Words by Art Jefferson
Images courtesy of Tosca
If one were to take notes on the expansive career of Richard Dorfmeister and Rupert Huber, specifically their work as Tosca, what would be transparent is the refinement, taste and continued progression that their music has reflected. Part of a wave of producers who helped to spearhead in an electronic movement throughout the 90s that took on various titles such as acid jazz, trip-hop and in the 2000s, future jazz, Tosca’s sound could appropriately be called simply…timeless, forward-thinking music, opposed to any infliction of tags. It is that process of transcending any one label that has kept the two musicians consistently relevant for two decades.
Although their friendship extends back to their teen days, having played in the band Dehli 9 together, Huber and Dorfmeister formed Tosca in 1994, shortly releasing the the classic song “Chocolate Elvis”, which became an important record in electronic music. The two then followed suit with the haunting, breakbeat-led single “Fuck Dub”, which became a must-have for fans and DJs alike. Taking elements of world rhythms, jazz, blues, dub, soul and Hip-Hop, then rolling them together into smokey, mellow grooves, Tosca’s 1997 album helped to foster the blueprint to what later became known as downtempo. By 2000, Richard Dorfmeister and Rupert Huber displayed further sophistication with the releasing of their albums Suzuki (2000), Dehli9 (2003), J.A.C. (2005) and No Hassle (2009), each brilliantly constructed with beautiful and moody melodies, whilst maintaining grooving drum breaks, yet each also slightly shifting sonically from its predecessor.
In 2013 Tosca unveiled their elaborate sixth LP Odeon, which not only highlighted their talent for working with singers, but was a reminder that they were skilled musicians and composers, bringing a balance between dark, orchestral workings and atmospheric electronica, sometimes mid-tempo, sometimes beatless, resulting in a masterful record.
Their latest album Outta Here represents a new sound for Tosca, with British artists Earl Zinger and Cath Coffey (Stereo MCs) contributing vocals over upbeat, funky production with pop sensibilities. While Tosca’s new work may be dance floor friendly, still embedded are proper song compositions and the quality that one have grown to expect from the maestros. Like any artist whose work will forever demonstrate the inevitable act of change, Richard Dorfmeister and Rupert Huber have branched out into further territory, planting more musical seeds.
Your musical relationship extends back to your teenage years with Dehli 9. What sort of sounds were you experimenting with during those early days?
Tosca – In those early days, we were trying to get every sound that we could grab. We played flute, guitars, bass, synthesizer, piano and saz, a Turkish instrument. We experimented at the same time with tape loops, poetry readings and percussion. Already at the that time the overall sound and gesture was more important than a single instrument or solo or showing off technical skills.
In the past, you have mentioned the environment of Vienna playing a factor in the feel of your music. However, Vienna’s music history in general is rich with musicians like Franz Schubert and the Strauss family hailing from the city. I actually equate Tosca with a particular sophistication similar to that past. Does Vienna’s musical legacy influence the way you create sound?
Tosca – Thanks for that, but Franz Schubert is on another level. He defined a certain feeling that very much expresses an endless melancholy and at the same time a pureness that is very much unique in its way. We love him but in fact black-infused blues and soul/groove/jazz/dub-music has been a stronger influence on the sound we are producing especially for this album.
Vienna is a beautiful city that is traditionally music orientated – but since we are generating a sound style of our own we don’t care about that city thing too much, at the end of the day we are just merging our life experiences into our music.
Opera is a seminal album that influenced the sound of downtempo. If I’m correct, samplers were mostly used for that LP. As musicians, what motivated the decision to want to use the sampler opposed to all out live instrumentation on that project?
Tosca – Basically we used samplers as a kind of tape machine, a very tight and groovy tape machine. Back then it was important to us to be able to sync all the instruments to a beat and create a groove. That was such a big advantage that the limited recording time was the price we enjoyed paying, even more as we learned to concentrate on playing short phrases very much to the point.
What’s interesting is that, over the past number of years the technology shift and the music climate have allowed artists to almost cut corners and cheapen their sound. However, you two have continued to evolve and go deeper with the music, resulting in brilliant pieces. How have you managed to remain so steadfast with the quality and depth of your music during these times?
Tosca – That has to do with the fact that I am listening to several kinds of sounds all the time due to my DJ activities…But when it comes to producing we try to produce music that will hold the test of time, real listening music. To achieve that we try to ignore all music that is fashionable right now and instead try to produce pure classics…
Listening to your album Outta Here, there is definitely an upbeat, fun spirit and a bit of a pop feel in the new work. Can you talk about the new direction that you’ve moved in with this album?
Tosca – Outta Here is a combination of a “live-feeling” (live meaning both playing live and being happy about being alive…) and the inspiration we got from working with the vocalists Cath Coffey and Earl Zinger. We started to work on it and played gigs while we were producing the tracks in the studio. Outta Here catches a momentum, being on the road, playing, working with those great vocalists, just having fun making music!
What I’m happy about in terms of the new record is that, whilst people can move and groove to it, there is still the aspect of true song composition. Was that something that you were conscience of when working on Outta Here?
Tosca – It just turned out to be very productive to involve Earl Zinger and Cath Coffey in that process of combining our tracks with their lyrical skills. The results were very positive and since we were sharing some live performances/experiences we managed to develop a very special feel about the new album project. So the album tracks define this feeling we had over the past months.
You’ve stated that with this album, you were able to write and produce songs quicker than in the past. What do you think helped contribute to the speed of the process?
Tosca – Knowing a voice is like knowing a person. When you are familiar with it, some things you do not have to ask or think about. As we were sure we wanted to produce our new album, as well as play live, with Earl and Cath, it was getting more and more easy to produce the music in the direction that features the vocals and make them look good.
Finally, when you two aren’t touring the world or in the studio making music, what is a normal day like for Tosca?
Tosca – There is no normal day at all. Some days are better than others, you just have to adapt to the situation but it’s the faith in the music that gives us the drive to carry on doing music.
http://www.toscamusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tosca/47234438259
https://soundcloud.com/k7-records
http://www.youtube.com/user/hcirrd13
http://www.richarddorfmeister.com/
http://www.ruperthuber.com/
http://www.electricchair.de/