We’ve been following Berlin techno duo Pan-Pot for several years now. Their determination to push musical boundaries has propelled them from young upstarts who united in 2005 to a place currently near the top rung on the global DJ ladder. With their firm association with Anja Schneider and Ralf Kollmann’s mobilee Records in tow and 15 releases under their belt (including their minimal masterpiece Pan-O-Rama released in 2007), Tassilo Ippenberger and Thomas Benedix recently issued their flawless White Fiction EP in time for their North American tour kicking off tonight in Mexico City (see full tour dates below). We checked in with the Teutonic techno twosome about their tour, brilliant new EP and the release of their mobilee back to back year-long tour documentary directed by Sebastian Radlmeier on YouTube.
Happy new year to you both. How did you welcome 2013? Were you playing?
Tassilo Ippenberger: Thanks a lot and happy new year to you too! We played five shows in a row, two on New Year’s eve itself. And believe it or not, we didn’t miss one show, which is usually not common during winter and snow chaos. On NYE we first played at VOID festival in Wuppertal with Chris Liebing, Monika Kruse, Karotte, Extrawelt and many others and then we want straight to Amsterdam for Amsterdam United organized by the Awakenings Crew.
Thomas Benedix: We played the final slot, which was amazing once again!
How was 2012 for Pan-Pot?
Tassilo: 2012 was great! It starting with our “Gravity” release and our documentary film including along nice tour all over Europe. We also tried to finish a new album, which didn’t work out due to heavy touring. That was also the reason why we kept it easy in the summer of 2012. We didn’t work so much in the studio but only focused on our shows.
Thomas: Oh yes, it was a year with many great gigs and fun time on Ibiza. In the end of 2012 we released our second EP called White Fiction as a proper finish of the year.
What were some of the best moments?
Tassilo: One of the highlights was the Paul Kalkbrenner concert in Munich for 20,000 people and in the center of the city. Also our first appearance at Space Ibiza at Carl Cox’s party was amazing. It was his 50th birthday and we stayed at his house for some days. Good times!
You’re coming to play North America. Tell us about what people can expect from the upcoming shows?
Thomas: The U.S. and Canada have some of our most favorite clubs and we love the (party) people, who are very outgoing. Be sure we are well prepared to give our best!
Tassilo: We’re very excited to finally be back. Our motivation level is high and we’ll the drop our latest productions.
Any special songs in your current set you’d like to mention?
Tassilo: As already mentioned we just lately released a new EP with “White Fiction” and “Mental Rush” that are in heavy rotation right now.
Tell us briefly about the documentary. How did it come about and why did you decide to release it now to the public on YouTube?
Tassilo: A few years back we started to do short videos on tour and put them on our YouTube channel. At the time when mobilee asked us to mix the Back to Back compilation we thought about what kind of special we could add and Anja Schneider came up with the idea to add a DVD that shows mobilee and us, how we are and what we do. This is how we came up with the idea of adding a movie to the compilation (for the price of a normal compilation).
Thomas: Shortly after the release we heard from many people that they could not buy the compilation or movie in their country through iTunes or as CD/DVD so we thought it would be fair to also show it to them now, one year after the release, for free on YouTube.
You’re playing Igloofest in Montreal. Are you prepared to play in the freezing cold?
Tassilo: We hope so. We’ll come in our snowsuits and wear bear hats.
Thomas: …and earmuffs! If you see two strange looking guys behind the decks – that will be us!
Any final thoughts or new releases you’d like to mention?
Brand new and heavily charted on Beatport!
Pan-Pot’s North American Tour Dates:
Jan 11: Hardpop, Ciudad Juarez
Jan 13: Villa 221, Miami
Jan 17: Vessel, San Fran
Jan 19: Anonymous @ Norad, Denver
Jan 20: Momentum @ SRB, NYC
Jan 25: Igloofest, Montreal
Jan 26: Footwork, Toronto
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7sM8v12L3g?list=SP9B6ZfDWJ3R6oyXh5uJrBaacOu62uc1UJ]