"What tze fuck are you doin, where is tze banging electrô?"

Autokratz about puking, washing dishes, releasing their first album and Tze banging electrô:

Clstrfcuk:
To start off we want to get rid of that whole name mystery.We‘ve got the feeling that everytime you get asked why you chose that name you come up with a new story. So is it real fun for you to reinvent it everytime?

David:
Yeah, that is what we do a lot. The name comes from that time where Dave used to make tea in Carl Cox‘ studio and there was this machine called „autocat“. Which was on the Apollo 9, with Carl Cox actually

Clstrfcuk:
Got another story?

David:
I make a good cup of tea ,actually formidable.
But the name came about when we read a lot of George Orwell and there comes this thing up about autocracy. So we changed it a little and this is how we call ourselves.
Oh and everything I‘ve said, including this is a lie.

Clstrfcuk:
So we‘ve got another lie to put up.
Switching to the truth.
Do you ever think about making an album. Or do you just continue making EPs, and single tracks?

David:
We‘re doing a mini album in August which is all the EPs we‘ve released till now, put together. it's going to be a free download as well.

Clstrfcuk:
But do you plan on making a song-based album,that has more to offer than previous EP releases?

David:
We‘ve done a track in which we tried to work out influences like Depeche Mode
so it turned out to be pretty song-based.
But we‘re not doing a great departure. We‘re just moving on and trying to keep it interesting for ourselves.The full album will be released around February.
That doesn‘t mean we‘re not doing anymore banging electro tunes, which is fun as well, but it is pointless. Because there isn‘t more for the audience either.
Just cheering _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (insert band name) (Don‘t want to piss off anyone)

Clstrfcuk:
So you're writing on an album that works on both sides,in the club and in the daily life,
an album you can dance to while washing your dishes.

David:
Oh come on, everyone washing dishes while listening to Autokratz:
I'll cut their fucking hands off!
But on the next Kitsune compilation,which is coming out in November is going to be our first expose: „Speaking Silence“.
When we first sent the track to Gildas (Kitsune boss) we were pretty excited if he would embrace our songwriting or go like „What tze fuck are you doin, where is tze banging electrô?“ [French Accent].
But he loved it and said that it could be a great step forward for us.
Don't get me wrong,I still like that electro stuff,but it would be nicer if other people would develop what they are doing. Like Digitalism for example.

Clstrfcuk:
This is what I pointed out, that it‘s necessary to make a good album in order to stay on top.
I read an interview where you told the story of you two going out in berlin and Russ puked on your shoes.
Then you drew a comparison between you two: while he's the one puking you're the one counting the splashes.

David:
That kind of sums up our relationship...

Clstrfcuk:
Can this also be seen as a parallel to your studio work?

Russ:
Yeah, David is doing the beats and i‘m just vomiting in the corner.

Clstrfcuk:
Who has to clean it up then?

David:
Russ of course but he wouldn‘t do such a good job so I end up doing it.
This is what makes such a good dynamic between the two of us.

Russ:
Can we please stop talking about me vomiting? I just woke up.

Clstrfcuk:
When you started, you said that you were influenced by the french electro scene. But i think that there wasn‘t any other electro scene at that moment. So do you put your focus on other countries now, as there is so much coming up. Like Australia, Iceland etc. ...

Russ:
The french music is still going, it‘s just that its dominance is fading away. Ed banger has been doing the same old sound for ages now. But in other countries, like Australia, new bands like Cut Copy and Midnight Juggernauts elegantly combine so many styles. Like shoegaze, electro, pop.
Just taking it forward, not sticking with the same old shit. Not really shit, but the same stuff.

David:
When you look at the french scene, Kitsune is trying to develop something new as well.
But when you focus on ed banger, they just keep up doing this almost cartoon-style, Uffie-type sounds. Which is getting really boring.

Clstrfcuk:
But it‘s really hard for them to get out of this clichee. Because everybody is expecting those kind of parties of them. And i think Busy P said that he wanted to bring back the smile to the parties. So he's just after the party crowd.

Russ:
We‘re just thinking that dance music doesn‘t have to be throw-away music.

David:
So why do so many people in modern music regard it as something disposeable?
It can have depth and so much more.

