my aliases. Hdnsm invited me to play at their radio show when I had my debut gig in London last year at the Mosaic showcase. We stayed in touch and they told me about their new label project, the whole thing sounded interesting to me and a few months later "Man Spider" was born.
What artists are you currently collaborating with or are in the process of doing so? You've had some great partnerships such as Cristi Cons and are you still in the making with DJ Pheek ?
It's always interesting for me to collaborate with different artists, sharing ideas and create something new with them. The project with JP (Pheek) will rest for a while, as both of us are very busy with other things at the moment. But there should be no pressure about deadlines to finish and release something, it's just matter of time until we continue to work on something.
Name a few artists that you went B2B with or would like to...
I love to play B2B with my close friend Marius Moede as we are into the same kind of music. An artist that I would like to play with is Zip, he is my number 1 DJ.
Tell us a little bit more about your ever lasting love for vinyl... What were your influences growing up and did they feed into this attachment and preference?
Vinyl is very important to me, buying records make me happy! The first influence was my older brother, he started buying records even before I knew what house music is. About 10 - 11 years ago I had my first sessions on his decks and since then I fell into the passion for vinyl. It feels like christmas every time, when I see the postman coming over with a package full of records. I have a relationship to each record in my collection, when I grab a record and see the cover, I remember the first time when I played it, the moment when I found it, where I found it, why I bought it, you can't have that special feeling with an mp3 file! Thats why I will buy vinyls forever.
Beginning from the young age of 17, how did your interest in electronic music and career evolve to what it is now? How has your style changed or progressed in the recent years in both DJ sets and production?
Again my brother has been the main influence in the beginning. He took me to my first techno parties and club nights, thats how I came in touch with house and techno music. We started playing and producing together, but due the lack of time he left the whole nightlife scene, he stopped DJing and going out to clubs. At that point I created my own project Kashawar and started to share demos with different artists and labels. Gradually more and more DJs started to play my tracks and paying attention to my music.
How do you see the European electronic music scene at the moment? Do you feel it keeps on growing or do you have another opinion on it? Positive or otherwise...
Europe has the biggest electronic music scene in the world and it's still growing, if you see the big movement in the past few years in eastern Europe. Romania, Russia and Ukraine become important spots on the map with their amazing clubs and parties like Arma17, Sunwaves, Club Midi, Feeleed or Kazantip just to name a few. Also a lot of new artists rising up for those countries. The French scene is also growing with new parties, labels and artists.
Rumor has it hat you like to skateboard... tell us a little bit more about this. What other interests do you have?
Well skateboarding is a very important part of my life, I've been skating since my childhood. During the summer I try to be more on the board then in the studio. It helps me to keep the balance between touring, studio and my day job. When I hang out with my skate friends, get on the board, I can forget the whole stress around me, it's like entering another world on the streets. Once a skater forever a skater!
Lastly, what are your touring plans for this summer? Is there a special location coming up or will you take time off to chill?
At the moment gigs are getting more and more, and I'm very happy about that development. I hope to play at some open air events during the day this summer.
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