Talking Classics... with Session Victim

I first came across Session Victim’s music via a Move D set from Freerotation (I think!) which culminated with the duo’s track, ‘Good Intentions’. A wiggly, feelgood anthem that I still throw on regularly, it’s led to a serious appreciation of the German duo. From that lofty starting point, I’ve dug deeper still, regularly pulling out gems such as the irresistibly funky ‘Never Forget’ to the dusty, analogue vibes of ‘We Want to Thanks All Our Friends’ to their last full-length, See You When You Get There, released via the always great Delusions of Grandeur, a label that the duo boast a longstanding relationship with. If you’re a big fan of the duo, I also recommend their recently released live version of ‘Good Intentions’, recorded live at London’s iconic Jazz Cafe venue as well as their latest record, Two Crowns, released - of course - by Delusions of Grandeur. Anyway, it was a real pleasure to chat about classic jams with Hauke and Matthias, as they gave me their thoughts of music from Cajmere, Fred P, Theo Parrish and many more besides...



Housemaster Boyz - House Nation (1986)

H: Wow, I still feel everything is great about this track. Master cooks need very few ingredients. My flatmate used to rinse this and I remember being at one of the late Love Parades which kinda sucked, but DJ T played it and I went home right after with a warm feeling that not all is lost! This guy called mjb nailed it with his comment on discogs: “It's hard to explain the appeal of this record. The song really doesn't do anything, and there's some questionable vibrato on what little melody it has. The production quality is atrocious. It's recorded in mono, mastered with almost no bass, and the tape has numerous dropouts. Even by house music standards, it's awfully repetitive and simplistic. It shouldn't be a hit. But play it loud, turn up the bass, bring it into a mix, and everyone dances. Hard.

Cajmere - Brighter Days (feat. Dajae) (Underground Goodies Mix) (Cajual, 1992)

M: The only residency we ever had was at Berlin’s Farbfernseher from 2009, together with our friend Anson. Some of my best nights DJing went down there, full on dancefloor frenzies with bar diving and literal tears of joy. I treasure these memories that come with a bunch of songs, one of them being Brighter Days, that Anson used to play at those parties. That this song was already 15 years old at that time shows me once again what a house music late bloomer I actually am.

Dub Poets aka Bobby Konders - Black & White (Version) (Massive B, 1992)

H: It’s funny how you can be collecting records for a long time and completely miss out on a major force. Our good friend Sinclair, an absolute music aficionado, pulled this record out when we were at his place during one of the now infamous mentos-vodka fueled and potentially endless music sessions. After returning home from Australia, the first thing was to get hold of this record.

Boris Dlugosch - Keep Pushin' (Original Mix) (Peppermint Jam, 1996)

M: I remember seeing Keep Pushin’ on music television when I came home from school. I was 16 at that time and I hated it – not this song particularly, but House music in general. It took me quite a long time through Metal, Hip Hop, Soul and Disco until me and the 4/4 kickdrum finally became friends. When Boris, who is from Hamburg as well, asked us to do a remix in 2015 and sent us the stems, it was a crazy flashback for sure. Boris is a great guy and an amazing DJ, we kept in touch ever since then and even jammed at the studio together a few times. If somebody back then told me this would happen [to us], I would have never ever have believed them.

Theo Parrish - Sky Walking (Peacefrog, 1998)

M: Theo Parrish is definitely one of our big influences in making beats, and Sky Walking is a prime example of his ability to transport the soul in his production. It consists of just a few elements, but they complement each other just perfectly and seem to be way more than the sum of their parts. Although being so gentle and sensitive, I’ve seen many dancefloors completely enchanted by it, people with closed eyes and relaxed smiles all around. Theo Parrish is a big inspiration to this day and this beautiful peace is one of the reasons why.

Larry Heard – Missing You (Track Mode, 2000)

M: My absolute favourite Larry Heard tune, Missing You really is pure bliss from beginning to end. One of the bosses of the company I used to work for back in the day told me one day, completely out of the blue that he used to DJ himself, that he still had a crate of records and that he would like to hand them over to someone who would play them out again. I got way luckier than I thought, as it turned out they were some amazing pieces in there... When Hauke came over to my place a few days later I showed him the box and told him he could pick one for himself – he flipped through them for like 10 seconds and instantly took the Missing You 12”. I still don’t have my own copy.

Mad Mike - The Illuminator (Underground Resistance, 2002)

H: Looking back now to the pre internet/discogs time it feels strange what coincidences and pure luck lead you to certain records or not. When I moved to Berlin and finally could seek out all the great record stores it did not take long to stumble into the underground resistance universe. Machine based music programmed to create such dense emotions. This track is a great example of using rather harsh mechanical elements for the purpose of sincere feeling, which is the appeal of Detroit techno for me.

Ricardo Villalobos - Easy Lee (Playhouse, 2004)

H: For sure my favorite song from Ricardo – I remember hearing this for the first time on the dancefloor at Fusion Festival back in 2003 when Luciano dropped it. It really stood the test of time, just a few weeks ago my neighbor on the ground floor was playing the record with open windows and joint in his hand. Too cool!!!

Dj Bone – Break it Down (Subject Detroit, 2006)

H: Of course we are into all sorts of genres, I have a long affinity to techno. But it needs to have groove and funk. Often this is more the case when it’s made the states – DJ Bone’s track is a great example and listing to it now, I cannot picture something better than getting lost into it on a dancefloor of grooving bodies and smiles all around.

Fred P - Emotive Vibrations (Finale Sessions, 2012)

M: Fred P’s discography contains without a doubt a whole bunch of incredible tunes, but for me – for both of us - Emotive Vibrations is simply one of the most beautiful pieces of deep house music ever recorded. The build up creates such an intense magical atmosphere and even after listening so many times to it, it has lost none of its charme at all. I was looking for a copy for ages and one day suddenly realized that I had it all along, as the flipside of a Motorcity Soul track that for some reason I just never turned over. Hauke and me had this on constant repeat during a road trip we once did from San Francisco to San Diego, another memory that is especially dear to me. What a record!

Keep up with Session Victim on Facebook, Instagram and Bandcamp.

Session Victim’s Two Crowns EP is out now via Delusions of Grandeur. Buy/listen to the release here.

‍