In an age where there are about as many internet DJs as there are remixes of Avicii’s ‘Levels’, it is always refreshing to witness a breakthrough DJ who seems to have found an original voice. Up and coming Austrian producer Tobias Rieser, producing under the name Klangkarussell, has generated a wave of popularity after his song ‘Sonnentanz’ went viral, being dubbed by many as the song of the summer.
The career of Rieser, who has been producing music since the age of 15, is in such an early stage that there is not yet a full EP released – only a couple of mixes on his Soundcloud page, one of which includes ‘Sonnentanz’ (‘Sun Dance’). Despite the reaction to the song being so widespread, with well over one and a half million views across different websites, Rieser told Cherwell that he ‘did not expect any reactions to the song at all.’
Having grown up in Salzburg, the home of Mozart, classical music has given a “wonderful influence” on the music of Rieser, who was born into a musical family, playing the trombone from an early age and learning from his father, a music teacher.
Klangkarussell’s music has been described by some as ‘deep house’, and by himself as ‘jazz house’ – but he says that “over the last few years it has become really difficult to talk about electronic music in terms of genres.
“There are some tracks you can easily connect to a genre, but I am proud of the fact that I would not try to assign my tracks to a special genre”. Although stating that his influences range from producers such as Marek Hemmann and Oliver Koletzki, to soul legends such as Otis Redding and James Brown, Rieser has stressed the need to have a diverse range of influences.
“You have to walk through the world with open eyes and ears and soak up everything and process it afterwards. There are beautiful tunes in every genre, you just need to listen carefully and sometimes hear music in the right context.”
How would Rieser recommend young DJs to manage to find an original, unique voice? “Just do what you want to do” he replies; “don’t think you need to follow any trends. Try to be an individual, and listen to your inner voice”.
Rieser was best friends in school with fellow Austrian producer Herald and I and who now, eight years on, is producing with Rieser under the name Helden:klang. “We are planning to release our first EP with ‘Sonnentanz’ and ‘Netzwerk’ [one of many popular Helden:klang collaborations] but we are not there yet”.
Dubbed as the next Paul Kalkbrenner, big things are expected of the man behind Klangkarussell.
