On Track With Smith N Hack
SF: Errorsmith and Soundhack manage to take a few minutes out of their sound check to tell The Skinny how the past influences their mission to push dance music into the future.<br/><br/>PQ: ""We had one track we played in Glasgow where we incorporated a Donna Summer track; people went mad for it because they knew how we had combined our track with the sample. You don't often find that knowledge about music in other parts of the world."" - Errorsmith
| 06 Mar 2008
You can feel the excitement in the air of the Sub Club as it builds towards another of the immense Numbers events in these famous walls. Tonight's crowd is in for a real treat too as not only do they get the excellent Feadz they also have a live set from Smith n Hack. The latter are a duo mainly based in Berlin, known for playing and producing ten years of excellent dance music, with influences that include techno, house and a healthy dose of disco.
A lot of the duo's work has come from their individual projects as Errorsmith and Soundhack. Errorsmith has also collaborated with Fiedel as MMM and the connection that brings them all together is the Hardwax record store in Berlin; all still release their records with no help from a label other than to help distribute globally. Smith n Hack have had success in recent years with remixes such as Easy Lee for Ricardo Villalobos and Moving Like a Train for Matthew Herbert, as well as their own Space Warrior. They have also recently been creating a Giorgio Moroder tribute that pays homage to the Italian king of disco as well as being distinctly Smith n Hack. Their live set moves this to another level as Errorsmith explains: "We have a live set that is much more than just pressing play, we have some patterns and we jam along but it's very hard to describe. We use mainly synthesizers and our music is very disco influenced. We have been working on our Moroder tribute album and that is the main theme of what we play just now."
Errorsmith also does a great deal for Native Instruments, helping to produce new technology: this has a clear influence on the duo's ability to remix, play live and DJ all to such a high standard. They don't plan too many remixes in the immediate future however and instead plan to release more of their own stuff starting with an anniversary release, one half Soundhack and one half MMM. "We want to release something, especially after the success of the last record," Soundhack explains, "A new and old track on each side."
Having played at the likes of Club 69 and a previous Numbers gig, the duo are familiar with the Scottish and Glasgow club scene. "The party is the whole weekend. It's very refreshing to play here," says Soundhack. Errorsmith also loves the city of Glasgow for their musical taste: "For us, it is the favourite city to play, possibly because of the early closing time [NB promoters and councils: 3am is considered early in Europe! - ed] meaning a party crowd for sure. Back home there is a big party scene with lots of clubs, but you never have a climax. They also know much more about different styles of music. We had one track we played in Glasgow before where we incorporated a Donna Summer track; people went mad for it because they knew how we had combined our track with the sample. You don't often find that knowledge about music in other parts of the world. We are looking forward to playing Numbers [Feb 08]; it is wonderful that these kinds of connections exist. I also like Feadz very much so it's great to play with him tonight!"
Although the twosome have strong disco influences it's clear they don't want to be tied down to one genre. "The tribute we are doing is just a start and we're not sure where it will end, but it may not always be disco based. Although we still love it (as a genre)," explains Errorsmith. "We can find good stuff in everything... we want to get across the fun we are having rather than just playing tribute to music we like," continues Soundhack.
Whatever the future brings for these two Berliners they are sure to keep packing out clubs and pushing dance music forward with a knowing nod to the past.
A lot of the duo's work has come from their individual projects as Errorsmith and Soundhack. Errorsmith has also collaborated with Fiedel as MMM and the connection that brings them all together is the Hardwax record store in Berlin; all still release their records with no help from a label other than to help distribute globally. Smith n Hack have had success in recent years with remixes such as Easy Lee for Ricardo Villalobos and Moving Like a Train for Matthew Herbert, as well as their own Space Warrior. They have also recently been creating a Giorgio Moroder tribute that pays homage to the Italian king of disco as well as being distinctly Smith n Hack. Their live set moves this to another level as Errorsmith explains: "We have a live set that is much more than just pressing play, we have some patterns and we jam along but it's very hard to describe. We use mainly synthesizers and our music is very disco influenced. We have been working on our Moroder tribute album and that is the main theme of what we play just now."
Errorsmith also does a great deal for Native Instruments, helping to produce new technology: this has a clear influence on the duo's ability to remix, play live and DJ all to such a high standard. They don't plan too many remixes in the immediate future however and instead plan to release more of their own stuff starting with an anniversary release, one half Soundhack and one half MMM. "We want to release something, especially after the success of the last record," Soundhack explains, "A new and old track on each side."
Having played at the likes of Club 69 and a previous Numbers gig, the duo are familiar with the Scottish and Glasgow club scene. "The party is the whole weekend. It's very refreshing to play here," says Soundhack. Errorsmith also loves the city of Glasgow for their musical taste: "For us, it is the favourite city to play, possibly because of the early closing time [NB promoters and councils: 3am is considered early in Europe! - ed] meaning a party crowd for sure. Back home there is a big party scene with lots of clubs, but you never have a climax. They also know much more about different styles of music. We had one track we played in Glasgow before where we incorporated a Donna Summer track; people went mad for it because they knew how we had combined our track with the sample. You don't often find that knowledge about music in other parts of the world. We are looking forward to playing Numbers [Feb 08]; it is wonderful that these kinds of connections exist. I also like Feadz very much so it's great to play with him tonight!"
Although the twosome have strong disco influences it's clear they don't want to be tied down to one genre. "The tribute we are doing is just a start and we're not sure where it will end, but it may not always be disco based. Although we still love it (as a genre)," explains Errorsmith. "We can find good stuff in everything... we want to get across the fun we are having rather than just playing tribute to music we like," continues Soundhack.
Whatever the future brings for these two Berliners they are sure to keep packing out clubs and pushing dance music forward with a knowing nod to the past.