Ramon Zenker (left) and Oliver Bondzio of Hardfloor. And that's Mr Hardfloor to you, son
Ramon Zenker (left) and Oliver Bondzio of Hardfloor. And that's Mr Hardfloor to you, son
THEY KNOW THE SCORE
|
HARDFLOOR are shagged out. Straight off a plane from Germany, slumped on
a sofa in the London offices of Harthouse Records, with the prospect of
a couple of hours in town before they have to fly back, they're not at
their best. Ramon Zenker looks knackered, hair slightly messy, in need
of a shave. Bald-headed Oliver Bondzio just looks bored, leafing
disinterestedly through a magazine. They're here to promote their second long-player 'Respect', but it's obvious they'd rather be back in their home town of Dusseldorf. See, Hardfloor have been coming in for a bit of stick of late. While their tracks still go down a storm on the average trancefloor, they've also been criticised for having a formula. Waves of 303s, the epic build-up, the soaring string line, and Bob's yer uncle: another Hardfloor classic. It may not be fair, it may not even be strictly true, but that's the charges. And Oliver and Ramon don't like it one bit. "Hardfloor, normally it's not only 303's,
" counters Oliver,
| "but
a lot of the people like it, so with Hardfloor we go this way. Why
should we change our sound when the 303 is so successful? Some people
say the new album is not really new, but we did it this way because the
people want the 303. That's it."And it's clear anyway, despite the omnipresent acid box, that Hardfloor have moved on. From the massive squelching acid-fest that was 'Hardtrance Acperience', through the cunning re-working of said track as 'Trancescript', on to the 'TB Resuscitation' LP and varied 'Funalogue' EP, up to last year's epic and hugely popular 'Fish & Chips'/'Mr Anderson', their sound has shifted and changed. Now, on this new album, Hardfloor have turned again. In short, they've found the funk. You want evidence? Just check the new album. 'Respect' positively brims with elastic work-outs. Sure, there's acid tomfoolery a-plenty, but that's by no means the end of the story. Tracks like | 'Mustard Cornflakes'
and 'Kangaroos & Bubbles' squelch with an almost disco abandon, while
'Asbestos In Obstetrics' is a pure acid funk delight."It has got a little bit more funkier,
" agrees Ramon, "
because for me especially I love US style house. And Hardfloor is a
thing where I can take the house elements with some techno elements.
"Oliver takes up the theme: "If you read the
names on the cover of our 'Respect' album, you see we give respect to a
lot of American producers. That's where house came from. I can't listen
to gabba. We have some very crap big raves in Germany where everything
is hard. We try to create music that you can dance to, but you can also
listen to." |
