Das Beat

Lead Photograph by Peter Zeitner. Other Press Image and EP Artwork by Andie Riekstina. Interview by Heather Hawke.

The duo that make up Berlin-based Das Beat is comprised of actress & vocalist Eddie Rabenberger and Agor of Blue Hawaii. Eddie is a theatre actress originally hailing from a small town in Bavaria while Agor moved to Berlin from Montreal in 2018. Their debut EP Identität is out now (release date: June 4th) via Arbutus Records. 

Formed in Berlin during 2020’s legendary lockdown, Das Beat strives to remedy boredom and push boundaries. Their sound interweaves German new wave, Italo disco, indie & dance while Eddie’s vocals range from German to English. Amidst playful lyrics one finds a strong underlying pulse (das “beat”), pinning down the duo’s winding atmospherics, ethereal synths, guitars and percussion.

Das Beat’s web/socials: Bandcamp – Soundcloud – Instagram

Identität artwork — Photography and design by Andie Riekstina.

Hi! So, things are pretty unsettling in the world right now due to the pandemic, civil rights issues, government upheaval, climate change, the list goes on… As a musician / creative, how has this last year been for you? How are you feeling? How have you been coping with everything? 

Eddie: It has been a crazy year for all of us. I lost my job working in a restaurant at the beginning of the pandemic but am privileged enough to have been able to stay at home. I am very thankful for that. Especially because this extra time gave me the chance to find a window into my musical creativity and to create this project with Agor. We were also lucky that we found a small studio in a building which wasn’t shut down, so we could go there and make music together during the strictest parts of lockdown.

Agor: I feel the same way, lucky to have a stable flat and able to stay home during most of the pandemic. I feel like I’ve grown during this time, spending some inspired mornings lightly fasting till the afternoon, focusing on myself and music. Particularly, I’ve gotten more interested in the acoustic or live elements of creation like singing, guitar, exploring new genres and learning new software, trying to break out of the habits I’ve formed. I also make sure to exercise every day and study German.  

I feel like the music industry has shifted even more so during the pandemic. How has it felt as an artist? Has it been freeing? Is it scary trying to question how to approach music making and then how to or if you want to creatively release it to the public?

E: To be honest, we started to make music together as we were going through relationship troubles. It was due to many factors, but one of them was that we were suddenly forced to be with each other 100% of the time. Normally Agor would go on tour, and I would study and work. So, when COVID hit we faced troubles, but through music found this beautiful way to come together again and communicate. I guess it turned out well because at some point Sebastian from Arbutus Records asked us if we had plans to release it.  After knowing the music would come out, I felt a little pressure and was scared – but then I would remind myself that we would make music regardless of its destination, so to speak – and if other people listened and felt something from it then all the better.

A: I’m also pleased to bring out new material, even with the lack of a live element. I guess it’s strange to realize a concept when the whole thing only exists – in a public sense – online, but it’s also a challenge to make it fresh and exciting despite all that. We’ve been having a great time creating the material and starting a new platform through which is can be released feels only natural, even though the industry around it has certainly changed.

Going back to the beginning. Eddie, what was your childhood like growing up in a small town in Bavaria? Agor, what was it like growing up in Vancouver? Did creativity/music/art play a big part of your childhood? 

E: I basically grew up in the theatre. My father is a theatre actor and my mother used to be an opera singer, so after school I first spent my time and eventually working there. Moving to Berlin, however, was the best decision for me. I love the anonymity here and that I can express my creativity in all ways. When you live in a small-town people seem always to be judging you for your actions everybody knows you and your family.

A: Growing up in Vancouver I felt like one of the only creative members of my family but didn’t really find an outlet where I could express it yet. Like many teenagers, music played one of the main roles in forming my identity, but other than typical jam-band style projects I didn’t seriously get into creating my own music until later, during university in Montreal. There, after the co-founding of a warehouse-style venue for DIY shows, I met a bunch of people that ended up being substantial figures in today’s artistic landscape. I moved around from London to LA, and now many years in Berlin but have always spent tons of time in Montreal and in many crucial ways it remains my home base.

Tell me about your musical upbringing. What music did you grow up listening to? When did you first become aware that music was going to be a part of your life? What was your formal / not formal music education like growing up? 

E: When I grew up my father always tried to keep us away from mainstream radio. When I was 14, my dad took me and my sister to my very first concert “Adam Green”, and I loved it! Other music I loved was Nick Cave, The Velvet Underground and stuff like that. When we were driving to family vacation we would listen to “Blood Hound Gang” and my siblings and I would sing along. Often fortunate that we didn’t understand the lyrics! Pretty cliché for a teenager. Music was always around me and I also had singing lessons in my acting school and played instruments like piano and the kontrabass. Despite all this, the fact that I now have a musical project of my own somehow comes as more or less a surprise. And I love it!

