CM>>>Your projects name “4Gottenfloor” disperses in my opinion a kind of mysterious mood or better say atmosphere. Like walking through a place you never been before and discovering something you haven’t expected. What’s story is behind the name of your project? And who had the idea for this name?
4GF>>> (Chelonis) I had the name at the start. I guess it was my answer to the smiths "strangeways, here we come" theme. I was always taunted… haunted by lunacy and the dark side.
I merely wanted to form a lyrical concept around lunacy and all its numerous shapes, forms, cloaks & daggers. Floor nine of the Miami-Dade County Jail kept many mentally insane inmates under such horrific conditions, that their conditions simply worsened...the floor was considered by most as, "the forgotten floor" -hence the my Oscar WILDEAN thievery.
CM>>>Also the artwork of the album underlines this mysterious mood exploring...
4GF>>>(Chelonis) I hear this all the time. Many simply adore the artwork. It's simply a charming photograph of alex and Chelonis. (laughing)
CM>>> From where do you know each other? And when have you decided to found “4Gottenfloor”?
4GF>>>(Chelonis) We've known each other for years...it was always in the stars ---a cd project. We both were completely sure of this.
CM>>> Could you both introduce yourself to the readers? In which projects have you worked before and how do you both get into music, especially into electronic dance music?
4GF>>>(Chelonis) If I told you all of my projects... you would soon grow bored (Laughing) to keep it short, I've worked in around 60 projects/releases with Röyksopp, Remo, M. Romboy,Tocadisco, Booka Shade, Hell, Huntemann, Radioslave, Spektre... and list goes on. Alex from pinktronix presented a song. "Crash" was born and the rest is history. I literally stumbled into Booka Shade's office presenting songs for another singer. They rejected him...offered me a shot...I rejected at 1st, and then joined get physical music in its infancy phase. And once again, the rest is history.
(Alex) I started djing in 86...as pro in 91...I started with early house music from Chicago, English acid house and old school hip hop then I became a sort of eclectic dj playing everything that I liked for a huge part of 90s (from rock/punk to techno and drum'n'bass). I worked mainly as dj in 5 club nights a week for a decade! Then I started to work more as club promoter and radio programmer...I started to produce early tracks in '98 then I published my first 12” in 2003. As Pinktronix and other dance nickname I've wrote many 12” of electro and house for Italian labels, mainly Irma Records, and currently for Spectra/Saifam.
CM>>>So both of you been more known from projects of other artists as a singer and musician before you started this project.
So is it correct to call 4Gottenfloor the first real band project of you both?
And after releasing an album as a kind of “band project” does this feel different to you as the things you did before? Have you felt more excitement by releasing 4Gottenfloor?
4GF>>>(Chelonis) Yes, our first official project. I lost family and friends around the making and release of "the forgotten floor”. Recovered from a severe nervous breakdown and depression, which followed... they always say "one suffers for their art", but that phase was barbaric for me! I still can't listen to "gossip kills j." to this very day! I felt the excitement when the cd entered the shops! always get chill from this. It is such a painful beauty...pregnancy to birth!
(Alex) I became a live musician in 2005 starting playing live with the electroclash act Tying Tiffany. I've played with her within the last 3 years for a total of more than 200 live gigs around Italy an Europe then I left the band to be more focused on 4GF and Pinktronix. Pinktronix is another electronic project but 4gottenfloor it's a total different approach to music...it's a project about freedom to express ourselves. Before starting 4gottenfloor album I lost my best friend too…it was a tough time for me so 4gf was my reaction to my psychological pain.
CM>>>When I am right informed Alex lives in Italy and Chelonis lives in Germany. The album was released on the Italian label Jato Music. So I asked myself in which country have you produced the album? Have you visited each other, for example one time in Germany, then Italy or wherever? Or have worked sometimes separately on the album and met from time to time to put things together?
4GF>>>(Chelonis) The entire cd is italo-american. Nothing German about it. I sung it in Italy.
(Alex) Everything was recorded and worked between Bologna and Miami. The great Mike Marsh did the mastering at the legendary „The Exchange“ in London. Only the sooner or later vocals has been recorded in Frankfurt.
CM>>>It’s fascinating how the album varies with each tracks its styles, moods and atmosphere. For me it sounds like a kind of storytelling or kind of concept album… is there any leitmotiv or concept behind the whole album or am I completely wrong?
4GF>>>(Chelonis) As I said earlier, I wanted to put a groundbreaking spotlight on real lunacy&darkness. Not just some trendy phase with a blonde model saying, "cool...that's soooo crazy, man". I wanted to take it deeper than any singer has gone! It is no light-hearted task singing about Jeffrey Dahmer and Ernst Röhm!
(Alex) You are right Michael.....there is definitely a concept behind it!
CM>>>The other thing I remarked is the message in the lyrics which varies from love songs up to songs with a political or a critical message, that really became rare in dance music. How important is it for you that people stop and listen to the lyrics?
