Die Vögel Interview: Birds of a feather

It's hard to summarise Die Vögel's style. Although it's characterised by surreal, captivating beats and smooth basslines, it's so far from typical electronic music. Their live performances are led by trumpets, trombones, rattles and flutes - cementing Die Vögel's reputation as insanely talented multi-instrumentalists. 

The duo, who originate from Hamburg, have released almost exclusively on DJ Koze's Pampa Record label, with their track 'Blaue Moschee' (below) garnering continuous support from Sven Vath.  

Jakobus Siebels and Mense Reents aka Die Vögel join the likes of Marco Carola, Four Tet and Sasha at The Social Festival in Kent this weekend. We caught up with them prior to the gig to talk about their experiences in the UK, their name and Pampa. 

First up, you guys are playing at The Social Festival next weekend and here in England we're on the tail end of the festival season now. What's been the highlight of the past couple of months for you?

We've had a really nice festival season this year. The highlight would be Tauron Nowa Musika Festival in Poland and secondly the Dockville Festival in our hometown Hamburg. They had the most enthusiastic audience. And we'll never forget the Lost Village Festival in Lincolnshire. Absolutely stunning place to play.

You'll be playing on the Social Club stage along with DJ Koze, DJ Tennis and Four Tet, a pretty impressive bill. What can attendees expect from your set?

Let's say, a huge surprise. We're going to play a few new tunes we've been working on lately. We've never seen Four Tet live. The fact that he is going to play directly after us is very exciting indeed.

Is it true you guys have only played in the UK a couple of times? What have your experiences been like so far?

The UK audience seems to be open minded to our style. We're very much looking forward to playing more often in old blighty.

You've released almost exclusively on Pampa Records (check out one of their tracks above), what's your relationship like with the label and why have you dedicated so much of your music to it? 

DJ Koze is a long time friend and so are most of the other Pampa acts. Ada and Isolée for example live in our neighbourhood. Although we wouldn't go as far as calling it a family label, the personal level is very important to us.

Your name to us means The Birds, was that a random decision or is it in any way reflective of your music? 

We like the Hichcock movie, the band and the feathered animals anyway. So it was quite obvious we should name the project after our favourite things.

What else have you got coming up that you can tell us about?

We just made a podcast for the ID-magazine, now working on a little video to go with it. Next release will be a new track for the Pampa compilation to be out this autumn.

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