Ramon Zenker (left) and Oliver Bondzio of Hardfloor. And that's Mr
Hardfloor to you, son
One went to prison for dealing drugs. One
is doing national service for, gulp, the Red
Cross. Together as Hardfloor they put
together the 'Hardtrance Acperience',
possibly the greatest acid record ever.
And they're still banging them out, as the
funky 303's flying all over new album 'Respect' show.
THEY KNOW THE SCORE
HARDFLOOR are shagged out.
Straight off a plane from
Germany, slumped on a sofa in
the London offices of Harthouse
Records, with the prospect of a
couple of hours in town before
they have to fly back, they're not
at their best. Ramon Zenker
looks knackered, hair slightly
messy, in need of a shave.
Bald-headed Oliver Bondzio just
looks bored, leafing
disinterestedly through a
magazine.
They're here to promote their
second long-player 'Respect',
but it's obvious they'd rather be
back in their home town of
Dusseldorf. See, Hardfloor have
been coming in for a bit of stick
of late. While their tracks still go
down a storm on the average
trancefloor, they've also been
criticised for having a formula.
Waves of 303s, the epic build-up,
the soaring string line, and Bob's
yer uncle: another Hardfloor
classic. It may not be fair, it may
not even be strictly true, but
that's the charges. And Oliver
and Ramon don't like it one bit.
"Hardfloor, normally it's
not only 303's, " counters
Oliver,
"but a lot of the people
like it, so with Hardfloor
we go this way. Why should
we change our sound when
the 303 is so successful?
Some people say the new
album is not really new,
but we did it this way
because the people want
the 303. That's it."
And it's clear anyway, despite the
omnipresent acid box, that
Hardfloor have moved on. From
the massive squelching acid-fest
that was 'Hardtrance
Acperience', through the cunning
re-working of said track as
'Trancescript', on to the 'TB
Resuscitation' LP and varied
'Funalogue' EP, up to last year's
epic and hugely popular 'Fish &
Chips'/'Mr Anderson', their sound
has shifted and changed. Now,
on this new album, Hardfloor
have turned again. In short,
they've found the funk.
You want evidence? Just check
the new album. 'Respect'
positively brims with elastic
work-outs. Sure, there's acid
tomfoolery a-plenty, but that's by
no means the end of the story.
Tracks like
'Mustard Cornflakes' and
'Kangaroos & Bubbles' squelch
with an almost disco abandon,
while 'Asbestos In Obstetrics' is
a pure acid funk delight.
"It has got a little bit
more funkier, " agrees
Ramon, " because for me
especially I love US
style house. And
Hardfloor is a thing
where I can take the
house elements with some
techno elements. "
Oliver takes up the theme: "If
you read the names on the
cover of our 'Respect'
album, you see we give
respect to a lot of
American producers.
That's where house came
from. I can't listen to
gabba. We have some very
crap big raves in Germany
where everything is hard.
We try to create music
that you can dance to,
but you can also listen
to."
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