A: In high school I liked mostly the punk or classic rock that a lot of people typically discover at that age. In later grades, I first started to appreciate electronic music (in what seems like a natural trajectory). I remember clearly first hearing my taste of a house beat on this Fourtet track that had a 4 on the floor drum pattern. I was like, “woah what is this sound!?” I hadn’t heard that kind of music in detail before, but the way he combined experimental and poppy sounds, ambient textures and a driving rhythm felt like it checked all the boxes at once. It wasn’t until later that I would hear the techno and rave classics and appreciate the history behind dance music and culture, but for sure since then I’ve always had this special feeling when a really good track comes on, it invites you along: “hey, welcome back”.

When you were old enough to start seeking out music, where did you regularly find yourself (a certain record store / internet site / getting recommendations from a certain friend)? Who were some of the artists you first found and then were always on the lookout for? 

E: I wish I could say I found my music in a really cool niche record store, but to be honest it was just YouTube. If no one was home, I would listen to my favorite songs on karaoke mode scream along. Also, my father and my older sister inspired me with their music taste. (And once in a while a crush of mine I wanted to impress by listening to the same music.) I was a huge fan of Soko and still am. Also, I was super excited when I listened first to Gina X Performance – such a great German artist. Recently I discovered Swamp Dogg what gave me lots of joy, especially because I always hesitate with autotune, although there is definitely a beauty within it too.

Let’s talk about your newly released debut EP Identität. What was your songwriting/creative process like for this? Was there a specific moment when work on these new tunes began? Where were you at physically (during lockdown) and mentally when you wrote the lyrics / music?

E: We started writing it in Agor’s flat, in spring 2020 before the studio. We worked often at night and so had to be relatively quiet. We wonder if that had an effect – perhaps paving the way for the two more ‘Indie’ style songs on the EP. 

A: The other two we did the vocals at the new studio and Eddie was able to open up a bit more and use different voices. A big bonus. But certainly, the pandemic and having more time in general to play instruments and get back to some roots has changed the sound and production. 

Did you find it helpful to be intentional when it comes to writing the lyrics / music for Identität? Like “I’m going to sit down and work on a song.” Or was it more ephemeral, like you were kicking something around in your head for days, weeks, months, and then suddenly it came spilling out? Or was it a mixture of both?

E: It was a bit different for each song to be honest. For “Bubble” I just had the first line, “I pour water in your wine of enthusiasm”, floating around in my brain and when Agor showed me the beat it pretty much all came out in one go. For “Ariadne”, I actually sat down alone and took my time to write it. “Jackie” I had a beginning, but then Agor and I wrote the rest together. “Identität” was the hardest – it was our first beat, but we had a totally different song written to it. It just didn’t feel right so we kept working until one day when we 100% changed all the lyrics and melodies on exactly the same beat and it became what it is today.

What was your favorite part about the writing / recording process of Identität? What are two or three songs you are most proud of on this EP? Why?

E: It’s hard to say what my favorite part was, especially since this is the first time I am doing any of this and I would have never thought I would feel so free recording. Even though I can feel pretty bad sometimes, now I am almost at a point where I am not embarrassed of what I do. And often it turns out that I initially think I perform poorly but when I listen back, I am surprised when I like it. If I had to choose a favorite part of creation it would be jamming, partying together in the studio and improvising on the songs. I am most proud of “Bubble” and “Ariadne.”

A: My favorite moment of music making is also that immediate moment of creation. I love getting into a zone for a few hours and trying to fully realize an idea, finding space for new instruments and rhythms, creating different loops that work together. Eventually different aspects of the song writing, and lyrics fill out the instrumental to make a whole unified piece. It’s important not to get too carried away and end up with a blurred-out canvas, but at the same time allowing yourself to feel that flow, not criticizing too much and harming the creative process that way. I often think it’s important to get at least 75% done on a song in that first session. In my experience if you don’t have it more or less locked after that first session it’s hard to bring it across the finish line. It’s cliché but the best stuff I produce often takes the least amount of time and keeps the after-the-fact fiddling around to a minimum.

That’s not to say there’s no room to improve on old creations. Hypocritically, I almost always end up cracking on this approach and spend months and months punishingly working away on the same song… sometimes with amazing results. But there’s undoubtably a certain magic when things just fall into place, where there’s a quiet understanding between all the different elements. So, I find the best way to get there is just to keep on doing it as much as I feel like… Good thing making music is fun!