German duo Pan-Pot record for Mobilee records and are the masters of heads-down, tsunami-forced techno. DJ Mag USA caught up with them on their recent tour to talk about early failure, topping the Beatport chart and why pissed off ‘fans’ aren’t fans...
Words: CHANDLER SHORTLIDGE Pics: SEBASTIAN RADLMEIER J
ust ten short years ago, Tassilo Ippenberger and Thomas Benedix, better known as Pan-Pot, were introduced to one another while studying music production at SAE Institute in Berlin. They instantly bonded through mutual isolation as the only students interested in techno, spending every waking hour holed up in the school’s studios, perfecting the craft that would eventually make them two of the most famous and well- respected producers in techno.
In those days, their instructor described Tassilo as the businessman who made connections, and Thomas (jokingly, of course) as ‘the punk’. However, it’s this contrast in personalities that’s helped launch these two to the forefront of modern techno, though they have rubbed off on one another over the years. “In those days it was like Thomas was the funny clown and I was more serious, but it emerged over time that I got more funny and he got more business. It’s like a couple,” Tassilo
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explains when we catch up with the duo after their first excursion of 2013 into the US club scene.
One thing they had in common, aside from their intense drive and immense love of techno, was their admiration for Anja Schneider and her Berlin radio show, Dance Under The Blue Moon. So, shortly after graduation, they helped throw a party, inviting Anja to play. It was, by their own admission, a miserable failure. But the lack of attendance allowed the guys to chat up Anja, displaying the same optimism and determination that brought them into the spotlight. Eventually she launched Mobilee Recordings, inviting Pan-Pot to write the label’s second ever release. They were also behind the most recent ‘Back To Back’ compilation for Mobilee, which included a behind-the-scenes documentary shot by MTV director Sebastian Radlmeir, now out for free on Pan-Pot’s YouTube channel.
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