A signature of his sound is the deepness of the beat. Rampa, quite openly, discusses where his attraction to the deepness of the bass comes from. “I’m inspired by everything but mostly by my crew Keinemusik. It’s not a specific person, DJ or producer who I get my inspiration from.” The tall German with movie star good looks pauses before adding, “Sometimes club nights inspire me a lot and then after the show I can’t wait to get in the studio and catch this feeling somehow.” He then, in a mockingly defeated way explains, “Sometimes it works, and sometimes I get depressed because it just doesn’t sound like I had it in my mind.”
A Rampa produced track that captures the deep house with a disco sensibility is Where Did I Go Wrong. Overlaying this incredible musical base are the vocals of Azari & III singer Starving Yet Full (S.Y.F). “I played some shows with Azari & III and became friends with them. I recorded a track with Fritz which is still in progress and then Cedric (S.Y.F) came to Berlin for like two weeks and we hung out in the studio. Actually we spend more times in bars or clubs but anyway we got the idea of this track. I did a simple loop and he started writing on it,” concludes Rampa.
Interestingly Rampa’s main musical influences are contemporary artists like Azari & III and environmental factors like club experiences. However, when pushed he offers some insight into his musical roots. “To be honest, I have never thought that much about my influences. It just comes out as it does. I mean I do love disco but DJs don’t influence me that much as musicians did and still do. I was a big Michael Jackson fan as a child and I’m still fascinated by his whole story. Also a lot of hip hop artists and punk bands have influenced me,” discloses the Berlin resident.
A vocalist that has been working with Rampa since 2009 when they collaborated on his release Rebirth is New York based vocalist Nomi Ruiz. Ruiz is most renowned for her work with DFA act Hercules & Love Affair. Rampa talks about his relationship with this strong voiced woman who strikes an imposing figure. “We met through a friend and she liked my sound and I liked her voice! After the single we decided to work on an album. We were so slow at one point we asked me to join the album to fasten it up and we went three weeks to NYC to do recordings. We did ten track ideas in that time but it took another year until we released the single as NR& on Keinemusik. I think it might take another year till we finish this project,” he laughs.
Finally, Rampa explodes with enthusiasm about his OneSixOne set. “I have never been to Australia before. I’m really looking forward to it. You should expect kicks, snares and tones somewhere between 120 and 124BPM!”
BY DENVER MAXX
