Holy Trinity

Moderat’s debut album finally arrived this year, six years after the release of their first EP Auf Kosten der Gesundheit (At The Cost Of Health) on the pioneering BPitchControl label. Consisting of Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary of Modeselektor along with Sasha Ring of Apparat, the three piece spent a considerable amount of time apart following the creation of their appropriately titled EP.

“(We were) a ‘just for fun’ project without any big plans. And now, six years later, we decided all of sudden to do something ‘real’ together, something that's more of a concert show than a club act, something with audio and visuals combined. Well, and this we did!” says Gernot. 

This goal was certainly achieved, with all three members being joined on stage by artist Pfadfinderei who creates the visuals for what is fast becoming one of the most talked about live acts of the year.

“It's a lot of fun to play as Moderat. The visuals and the light show became very important aspects of this show and Moderat wouldn't be Moderat without them. The audience reacts differently to Moderat than to Modeselektor or Apparat shows, the visuals are pretty much in the foreground and the set in total is more like a concert show than a rave.”

The results have proven to be amazing and well received by fans the world over, but how was the process of creating the album considering the different sounds of the acts involved?

“We didn't have any idea about how to work together, we just had a concept of sound in common that we wanted to realize. It took more than six months to find the right way to work together, we are pretty particular, each of us, and have our very own way of working. We just ended up being in the studio for long, long hours and days. It was almost like a social experiment, in total (including Pfadfinderei) there were ten people involved. Apparat’s music is rather epic and more song orientated, Modeselektor puts more emphasis on beats, bass, champagne and rave. But both acts always have room for nice melodic lines. We didn't really have a master plan before starting the production. All collaborations happened accidentally almost. Except the song with Paul St. Hilaire – Slow Match. This one was supposed to be released on the Modeselektor album Happy Birthday, but has been finished only with the help of Apparat. So we put it on the Moderat album instead.”

The album slowly took form within Hansa Studios in Berlin, the same space where David Bowie recorded Heroes. The record’s unique sound owes a great deal to both an old emi console from 1972, which was restored especially for Moderat and software designer Joshua Kit Clayton. Joshua programmed a reverb algorithm specifically for the recording of the Moderat album.

“A lot of people have been surprised by this album, but most of them have really liked it. We’re pleased.”