Polish duo Catz N Dogz took some time out of their busy touring schedule to chat with us ahead of their first Blisspop presents party at U Hall tonight. We talked favorite places to play, studio habits and their label, Pets Recordings.
Be sure to catch Catz N Dogz at U Street Music Hall tonight (March 15) alongside Maceo Plex and Eats Everything as well as Blisspop resident Lxsx Frxnk. Doors at 9 pm, $5 before 10pm, $12 after. To get you in the mood, have a listen to Catz N Dogz’s latest “Petcast”…
So when and why did you guys decide to pair up as Catz N Dogz?
I think we changed the name from 3 Channels to Catz N Dogz when we were releasing the first single for Dirtybird. That was a bit risky to change the name as 3CH was already popular but we didn’t want to be tagged as a “minimal techno” act because we wanted to have a freedom to play and produce various genres.
How does the production process usually work? Is there one person who always works on the same thing, say drum programming for instance, or is it more of a back and forth where you’re constantly bouncing ideas off each other? Are there a lot of ‘jam sessions’ or do you walk into the studio with a clear picture of what you want to accomplish?
That depends. Sometimes we start the ideas during our travels or we’re just sitting in the studio and jamming. Sometimes we do the track in few hours, 1 day or 1 week. You never know. Usually we have a big inspiration after a good party or the tour. Making music then is much more fun as you can’t sit in the studio for few weeks. Voit is starting the ideas and we’re finishing them together in the studio.
You obviously are getting gigs all around the globe these days. Any favorite places to play? Are there some parties or spaces which are more conducive to the music you spin?
Of course, we have always great parties in Berlin. We host our monthly party at Farbferhnseher Bar, where we invite our friends and we’re playing all kinds for genres. Also we’re doing every few months Pets Recordings Night at Watergate club. We also love to play in Poland as the feedback and atmosphere is always hot. Recently we’ve played a lot in the UK and we feel really good there.
Tell us a little about Pets Recordings. What was the impetus for starting your own label? Obviously, the music industry is constantly changing these days. What have you learned from the experience thus far?
That was always our thing to have label. Imagine how much fun you have releasing music you like and other people love it too. First we had Channels Records but around 2008 we closed the label as we changed the name and vinyl sales were going down so much. That was sad. We had a small break and in 2010 we decided to start Pets. We’re very happy that the label is doing so good at the moment. We’re making much more label parties around the world. That’s a lot of fun as we can party together with our friends who we’re releasing. We also started to work on videos for few upcoming releases.
Can you let us in on a few producers or labels you’re really feeling heading into the spring?
Defo Eats Everything and Martin Dawson.