Photo Credit: Caren Pauli
The acclaimed live outfit of Laurenz Karsten, Phillip Oertel, and Tim Sarhan describe themselves as “three precision-obsessed control freaks that have honed their craft to a German industrial perfection.” They have an uncompromising sound that welds together propulsive drums, unrepentant bass lines, and searing guitars that cut through like acid. Their hedonistic live techno is crafted in analogue fashion with traditional instruments filtered through an impressive array of pedals and effects. Since forming in 2014, Komfortrauschen has played regularly at cult venues like Sisyphos, Kantine am Berghain, and Kater Blau as well as all over Europe and beyond. Now they are ready for the world stage as they drop their debut album, ‘K’.
EG caught up with Komfortrauschen to learn more about the drop of their debut album, ‘K’, the creative workflow, the transition to the studio, their future projects, and more.
EG: Hi guys! Welcome to EG! It’s a pleasure to have you with us. How have things been going so far this year?
Komfortrauschen: Hey, thanks for having us! We’re doing great, we already had a few highlights: We released our first single on Second State, which was a big step for us and we already dropped 3 other singles to promote our debut album, which is an even bigger step! We’re really excited!
EG: Congratulation on the drop of your debut album, ‘K’! What has the initial reception been like?
Komfortrauschen: Thank you! The first reactions are really cool! We got lots of good feedback on ‘Reload’, which is our most acid and aggressive track so far. The other two singles, ‘KR#1’ and ‘Kapital’, worked great as well. The whole album represents the sound of our live set and we’re happy that we were able that we could catch that live vibe during the recording process!
EG: Since you don’t normally record your ‘tracks’…what has the experience and process been like?
Komfortrauschen: When we write tracks we usually jam like a regular band would do… aside from the fact that we play techno and not pop or jazz, haha! All jams are being recorded, and if we like a part, we zoom in and start to arrange it. This will result in some kind of a demo version of the final track, which we then start to record, track by track. When all the recording is done, we do a few edits and then start mixing together with Leonard De Leonard. He is a sound design wizard, and in his studio, we did a lot of dubbing. There is almost no track on the vinyl where you can’t hear his old and gritty Roland Space Echo or his vintage Ibanez UE Phaser/Distortion unit.
EG: You’ve been around for some years now….why record the album now? What’s the inspiration behind ‘K’?
Komfortrauschen: We just never felt like recording a full album. Recording an album takes way more time, and combining eight tracks is more difficult than combining three or four tracks. If we release a four-track EP there will usually be at least one track that didn’t make it on the final record because it didn’t fit or we didn’t like it as much. For the album ‘K’, I believe we originally had eleven tracks and only eight made it on the vinyl! And don’t get us started on all the demos and ideas we dismissed… So in the end, time is a major factor if you want to record an entire album. During 2020 and early 2021, we had more than enough time and we felt like the time was right to finally go for it and record an album!
‘K’ is just short for Komfortrauschen. We got this huge K-shaped light element which we take on tour every time and we thought ‘K’ should be the name of the album. It’s simple and minimalistic, too. That’s probably why we like it so much.
“All jams are being recorded, and if we like a part, we zoom in and start to arrange it. This will result in some kind of a demo version of the final track, which we then start to record, track by track”
EG: And what can your fans expect to find on ‘K’, music-wise?
Komfortrauschen: Prepare yourselves to listen to some techno on our album! 🙂 There is acid, there are two tracks that are more on the house-ier side, and there is one IDM-inspired track with vocals on it.
EG: Are these songs you have played before in a live setting? Or where they composed from scratch for the record?
Komfortrauschen: There are definitely tracks on the record that have a live history! The oldest track is called ‘Bock’. It’s the first track on the album and also the first track we play in our live set. It’s nice to test a track in front of a crowd before recording it! But there are also a few tracks on the album we never had the chance to play live before recording them due to the pandemic. A lot of the tracks were written during lockdown.
Sometimes we just jammed and thought: “Wait, this idea is so great, let’s elaborate on this and then add it to the collection!”. Some of the tracks came up really quickly.
EG: What would you say is the perfect setting to listen to ‘K’? Where would you like to listen to it if you had the chance?
Komfortrauschen: We would like to listen to it in a club! We think it works best when it’s played loud in front of a dancing crowd!
EG: Let’s talk about your live act for a moment…is there a ‘blueprint’ you guys follow as you play? Or is each session different? Do improvisations take you way off script?
Komfortrauschen: The live set is pretty much planned out and we put a lot of work into it. We used to jam and improvise on stage, but we want the drops and breaks to be really effective. Also, we want to play the tracks we recorded, and therefore you really need to practice and do a lot of effects programming. The stuff we do with our effects pedals, sample pads, and MIDI controllers to be able to navigate through our live set wouldn’t be possible if it was all jammed.
The only thing we really improvise with is time: How long a certain part lasts depends on how the crowd reacts. If they keep raving we keep playing the same 8 bars a little longer, adding some modulations or drum patterns.
“After the album release on May 27th, we’re going to put this show on the road! We’re playing lots of festivals this summer and in fall we’re hoping to also tour internationally”
EG: What else can we expect from Komfortrauschen in the future? What new milestones are you looking forward to in the coming months?
Komfortrauschen: After the album release on May 27th, we’re going to put this show on the road! We’re playing lots of festivals this summer and in fall we’re hoping to also tour internationally. There are releases already planned as well: in July there will be another single on Second State and in September a new EP is coming up!
EG: Thank you for your time, guys! We wish you all the best for the future!
Komfortrauschen: Thank you very much!
Komfortrauschen’s ‘K’ will be out on May 27th via Springstoff.
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