Interview: Listening to Music with Animal Trainer

It is not always easy to interview musicians. If you are a gifted musician, that does not necessarily mean that you are a gifted in doing interviews. Sometimes, you have to wait several weeks or even months for a reaction to your request; and when the artist finally replies, his answers consists of one or two words. On the other hand, there are musician that reply within one day with a perfect interview – like Animal Trainer for instance, the producer and DJ duo from Switzerland that belongs to the Stil vor Talent crew. In our interview, we have talked about music by Daft Punk, Snoop Dogg, Andhim, Jackson 5, Althea & Donna and Bonaparte. More after the jump.

Daft Punk (feat. Pharell Williams & Nile Rodgers) Get Lucky

Adi: Nile, Daft Punk and the voice of Pharell, is that a guarantee for a hit? I liked Daft Punk from the first album on. It took me some to realize what impact Nile had. I did not know for a long time that he produced certain songs for Duran Duran, Madonna or David Bowie – music that I have grown up to. And I was always pretty much impressed by the sound design of Pharell and NERD. So this really is the perfect summer hit, no question about that. You just like it or you don’t, it is a summer hit.

Samy: Honestly? I think it’s terrible! I can not understand how these Über-musicians can come up with such a boring and bad piece of elevator music! Neptunes and NERD are great (most of the time), Daft Punk has influenced a whole generation, and I do not have to talk about Nile Rodgers… Maybe it was just too difficult for them: you know that the whole world is going to listen to it, and you feel the weight to create another milestone of music history… Well, having high expectations is always shit. Additionally, Disco music is too simple to me; I am more the emotional music listener 🙂

Snoop Dogg feat. Nate Dogg, Kurupt & Warren G Ain’t No Fun

Adi: I still remember how we sat in my room listening to the whole shit when the first album was published. That must have been in 1993 or so, at the time when I tried to break dance and when I was a sprayer. There was this guy in my school, Kundert, he went to the record store a lot and he always bought great stuff. Sometime in 1994 some older friends of mine took me to a Techno party, it was a rave in the civic center of Dietikon. From that day on this whole Gangsta thing was not for me any more. It was just so different: going to party which did not end in a fight but rather with a peaceful after hour. Anyhow, these were great times. I have no connection to contemporary Hip Hop music now. I don’t think there are many act out there which are about fun like De La Soul – and not about bitches and bling-bling. But I don’t really know that scene any more. From time to time I listen to a song and I think: “Well, that’s a great beat!” But most of the time the vocals are so stupid that I stop l listening, which maybe is a pity…

Samy: I still enjoy Hip Hop a lot! And I have always been enjoying good lyrics, acts like Tribe Called Quest or Gangstarr, so I more into this this intellectual attitude and not that trivial and pretentious stuff. Anyhow, you just have to love Snoop Dogg somehow. He has been doing his thing for the last 100 years, and he even had the balls to call himself Snoop Lion all the sudden. But I do think that there are better Snoop tracks, like What’s my name or Drop it like it’s hot. By the way: How did his career in the adult film industry work out?? But obviously being a pretender and poser was always a part of Hip Hop (to a certain degree), so that is ok.

Andhim Walkmen

Adi: That is just awesome, they are doing their very own thing.

Samy: I believe we have played more or less any song by Andhim up to today. These two just do everything right! These guys are great, and they have managed to create their own style. You immediately recognize a Andhim track – in my point of view THAT is desirable and that deserves my full respect.

Jackson 5 ABC

Adi: I still dance to it today when they play it on the radio while I am cooking. Anyone can sing along to it somehow. My bigger sister owned Michael’s albums Thriller and Bad, and I used to listen to it quite loudly on these huge 80s headphones. Sometimes I would listen to it for a whole Saturday afternoon until my ears hurt.

Samy: Well, ok, you can not say much about it. This definitely is one of the best Jackson 5 songs. 40 years later it, it still is a “good mood song”, and looking back you already see the incredibly talent of the tragical figure Michael Jackson.

Althea & Donna No more fighting

Adi: Unfortunately, this is not for me at all, so I can not really say anything about it. It very much reminds me of my early teenage days, when we used to smoke pot. Of course everyone loved Bob Marley, but honestly I have no deeper knowledge of this genre.

Samy: Honestly, I did not know it before! But I like Reggae, instead of Dancehall and Raggaton. To me, Roots Reggae somehow calms me down. Maybe that is a result from my youth; we used to listen to Bob Marley and smoke pot every day. Maybe I should start smoking pot again…

Bonaparte Quarantine

Adi: I saw them live two times, they are great on stage.

Samy: Hmm, no. To me, that is too forced and too nervous. I can imagine though that it is great live and that it makes sense then… But ok, now I finally listened to Bonaparte. I have read so much about them, and everyone celebrates them! I would still give them a chance live, but other than that it is not my thing.

Animal Trainer Krambambuli

Adi: I have to say that we never finished a track faster than this one. Everything was just right. There was a time when I could not hear the song any more, we just played it sooooo much. I am not satisfied with every track we did, not at all. Afterwards you often think that there is something that you could have done different. But I do stand behind this one. Generally speaking, it is really difficult to talk about your own music. You are too much involved to be able to judge it in a spontaneous way.

Samy: It is terrible and very hard to judge your own music in a neutral way. Somehow this song stands for its own. It has opened many doors to us, and even if we have played for five million times, I still enjoy it. And I do think that we did a good job with the video clip. Personally, it is important to me, because since Krambambuli we are recognized, and the name Animal Trainer became familiar internationally, which I still think is a great thing 🙂

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