HI FIVE MOBILEE! MOBILEE RECORDS TURNS FIVE YEARS OLD – THE INTERVIEW

Mobilee imprint, founded in Berlin by Anja Schneider and Ralf Kollmann in 2005, turns five and prepares to host a lot of exclusive events and new releases: a compilation featuring new exclusive tracks and three new eps.
And during this Sonar week there will be a label official showcase, an exclusive boat cruise and the classic rooftop parties..
Label founder Ralf Kollmann makes the point of the first five years in this interview.

So Ralf, let’s go back to 5 years ago and let's start from the very beginning of Mobilee.
How have things gone? What are your most vivid memories of that period?

Anja Schneider and me started it as a side project five years ago and within a short time it “accidently” became a full time job for both of us. Every mobilee artists is playing an important role and transporting our vision with every gig and every release. After five years we are more than proud that we created an established platform for talented artists who play all around the globe. We started the label at a time when the music market changed completely and that taught us to be flexible and go our own way all the time. It’s important to leave the well-worn path sometimes and try something new and take risks. And we still see ourselves at the beginning with what we started and have ideas and visions for the next years to come.

Did you know Anja Schneider for long time, before you started the label?

Anja and i met when i moved from Cologne to Berlin seven years ago. We’d both been involved in the music business for years and we started to do monthly parties at watergate just for fun. Anja worked for Radio Fritz in Berlin and hosted her own weekly show, which she is still doing every Saturday. We realised that we made a good team and started the whole thing. In the beginning it was a side project, but it ended up becoming a full-time job for both of us.

What was your idea behind the label before starting?

Initially Anja wanted to create a platform for young talented artists. She got a lot of demos from listeners of her radio show. There was a lot interesting material waiting to be released. Kai from wordandsound offered Anja a distribution deal during a night at Panorama Bar and the basics were set. Mobilee´s sound is essentially just what Anja and I like musically, and this can often vary. We started listening to house and techno a while ago – and we’ve been passionate ravers since the early 90s – so the Mobilee sound is very versatile and primarily defined by our main artists. For us, the most important thing is to release music that makes people dance. Club music is made for the dancefloor – especially 12” releases. When you get down to brass tacks, the whole industry is based on nothing more than moving people’s asses every weekend.

What is the origin of the name of the label?

The word mobilee just sounds nice, it´s world language and is all about moving.

Later, Leena was created for the releases of those producers who were not part of the inner Mobilee circle, isn’t it? Even if in two cases, the artists have joined the Mobilee family..

While mobilee is primarily reserved as a venue for bulding the talents of a small, growing group of artists 100% dedicated to the label, Leena allows us to release records free from these constraints, without concern for alleged "styles," "sounds," or musical boundaries. It gives us the freedom to work with friends and artists who are already established on other labels or have their own imprints and gives us the chance to try out new artists before deciding to give them the full 360° mobilee treatment.

How do you plan the releases to be published on Leena?

Its the usual process of getting demos from artists we already know, respect and like or asking them if they are interested in doing something for Leena.

What is one thing that you did in the past five years that you would change if you could do it now again?

I shouldn´t have drunk so much that night at Panorama Bar...

One funny story/thing happened during this time that you would like to remember?

A classic story is a car drive back from a mobilee night, where we were all in a pretty good mood and still awake and started to make music with hands and everything we could use to make sounds. I had two bottles half filled with orange juice and after bouncing them together softly for half an hour the bottom smashed and i was drained in juice.. that´s of course only 2% of the funny that happend through this 3 hours ride back home.

To be in the music business for all this time has changed your approach to it or you always do that with the same passion?

To be honest, i enjoy it more from year to year. With all that challenges in the music industry, but also with the success and fun we have, the progress we make and the daily and weekly feedback we get from our audience i can´t get enough of working with so many great artists and also with our great team in the office taking care of the daily business.

What are the Mobilee tracks you couldn't live without and/or which gave you more satisfaction to be released? And what the releases you are most proud of?

Every track, every release has its time. Some are for the moment, some are a bit more timeless.
Its always difficult to pick out a particular track or compare sales numbers or chart positions. But Anja Schneider´s & Sebo K´s “Rancho Relaxo” (our third release!) probably helped to kick start the label´s success and get the necessary attention in the beginning of our young venture.

What release has been the best seller (album and ep)? What, according to you, should have been and wasn't?

We had some big tunes over the past 5 years.
I just mentioned “Rancho Relaxo”, Sebo K´s “Diva” and “Spirit” and Pan-Pot`s “Confronted” on mobilee. Rodriguez Jr. “Kids Of Hula” and Hermanez on Leena were recently quite big. The Artist Album´s were all quite successful and our annual Back to Back Compilation is quite popular.
Every mobilee artist already had his big tune on mobilee or Leena and of course there are some we were surpised that they didn´t break through, but that´s part of the business. Its a bit like betting on horses or playing the FIFA World Cup. Even the favourite team sometimes eleminates in the first round.

