Exclusive Interview With Sonic Virtuoso Wankelmut

Exclusive Interview With Sonic Virtuoso Wankelmut

Following in the vein of his recent accessible dance cuts on the likes of FIVE Music / Warner, Future House Music and Spinnin, sonic virtuoso Wankelmut returns to London indie, Perfect Havoc, with the infectious house cut, ‘Carousel’, featuring electro pop artist, PLANT.

Privately known as Jacob Dilssner, Berliner Wankelmut stands tall among the elite purveyors of electronic music crafted in the heart of Germany. It was one of his very early releases that catapulted Wankelmut to stardom with the anthemic ‘My Head Is A Jungle’, featuring the sultry vocals of Australian singer Emma Louise, which stormed the European charts, peaking at #5 in the UK in 2014 with a stellar remix by MK.

Over the years since, Wankelmut’s creative prowess on stellar productions have dropped far and wide across such heavyweight labels as Toolroom, Defected and Heldeep andon remixes for Dennis Lloyd, Gossip and Lenny Kravitz, altogether solidifying his status as a transformative force in the industry.

To mark the launch of his latest single, we grabbed five minutes with Wankelmut to chat about how he choose his collaborators, exploring the world of drum and bass, and his ongoing love for ‘My Head Is Jungle’.

Congrats on your new single Carousel, it’s got some nice, wonky offkey vibes and properlygets stuck in your head! Where did you record this one? And was there anyspecific inspiration behind it? 

Thank you! I recorded the tune in London in late 2022. The idea behind the record was to make a relatively short vocal be interesting enough to be on loop for the whole song – and I think I succeeded!

PLANT has some unique sounding vocals. How did you come to work together? 

PLANT was part of the session in which Carousel came to be. SoundCollective organized the sessions and correctly assumed she would be a perfect fit for my music!

You’ve collaborated with other vocalists like Björn Dixgard and Charlotte OC. How do you choose your collaborators, and what do you look for in a creative partnership? 

I love voices that have a certain raspy-ness to them and are not necessarily well known. Also, I like to have a fun session so it really helps if the collaborator is fun to be around.

It’d be crazy of us to interview you and not mention the massive success of My Head Is A Jungle. Do you still get excited when you hear it? And do you still play it out yourself? 

Of course I still play it out! Almost every set I’m dropping the MK remix and I still love to hear and play it, even after all these years.

Let’s go back to the very beginning. What gave you the musical bug and how did that lead to you making the switch to a fulltime producer? 

I took piano lessons for a couple of years as a kid and started playing the guitar in my teens but got into electronic music when I started going out in Berlin in my 20s. After the massive success of ‘One Day’, my dream of being a full time DJ and producer finally became reality!

You’ve worked with various labels and artists and produce for both the club and more mainstream audiences. How do you balance artistic integrity with commercial success? 

To me those two are not mutually exclusive. I love my more mainstream songs as well and don’t compromise my artistic integrity for them.

Are there any other genres you’d like to like to explore? 

I really like producing soundtracks for games as well as drum and bass.

Can you share insights into your studio workflow? How do you approach creating original tracks, and what tools or techniques do you find most effective? 

For my more commercial songs I usually start with one or two other people in a songwriting session, we come up with a vision and a couple of simple chords on the guitar. I really like for the vocalists to improvise lyrics and melodies over a beat to come up with exciting ideas and a natural flow.

You launched your own label, WKLMT, a few years back but things have been a little quiet on that front.  Do you have any plans to start things up again? 

No, not at this point but who knows what the future will bring!

You’ve played at major festivals and clubs worldwide. What’s your favourite part about performing live, and how do you connect with your audience during a set? 

I love when I really get into the flow while DJing and the track selection comes to me naturally. In that state I can really perform forever!

What can fans expect from Wankelmut in the coming months? Any exciting collaborations, upcoming releases or tour dates we should watch out for? 

In 2024 I will release some of the best songs I have ever written! Really excited for these to see the light of day.

Wankelmut ‘Carousel’ feat PLANT is out now via Perfect Havoc.

Stream here https://perfecthavoc.lnk.to/carousel

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