//SM.005 - Konrad Wehrmeister

The latest edition of //SNCMIX sees Ilian Tape regular Konrad Wehrmeister deliver an hour of ambient soundscapes and bleepy techno cuts.

Image Credit: Manuel Nieberle

As oversaturation becomes more prominent in electronic music, artists willing to sit in their niche, like Munich’s Konrad Wehrmeister, are a breath of fresh air. His willingness to play with rhythm and texture offers a distinct viewpoint to techno that – for many – is becoming too hard, too fast, and too stale. With this all in mind, it makes sense why he has settled at the Zenker Brothers’ prominent imprint, Ilian Tape.

For those familiar with the label, it’s not hard to hear why KW belongs there. With his roots buried in Latin music, Drum and Bass, and Hip-Hop, he possesses those somewhat staple IT sonics heard throughout much of the label’s catalogue. With DnB-inspired, break-focused drum programming, slow dubbed-out chords, and gritty lo-fi textures, KW presents a unique merging of stylistic motifs that have flourished in the resistance-free environment Ilian Tape has created for its artists.

In this feature, KW breaks down his mix and tells us about his musical lineage, Ilian Tape crew, and more.

I guess we will start from the beginning. What were some of your earliest influences growing up in Munich?

When I was a kid during the school holidays, I would travel back and forth to my father’s place in Berlin. This was where I became introduced to records. He was a record collector and used to DJ at weddings. He had a lot of Brazilian and easy-listening stuff.

I had this Technics record player, and I used to go through his collection when he was away. I must have been about 12/13. Then I got into the smoother side of Drum and Bass. I remember the feeling when I first heard it. It had drums like Hip-Hop.

I was into skating as a teenager, and hip-hop was cool. Later, I ended up getting into this smooth Drum and Bass stuff. I don’t have many examples of who I was listening to off the top of my head, but Attica springs to mind.

What Hip-Hop artists were you into?

I was listening to a lot of old-school boom-bap stuff. One of my first albums was Gangstarr – Jazzmatazz. I was totally fascinated with hip-hop culture, but later, I became more interested in electronic stuff Like Aphex Twin. I remember listening to it and thinking: I’m not ready for this, but it was really good!

I liked the super rough stuff like Caustic Window and Elias. I was listening to this before Selected Ambient Works. It sounded crazy and exciting. This was where I first began to think about doing electronic music.

I started DJing when I was still in school in Munich – around 15/16 – with a friend of mine. We would spend all day mixing records and practising. I remember that we used to play really shitty tech house (haha). It wasn’t the coolest part of the curve, but its what we were into at the time.

Whenever I went to the record shop, I was always searching for hip-hop and strange early 2000s minimal tech stuff. I started producing almost at the same time as this. Back then, I was messing around with logic. My stepfather was a musician (and still is) and introduced me to it.

When did you start to immerse yourself deeper into the electronic music scene? Was it when you started going to clubs?

Yeah, pretty much. Although I would say I was already immersed when I was in my bedroom messing around with beats and recordings. I started going to clubs when I was still 16/17. Me and my friend started playing together in a small club in Munich. We were pretty young, but they allowed it because we played well and brought a lot of people in. Thursdays were a bit quieter, so they let us play to all our friends from school.

Clubs in Munich were really hard to get into around this time. We were still young, and it was a gamble on whether you were getting in or not. You had to know somebody or use a fake stamp or whatever. I remember getting into a club for the first time and experienciing music physically in a big room with lots of people. It was mind-blowing.

Can you talk a bit about Munich? Places like Berlin and Frankfurt get lots of love, but Munich had a vibrant scene too, right?

Munich has its own legacy, for sure. They were old-school clubs like Ultraschall, which my friend Dario played at once. Ultraschall was a huge club and was nationally known. It was one of the most spaced out, coolest clubs and had great bookings.

Registratur is another example. Registratur was such a nice club. they mainly had concerts there, but they had a lot of nice club nights as well. There’s also Rote Sonne which is still there. It emerged from the makers of Ultraschall.

Disco was really present in Munich at the time. It was the main sound. It was okay, but it wasn’t techno, you know. I remember thinking it sounded a lot like the stuff I was listening to back at my dad’s place in Berlin.

<a href="https://iliantape.bandcamp.com/album/it056-altgr">IT056 – ALTGR by KW</a>

The others from Ilian Tape, is this where you met them, in the scene in Munich?

