Phosgore is fkn amazing. The one man project of Flo Dietz from Frankfurt, Germany is in the forefront of a modern club movement that is simply no-holds-barred. Audiences in the know have been demanding his presence in the U.S. (some have had the rare chance of checking him out at this year's Festival Kinetik in Montreal). Right now, reading this interview, whether or not this music is new to your ears, you should be having the uncontrollable urge to move. Instantly Phosgore's music has you somewhere between wanting to stomp, dance, pull others onto the dance floor and break shit, not in that order: His music is straight relentless- and there's a NEW album being unleashed on us this Winter!
The music you compose for Phosgore is very hard-hitting and very club oriented. How heavy into the club scene were you before this project? What kind of parties & events could someone find you at a few years back?
I started DJing about 10 years ago. Back in the days there weren´t that many parties playing dark electro stuff, so I went to (and spinned at) mixed goth style parties. Some years later, noise/industrial/industech/whatever-you-wanna-call-it parties started to kick off, and I knew: that´s my thing.
I sense that as a DJ, you've had a wide diversity of electronic music you used to play out and maybe much of that music's energy inspires your work in this project?
Mostly, I did play the well-known dark electro, future pop and techno-inspired styles, but also some old school industrial and noise stuff, plus EBM. Sometimes I also put some Hardstyle into the mix. My history as a DJ did inspire my work to some extent, that is true. Another style I really like is Chiptune, aka music produced by old 8 or 16 bit computers and video game consoles. I get a lot of inspiration from Chiptune artists.
How were you able to hook up Phosgore with ProNoize (Dark Dimensions Label Group)?
That was a quick one. The S.A.M guys (which are very dear friends of mine) told Dark Dimensions mastermind Frank D'Angelo to have a look at my (now defunct) mySpace page. He did like my sound, so he contacted me. Some weeks later, I signed the contract. Sometimes, things can be very easy
How is Phosgore presented on the stage? Is the setup minimal and more club-oriented in performances?
When on stage, I am accompanied by my lovely wife Sonja. We both try to put a lot of energy into our performance. In my opinion, the audience has to really feel the energy lashing out from stage, so they are carried away and into a dancing spree. We also have some new live show elements coming up with the advent of the new album - expect a new video show, new outfits and some nasty surprises. There will be enough apocalypse for everybody.
Electro/EBM/Industrial continues to go through many changes in a short amount of time. Do you feel that there's been a lot of change in the music and/or on the dance floor since only 2008?
To be honest, I do not think so. It is all a matter of personal taste. Some people like their music harsh, others like a more melodic approach. Personal taste changes, but the music style itself is pretty diversified and heterogeneous already. Of course, some acts try to include some new elements into their work - hardstyle or dubstep stuff, for example. That´s a good thing, but it doesn´t change the basic ingredients of today´s club music: harsh, stomping, drifty beats. A recipe I am glad to adhere to.
Do you consciously balance the noisy aspects of your music with the melodic aspects? There seems to be a great balance between the two!
I don´t think I do it consciously. For me, making music is a very emotional process. I do not try to calculate where to put noisy elements or how much melody a track needs. I just do what feels natural and what I think will sound best (and most powerful). But I always try to be on the harsh, rugged side of things, because I think that´s what really defines Phosgore. I do love melodic tracks, but they all need some jagged sounds.
The previous album "Domination" really hit the ground running, gaining favor with many DJs and dance floors internationally. What are your thoughts to how the album has done outside of Europe?
From the very start of my musical career, I have been pleasantly surprised. "Domination" really managed to pound itself into the hearts of many DJs and consumers. I am really satisfied with the popularity Phosgore already gained outside of Europe, although we only managed to do one show overseas so far (at Kinetik festival in Montreal/CDN). We are in contact with many DJs from the States, some guys from Australia and even one DJ from South Africa, who managed to gather a loyal following of Electro/Industrial fans around him. I am very curious about the performance of our new album - but I am pretty sure that it will beat the living crap out of industrial music fans all over the world!
Are there any details you can give readers about the upcoming new album this Winter (album title, release date)?
I am sorry to say that, but most details of the new album are still confidential. I am still working on some tracks and the artwork. But I can already tell you that the new album will be a bit on the militaristic side, in addition to being very apocalyptic. Whoever liked the "end time"-approach of the first album will LOVE the second one. As for the release date, I think it is pretty safe to say that you won´t celebrate christmas without new Phosgore stuff blasting out of your speakers
Will there be a single or promotional track ahead of the new album's release to tease us?
I plan to release some snippets, so you can get an impression of my new stuff. Besides, the track "VX" is going to be on the new album, albeit reworked, remixed and remastered.
And finally, when can we see Phosgore blast North America with a tour?
As you might know, touring the US is pretty complicated as a non-US citizen. Nevertheless, if enough clubs want us over and we can plan a tour, we will. Maybe 2012 - if you guys manage to survive the audio assault I am about to unleash before that
*UPDATE* The new Phosgore album "Warhead" will be released November 25! Details at Vampire Freaks and at the upcoming new official website.
