From a tight-knit circle of friends to a globally recognised electronic music collective, Keinemusik has built its journey on instinct rather than design. As the Berlin-based band returns to India today for its one stop show in Mumbai, they are clear that their approach to performing here remains unchanged. “There’s no upfront strategy or overthinking of how to structure a setlist, it builds itself intuitively and in the moment,” share the band. Having played individually in India before, some members bring a sense of the country’s energy, but not in a way that dictates their sets.
“Some of us have played in India before and to some extent have an understanding of the vibe and the mentality and the culture of the country,” they say, adding that the process still comes down to what unfolds on the floor. Comparing regions, they point to a difference in how music is received in places where club culture is still evolving. “The audience is absorbing music with more curiosity, openness and also enthusiasm, which can lead to beautiful moments on a dance floor.”
Formed in 2009, the collective insists there was never a larger plan behind what they were building. “There was no specific moment and there was no agenda or plan,” they say. The focus, early on, was simply to “release and play music and to do it within a circle of friends and let it just be guided by intuition and not so much by the guidelines of techno business.” The pace of that growth, they add, was equally important. “The success didn’t come over night. Thank god it didn’t.”
The group, consisting of &ME (André Boadu), Rampa (Gregor Sütterlin) and Adam Port, has since expanded its sound, but maintains that it has not been shaped by outside expectations. “Above everything the releases have to feel right for ourselves, not for anybody else. In the end that’s the only way a track can resonate with other people,” they say, adding, “Once it’s constructed with an agenda or to cater towards a certain zeitgeist, it usually doesn’t work.” Working as a collective brings its own challenges, particularly when it comes to creative differences. “Compromise is part of life, also in creative processes. But so is making a convincing case of your own feeling and idea and then fighting for it within that process,” they say.
Their time in India, like most international stops, is often brief, limiting how much they can engage with the country beyond performances. “Unfortunately often times there is not enough time to fully immerse in the places where you play, especially when it comes to a culturally rich place like India with such a vast treasury of tradition and history,” they say, adding, “but still, everything leaves a mark, even a brief visit of just a couple of days.”
