CHOPSTICK & JOHNJON
History of a Ping-Pong-producer duo...
Vodka, ass-shaking nights and travels - Chi-Thien Nguyen aka Chopstick and John Muder aka Johnjon, wanna see the world! John quotes an article about Tiefschwarz that he once read: “We just wanna see the world and what better way is there than seeing it as
a DJ.” We totally agreed with that and it is our driving force till this day.
How it all began…
Before the joint journey of german born John and the vietnamese/canadian Thien can begin, they first had to get to know each other. The first meeting takes place in Hamburg to which Thien arrives 3 hours late and finds Johns first steps in production rather amusing than inspiring. But at the point where John puts on a few vinyls to show his DJ-sound the first common ground on style was set! The year 2002 has come and Chopstick & Johnjon become an inseparable duo.
Their relationship started to grow and they spend their fi rst hours in the studio. The EP “Supermodel” is in the box and is soon picked up by the label Voidcom, which is also the home of artists such as Kevin Saunderson and Alexander Kowalski.
But before they can continue their promising work, a change of scenery was necessary. New destination: Berlin (who would’ve thought... duh!) From the new headquarter in Germany’s capital, which by the way is also the home of“Mückenschwarm”-producer and Stil Vor Talent label owner Oliver Koletzki, the two do remixes for Deep Dish, Heiko Laux, Dirt Crew, Robyn and many more. The whole thing
becomes pretty successful..
So the journey begins. Chopstick & Johnjon plug dozens of pins into the globe. Japan, Canada, Australia and Brazil are the countries where the PING-PONG DJs leave their unforgettable traces. The aim of each gig: vodka in the veins, keep every ass moving the whole night and back to the plane!
One thing leads to another!
Psst! (the following information is confidential) Thien is a criminal! Yes! He has stolen synthesizers in Vancouver (bad guy) and holds a dubious honor: He’s got a criminal record! But Johnjon thinks it’s rather funny than alarming, and Thien adds an “s” and CRIMINAL RECORDS is born. The label itself should strengthen the sound and the funk of the duo regardless of all the A&R trash talk they had to deal with in the past. 2008 brings new releases on labels such as Mood Music, led by famous producer DJ Sasse, the label Dirt Crew Recordings, Oliver Koletzki’s label Stil Vor Talent and obviously their own labels Baalsaal & Criminal Records.
How it sounds… “For the last 2 years we have dove into all kinds of the electronic genres around techno, house and electro to finally narrow it down to our very own sound which could be merely described as driving, ass shaking tracks that bring a smile to your face by putting the focus on the music and melodies. “Harmony rave.” says Chopstick and Johnjon nods:
“4/4 beat, 100bpm and more. Always positive, happy, techy and fat beats.” The two found their style! In the studio Chopstick, a trained musician who can look back to more than 10 years of piano background, is the Production-Ace (“One of the top 10 in the techno-business,”
says Johnjon). He sits down at the piano and starts playing. Johnjon then screams “STOP! That’s it.” And there it is - the Criminal sound. (“Because John, the Heavy weight Champion of arrangements, always knows how to identify the main theme of a song right away” says Chopstick).
What else happened… Hamburg the hometown. The love for the city is another thing that unites them both. And when Hamburgs DJ, club-owner and long time friend Andre Stubbs asked for assistance in producing, they don’t waste any second and head straight to the studio as a collective. They start working on tracks for Stubbs’ alter ego Preocoop. Results aretracks like “Ohrwerk” (a big success in the media and on the dancefloor), “Beaver’s Rose”, “Corazone” and remixes like “Pretty Little Angel” for Moonbootica. But that’s not everything that the trio Preocoop, Chopstick & Johnjon are doing. Andre’s club BAALSAAL opens with a monthly event called “Criminal & Friends”. A label night that right away gains everybody’s attention. Last but not least the three music lovers start their own imprint called Baalsaal Music.
It’s the home of the emotional side of the Criminals: “We also wanted to release tracks with 80bpm that do not necessarily have to rock every dancefloor, so Andre founded Baalsaal with us. Baalsaal is emotion!” Says Chopstick. Johnjon nods.
Vodka. ass shaking nights. Travels.
From here and around the world!
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