Bavarian artist duo, Slam City Jams-founders and rock-solid producers Friedrich Trede and Stephan Brown, better known under their Rhode & Brown alias, have quite a reputation when it comes to their released EPs and it seems as if their discography is as well-selected as their EPs are produced. However, the almost fifteen-year long journey of the duo turns out to be something that has happened quite organically, starting with Stephan and Friedrich’s first encounter in person over to their productions, which made it to labels like Shall Not Fade, Permanent Vacation, Toy Tonics, Public Possession, just to name a few. Maybe it’s this before-mentioned organic-process, maybe it’s the duo’s approach of taking things slowly, but it ultimately has something to do with the quality of their music. The latest release from Rhode and Brown was just out on Bristol House-label Shall Not Fade, an imprint whose artist-rooster reads like the who is who of the scene but also includes up- and coming producers. Well, Rhode and Brown certainly do not belong to the latter as they have proven to be on top of their game for more than a decade still sounding fresh and innovative and definitely up to cause some more stir with their music and their label.
I thought he wanted to rip me off and wrote him a pretty pissed off Facebook message.
Friedrich Trede
Torture the Artist: Hello Stephan and Friedrich, tell us something about your day.
Rhode & Brown: Hey there & thanks for having us! Well, what can we say… it’s our regular studio Friday and it’s sweaty as hell in here with 32 degrees. We can’t really open the windows at the moment, as it is about to fall out of the frame… but we are having a good time as always, working on some new music and answering your questions. <smiles>
Torture the Artist: While Stephan’s last name is Braun (in English Brown), Friedrich’s last name is Trede. How did you come up with your artist moniker Rhode & Brown?
Rhode & Brown: Pretty simple and not very fancy… we love the sound of Fender Rhodes in our music and back when we chose that name we thought it would be a good idea to take that into account. <laughs>
Torture the Artist: Before we speak about your music and latest EP. How did you guys meet and was it love at first sight?
Friedrich: We met back in 2009 through a mutual older friend. It actually wasn’t love at first sight at all. I think we told this story pretty often already: This friend connected us and we found out that we lived just two villages away from each other outside of Munich. Stephan sold me an old CDJ Player and when I got home and checked it properly, I found out that it wasn’t the one I wanted. I thought he wanted to rip me off and wrote him a pretty pissed off Facebook message. We met again the same evening – he was super relaxed and took the thing back. We started talking music and discovered that we kind of like the same stuff. Then we kept on meeting and playing music at his parents’ house, then started DJing and eventually producing together.Â
Torture the Artist: When was the last time you travelled with a Eurostar?
Rhode & Brown: We actually never been in one. <haha> We probably should’ve called the record “Intercity Express”.
Torture the Artist: Your latest EP on Bristol-label Shall Not Fade called – now we are connecting the dots – Eurostar together with Kid Simius was just released as the #96 on the label. How does it feel not to be the magical #100? Joke aside, what’s the story behind the name of the EP and how did working with Kid Simius come about?
Rhode & Brown: The title track has this 90s Euro House feeling to it and is pretty uptempo, so we thought Eurostar would be a fitting title – again, very simple.
Jose (Kid Simius) texted us back in 2021 on Instagram after we put one of his tracks in our Spotify playlist. He said that he also plays our music a lot and asked if we could be up for a collaboration. We always love working with others artists, so this was a no-brainer. We first sent each other sketches and started working on each other’s ideas separately. Then after a few months we visited Jose in his Berlin studio and finished the tunes together. Â
Torture the Artist: All three tracks have a quite summer-ish vibe, when where those tracks produced to get you into the summer-mindset?
Rhode & Brown: This is a good question. As far as we remember, we worked on them for quite some time starting in winter 2021 until early summer 2022. With Jose it wasn’t a biggie to get into the summer vibes, though. His Spanish charm quickly rubbed off on us. <haha>
Torture the Artist: There are Jex Opolis and Demi Requisimo on remix-duties for the title track. Why did you agree on those two for the remixes?
Rhode & Brown: We just love both their music and had the feeling that their latest output fitted perfectly to the title track of our EP. It’s a big honor to have both oft hem on board!