Russ:
Just because you have machines, doesn‘t mean you can't have something more.

Clstrfcuk:
You don‘t trigger anymore emotions in the listener.

Russ:
Right. Whe chose machines. And we‘re using them just as we would have guitars and drums. We want to make electronic music which has value, not just loud noise that makes people dance.
We do that as well, but i think we can add a lot more value to it.

Clstrfcuk:
So that‘s the reason why you stay at Kitsune?
As in our opinion Kitsune is developing a lot like Warp:
Starting off as an electro/techno label and now signing indie bands and other interesting stuff.

David:
Kitsune shows no reliance on electro.
People like Kitsune and Ed Banger in the first place because they did something new.
But if you look at record labels which are most culturaly significant, like Warp, Mute...
These are the ones that were able to develop, adapt to changes and stay in this highly respected position.
That's one of the great things about Warp.
Completely wild to go from aphex twin to Maximo Park.
So you‘re right about kitsune, cause this is how they are developing.
They want songs and bands to believe in.

Clstrfcuk:
I think we all agree on how much we like dancing to club tracks so let's stop davaluing them.

David:
There‘s nothing I love more than jumping up and down and go mental.
But also, you can express other sides of electronic music. Just keep it interesting for everybody including yourself.
We won‘t give up on songs like 1000 things because its exciting to write that.
To be in the studio and get the feeling that this is going to work in the club.
Me and Russ jumping up and down.

Russ:
My favorite bands are bands that moved on, always kept it intereseting. Like bowie, Depeche Mode, New Order.
I don‘t mean bands that reinvented themselves, cause this sounds like something Madonna would do every five years.

David:
Just like Primal Scream ,they hear new sounds and they just think,fucking hell,you know,this is amazing.I wanna make something like this.
Have you heard the new Primal Scream?The New Single?
It's fantastic.It's more like Accelerator or Evil Heat.
It's amazing how they constantly keep moving.

Clstrfcuk:
We're not really into Primal Scream.
(riot: “Interview is over!”)

Russ:
They're doing that kinda psychadelic thing,they're doing that kinda soul thing ,they're doing electronic, fucking electro noise,they're doing classic rock.

Clstrfcuk:
It's like those bands which make songs for every mood you have.
If they reinvent themselves,it doesn't really fit into your daily habits.
They've got a development like:you have got a song, a favourite song for happiness,for sadness and so on.

Russ:
I think, you know ,we want to get new songs for our new album,
these bands get signed after a couple of tracks – couple of remixes -
it's like these bands use these couple of tracks as singles,so they write an album which has to fit around these tunes. They just write as quickly as they can....
What about buying an album, which you've been looking forward to for ages
sitting down with that record, seeing this album as a complete work of art.

David:
Not many people have these ace songwriting abilities to make it a strong album. Track/Track/Track, just amazing and it's just that short term view, especially in electronic music,because, people just view it as something to throw away, so they don't invest any of their real emotions,it's just empty.

Clstrfcuk:
It's developing like techno ,if you don't listen to it for two months you don't know what's going on, you lose track of it.

Russ:
Electro became something, a few years ago,the first time electro became really big,especially for young people,I mean really young people,kids like 14,15.They grew up with it, that'ts something that never really happened for me.

Clstrfcuk:
I've got one last question,I've tried to search it today, but I couldn't find it on any blog .The Underworld remix for Ring Road you made.
Any chance we could get our hands on that?

David:
Underworld is very - keep everything quite close to their chest. The people who did the last remix (fake blood, laidback luke) leaked it, and I don't thinks it's very fair for the band, as it is down to the band to decide when they release these things.
When we do a remix,we leave it to whoever we remixed to put it out,because it's just unfair for us to decide.
(Note:Official remix release is in July.)

Clstrfcuk:
We were just excited to hear it, as I think the FakeBlood remix worked for the club,but I wasn't really fond of it. It was kind of a sample-overload,too many different songs in one track.

We like to thank Pling-Plong Klub and Autokratz.
And we also like to thank Shootingmusic for the picture.

Autokratz - Last Show
Autokratz - 1000 Things
Autokratz - PardonGarconRewerk

Buy!