Headman

To the uninitiated, in a city famed for the likes of Berghain, Watergate, Weekend, Cookies etc you could be forgiven for thinking that Berlin has very little going on except techno. And for those living there, sometimes it can be hard to move for DJs, record shops, nights, even takeaways with one thumping kick and one word on their lips. T.E.C.H.N.O. For our forth podcast we wanted to speak to someone bucking the trend. Originally a native of Zurich, Robi Insinna has been based between Berlin and Zurich for a number of years producing and DJing as well as running Relish record label, releasing consistently fantastic music from the likes of Franz & Shape, Yuksek, A Certain Ratio, more recently The c90's, tape to tape, JR Seaton and himself. Following his mix he took the time to have a chat with us about his label and what its like (to steal a line from Sting) being a legal alien (in Berlin).

Pulse: Thanks for getting the mix together and taking the time for the interview, what have you been up to recently? Headman: I was busy preparing my new single Fluctuation and working on some new Relish releases and remixes.

The podcast coincides with the release of Fluctuation which is off you're latest album can you tell us a little bit about the new album? Yeah, 1923 is the fourth album, three where as Headman and  one as Manhead. On this album I tried to combine both influences, Manhead and Headman. I also tried a bit of going back to my roots, to when i started producing; listening to similar things. The difference i think, is that over the years your ears change, things you heard in a way maybe you hear differently now, or you hear other details that you've not noticed before. Also on this album i tried not to do loads of songs. Even if half the album is still with vocals, I wanted to do more tracks. Just tracks with vocals. I wasn't really looking for song arrangements, whereas with the last album i tried more to do songs and have a concept thru the whole album.

With your different approach to the songs on the album, was the production process to 1923 different from previous albums? I always try to increase quality wise from album to album, but still i have a certain style and rawness i don't want to loose. With the last album i tried for the first time to mix at another studio. It was interesting but i don't think it helped me as i know best what i want and can do all that in my own studio. The tracks have similar influences as always but as i said just a bit more Manhead.

Are there new genres or musical movements you'd like to use in your future productions? I'm pretty open to all kinds of music, so who knows, maybe some more world music influences.

How are things with your label? I cant complain and Relish is doing well, but i would lie if i would say that running a label these days is easy and that people still buy loads of CDs and 12" vinyl. It's still cool to have an imprint that i can shape exactly the way i want it. Artists currently on the label are The C90s, Tape To Tape, JR Seaton and hannulelauri.

Berlin is obviously famous for the techno/house scene, do you ever feel genre pressured living in the city? What benefits do you find being in the German capital? The reason why i spent more time in Berlin was because i was working with a record company that distributes Relish. I don't feel very part of the so called techno/house scene and i never was, I always try to do my own thing. I always feel very close to the London scene, to labels like output etc.

So living between Berlin and Zürich, which do you prefer? I like both for what they are. Zurich is small and offers different things. Berlin is much bigger and offers other things.

You've been quite instrumental in the new disco punk funk movement, with Soulwax, Erol Alkan, you and others. Is it like a family? When i started, the scene was not so big and there where a few people in different places that where doing similar things. Through the music you would start meeting other like minded people. With Soulwax i was touring loads in 05/06/07 and i even played a few live support gigs with the Headman band.

You are a busy remixer, what do you want to achieve/avoid when doing it? When i do a remix i just want to put my stamp on the song, the better the parts are, the better the remix gets. I don't always try to make it just for the dancefloor but always make it sound interesting.

You seem to be relatively involved in this post punk/new wave/Swiss wave era, can you tell us a bit about it? There's always music to re-discover. You constantly listen to things again, like for example i have been listening loads to Japan. There are a few very interesting bands from Switzerland from the late 70s early 80s, like Kleenex, Grauzone and Stephan Eicher. I have also  been listening to loads of cold wave recently.

How did you end up collaborating with the charismatic Dieter Meier on the track Gimme? We'd been asked to do an interview together, being a big Yello fan i was obviously asking all these questions about the music and the past. We had a nice talk and then we exchanged numbers. I called him up and asked him if he would be interested and he was down for it immediately after hearing the song.

How was the shooting of the clip? Very funny and very improvised. Dieter was super cool and was fun to work with. He's really professional.

The artwork for Relish is extremely unique. Can you tell us about it? I do all the artwork and design for Headman, most of Relish as well. Although if the artists want to do it themselves then im fine if i like it. Since i studied fine arts, for me art and music go hand in hand, so it's like creating the visual to the music and vice versa. I also started doing videos, thats another step forward, to animate the artwork to the music. As for the artworks, prints, paintings and shirts; i do popupstores. I have one in Zurich at the moment together with 2 friends of mine who run a fashion label called Ikou Tschüss.

If you could be locked in a studio with any two artists, alive or dead, who would you choose and why? What would come out? I think i would want to work with Brian Eno and David Bowie. what would come out i can't say but im sure it would sound interesting.

What's next? Working on another single with some more remixes and a cover version, maybe another project and new Relish releases.

Purchase Headman Fluctuation here.

Headman Pulse Radio podcast

Gustave Evrard