Interview with D-Nox & Beckers

Tell me what you guys have been up to lately?
D-Nox: I have just come back to Berlin; I have spent the last 6 month in Argentina and Brazil. This is where I became father, built a house and escaped the European winter.

Beckers: I have finished the album, all the engineering part. Beside this I have taken a little break from business to spend time with family.

What is it like working with each other? Tell me about your relationship.
D-Nox: Without Beckers I probably wouldn’t write music, he is the mastermind. We combine our ideas, experiences and moods - the result is what you hear, is our music.

Its been 4 years since your last album, how do you feel having your second on be released?
D-Nox: First of all I am very happy with the result, I like this album much more than the first one - It is a perfect reflection of what goes on inside us and outside in this world.

Beckers: It’s hard to say what I feel; I’ve been working on this album for a while so I need time to understand and feel, let’s see how it goes and ask me again when the album is a year old.

What was your main inspiration with Distance?
D-Nox: We want to make music that makes people dance; I don’t need any more inspiration than that.

Beckers: I can’t point out a specific inspiration. Everything in life is a source of inspiration. Of course my musical background helps a lot but this time we had plenty of time, no stress and we were less caught in genres.

Are there many new things that your fans can expect from Distance?
D-Nox: Compared to our first album 4 years ago, yes - we have become deeper and more diverse.

Do you feel that “Distance” represents you guys really well?
D-Nox & Beckers: Yes 100%, this is how we play as DJs. We can’t stick to the same genre all the time; we need to walk from House to Techno and back.

What was it like releasing your first album [Left Behind]? Do you think it’s going to be the same feeling with 'Distance' or a totally different?
D-Nox: Our first album did really well but we know that times have changed. It’s almost impossible to sell music these days but we believe in our fans.

Beckers: It's really hard to say before the album is released. Tronic is a well respected Techno label and we hope to reach more people with this album.

What are some of your personal favourite tracks on the album? Tracks that have a story behind them, or have a deeper meaning to you?
D-Nox: I like all of them depending on my mood; I can always pick a different one. ‘Jacaranda’ is the most interesting one for me, it’s one of the tracks that wasn’t meant to be but I wouldn’t want to miss it now - I can’t get enough of is tune, Jazz tech space House. ‘Follow Me’ is another interesting tune, it gets better and better. It’s full of details and tricks, I just love it.

Beckers: Same as on our first album, I like the vibe of the last track mostly (I will rise) and ‘What I Have’ because I did it with my wife. She did the vocal part and made me work differently on sound and arrangement.

Were there any big obstacles that you guys ran into with the production of this album? What did you do to work through it?
D-Nox & Beckers: We had plenty of time to work on this album; we would never run such a project with deadlines. There was a period were we thought we would never have enough tracks to complete this album but in the end we had written too many and we were forced to take some off. The only real obstacle was and still is that we live 500km away from each other, which is why we called this album ‘Distance’. As you can imagine it isn’t easy to meet but it also open new ways of producing together. We have both worked on some of the tracks separately, which was a new production method for us as before our music was made 100% at Beckers studio, nowadays it’s done in two studios but the final mixdown still comes out of Beckers studio.

Tell me about your new single “My Voice” and the Christian Smith remix of it. Do you have a good friendship with Christian Smith?
D-Nox & Beckers: Yes, we do have. We became friends a couple of years ago. We spend lots of time in Brazil and this is where Chris lives these days. We like his music and his label and we’re very happy to release on such great imprint. The single ‘My Voice’ is the most heavy track on the album, its 100% pure Techno.

Will you be doing anything different in Switzerland than you would normally do in a show?
D-Nox: I come to DJ and therefore I never know what I will play. I need to get in the club, read the crowd and decide by the time I start my set. I never play the same set so, yes, the set for Switzerland will be different and totally tailored to the environment where I will be performing.

Beckers: Same here.

Are you going to be dropping any new tracks in Switzerland?
D-Nox: I always play new tracks in my set. Not only but many.

Beckers: Yes, the right mix of new and old tracks is important.

As you may or may not know, you guys are an inspiration to the next generation of up and coming artists. Does this give you a sense of accomplishment? How does it make you feel, and what are your thoughts on it?
Beckers: I rather feel accomplished by young producer that started to write music because of us than by thousands of kids that like us because it is fashion or we are hyped. I prefer to be a true inspiration and I feel honoured to give such energy to other people.