Motorcitysoul Interview

Motorcitysoul's Matthias Vogt chats about their new album 'Technique', Frankfurt vs. Berlin and much more.

Motorcitysoul started out as a one-man show with Matthias Vogt flying solo. Already an established jazz musician, band leader and pianist, Matthias used the Motorcitysoul name to focus more on the electronic side of his work. It was whilst working on his debut album, ‘Did You Expect That’ with producer C-Rock, that it became clear that two heads were more harmonious and convincing than one – and C-Rock joined MCS full-time. Their different musical backgrounds combine to produce lush, soulful melodies over a driving house groove – which can be heard on releases for labels like Aus and Freerange. Motorcitysoul have just finished their second album, ‘Technique’, which is out now on Simple Records.

Matthias is DJing with Will Saul at the Simple Records residency in The End’s lounge this Saturday, so we grabbed a quick chat with him about the new album.

Endclub.com: Technique is your second album, four years after your debut. What was the inspiration behind the new album?

Matthias Vogt: We really had no master plan behind doing another album. It was Will Saul’s idea that we should come up with ideas and put together an album, after recording our first two singles ‘Kazan’ and ‘Space Kätzle’ on his label. We thought it could be a nice thing recording a new album. Our first album was kind of like a Matthias Vogt solo album with producer help by C-Rock. Now we are a real duo, and so that was what we wanted it to sound like! A C-Rock and Matthias Vogt head-to-head.

Tell us about your studio set up for the album Technique. Who does what?

Well C-Rock is a producer, whereas I am a trained jazz musician. So he is more based sitting at the monitor, with me at the keys. But we are both DJs, so we’ve got a similar approach to our productions.

Vocalists on the album include Ernesto, Ovasoul 7 and Marlene Johnson. How did you select vocalists to work with?

C-Rock worked with Marlene before, releasing 12”s as Glance on his Stir 15 label, with vocal help by Marlene. I knew Ernesto from album work with my jazz project [re:jazz]. We invited him to sing with us when we were DJing at our residency at Cocoon in Frankfurt. And Ovasoul, well, he is our MySpace friend...he’s an amazing singer!

And who would be your dream vocalists to get involved with Motorcitysoul?

There’s so many, although I guess some of my dream vocalists would not dig our stuff. But if we got the chance, I’d say Michael McDonald (from Steely Dan), Paddy McAlloon (Prefab Sprout), Chaka Khan... and I really like jazz singer Rachelle Ferrell.

How important is location to your work as Motorcitysoul?

Well the name Motorcitysoul references my place of birth, Rüsselsheim – as it’s the town where Opel cars are built.  But I moved to Frankfurt and took the name with me - I really love to live in Frankfurt. It is a great city. And it’s got a unique club culture; our work at Cocoon Club is an inspiration in itself.

So you'd never migrate to Berlin then?

Ber-what? Never! Don’t get me wrong, Berlin is nice, but coming home to Frankfurt after playing in Berlin is even nicer!

Going Deeper is your night at Cocoon. Tell us a bit about it…

Going Deeper is actually only one of two Motorcitysoul concepts at Cocoon. With Going Deeper, C-Rock hosts the Fridays there on the deeper floor. He’s invited guests like King Britt, Chez Damier and Jimpster. Our new night on the main floor is called Our House. We do it every six to eight weeks, and we combine live music and DJing, so it is obviously more my cup of tea. On October 11th we will have a nice Motorcitysoul vs. Spirit Catcher thing there...

Is Sven as crazy at his home club as he is at The End? Last time he was here he made a giant hat out of paper in the DJ booth...

I guess that’s just a small taste of what he is doing at Cocoon. Well, you have no other choice than to check it out yourself. He is really entertaining!

What can we expect from your DJ set at The End on Saturday?

Lots of stuff from the new album Technique – some of the original as well as the remixes. Plus all the stuff I’m loving right now - I really like to dig deep at the moment!

Who's in charge between yourself and C-Rock?

The "and"! :)

Would you rather win a Grammy for your music, or score the winning goal for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League Final?

That’s unfair! Both!!!

Published: 29/09/2008

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