Torture the Artist: What’s another artist you would love to remix one of your tracks, and why?
Rhode & Brown: Would love to see what Telephones or Luca Lozano would do to our tracks. We’re huge fans of their works – they always deliver consistent quality and are super versatile!
What can be more joyful than big Italo melodies, cheesy piano chords and some Balearic vocals that transfer you straight to the Spanish coast?!?
Torture the Artist: Let’s come back to the EP once more, musically it orientates oneself towards 90s (piano) House with a slight touch of Acid as well as it covers influences from Balearic House and Italo Disco. Where do those preferences come from?
Rhode & Brown: We started working on the EP when corona was still around quite heavily, but there already was some light on the horizon. So we wanted to produce a super uplifting and joyful record for the good times that were upon us. And well, what can be more joyful than big Italo melodies, cheesy piano chords and some Balearic vocals that transfer you straight to the Spanish coast?!?
Torture the Artist: Throughout your over a decade lasting career in the House Music scene you have had outings on Public Possession, Permanent Vacation, Toy Tonics, Shall Not Fade and your own label Slam City Jams. It seems as if you somehow skipped releases on smaller labels really, if we do not take Semester Musik into consideration where you first EP was released. Has this all been part of the plan or happened by coincidence?
Rhode & Brown: Interesting question. We’ve actually never thought about it that way, because the journey was so organic.
For example, we had our first release on Toy Tonics in 2012, when it still was more of a sub-label of Gomma Records (where Friedrich had worked as an intern after finishing school). Back then, there was a focus on it’s bigger brother and the label was far from what it is today in terms of its success. So we kind of grew with them from year to year.
Also, apart from Shall Not Fade all these labels are from Munich, so meeting the people who run them happened in a very organic way too, for example with Benji (Fröhlich) from Permanent Vacation. We had known him (and of course his label) due to the nightlife for some time, but never really met properly. At some point we played at a festival here together, we talked a lot and got along super well. Afterwards he asked us for demos. That is how we ended up releasing our first EP and eventually our debut album on Permanent Vacation. Now we are really good friends with him, too, which is lovely.
So to answer your question: No, this has never been the plan and we are pretty sure that you can’t plan stuff like that anyways. <haha> It actually didn’t happen from one moment to another It was a pretty steady and organic process, that to some degree is also connected to the city we live in.
Torture the Artist: What’s a label you would love to have an EP on, and why?
Rhode & Brown: To be honest, we are pretty happy with the labels we put out music at the moment. But I think it would be lovely to have a record on Studio Barnhus, as the label has been rock solid for so many years now and we love how the guys’ work. Also we are big fans of Planet Trip, a small label from Australia that puts out really well-curated music.
Torture the Artist: Some of your influences can be located in the British-scene, e.g. your House sound is more UK-oriented than it shows influences from its US-pendant. However, you also enjoy some Breaks and your label Slam City Jams covers this from time to time too. Where does the UK-influence come from and what’s the track that had a major influence on you?
Rhode & Brown: Again, very interesting how the outside view is on these kind of things. Our first and biggest influence was actually 80s/90s US House music from NY, New Jersey, Chicago, etc. and of course all the music that it evolved from. We’ve also always had a big love for Balearic stuff from Italy. The UK influences that you hear now probably have evolved over the last few years as we got interested in early Prog- and Tech-house that often hailed from England. In the end it all comes together in our DJ sets and finds its way to influence our productions. Regarding “the one specific track“ question: We are always very bad at pinpointing one, to be honest. It’s more about the mixture of sounds and aesthetics that we hear across the music that inspires and influences us.
There are enough other things in life where you feel pressured to rush.
Torture the Artist: Your label Slam City Jams was founded in 2016 and has since seen the release of twelve EPs, with a third of the EPs coming from. Seven years, twelve releases, have you never had ambitions to have more output on the label or do you intentionally take things slowly when it comes to the label?
