ARTIST OF THE MOMENT: Sevensol

Next up as our Artist of the Moment is Leipzig based Alex Neuschulz better known as Sevensol. There is a lot to discover about Sevensol - his involvement KANN, a label close to our heart with releases that withstand obvious trends but keeps on being relevant. Being also a founding member of ‘Long Vehicle’, a new label to watch from Leipzig, we used the chance to find out more what influences him.

Whoever has seen him play knows that there is no point in standing still as one is literally forced to move on the dancefloor. Ecstatic moments have been witnessed and experienced during sets at De School or at several Nachtdigital festivals, both alone or together with his partner in crime map.ache as Manamana. One could describe his sound as accessible, honest and groovy in its best form, connecting people on the dancefloor without any form of vanity or “attitude” - which made him an obvious candidate for this feature.

photo by Felix Adler

How would you describe your oeuvre as a DJ & as a producer from the beginning until now?  Can you identify certain phases for yourself?

I’ve been interested in music and dancing as an experience of body and mind since my teenage years. Growing up during the 1990’s, in the outskirts of Leipzig, was boring and fun at the same time so we started to set up little parties in our area to entertain and express ourselves. Almost all my friends were interested in techno and began to dig CD’s and records. Some went forward to other things in life or at least didn’t get obsessed with it. I couldn’t leave my hand away from the music and wanted to take part in the scene. It worked out for (the lazy) me so I never left the city. From a certain point as a music collector and DJ, I understood and accepted “the route becomes the destination” as a good phrase for myself.

How does that relate to the labels you are involved with?

Publishing music through a record label is an important part of me. It’s a way of communication and fulfills me with joy every time. 

Talking about publishing. Long Vehicle is the new label of yours - what can we expect?

Long Vehicle is the brainchild of Marc Schnubbzer and myself. He did the first graphic design for us around 2015 for the Kann x Giegling event poster. Before that time, all record sleeves and posters came from Iska kaek alone. They were great, but I felt a need to open the project so as to not get bored later. Marc and I became friends and shared many moments that defined what a Long Vehicle record could sound like,  what kind of party we wanted to be at. This is channeled through a monthly radio show, events we do together like ‘Steh’n’ and the first record that came out in April 2020 with tracks from Harry Wills, Mbius, and Tim S. I’m happy they trusted us with their tunes. For sure there’s not so much difference to KANN, it’s just a fresh field that stimulates and offers new paths to go and learn from. I’m aware that this process is nothing new, but record collecting and record-making will always be a fascinating thing to do. There is a vibrant scene of DJs and collectors who keep this culture alive and try to make some deep and time-withstanding records that someone buys and fades playfully into other records to make people dance.
Now it feels unreal, the release party was literally the last event held at Institut Fuer Zukunft before the shutdown. I have ideas for the next EP but they’ve been put on hold for the time being. Why press black plates when every dancefloor remains closed. A streamed show or a space on your shelf is not enough.

There is a significant amount of gigs you have under your belt, both alone and with manamana, which ones are the most important / memorable ones to you personally?

Manamana’s last show (March 7th) was one to smile for a while. We played a 5 hour set during KANN x Ankali at Dresden’s best dancefloor, Objekt Klein A. It took some time to connect with the people that stayed in the morning, but then it came to a point of letting loose with 3 channels up and grooving. I would like to leave my thoughts on parties from the past to the end of the interview, and better mention gigs here that we (Manamana) or I had lined up for the coming months… All canceled now: De School...Tbilisi...Kann Garden...Waking Life… I could cry but also know how lucky we were until now.

photo by Tizia Wahlis

An interview question you really wanted to be asked but never were and the answer to that?
As you know, it took me some time to answer these already, thank you I’m fine.

Tell us about an artist you really want our audience to discover. What music are you inspired by yourself?
Beatrice Dillon
Her album pleases me in many ways since it came out a few months ago. Tribal, bare-boned, a pure joy to listen to these digital sounds at any occasion. If I had to choose one for an isolation time (haha), I would pick ‘Workaround’ LP. Just found out the concept behind - no surprise I fell in love: All tracks paced roughly at 150 beats per minute, so they feel less like standalone compositions than variations upon a single, overarching theme… percussion sketches that all sound like minor variations on the same basic idea… Arthur Russell would have liked it too.

Who were important people on your path that mentored/supported you?
Bender is important for me, as he’s the skilled producer behind all the tracks we did together. Since our school days, we have been close friends. We lived together and also found the 3rd missing piece in map.ache to start a label that shaped this playground called KANN. In the last couple of years, Dennis has stepped back and Jan (map.ache) also started to work closely with the Giegling family to breakthrough finally.

I tried to describe the experience I had when seeing you playing. For someone that never saw you playing, what would be the perfect description of your sound?

It’s definitely a house sound that makes me shake - ranging from 120 to 138 BPM nowadays. Repetitive, not too complex percussive rhythms. My friends would also mention a certain kind of bassline sound that is often around when I control the channels. Recently I find myself looking for stuff from a time period around the 2000’s with little bits of UK bleep and electro in it. There’s so much to discover that would alone make today’s flood of new releases unnecessary. The term tech-house got dragged down but you probably can call it exactly what I dig at the moment. Let’s see what comes next. I also like cinematic samples and a psychedelic approach in music and DJing.

We also would like to include a small playlist with a few mixes and  tracks of yours that you would recommend as a good reflection of your work, for people to dive into and discover.
Surroundings, people, state of mind, love, fear, pressure and well-being, all have led to the mixes I have made over the years. Luckily, I’m a positive person so that vibe reflects in most of my mixes but with the humble approach.

Let’s start chronologically:

6 years old – bits of dub, disco and house. Sums it up still.

Never sweated as much as during these 2 hours in the tent – stepped really dissatisfied from the stage – turned later into a good one with some lovely feedback and a couple of listens by myself.

This was recorded like 2 hours later at another corner at the nachtdigital festival 2018. The same time Richie Hawtin blew the main stage for his sake.

Here are more mixes from myself or Manamana - and radio shows:

my own tracks:

I believe I know how to build up a track to DJ with, but when I listen to it after months or years it's obvious that I often ride it a bit too long when it comes to arrangements.

Lion Sauterleute made the video and it's the most recent tune from 2 years ago.