First of all I would like to ask you how did you meet and subsequently started working together at the project Doms & Deykers?
We met in the summer of 2010, in a van on our way to the Lowlands Festival. It was pretty clear from the beginning that we had a lot of things in common – we grew up in the same area of The Netherlands, were born in the same year, went to the same clubs and parties back in the day and even had a few mutual friends. We became good friends long before we even thought about doing a project together. Doms & Deykers originated after jamming in Steffi’s studio in Berlin, where we found a lot of musical common ground.
Where do you find common ground when it comes to the music that influenced and inspired you during your solo career?
We took a lot of different turns in our musical paths but we had a similar starting point ; our earliest experiences with club music back in Holland. We are both heavily into early Warp and IDM, breakbeats, Detroit and Chicago so we speak that same musical language.
Favourite Martyn´s track for Steffi? And fav Steffi´s track for Martyn?
Martyn: Tough one! The Steffi track I played most often while DJ’ing is a quite “simple”, rolling track called DBOII which came out on a various artists release on Dolly. I´am always able to fit that in my sets somewhere and the riff is so deadly on it! More recently, the breezy, dreamy Everyday Objects from her last LP is another one I really like because its a perfect driving-at-night track and the arrangement sounds so natural and effortless,,
Steffi: Indeed a tough one! Krdl-T-Grv is a track of Martyn’s first album that release stands out because of its high energy and solid production. Shook Up is another track with a massive hook and the perfect example of a contemporary house track and not to forget Done Away, one of the tracks Martyn did on my label. Such a subtile groove with the maximum flow!
If you should point out the merits of the other “partner in crime” as a dj and producer, what would you tell us?
Martyn: Well one of the things I learned from Steffi is the way she is able to find the essence of an idea. I sometimes have very “complicated” riffs or melodic ideas and she is very good at finding the core of the idea. Also I think we inspire each other a lot in the way we work in our studio. I have picked up a lot of tech ideas from her as well.
Steffi: I finally know how to use a sampler properly! (laughs) We both use completely different studio set ups and if such an inspiration to step into somebody else’s world and learn their way of producing a track. it great to see how all this experience merges into my solo productions as well. there are many more things over the last few years that i have picked up but most of all the positive energy and confidence during a creative process and the fact that we also share a lot of the same values on topics that are not music related.
How did you work at the album “Evidence…”? Did you swap files online or you organised sessions and met in studio to work together, or else?
The bulk of the music we do together happens in Steffi’s studio, where we do jam sessions and record everything we make. These sketches later become songs by sending the files back and forth and discussing the music via Skype and FaceTime. The album was made over three “live” sessions, two in Berlin and one in Washington DC, and many hours of online time.
Will you promote this album with back 2 back dj sets or live gigs?
We have done a couple live shows already featuring music from the album, and we’ll be doing more in the summer of next year!
What´s in your pipeline for the rest of 2016 and early 2017 on what concernes you project together but also your solo careers?
Doms & Deykers have a lot more things to say in the near future – so you can expect more music from the two of us. The last two years we have spent a lot of time in collaborative modes, not just with D&D but Steffi did a 12″ with Dexter and we were both involved as co-producers for Virginia’s “Fierce for the Night” album, that came out on Ostgut Ton. 2017 will definitely see some solo work from the both of us too!
