XLR8R

Every once in a while, a label comes along that we can't stop loving. We fiend for their next release. Their 12"s capture something in eight minutes that entire albums can't capture in over an hour, and we are forced to listen to them over and over. Their anthems define important moments for us, in and out of the club. Over the last two years, that label has been Get Physical. First, they bombarded us with DJ T.'s electrifying Boogie Playground album and massive anthems from Booka Shade ("Mandarine Girl") and M.A.N.D.Y. ("Body Language"). Now they're branching out with new releases from Fuck Pony, Snax & Ianeq, and Discemi (Jori Hulkonnen and Tuomas Salmela), as well as a sub-label called Kindisch (which translates as "childish"). Here's the story of the people behind the little German electro-house imprint that rocked the world.

Booka Shade
Get Physical's power duo makes everything go right.

With apologies to Lindstrøm, Trentemøller, and Isolée, no single track was more emblematic of minimal techno and electro-house in 2005 than Booka Shade's "Mandarine Girl." Boasting a pneumatic synth line and one of the most pervasive melodies of the year, its rushy allure cemented public opinion on Booka Shade's–and, by extension, Get Physical's–undeniable dancefloor power.

Its dual-pronged effect also robbed members Arno Kammermeier and Walter Merzinger of what little sleep they were getting. In addition to touring as a live band and co-managing Get Physical, the duo functions as the label's resident engineers, producing everything by label co-owners DJ T. and M.A.N.D.Y. as well as output from Chelonis R. Jones and Sunset People. Add to that their ownership stake in the Berlin-based commercial music house Perky Park and it's a wonder they have time to write tracks as Booka Shade at all.

Yet here they are, one year after "Mandarine Girl," wielding a brand new full-length that's brimming with an improbable collection of highs. Whether in the twerky electro of "Night Falls," the gothic shimmer of "Darko," or the trancey workout of the massive "In White Rooms," Movements is a looser, larger record than 2005's Memento, its sound specifically born out of the duo's touring experience. "The reaction we got during the live show is all in this album," enthuses Merzinger. "That's why it's more positive and more open."

It's a career milestone that's been a long time coming. Although the name has only come into prominence over the past few years, Kammermeier and Merzinger have been recording as Booka Shade since the mid-'90s and have been making music together since they were young. United in the mid-'80s by a shared love of Human League, Tears For Fears, and Depeche Mode, they spent countless hours making music in their teens. "Walter had two cassette recorders, so we'd play the one and record it onto the other," Kammermeier laughs. "We'd do it 10 times and in the end you wouldn't hear anything but noise."

Out of high school, the pair flirted briefly with national pop stardom when their synth-pop outfit Planet Claire (named after a B-52's song) scored a minor chart hit, but it wasn't long before the major label grind wore them down. After Planet Claire's "difficult second album" left the charts unbothered, they sought refuge in Berlin's blossoming techno scene. "That's when we decided we'd rather be in the studio working as songwriters and producers than actual artists," says Kammermeier.

Together, he and Merzinger spent the next decade flitting between the electronic music world–releasing 12"s for labels like Abfahrt, Le Petit Prince, and Sven Väth's Eye-Q–and the pop world, where they worked as songwriters/producers-for-hire for Culture Beat and German Pop Idol winners No Angels. While they relished the thrill of writing for the charts, they despised the attendant label machinations. Perversely, they quit on the eve of their first number one single for No Angels. "Even though it was my biggest wish to be number one, it [meant] nothing more than a good bank account and a number on a paper," says Merzinger. "I wasn't really happy so after that experience we decided never to do it again. Money-wise, it was very successful but artistically it was nothing."

It took a chance visit from old friends to make them realize electronic music hadn't entirely run aground. "One night Philip and Patrick from M.A.N.D.Y. came over and played us the right records again," Merzinger recalls. "We were blown away by Metro Area and Chicken Lips, and suddenly it seemed like a very good time for electronic music again." The duo joined forces with M.A.N.D.Y. and DJ T., and out of that partnership came Get Physical.

Fast forward five years and Booka Shade is leading electronic music's latest charge, something Merzinger still hasn't quite wrapped his head around. "It's quite strange for German producers," he explains. "Normally, Germans consume music but we don't produce it. But it's changed–suddenly we're on the table, people recognize us, and they like the music." For his part, Kammermeier savors the chance to lead the party. "I can always take pleasure out of the fact that there are people being very childish and letting loose and going wild and that we can write the soundtrack a little bit for that," he says.

Their dalliances in the pop world are now eons away ("We have to face the fact that we most probably will never sell as many records as Michael Jackson," jokes Kammermeier), but Booka Shade is steadily injecting pop back into techno. And despite everything going on with their label, their ballooning profile, and their familial obligations (Kammermeier has a son), they're having the most fun they've ever had as musicians. "I keep telling my wife when I go off every weekend that it's the dream we had as kids coming true," Kammermeier says. "The funny thing is, we have some very old photos of us playing live when we were 16 or so and the setup hasn't changed very much. I still play drums and Walter plays keyboards. We haven't really come a long way."

Mark Pytlik

Hot Tips
Since Booka Shade spends approximately 89% of their waking lives in the studio, we thought we'd tap them for a few recording tips. Here's Arno Kammermeier on the band's favorite software and studio techniques.

FX
"Our favorite destructive FX tools are the Camel Audio series: CamelSpace (beautiful for dubby delay FX) and CamelPhat (very good for distorted and lo-fi FX). There's also [Smart Electronix's] DFX Buffer Override (very simple but very good for granulizing) and the Filter Freak series by Sound Toys. Another affordable but very effective plug-in is the SFX Machine."

Studio Workflow
"A normal Booka Shade studio session starts with effecting, bouncing, reversing, and bitcrushing samples so that we can fiddle around with our own phrases. The track 'Trespass 06' is a perfect example [of how this works]–the main riff is just an accident from an FX machine. We shortened the sequence to less than one bar so it was always moving around the beat and changing the riff."

Mixing
"To get real punch and warmth we use Fairchild compressors (on Pro Tools HD3), Joe Meek EQs, and the PSP VintageWarmer. Sometimes I put a lo-fi plug-in in the master section before the compressor and limiter to have more dirt. The filter bank from Mac DSP is very helpful, too. Having a bit of bitcrushing in a bus after a reverb FX can also make the sound rough and noisy."

DASH Signature's daHornet Plug-In
"This is one of our most favorite synth plug-ins. It sounds really cheap, quite individual and unique, and the price is ridiculous–around $20, I think. The main melodies and riffs off 'Darko' are from this machine. It's actually an emulation of an '80s synth called Wasp."

Arturia's Minimoog V plug-in
"An amazing synth plug-in from Arturia with very good filters and some extras [that] the original Minimoog didn't have. Sometimes we use it for drum sounds, especially hi-hats. The synth hats on 'Mandarine Girl' are from the Minimoog."

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