Rhode & Brown: The label was always a thing we wanted to take slowly. We could definitely put out more music, especially after pressing less on vinyl lately. We also get quite a lot of demos these days – pretty good ones, too. But we’re really picky about the music we want to release, and it always takes a lot of time listening and discussing before we decide what to release in the end. But for us that’s absolutely fine, because there are enough other things in life where you feel pressured to rush.
The nice thing is, we can look back on these past releases and still love them as much as we did when we put them out. A big reason for that is that we take our time and don’t necessarily chase trends.
Torture the Artist: It is said that the label is run with love – according to Discogs – what do you do when love fades because as in any relationship there are times when you love more and then there are times when you love less?
Rhode & Brown: We take a deep breath, maybe a little break, and then reconsider things. But again, if you take things slowly, it helps not to burn them out too quickly. <smiles>
Torture the Artist: What have you planned for the label in 2023 and how do you agree on the things you want to do?
Rhode & Brown: We just released this great EP by a young artist from Paris named NairLess. It’s backed with a banging remix by Running Hot, too, and already got played by artists like Avalon Emerson, Palms Trax, Job Jobse, Budino. It looks like it’s one of our most successful releases so far! We will also work on new music with Benjamin Fröhlich soon, that probably will find its way on Slam City Jams, too.
Torture the Artist: What was the release of yours that furthered your career?
Rhode & Brown: We can’t tell for sure, but we think our debut album on Permanent Vacation was a big step for us and it seems that quite a lot of people enjoy its closing track Cruise.
Torture the Artist: Have you ever had a plan b if your career in music had not worked out and what would that plan held in store for you or see you doing?
Rhode & Brown: We always had and still have a plan B in our lives. <smiles> Stephan has been workin the management of a hotel since he was 15 and Friedrich started working in a communication agency after studying music management. We both work there part time, so it’s quite a good balance.
Torture the Artist: Let’s speak a little about your production-routines. What’s each other’s task in the studio and do you always sit in the studio together?
Rhode & Brown: We don’t have any fixed tasks to be honest. Most of the time we don’t even speak about it and go with the flow. Maybe one of us will play something on the synths whilst the other sits on the computer or we just jam around for half an hour and record that and sometime later choose parts that we enjoyed most. That being said, we usually start working on new ideas separately at home, and bring those ideas to the studio on Fridays, which is our regular studio day. Having some sort of musical sketch to work on really helps us when we are in the studio together, so we don’t have to start completely from scratch.
Torture the Artist: What was the go-to-synth when producing your Eurostar EP?
Rhode & Brown: The Korg M1 and the Prophet 6 did quite some heavy lifting on most of the tunes, as far as we can remember.
Listening to music that is not necessarily related to the stuff we make can help to get the juices floating again.
Torture the Artist: What do you do when you are creatively stuck or does it help that you are two people and one always has a solution or idea?
Rhode & Brown: The everyday struggle… we are stuck quite often and haven’t found a perfect solution, yet. But the good old “take a step back from your work“ cliche really helps. Also listening to music that is not necessarily related to the stuff we make can help to get the juices floating again. Oh, and also trying to recreate music you really like can be fun, too. In the process, you will inevitably add your own style to it and before you know it, something completely different – your own – will come out of it.
Torture the Artist: What do you do when you disagree on a certain sound but one of you desperately wants it to be part of the track? Who of you is more ready to compromise?
Rhode & Brown: We go in the hallway and have a fight, while the other studio guys take bets. The winner takes it all. Jokes aside: Usually we find a solution where we both are happy. But Friedrich definitely is more stubborn. Poor Stephan. <winks>
Torture the Artist: What’s a studio/ musical extravaganza you would pay for if you were super wealthy?
Rhode & Brown: A new window or an AC. <laughs>
Torture the Artist: You are responsibly for the latest art:cast, where is your mix best enjoyed, and why?
Rhode & Brown: We recommend listening to it in the evening after a long summer day, when you plan to go out later that night. We were a bit fed up with all these sets full of hands-in-the-air-bangers lately. So for this mix we started deep and percussive, paved our way to a few house groovers and ended up on some proggy euphoria, that will get you just in the right mood for the night ahead.
Words by Holger Breuer
Pictures by Benjamin Herchet
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