Adam Port, part of Keinemusik with &ME and Rampa came to talk about his current inspirations and his new role as ambassador of Cartier.
The world is slowly getting back to normal, where do you find inspiration for your music at the moment?
Currently Berlin is my source of inspiration as travelling is still held back. I find inspiration through listening to other music, other genres or just music which is not in my comfort zone, pop music as well as everything which is not electronic, to be honest.
I read an interview with you on Highsnobiety where you mention that your background is hip hop and punk. How do you see the city of Berlin shaping your taste?
I grew up in Berlin surrounded by electronic music but never liked it because it was quite hard back in these days, like it is right now. The new “hype” is very fast and hard like in the 1990’s and I never liked it. I listened to other music but as hip hop DJ at that time, you play hits all the time, so it doesn’t matter if you are standing in front of the crowd. For me it has simply become too boring just to stand in front of people and play already known songs for them. That is exactly why I thought about another way to express my music and myself. Electronic music was always there, which is why I picked it up and have found my own way in music. This was a better way of expressing myself and my music.
Can you explain your music to someone who has not heard it before?
I would say it’s modern house music. It is based on house but it is accessible and it is modern – so modern house music fits very well I guess.
You have been doing Keinemusik for about a decade.. fifteen years?
No, Eleven years
The name Keinemusik is from your mum?
No it is from Rampas’ mum because she said this kind of music is not really music: “Das ist keine Musik.”
How is it to be in a group? What have you learnt from being a group and not single as DJ?
You can do more when you are in a group than just on your own. You can cover more projects, get more feedback, when you don’t find creativity or don’t have energy, the group catches you. It’s good and helps in any way. The key point of being in a group is the feeling of togetherness which in itself makes the music look good. For example, when we are creating that album, I am doing just half of it or something like that because the other part will be done by my colleagues. So it is quite nice. On the one hand you just have to do certain parts, but on the other hand you have everything together at the same time.
I could see on your instagram that you had a session in Zurich recently, maybe that was your first in a long time?
It wasn’t the first one but I would say the first bigger with tests and everything – a proper one. I already had one in Marbella several weeks before that event.
How do you feel about getting back to festival or Gigs? Anything specific that you are really looking forward to this summer?
Getting back to the old “normal” feels now a little bit weird after being off for one and half years. I’m again nervous if I travel, because it is once more new to me and I also realized that I do not wanna play this amount of Gigs that I have played before. Starting slowly and looking how it feels is my credo now, nevertheless I wanna play my music to have fun. I don’t wanna play in closed rooms any more, so everythings that is scheduled at the moment is open air. One Gig per week is slow for me since I was used to three per week. Everything’s a gamble at the moment as nothing is fixed. I was supposed to play in Mykonos this Friday, but we don’t know if it still happen because the government has changed the restrictions again, it is all a little bit difficult.
Any “planned” gig you are really looking forward to?
Definitely Ibiza, as there are so many nice people, nice atmosphere – that would be great and I guess this could happen.
Talking about Cartier, how do you feel about being an ambassador for such an iconic brand?
I can’t believe it because this is my first collaboration as a DJ. When I first earned money as a DJ I went to Cartier. I feel very honoured, it is not a brand like many others, that collaborate with several artists, it is more like a closed circle and therefore I feel very honoured.
Cartier has an archive of amazing materials as iconic campaigns and images of Jackie O or Lady Di. Do you have your own favorite campaign or a person who is wearing Cartier?
No, I am attached to this brand not because of people wearing it but because it is craftwork. It is luxury but it is still handmade, that’s what I like most about Cartier. I like the good mix between luxury and craftsmanship. Also because it is european – french- other foreign big brands don’t catch my taste.
What items are you wearing from Cartier?
I have quite a lot, I am wearing this ring everyday, my wedding ring, the Cartier Wedding Band Ring, and the Trinity ring. When you have too many pieces I feel like it is too much, especially when arriving at my kids kindergarten hahah, a little too much. I like the Juste un Clou bracelet. I didn’t wear watches for a long time, since the smartphone came up I stopped wearing watches. Now I wear the Santos. I like this one, when it came out I really liked it and the bracelet is very feminine but it is also for men.
Listen to The Party is over, the playlist curated by Adam and Keinemusik especially for SLEEK: