Feinstoff head honcho Freudenthal chats to Music Is 4 Lovers as the imprint prepares for it’s launch

Freudenthal! Welcome to music is 4 Lovers, what have you been up to recently?
Thank you so much for having me. I’m excited to be here and look forward to discussing the Feinstoff label launch with you guys! It’s an honour to contribute; lately, I’ve been deeply involved in the preparations for the label launch and working on new music in the studio.

We’d love to have an insight into Feinstoff and why the events series has recently evolved into a label
Feinstoff started as a small event in 2015 at RAW-Area in Berlin Friedrichshain. I invited a guest who would share the decks with me, I often had international acts who travelled through Europe initially, such as Inigo Vontier, Thomas Jackson or Mor Elian. It quickly developed into more significant line ups and became a regular party at Kater Blau. The night hosted acts like Damon Jee, Dombrance, Franz Scala, and Sinchi Collective. After a while, I started posting “Free Download” contributions of some of the guests on a SoundCloud page called “Feinstoff” – this page later exploded and is now one of the top spots for showcasing and promoting Indie Dance, Dark Disco and Neo Italo, to merge all of this into a music label was only the next logical step.

The Feinstoff label launches at the end of May with a remix compilation of Alexandrina’s ‘Sirin’, why was this record chosen to be remixed for the imprint’s first drop?
When I was asked to make a remix for Alexandrina’s material, I immediately loved what I heard and instantly had an idea of how to spin the amazing vocals I had been sent. When I found out Curses, Local Suicide, Walentin Pauer and the other remixers were on remix duty, too, it struck me as, “wow, what a team”. I thought this would be a perfect release to start the label with, and it was in the back of mind for a while.

The upcoming release features some great names here including Curses, Local Suicide and yourself; can you tell us about the production process for your rework of ‘Sirin’.
There’s a fantastic team on this release, it’s hard to wish for more for a label launch! I approached the remix as I often do since remixing with my former project, ‘Pardon Moi’,  basically just getting my hands on the vocals and giving them a completely new spin – sometimes even changing the key of the song and setting them up in a new harmonious context. The material from Alexandrina had those fantastic shouts and onomatopoetic vibes that I loved turning into something completely new.

How did your love for ’dark-disco’ develop in Berlin?
It was basically around 2015/16 before the modern interpretation of the genre even existed. My idea was to make something that sounded like the 80s but was also powerfully mixed and ready for modern dance-floors. When we got a remix request from Damon Jee for ‘Power To The People’, one of the prototype tracks for the whole genre was born.

What’s the best decade of music for you and why?
I love the 80s, everything from Blue Monday to the Pet Shop Boys! Nowadays, powerful-sounding music such as this really stands out in my opinion, I try to make it more about the vibe and the scene than about sticking to a particular genre.

Do you have any summer plans you can tell us about?
In the next weeks I’ll have shows in Warsaw and Zagreb, but certainly, a highlight is our release party takeover at Renate together with the most iconic ‘House of Lunacy’ on Thursday of this week. I managed to land gigs for Radondo and Walentin Pauer who also contributed mixes for the release, and am very happy to see this coming together. ‘Cyranotaurus Cortex’ (with whom I have a residency at House of Lunacy) will play as well as Saeuer.

I want to extend a huge, huge thank you to everyone involved in this adventure so far, and all of those who still are to join! A big hug, you guys are the best!