Joj Sharratt talks shop with Hospitality's latest duo.
Reinhard Reitsh (Camo) and Markus Wagner (Krooked) came together as a DJ duo after a chance meeting at one of Camo’s earlier gigs. In the four years since, the pair have rapidly risen to the fore of the modern drum and bass scene, making themselves known with their incredibly high octane three-deck sets as well as a string of huge releases on labels such as Viper, Shogun and BreakBeat Kaos.
We caught up with these unstoppable DJs in the midst of their first ever ‘live’ tour supporting their brand new album ‘Cross The Line’ out now on Hospital Records.
Hospital have been famously chasing an exclusive record deal with you guys for years – what convinced you to finally sign with them?
Hospital Records are the most professional label in the D 'n' B scene without a doubt; they are always on point, have everything sorted and their parties are always great. The whole crew, artists and in the office, are one big family. That’s probably the most important thing for a good working relationship.
What are your favourite tracks on the new album?
Our favourite tune off the album has to be 'Run Riot', because it starts pretty creepy and vintage, breaks down into an epic melody and drops in a rowdy manner. It’s always the highlight in our sets, but we’re happy with all the tracks!
With 'Cross The Line' just out, has studio time taken a backseat to DJing/live shows, or is there more music in the pipeline?
We are in the studio Monday until Thursday if there are no gigs during the week, trying to make as much music as possible. Besides the album, we have worked on music for several computer games and now we’re starting the next LP.
Can you tell us a bit about how it works when you play as two DJs on three decks? Who picks tunes and who mixes etc?
We have a headphone splitter connected to the mixer, so both of us can mix at the same time. We try to mix as fast as possible, always simultaneously.
Could you tell us a bit about the new live show and how did the first one go at Hospitality Brixton?
It’s a journey through the whole Camo and Krooked sound, including flawless harmonic transitions from tune to tune, mash-ups of our own tunes and plenty more, accompanied by an epic light show with 3D visuals. Playing live was a whole new experience and we were even more excited than we were for our first DJ gigs. We had some technical difficulties before we started, but once the show was on it all worked perfectly.
What exactly do you operate live in terms of live instruments/synths/sequencers and effects etc?
We’ve made VIP versions of every track on the album, we bounced all the single stems of the tracks and put them into Ableton, where they’re rearranged and modified live. For that we have an APC-40 and two iPads and some other stuff we don’t want to reveal just yet! You’ll have to come along to one of our shows.
How does playing live compare to DJing?
The difference to playing a DJ set is that much more can go wrong, so you really have to stay focused, making sure to push the right buttons. It was a big challenge, but it all payed off as it was one of the best moments of our lives.
Is your Chrome project done forever or just for now?
We discontinued it because the Camo and Krooked thing became more serious – it’s a full-time job today. Drum and bass will always be our first love, but we might do some more Chrome tunes in the future, if the timing is right and we feel like doing minimal techno. That’s the beauty of creativity. You never know what’s next!
What are your favourite labels of right now? (beside Hospital/Med School)
Shogun Audio, Viper and Ram are all releasing some quality music at the moment. Beside that, we really enjoy some Ed Banger and Mau5trap releases.
Which DJs have you been most impressed by recently?
Zane Lowe has proper mixing skills! We really like the way he uses cue points and the looping function on CDJs. Also he beat juggles quite well over multiple genres, which is cool.
Who would you say is breaking new ground musically?
Within the drum 'n' bass scene, Noisia are on a roll. They always come up with something new and exciting and their production level is ridiculous! Besides that, people like Wolfgang Gartner in electro house and Stephan Bodzin in techno are probably some of the most exciting artists for us at the moment.
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Camo & Krooked "Cross The Line" is out now on Hosptial Records.
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