Following up the global success of a breakthrough track that's had 22 million YouTube views might come with its own pressures, but Adrian Held and Tobias Rieser, the two laid-back, 25-year-old Austrians who make up Klangkarussell, have had worse jobs.
In person, Klangkarussell are as chilled out as their massive hit ‘Sonnentanz' (the vocal version of the track, ‘Sun Don't Shine' feat. Will Heard, is currently top ten in six countries, and number three in the UK).
Back when their friendship first blossomed, age 12, the duo's shared outlook perhaps lacked a little bit of focus. “We were the worst ever students” admits Tobias. Perhaps it's just that back in those days, Tobias, despite being the son of music teacher who plays the Zieharmonika (an Austrian version of the accordion) was more into playing football than music.
When the pair met again in 2011, hooking up through Facebook for a beer in their hometown (“a cosmic encounter,” jokes Adrian) they had more to talk about than their rebellious youth. Following a flirtation with the music of the LA bass scene (Flying Lotus, Daedalus etc.) Adrian was by now making electronic music and DJing in Vienna. Tobias, who first got into dance music through German artists like Paul and Fritz Kalkbrenner, was on the same page. That night they decided to make a tune. Klangkarussell (Tobias thought of the name, it means ‘Sound Carousel') was born. The first tune was ‘Netzwerk', a low slung, atmospheric, electro techno roller.
It was the third tune the pair made together, however, ‘Sonnentanz', created in a single night in summer of 2011, that made Klangkarussell's name. Added to their Soundcloud without fanfare, it was only when an anonymous YouTube account holder uploaded it to the site in February 2012 (with the random, if perfect, image of a woman in tai chi pose, silhouetted against a sunset) that 'Sonnentanz' took off. Melodic yet driving, melancholy yet optimistic, hypnotic yet danceable, featuring saxophone stabs, jazzed out vibraphone and woodwind – yet at the same time a piece of utterly contemporary electronica, to date it has 22 million views and over 10,000 comments in every language under the sun.
And yet, as Adrian and Tobias are at pains to point out, “We didn't put any effort into promoting it” says Adrian. “People made it what it is. They made it popular.” It's a six-minute testament to the power of a great tune in the digital age.
In early 2012 Universal signed Klangkarussell and they began working on their debut album. Soon the pair were being asked to DJ at ever bigger and more high profile events, mixing up their own productions with selected tunes in a show that's smashed everywhere from Pukkelpop in Belgium to the massive Street Parade in Zurich.