“When you listen to a typical Camo & Krooked record you will hear an energetic drum and bass tune with influences from a lot of different genres,” one half of the duo, Reinhard ‘Camo’ Rietsch begins. “Sometimes we cross over into electro or the next tune will be more into the direction of progressive or French house. We produce a lot of different directions which makes our sound pretty diverse and keeps it interesting.”
Rietsch, along with partner-in-crime Markus ‘Krooked’ Wagner make up the Austrian duo that have been kicking up a storm since they first started producing together in 2007. And, if you haven’t heard of them yet, you will soon. The one and only Grooverider has called them “one of the biggest talents in drum and bass”. And he’s pretty spot on. From the trance-infused All Fall Down to the filtered refrains of Reminisce, the duo have managed to hone a sound that pulls in other genres and keep things fresh. This is one of the reasons that they decided to release Between The Lines, a remix version of their 2011 long-player Cross The Line. “It came together more naturally than planned, Rietsch says. “Friends in the scene kept asking us if they could remix the tunes and after we had a couple of them together we decided to go all the way and make a full album. We have included a lot of upcoming new talents on the remix album who have done the best tunes they have ever written I think.”
It was a similar ‘mates rates’ sort of vibe that thrust the duo together in the first place. “Austria, especially Vienna, has a very healthy drum and bass scene,” he explains. “And a lot of good parties are going on. Markus and I met at a party at his hometown where I was DJing. We got talking and as we used the same program to produce music; we decided to collaborate and as it worked out so great we decided to stick with it. It’s just way more fun to go the journey as a duo.”
This pursuit of fun is bringing them back to these shores for the third time in as many years. “We love coming down to Australia,” he says. “Especially as it’s summer there and we can escape the European winter. The people are wicked as well; we made so many friends and can’t wait to meet them again. [We] really enjoy the crowds; very positive vibes and a lot of energy, especially around new year – Australia is the place to be.
“We already play a few big tunes from the forthcoming album which have been the highlights of our latest sets and we always bring a lot of special versions and bootlegs that only we have in our bags,” Rietsch says of what fans can expect from their set at Breakfest. So fun loving vibes with genre-crossing beats sounds like a good recipe for a great party in the sun but Rietsch sums it up the best: “If you haven’t heard our music, it’s better just to listen to it than to read about it. Let the music do the talking.”
BY ANDREW NELSON
