GOTTWOOD MIX 005: MONKEY SAFARI!!

Gottwood Presents 005 - Monkey Safari by Gottwood Festival on Mixcloud

This weeks exclusive podcast comes courtesy of Germany's Monkey Safari. Featuring a host of their own productions and releases from their label, What! What!, it perfectly showcases their eclectic taste in house music. A wild ride through funk and swing, it's a seriously juicy selection. We also caught up with the guys for a chat about their tunes, their town, their label, and Charles Bronson...

Hello Monkey Safari! What's been keeping you guys busy recently?

This interview...!

How long have you two been DJing together? And where did the name Monkey Safari come from?

We've been playing together since 2005, and the name Monkey Safari is the product of a nice evening in Berlin and some cuba libre...

Your music is clearly influenced by a wide variety of styles, who would you say have been your biggest influences over the years?

Old-school Hip Hop, Fatboy Slim, Moby & The Doors.

Bootlegs & Bountys by Monkey Safari

We understand you're both from Halle, how would you describe the city, and do you think it's influenced your music?

It’s a small city with only 250,000 people, but it's got lots of creative potential in the urban art and electronic music scenes. We reckon these social scenes have influenced our sound more than the city.

You've collaborated with Super Flu recently, when's that being released, and what else do you have in store for the next few months?

Our collaboration with Super Flu, which is called 'Hallo Halle' will be released at the beginning of April on their own label Monaberry. We've also started a new label this year called Mambo, and are releasing some original tracks, as well as remixes by Zombie Disco Squad and Round Table Knights. On the new Jackmode label we're releasing two new tracks with a J.Phlip remix in July, and recently we're working on a collaboration with Mowgli.



Wow, that's a lot to look forward to! You launched your own label, What! What! back in 2008, and have put out some great releases,what are your aims with the label?

The development of What! What! for the last 3 years has been really interesting and we hope it carrys on like this in the future. No static business, just more fun in the music!

You've got some very talented guys involved with What! What! at the moment, where do you find them all?

We get sent a lot of demo stuff from producers all over the world, and if we find some interesting new talents on the net then we get in touch.

I read that you've have launched your own night club in Halle, called Charles Bronson, which is a bold move! Could you tell us a bit about that? And why the name?

The club is pretty small but we keep it high quality, with international bookings in a familiar atmosphere. And it’s a great place to connect with artists from all over the world and build interesting networks. Almost everybody asks us how we get the name... It’s a strong sounding name from a cool guy and that’s it.

And what advice would you give anyone looking to start their own club?

Let it be!

With your DJing and producing, your label and your night club you must be very busy! What do you get up to in your spare time?

...whats spare time!?

What can we expect from your set at Gottwood this summer?

A lot of unreleased stuff and special edits we only play in our sets + soundcloud.com/monkey-safari + music from people we like + it's a surprise!



What are your tips for 2011?
Artist(s): eLDOKO, Jules & Moss, Sumo Flex
Label: Mambo, Jackmode Music, Klasse Recordings
Club: 2zkb
Blog: You can call me monkey safari ;-)

And the killer question...if you had to be stranded in the woods, what 5 items could you not leave home without?

Pioneer cdj-1000 mk3 + djm-800 + function one + cd case + a picture of 4000 people!

Well you'll only need you CD Case this time round, see you in June!

Tracklisting

1. M.in - Le Cirque Du Tambours
2. Monkey Safari - Canta
3. DJ Gregory & Gregor Salto - Paris Luanda
4. DJ Gregory & Gregor Salto - Vem Rebola (Monkey Safari Remix)
5. Mowgli & Solo - Tatanka (Luca Lozanos Black & White Remix)
6. Philip Bader - La Musica
7. Monkey Safari feat. Sergio Mendes - Makalena
8. Marc De Vole - Groovepuste
9. Super Flu - Oktavlachs (Hanne & Lore Remix)
10. Ame - Rej (Monkey Safari Remix)

VIEW THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE AT GOTTWOOD HERE.