4GF>>>(Chelonis) Oh I really don't care if they listen or not! I simply want to have the freedom to be astonishing.
(Alex) The lyrics by Chelonis are rare gems of poetry in these days of washed up pop songs..
CM>>>The tracks on the album merge styles like House, Soul, Disco and RnB together to something new. Does this happen by accident, I mean because you wanted to try out different things when you teamed up exploring your musical boundaries or was it your goal right from the start when you founded 4Gottenfloor to bring together different musical styles?
4GF>>>(Chelonis) When I have time, I listen to around 40 cd a day. Alex is a wonderful producer, with so many styles in his pocket! This makes for easy work, in my case. I cold never do an entire album with a mere egghead!
(Alex) To be honest I don't see so many styles in 4GF...there is only one called electro soul.
CM>>>How must I picture myself the working process, Alex wrote the tracks and Chelonis the lyrics, or have you jammed in the studio? Or have you been both created tracks and lyrics?
4GF>>>(Chelonis) I’m presented seeds, I study or eject, write and enter that world...fertilize...sing...exit that world...Alex then returns to finish the gardening!
(Alex) That’s the true!
CM>>>The sounds of the album are warm and sometimes surprisingly “vintage” and sounding futuristic at once, have you used classic hardware like drum machines and synths to create this wonderful sounds?
4GF>>>(Chelonis) The entire pot is a minestrone of creativity. Did you not taste it? Yes. Mixed influences. Sometimes even live percussion, as well!
(Alex) Just for the geeks out there I can reveal my studio set up: a macbook pro with ableton live 5.2, arturia minimoog, audiorealism bassline 2, vocals and live percussions. Not too much really.
CM>>>So according to this question what do you think about the following statement: 4Gottenfloor keep classic dance sounds and traditions in dance music alive by developing a different new sound who gives the whole thing back serious meaning?
4GF>>>(Chelonis) Electrified minestrone: strange to the tongue. Dark to the sight. Hot to the touch.
(Alex) To me the roots of dance music are really important...when I’ve started recording early tracks of 4GF I was really in the Motown sound from the 60s and another huge influence was Larry Levan and the paradise garage legendary sound and atmosphere. At the same time I cannot forgot the early synth pop from 80s and early Chicago sound by labels as traxx and dj international.
CM>>>Chelonis, its amazing how your voice changes with each track like a chameleon, each track receives its own personality and mood through your changing voice. But when I someone would put your complete album on a mix-tape together with twenty other tracks by different artists everyone will recognize your voice. Can you tell me something about your career as a singer? When have you started to sing and did you had a teacher or were members of your family also singers or artists?
4GF>>>(Chelonis) People always say this to… or better say about me. I simply get bored with myself, so I vocally create the people I would like to entertain me.
No-one taught me how to sing...or become Chelonis R. Jones. It is simply an illness one learns to live with. Such Psychedelia be taught.
CM>>>Some people compare your voice with artists like Lenny Kravitz or Prince. Do you feel comfortable with this or aren’t you a fan of comparisons?
4GF>>>(Chelonis) Oh I adore them both; one is grounded and gorgeously sincere...the other I would give my front teeth if he would simply become my adoptive mother. I’m serious!
CM>>>I’ve already asked you about the working process and the different countries you both live in. Did you both get some new impressions and experiences of Italy and Germany while working on the album?
4GF>>>(Chelonis) I would simply die without Europe. I would no longer cease to exist.
CM>>>What about the children choir on the track A.A.A, how have you organized this? Are these children are members of a school choir or the children members of your family or friends…?
4GF>>>(Chelonis) That, mon cher, is my little chelonian secret!!!
(Alex) Yeah..that's a secret! (laughing)
CM>>>What will happen next with 4Gottenfloor? Any plans for the next year for new tracks, a tour?
4GF>>>(Chelonis) A new album could rear its ugly little head. Why not?
(Alex) ...We know all the rules but the rules don't know us....(laughing)
CM>>>In a few days the year will end, do you look back on 2008 with joy? And when you see what happens in the world with all this problems how do you feel about the future?
4GF>>>(Chelonis) Oh no comment. There are some days left...I’m hoping to make it out alive! This year and 2007 were the worst; I lost my mother and my best friend. But there were some definite highlights!
(Alex) 2008 was a roller coaster with some difficult moments and a couple of great highlights. But 2007 was definitely the worst: I lost a brother, my closest friend. The world is falling apart now, we are living very tough times. To me music and art are escapes from the sad reality. To be honest I believe in the apocalypse.
CM>>>What do you think how important is music in peoples live? Especially when times become darker and the future doesn’t look so bright and shiny?
4GF>>>(Chelonis) Music is as useful as the sun... art is a religion.
(Alex) I totally agree with Chelonis.
CM>>>What do you need for a perfect day in your life?
4GF>>> (Chelonis) "REPERTORIO 1950-1980" !
(Alex) A smile.
Photos 4Gottenfloor
Interview Michael Mück
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