The two producers Mel and Clemens from Vienna (Austria) started out as Möwe in 2013. They originally got to know each other as musicians from the band ‘Mary lost her pathos’ and came together to set up Möwe as a new music project, which included deep house, indie dance & pop music. The producers are recognized from some of their striking remixes and tracks, such as ‘Birds Flying High’, ‘World Without You’ and ‘Am I Wrong’. They have created a very unusual sound for themselves and we are hoping we get to see even more of them in the future.
Mel and Clemens tell us about the experiences they gained in Amsterdam during Amsterdam Dance Event, why they decided to start up Möwe together, about their connection and their experiences in the field.
What do you think of Amsterdam?
Clemens: It’s the second time we visit Amsterdam for our music and we think it’s really cool!
Mel: For the last ten years, I have visited Amsterdam for one week almost every year. I really like the vibes here. I like the people and everything is so chill. For me, coming to Amsterdam is like coming home, I love it. Maybe someday, I can manage to live here.
Clemens: But it’s the first time for us at ADE, to play here and the meetings with Armada and to get to know the people we are working with.
You guys played together in another band before you started Möwe. What inspired you to start a new group together?
Mel:I founded the old band in 2009 with some friends of mine. Our bass player dropped out, because he had some stuff to do, especially at his university. Then we saw Clemens at a concert with his old band and I was standing in the crowd with my guitar player and we thought the band played pretty good. We asked ourselves: ‘Should we ask him to join us?’ I went talking to him and asked him if he would be interested in playing with us and he said yes. Lucky me!
Clemens: Vienna, where we come from, is a small town for bands and Indy Rock. Everybody knows everybody. Mel’s band was pretty famous there and for me it was an honor to play with them. So I didn’t hesitate a bit! They had everything planned out, they practiced three times a week. Everything was quite planned. They were older than me, so I found them really cool. J We played Indy Rock and later we implemented more and more electronic music. It was Indy with Electronic music combined. Later on, we started with our own project, which was Möwe.
Mel: The band split up, because we were doing that for such a long time and we were stuck somewhere. So we said: ‘Let’s fuck it, we had a good time! Let’s do something else.’ Then we started with Möwe and it was very exciting for us, to experience music from the side of a producer. Sitting in front of a computer, creating tunes. You can play a lot of different stuff by yourself.
Clemens: It was something cool for us, because in the band we were with five people. Everybody wants to say something and suddenly we were left with only two. You only had to ask; Do you like it? If the other one says no, that’s it haha. With five people, one person wants to do something and the other one wants to do something else. It’s easier to handle the vision of songs with the two of us.
To me, it seems good that you are with two people, because you have another opinion with you as well, but it’s not too crowded. Do you agree?
Clemens: Yes, indeed. We love to produce together. Alone would be a bit boring, the touring and playing. Sometimes we produce for ourselves, but we always check if the other one likes it as well.
Mel: Often we say we like the song, but we want to add an idea as well. We always agree upon editing the song so the other one can give his input as well. So our singles always contains something of him and something of me.
Why do you think you guys fit so good together?
Mel: I guess our characters match each other pretty good. Clemens is more like the chill-out guy who often says: ‘Yeah, we can do it tomorrow. No stress.’ While I’m more the kind of person that wants to do things now. When I’m paranoid, he is my calm point. He tells me to relax, because everything is going to be okay. He tells me we know exactly what we’re doing, we have everything worked out for us so don’t panic and he is right. If he gets lazy or something like that, I’m there for him as well.
How long have you guys been together now?
Clemens: In January, we have been together for three years.
What was your most awesome performance so far?
Clemens: It was during the second year, because that’s when we went to Europe for the first time. Before, we onlu performed in Austria. The first year we were producing most of the time and the second year, we were traveling around to play. Our first festival was in Germany in Hamburg. People were really nice! We went there during mid-day and we had a lot of fun with all the artists there. It was a really big festival, called Dockville, and we played on the small stage. The stage was called Nest, the one a bird builds for his eggs, and it was crazy! It was crowded, people were jumping and we had so much fun! We didn’t know how it would go at first, because we played at the same time as Milky Chance. Before Milky Chance, Die Antwoord was playing, so we wouldn’t know how many people would be there. It also started to rain before we had to start performing, but we gave everything and it was awesome. It was really cool.
You probably know a lot of places you still would like to perform. Is there a specific one on top of the list?
Mel: For me, it would be Glastonbury or Melt festival in Germany. That’s something from the Indy Rock times back then. Glastonbury was really the big, crazy thing! Only the really good ones play there. So, Glastonbury and maybe Coachella.
Clemens: Also Burning Man and Tomorrowland would be cool!
Mel: Lollapalooza is another one.
Clemens: There are so many! We have never been to England, so to play there would be cool and the USA as well.
What do you like most about your work?
Mel: We get to see many different countries for free, because people pay you to come there! This is something really nice, because we love traveling and to get to know different cultures. Although, sometimes you don’t get to see anything of the city or the country you’re in, because when you arrive you have to sleep and eat back in the hotel and you’re really just there to perform. Sometimes you have an extra day or two and then you are able to check out some stuff there, which is really great. A really cool example was when we played in Tahiti. They paid us for a whole week, so we had one gig and we could stay there for one week. That was amazing.
Clemens: For me, it’s the music to. When we produce something, play it in front of the people and really get into it. Producing and showing new stuff, so when people like your work and you can see it, feels really amazing. When they sing with us, that’s also really cool. Sometimes we put the lyrics up and they all sing along, it’s awesome!
Connect with Möwe:
https://www.facebook.com/MOEWEmusic/
https://twitter.com/mowemusic
https://soundcloud.com/m-we-1
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