Fishing in Slower Territories: Rainer Trüby wades through "slouse"

Modern-day life ticks over at a frantic pace. Have a butcher's around your local high street on a Saturday afternoon and you’ll see that rushing around is ingrained into the very fabric of our culture. People have a tendency to dash between A and B as though their life depends on getting in and out of Greggs in record time, which can’t be good for the ol' heart, can it? Rushing, that is...

We’d all benefit by taking a leaf out of Rainer Trüby’s book. The Compost Records affiliate/A&R has taken the past year in his stride, curating a sultry house compilation of high grade toe-tappers, while cementing his place as one of the finest taste-makers to come out of Stuttgart in the past two decades. Tempo-wise, most of Slouse: Fishing in Slower Territories glides along at around 115 bpm, harbouring the talents of S3A, Chroma Keys, Ron Deacon and Sello, to name a few. There’s also a prime slot on disc two for the previously unreleased Maurice Fulton mix of Alice Smith’s Love Endeavour – a rare nugget indeed.

We caught up with Trüby on the eve of the release, and in between producing sessions with young Italian up-and-comer Corrado Bucci, to delve a little deeper into the mechanics of slo-mo house, or as the man himself likes to call it, slouse.

The Skinny: Let’s start by talking about your youth growing up in Stuttgart, and the music you started off on...

Rainer Trüby: I actually grew up listening to UK bands like Level 42, and The Style Council. Then in the late 80s, I started going to a G.I. disco club called Maddox in Stuttgart, which where I discovered bands like Kool & the Gang, Earth Wind & Fire, and Cameo. I totally fell in love with what was referred to, at the time, as 'black music.' Stuttgart often gets compared to Detroit, maybe because two huge car factories are based there – Porsche and Mercedes – so we’re often referred to as the other Motor City...

What about your parents, any major hereditary influences there?

Sure! My dad used to hang with the US soldiers, and he was really into Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Really though, I had to discover my true heroes – people like Herbie Hancock, Roy Ayers and Donald Byrd – a little later, and by myself. Hip-hop was vital for that, especially samples from the Native Tongues era.

Legend has it that your first DJ slot was in an old people’s home!

Yes! Back then, instead of enlisting in the army, we had the possibility to do an alternative civil service, so I chose to work in an old people’s home mainly as a meals-on-wheels driver. But, every Tuesday afternoon, I was also there to entertain them as a tea dance DJ from 2 ’til 5.30pm. I’d go from Vienna waltzes via classic Oktoberfest-style volksmusik to some orchestras playing rock'n'roll medleys. I once tried out a cover version of Isaac Hayes’ Shaft by James Last, complete with frantic wah-wah guitars. So funky, but my crowd was not amused, I can tell you...

It sounds like quite the experience for any budding DJ; when did you make the switch into the club?

It wasn't until a few years after when Ali and Basti (Tiefschwartz) offered me a residency at ON-U club. Soon after that, I met Michael (Reinboth; head of Compost Records) for the first time in 1993, and he invited me to DJ at his Into Something night in Munich. I gave him a demo with some A Forest Mighty Black tunes; he liked them and that turned out to be the first Compost release in 1994. Later, I did the Glücklich compilation series with him too. Michael trusted my taste, and it turned out that some of my A&R work seemed to match the spirit of Compost.

Talk us through the selection process for the new compilation.

The idea for Slouse came up about a year ago. Initially, we wanted to provide a soundtrack that would suit both the happy hour and the after-hour. I love to play the warm-up at my own clubnight called Root Down in Freiburg, and this compilation is pretty much the musical spirit there until about midnight. Each and every tune certainly took a while to fish out and finally approve.

Do you have a personal favourite track on the record?

I have quite a few favourites on there. Obviously Maurice Fulton's sublime remix for Alice Smith’s Love Endeavour is a big rarity. The original vinyl 12” is apparently getting really pricey on eBay and Discogs. We’ve re-mastered the track specifically for this compilation, and the pretty good news is that it sounds pretty good. I love that Moonstarr tune as well, and played it last night in a vineyard open-air sunset setting round my shores and it was in perfect harmony with that moment! Of course, they are all my carefully chosen babies.

You also produce music under various aliases – A Forest Mighty Black, Trüby Trio, etc. When did you start making music, and how has your sound developed over the years?

I started with Bernd Kunz as A Forest Mighty Black in 1994, then the Trüby Trio came up in 1997 when we did quite a few remixes and some of our own productions together. More recently, I’ve hooked up with Danilo Plessow (Motor City Drum Ensemble) and he helped to produce the tunes under the name Rainer Trueby. Then, with Marlow, I have been collaborating since 2012 and we have done a few remixes together and finally made one original tune which will be released on his album for Sonar Kollektiv soon. Back in the day, we were definitely more sample-based. A clever sample combination could end up sounding like a 90s track, although it is much easier these days to make a good track due to technical progression.

How did you meet Danilo, and what is your working relationship like with him?

I met Danilo around 2003 in a club in our shared hometown, Stuttgart. He was pretty young back then, but already into the music and producing tracks under the name Inverse Cinematics. I always liked his productions, so finally, in 2009, we joined forces and made two EPs and a couple of remixes together. Unfortunately, I'm not a big technical guy with regards to production, so I’m dependent on dear friends like Danilo and Marlow who bring in their gear and we work out a tune together. Danilo moved to Holland a couple of years ago, but my plan is to visit him there later this year to jam on some new tunes.

Who else do you rate as a genuine up-and-coming young talent?

I have been really getting into the productions of Glenn Astro lately, and also Max Graef... his style and his way of using obscure funk and jazz samples and combining them with a techno kick sounds pretty fresh to me. Another talent to watch is a young man from Italy called Corrado Bucci. He has been doing an EP for Rebirth Records called Open Your Eyes, which has been big for me lately. Watch out for a collaboration from Bucci and Trueby, called Truccy, coming soon!

Finally, what do you think this new venture into slo-mo house says about where you are as a person right now?

Haha, yes, slowly but surely I’m finding myself among the veteran DJs. About ten years back, I definitely played more uptempo – 125 bpm was pretty normal for house back then; these days I hardly ever reach that speed. Now I find that there is so much energy below 120 in so many current productions... that means there are a lot of great slousers to sift through and, as I get older, I definitely feel more at ease wading through those slower territories.