Exercise One  

DJs know them as crafters of cracking tracks on wax. Clubbers around the world know them as a live act that hurtles like a runaway train. But these statements tell only part of the story behind Exercise One, the Berlin-based duo comprised of Marco Freivogel and Ingo Gansera. Both seasoned musicians before they met, it didn’t take much before their respective backgrounds as live performers combined with the energy of Berlin to spawn an electronic music group with an unprecedented take on the creative process. After working alongside one another at a label, the two began producing and experimenting in their own free time, playing over ten live gigs before their first record release. This musical world-view—that production and live performance have a symbiotic relationship—has guided Exercise One on their journey from underground sensation to heavy-weights in the Berlin electronic music scene, with their evolution as artists going hand-in-hand with their development a live act.

The creation of their own label Lan Muzic in 2005 jump-started their careers when their first record – the Kitchen Tools E.P. – found its way into Anja Schneider’s DJ box. Schneider immediately signed the duo and within the year they had released their first 12” on mobilee “Steady Pulse:” a raw, grimey take on minimal techno that set the stage for what was to come. 2006 saw the release of “Debaya,” perhaps one of the most important steps in the early throes of their musical odyssey, synthesizing hypnotic and atmospheric bass-lines with the stripped-down sound with which they made their names. After garnering immense critical acclaim, the duo made their landmark live appearance at the Sonar music festival and shortly thereafter began their seemingly endless string of performances at highly distinguished festivals and venues such as Fabric, Panorama Bar, and Fusion and tours throughout Europe, Japan, South America and United States.

In addition to release after release of highly lauded techno—including “Dark Star,” “Intensity” and remix work for the likes of Sebo K and Shackleton—Exercise One continue to refine their notoriously high-energy live sets, perpetually adding, subtracting, and reorganizing the pieces of this unique mosaic. Whether performing on-stage or practicing and recording, music making is a fundamentally live endeavor for Exercise One, sometimes to the extent of producing entirely new tracks just for the purposes of their live set. This all happens in real time, the fortuitous result of painstaking preparation, communication and the willingness to go where the music and their constantly developing tastes lead them.

Produced and finessed over many months, their debut album In Cars We Rust is the studio product of their hands-on approach: passages of spontaneous creation are edited, collaged and remixed into a strikingly varied, startlingly cohesive whole. The dance-floor stormers are still there and the record’s flow is guided by the same spirit of improvisation that drives their live sets. But the clubbier material is rounded out by sounds we’ve never heard from Exercise One before: gorgeous, enveloping ambient tracks; soundtrack-ready synthesizer ballads; even a kind of retro-futurist electro-pop. Best of all, it all hangs together with ease. A testament to their studio and live efforts, their debut album eliminates any doubts that the enthusiasm that led to their founding moments in a basement in Kreuzberg is wearing out. Exercise One continue their migration through the hinterland of techno; round and round they go, where they stop nobody knows.

***LATEST RELEASE***

Wagon Repair is pleased to welcome Exercise One to our roster, with their newest EP – Several Things At Once. This four track EP, with a bonus digital only track, is sure to please.

Title track, Several Things at Once, is the result of Marco and Ingo playing around with some new gear purchased to enhance their live act.  In fact, this track was explicitly meant to be an addition to their live shows as it was produced using their exact on-stage setup.  By laying out a groovy foundation and letting the machines do their thing, this intentionally rough and dirty sound is able to be accessible and seducing at the same time.

The A2 track, Breeze, was inspired by windchimes on Marco’s balcony, which were recorded with a mic and mixed with melodies and reverbed kicks coming from the back ground, resulting in an almost early era Aphex Twins ambient feel.  Although the second tracks on both sides were originally planned to be really loud and noisy, both tracks came out on the opposite side of the spectrum as inspiration took hold.

B1 Colony, is a subtle track that seems to accumulate power by winding itself into the mind and body of the listener.  Whenever this one is played in front of a crowd it always has a great impact as its psychedelic and focused elements mix to great effect.  As with the digital only bonus track, Twin, a trippy feeling lurks around with a kind of ‘submarine’ atmosphere.  Both Twin and Colony have been a part of Exercise One’s live-set for some time now as they are one form of techno that the boys just love to play as it gives them the variety that they have always craved.

The closer on the EP, Prowl, is more of an tensioned atmosphere than a track.  Prowl is mainly based on sound-shifiting and old samples that are intended to transmit the mood of a predator in search of its prey.

The digital only track, Twin, has a chunky, upfront bassline for a foundation, which drags you into the track like a strong under current.  Little sets of percussions  and delayed chords fly through the track to keep the mind focused  while the body is already hooked to the groove. Pretty in your face  and trancey, but just so much fun to play!