Pretty much. Although I think I met Stenny in the nightlife, and maybe the Zenkers too! I got to know them by going to their parties. They booked a lot of nice people including Shed. They used to throw parties at a club that doesn’t exist anymore called kong. They had a nice event going on there long before Blitz existed.

I really enjoyed the whole sound. I was living in Berlin at the time going to Berghain and the Ilian Tape parties, and I remember how well everything seemed to work in a big room which is something we never had in Munich. The earlier releases from Stenny and the Zenker Brothers especially. They just made so much sense in a big room.

Your earlier releases seem very dub-inspired, then when you went to Ilian Tape the music became more beat and break-focused. Do you think this was due to your environment, being around people like Skee Mask, Stenny, and the Zenkers?

Yeah, for sure. I did my first release in 2013. At the time, I was experimenting on SVS Records and making more house-oriented stuff. Then, I met the Public Possession guys in 2014. They asked me to play a party they were running in an old underground train station in Munich.

I played a lot of diggy dub records which I was into at the time. It was these sort of 80s rough drum machine sounds, but really dubbed up. Prince Jammy, for example. I was really into that stuff then. I remember Marvin and Valentino from Public Possession coming up to me and asking what it was.

They really loved dub. I played a few silly – if you can frame it that way – records and I think they loved that kind of silliness in music. I had just discovered it a year prior, and besides playing house, techno, bass or whatever – this was perfect for that party.

In the end, they asked me to send them some demos. The record born from that is something that people often talk to me about. I always hear how funny it was that my initial style was like that, but I was still producing a lot of experimental and ambient stuff then. Things got faster after that.

The guys at Ilian Tape were a huge influence on me, especially Skee (Mask). We hung out a lot together, but I was also studying that stuff too and playing it out. I was really getting used to this kind of pace, and it definitely inspired me.

Let’s talk about your creative process. How do you get that spark of inspiration, and once it comes, what happens next?

I’ve been thinking about that question a lot. If I’m being honest, it’s getting a little harder. When you’ve been doing this for a while, it’s not like you’re entering the club for the first time anymore. I know how it’s all done now. I still get the spark sometimes, but I have to catch it on the right days.

Right now, autumn is my most creative time. It’s when I can get the most out of the studio. This autumn was different, however. I felt like it wasn’t really my time, but when I’m back in Munich after Christmas I’m getting back into the studio and I’m going to focus on other stuff.

I’m really into this book right now. (Konrad holds up Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act: A Way of Being) It’s a Bible to me, you know.

He talks a lot about doing things with a childish mind. As we grow older, we start to see patterns, and we begin filtering all of that input into what we want to know and what we don’t need.

He reminds us about getting back to that sense of openness and playfulness, so that’s what I’m trying to focus on now. I’m trying to learn how to be a child again. Most of my favourite releases were made when I went to the studio and just curiously hit buttons and let the accidents happen.

Do you feel like you’re evolving from that club-oriented head space?

Yeah, probably. I often speak with the Zenkers about this stuff because they are a lot more experienced, and I think it’s the same thing with them. While they’re playing a lot more, I could sort of see that they were kind of evolving out of that. It’s all about taking different approaches.

I’m currently playing in a band with some friends from the studio collective I’m a part of in Munich. Whenever I get in the studio, I start to notice that I have the same habits, but then it’s like, okay, let’s set up the guitar, the bass, the drums.

It’s funny because no one can play really well except for our bass player who happens to be in another band called Fazer. He pretty much holds it all together, but having this alternate approach and getting out of my comfort zone is exactly what I need.

Tell us about your mix for //SNCMAG.

I was going quite intuitive on this one, grabbing records out of my shelf as it went on. The basic idea of mixing slow halftime and more faster stuff seemed appealing, and “Ambient” music is always a part of what I want in a mix.

What’s next for Konrad Wehrmeister?

I’m looking forward to being back in the studio when I return to Munich. I share one with some friends in an old building in the middle of the city. The rent is cheap so it works well for us.

I’m currently working on some sound design and postproduction stuff which is helping me earn a living, but I haven’t had the chance to get back into music at all over the last few months, so I’m looking forward to getting back to it.

I’m quite lucky as I have friends that support me like Skee Mask and the Zenkers. They are probably the first ones I’m sending projects to because they are honest, and they always push me in terms of my production.

I really want to make another EP, probably for Ilian Tape and keep this band thing going. We have some rough recordings made, and sonically It has a nice approach. It would be cool to put a record out at some point.