FOLD INVITES Mercury 200
Mercury 200 know all too well the power of anonymity. The masked duo employed the tactic of concealing their identities for several practical reasons: to start afresh, to evade pre-conceived judgement, to explore musical boundaries they would have otherwise not previously touched, and – reputedly – to escape a warrant from Interpol. Since 2018, these systematic fundamentals have permitted the Berlin-based vagabonds the relief of stepping beyond the parameters of their previous aliases, manifesting a new collaborative working space created both in the studio and out touring with their refined live set-up. Their musical trademark? A brash, ghetto-techno performance with unconventional flair, exhilarating textures and the total freedom to do whatever suits the moment.
With a burgeoning self-signing label and their newest EP “Schnell und Verrück” going full pelt for artistic licence via FOLD Records, we spoke to Mercury 200 about returning to the new normal, their recent creative processes, and how they refuse to be validated by anyone other than themselves.
Tell us about life post-lockdown. How has it been returning to the booth, and are there any particular memories that stick out as highlights?
It’s felt great to be back in the booth. We’ve missed the energy of the crowd so much and it was so nice to have to occasion to play all of our new tunes that we made during lockdown. We had to rewrite the entire live set too, which involved getting used to playing for hours with our machines – in the end it’s like practicing an instrument!
A special highlight was the Brvtalist event at Suicide Circus in Berlin – the energy was pure fire and we had never seen Suicide that wild.
Have you noticed any changes in the way people party now compared to before COVID?
We feel that the community has definitely grown since COVID. Techno music and its subgenres have gained popularity and there are so many new faces joining! It was mostly great to see the motivation – and even the “need” – of the crowd to party like they’ve done before.
Tell us about your live set up and the hardware you use. What freedoms/limitations does it give you compared to DJ sets?
One of us mostly manages the sound design and riffs with a modular since, whilst the other handles the drums with an Analog Rytm from Elektron. Both of us set the rest of the atmosphere and vocals with one Digitakt each – also from Elektron. For us, a live set is a completely different musical challenge – of course, we play our productions only here, but we also play tracks that we’ve composed purely for a live performance. The approach to their sound creation is therefore different and also quite versatile in a sense that their arrangement can be totally different according to the vibe of the event we play.
We also take care in showcasing all of our influences with deadly ghetto beats, pounding techno bangers and trancy, epic moments.
Another interesting part of performing live with machines only and no main sequencer is the freedom it allows for the arrangement of the live itself. The transitions might be more evident than in DJ sets, but they also allow a fresh restart at the beginning of each track like you would find in a classic band concert.
You recently launched your own imprint Gangsters Of The Groove. What was the motivation for starting this label, and what are you keeping in mind when looking for tracks to sign/create specifically for it?
Gangsters Of The Groove was created with the aim of delivering our own vision of music without having to be “validated” by other labels. We are only releasing our own tracks, and in doing so enjoying the freedom to produce and gather the tracks that we want from an EP. Some of our upcoming productions are quite “original” and we honestly don’t know any label that would release such material!
You’ll see that on our second vinyl we started to produce tracks in collaboration with non-techno artists to spice up our original recipe.
The Jensen Interceptor remix was a particular highlight of 001. How did you both align for the record?
Jensen Interceptor was one of our main influences when we had the idea of creating Mercury 200, so we felt that having him on the first release was important for us and would definitely make sense. When we sent him the track, we were super stoked to see that he was totally enjoying the vibe - and the rest is history!
How do you balance the dynamic of playing B2B together and working creatively in the studio? Is there a method/balance you adhere to in the booth and when producing tracks?
Since we only play live the process is quite similar - however, the workflow in creating new tracks and working on the live shows aren’t the same, even if it shares the same fundamentals.
The only thing that really changes is the freedom of creativity that we can’t fully have performing live. This is due to the fact that since we travel with all the gear we have to consider an efficient manner in terms of space and logistics.
We would have really loved to bring the entire studio to every performance to deliver the full capacity of our imagination, but it would basically take half a plane and the means of necessitating a computer with USB sync and we are too traumatised by the issue of latency and connectivity issues.
Your newest EP, Schnell und Verrück, was released on FOLD Records on the 1 st October. Beyond the namesake, tell us about the creative process for this record.
This record came to life instantly after our set at Unfold – AKA the best club event we have ever experienced. The energy was so intense - whether we were playing old school grooves or breaky stuff - that we got hugely inspired to fuse those into the influences for one record. We and Lasha have been an instant match not just personally but on a professional level, too. Knowing someone who is that dedicated to the scene and who shares the same vision and tastes about music definitely pushed us to create something bigger together.
How does the initial vision match the final product – were you surprised by the final result?
It was even better than what we expected! We can really feel the passion from FOLD for high quality output. The entire vinyl is a piece of art in itself – from the orange colour of the wax to the astonishing design, it’s full of little details that make your mind go nuts.
What kind of hardware/software did you use to create this record – did it deviate from your normal choices?
We paradoxically mostly produce inside the box, although the gear plays a central role in the creation as we still steal a lot of ideas we find when producing the love show. For this EP we used some modular synth sequences and our favourite Memphis rap acapella with our go-to VSTs: Roland Cloud, Predator, Ana 2 etc.
What inspires you initially when making a track? Have you ever had any interesting moments in the studio when producing?
We’ve never any type of routine - we mostly produce together at the same place and always ask ourselves what type of genre we want the track to have. We usually then find a non-electronic music kind of track to set up a vibe, and from there we follow our imagination. It’s always been pretty natural as we have the same vision music-wise.
Are there any exciting artists that you’d like to shout about?
Shout out to our OG and one of our favourite artists: MCR-T. This man is such a talented and skilful producer and he has a crazy repertoire of productions. We had the chance to work on a collaboration for the upcoming Gangsters Of The Groove vinyl and we can’t wait to share what is an absolute anthem!
How did you find your last appearance at FOLD?
Our last appearance at your magical venue was on Sunday morning for THE Unfold. Due to the club regulations, we’re not allowed to talk about it here but we’ll let you guess what “naked, tribe reunion in a wild jungle” and “relentless ceremony” may mean in the same sentence. An atmosphere to make Sven Marquardt uncomfortable.
How do you see Mercury 200 evolving as time goes on?
Since the project started to become more known only a couple of months before the COVID crisis, we didn’t have the occasion to share our energy with the crowd, which means that our live set didn’t have the opportunity to evolve as much as we’d have liked. However, no gigs meant more studio time - even if it was quite hard mentally to produce music without knowing how this situation would end and most of all, receiving direct inspiration from the crowd.
To round off – what are you looking forward to most in the coming months?
The upcoming months are looking quite intense. We have the second release of our own imprint Gangsters of The Groove to finalise - we can’t wait to see people’s reaction to this one because we took certain creative risks in gathering different music genres and pushing our boundaries further…
In term of gigs, we are so thrilled to play in Lyon for 23:59 alongside legends such as Dax J, SNTS and Hadone. The location is looking sick and it will be our first time in Lyon!
And finally, we are counting down the days until our next Unfold party for a night that will stay in our mind forever…
Words by Emily Rose Howard