What are the true Mobilee killer tracks to play (when djing) if the dance floor was empty?

It always depends on the situation or time i am playing, but Rodriguez Jr.´s “Kids Of Hula” or Sebo K´s remix of “Isolate” are always doing a great job, beside all the other stuff!

What are the countries in which Mobilee is more popular?

Well, I think Italy likes us and vice versa. We are playing in so many different countries and we are discovering new spots every year. Anja and I already played in Dubai, I was on tour in South Africa end of last year and we are now heading to India soon ;) South America is amazing and the US, especially San Francisco and L.A., also feels like home.



Let’s talk now about this celebration. There will be any special release to celebrate the 5th year birthday? I see there will be for sure some eps..

This summer we are not just celebrating five successful years of mobilee records, but also the fact that we are still loving what we do and there is a lot more to come, of course! To mark the occasion with something special, we are organising a world tour across all continents, with a three day Sonar extravaganza to get the ball rolling next week. We are also releasing a compilation featuring 16 exclusive tracks from mobilee artists and friends and to accompany the album, there is a three part 250 copies limited edition vinyl series with selected tracks.
A new Pan-Pot is opening the vinyl series next week, followed by Marcin Czubala and Daniel Stefanik and rounded up by Anja Schneider and Sebo K.

And what's going on in Barcelona at Sonar time this year? It seems there will be lots of things: showcases, rooftop parties and also boat parties. Can you please tell me something more about all this?

This year will be intense. Sonar was always very important for us and also helped us in the beginning to get connected with the european electronic music scene.
We have organised a marathon of special events to celebrate the label’s birthday. Kick off for our 4-day sonar adventure is the official label showcase on Wednesday at City Hall with Anja Schneider, Pan-Pot, Marcin Czubala and Dan Curtin. After a short disco nap the whole crew is boarding for an exclusive cruise on the Hi Five! mobilee boat - www.residentadvisor.net/mobileeboat - Followed by a two days private affair on the rooftop of the Hotel Diagonal on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th June together with our friends from diynamic and supplement facts.

What is the next big thing going at Mobilee? What can we expect this year?

Its all about Hi Five mobilee! this year. We have some surprises for the rest of the year and some albums lined up...

Who is the producer you wish to join the label?

We have great artists on the label and we are not thinking of any big names to join us. We are more interested in discovering new talents and make them big on mobilee.

My impression about Mobilee has always been that all the artists seem to be real friends.
Do you see in your spare time too?

That’s part of our label philosophy. We wanted to establish strong and long lasting relationships with our artists from the beginning on. Nowadays you need a strong platform and a strong brand if you want to be recognized as an artist. We are joined forces, building up a strong visual and musical identity, we produce our own event ideas for Sonar Festival, Winter Music Conference or Amsterdam Dance Event and give our artist as much creative freedom as possible. I think that’s part of our unique standing. We are musically versatile.
The mobilee sound is created and defined by our artists and not dictated from above.
The personal relationship to our artists is very important. If the personal chemistry is not right we cant achieve something together. We would never release music from someone we don´t like personally, even if it’s the biggest hit we have ever heard in our life.

One question about Berlin: how has the city changed in the last five years?

Berlin is one of the most liberal cities in the world. When it comes to clubbing; Panorama Bar and Bar 25 are known all over the world in reference to Berlin’s Nightlife. Compared to other metropolitan cities, it’s affordable to live here without having three jobs. It’s quite relaxed and the city is a huge creative space. There’s a big density of international Labels, DJ´s and Producers who’ve decided to make Berlin their home. The Sound is defined by international activists who discovered Berlin as an inspiring city to live, make music, go out and have fun- it’s the undisputed epicentre of techno music and it will probably not change in the near future.

Classic question about Mobilee and the labels in general: vinyl, cd or digital in the future?

Its sad, but it will be digital probably sometime soon. But we are still passionate about vinyl and hope to keep on doing it for a while, even if its more for promotion and collectors then for earning some money for artists and the label.

Where do you see Mobilee in the next five years?

It’s very important to keep an eye on what is going on out there. You should always be prepared for sudden changes and embrace new technologies and opportunities. You can cry about how difficult it is to sell music because of illegal downloads, or you can spend this energy finding new ways of distributing your music and using the creative potential of your artists and staff to develop new ventures. We were the first music label releasing our own iPhone application for example, called Mobilee touch mix and there are so many opportunities to use new gadgets and technologies.

We are a very young label and still have to develop further on every level and are very ambitious to release more great music, make people happy and dancing on our events and wherever mobilee artists are playing. See you soon somewhere on the dancefloor!

Author: Antonio Di Gioia Published: 13 June 2010