He supplies beats to BIBIZA, ELI PREISS, MAKKO, BESLIK MEISTER and thus shapes the sound of German rap. Where is the journey going? PRODBYPENGG has an almost sociological answer to this. Stefan Niederwieser met him.
How do you know Bibiza and That is Preiss?
Prodbypengg: That’s a funny story, Bibiza is in a tiny club BHZ played in Vienna, a Berlin rap crew. Maybe there were 50 people there. I asked him briefly if I could send him something because I was slowly showing my beats to other people. We met in his basement studio and got along really well. We were just excited to make music. Today it’s a really nice friendship. With Liebcozy I also make a lot of music. Later is Eli [Preiss, Anm.] came to this. We met for a session when she was just starting to make music in German. Cool things came about very quickly. Vienna is not big, you see each other when you make music, write to each other and do things together.
How is the Swift Circle developed?
Prodbypengg: On a very strange weekend. We played a lot of music and this “Swift” developed while partying. We thought that was funny. This is just our group of people. We found “Kreis” suitable because we are not a band or a collective of musicians. Music is our focus, but some people take videos, photos or DJ, we try to pour our creative environment into a name.
You learned classical piano.
Prodbypengg: Exactly. But I’m lazy and I still can’t read music. During my anti-puberty phase, I switched to the Pop Academy and played a lot of piano there in a funk and a jazz band. This laid the foundation for my understanding of music theory. But now I produce a lot more. This started slowly on my parents’ laptop. I listened to a lot of US hip hop, little German rap, the first mixtape from Eminem I heard dead Kendrick – heard dead. Later I was fascinated by how In Kaytrana his drums bounce. I sat for hours trying to do something similar. My first release was with Savi Kaboo. But with Bibiza I was in the studio for a really long time to work on the songs. They were then gradually published.
“Each generation must reckon with the last.”
Are you a new wave?
Prodbypengg: Each generation must reckon with the last. The rap generation before us laid a foundation in Austria and aggressively broke up rhyme schemes. That was important because afterwards there could be people like us again who would come up with a great pre-chorus or become more poppy again in the sounds and arrangements. I celebrate pop, I like the aesthetics, it’s more in keeping with the times. They perfected these jokes back then and in between all the fun there was some seriously weird shit going on that we would all definitely draw a line on. The texts and content are not serious for us, but at the same time they are far away from these jokes. And also far away from conscious rap. But in between there are a few lines to think about.
On “Gustav“ There is even a moral of the story at the end of a drug biography.
Prodbypengg: That was Ski AgguShout Out an Ski Aggu! Very nice guy! That’s what I mean. You can sit down, think and write a conceptual text. The song “Despite” is also a nice example; on the surface it glorifies drugs and celebrates the lifestyle, but on a second level it contains self-criticism. You know something is bad, but you do it anyway. That can happen to anybody. In such a context it’s cool to bring it up, drugs are everywhere, there’s no point in avoiding them. Some of the older artists are stuck on lean, on opiates or on downers, and the cold, sad reality often hits them in the face. Beslik Meister described it very well in the song. As a producer, I make sure that what people write is cool, but I don’t get involved.
Above all, producers have to create a mood, they say. What do you think about that?
Prodbypengg: It’s almost therapeutic. You try to have an honest conversation, listen to music together and feel each other out. It’s important to capture a vibe. I personally hold back on this. “Nevertheless” was created in a relaxed manner in one afternoon. If everyone is happy, things actually run themselves.
How important are slogans? Amore, Baba, Never without my team…?
Prodbypengg: It’s cool when there’s a keyword that everyone can sing out loud. Some people really get into a word like that and call a song and an album that way or they write it on the entire merch. I think it’s important that something like this happens naturally. Bibiza can do that. I see it as part of my job, not to force anything and to approach the matter naively and bluntly. Fun is actually the most important thing.
What was it like with “Nimmasatt”?
Prodbypengg: We have Elis [Preiss, Anm.] Celebrated a birthday and were pretty drunk. There was no session, we were at a party at home Enzo Gaier – the best guitarist in Vienna – went into the next room for twenty minutes to record something.
who are they Boloboys?
Prodbypengg: Bibiza and I were in Berlin. On our last evening Mark, Can with Me$$er and a few more of those Boloboys played in a small basement. We talked to them briefly, and a month later they came to Vienna to skate. Vienna was more relaxed during the lockdowns, they were there often and stayed on mattresses for months Bibizas Slept in the studio. This is how the friendship came about. They’re all really nice guys. Vienna has such an energy that everyone quickly falls in love with and wants to come back.
Are you often in Berlin?
Prodbypengg: Again and again. Personally, Berlin is too fake and too wild for me, but it’s nice to be there again and again. It is simply the capital of the music business. Unfortunately, Vienna is very poorly positioned in this regard. Many young people don’t know what they’re doing and allow themselves to be taken advantage of. I often hear weird stories about what offers are being made. Some deals or percentage splits are from times when a band had to rent studios for weeks. And then the artists are also expected to do their… Tiktok-Make a promo. The few cool guys who check out what it’s about are based in Berlin. Almost all of us are signed in Germany.
“It’s about the emotion and the soul behind it.”
Where is German rap developing?
Prodbypengg: I don’t see that one sound. This “this is the new sound”, for example Y2K or garage beats, has become much more broken down and diversified due to digitalization and globalization. You see that everywhere. There are no clearly defined subcultures. It’s all a mishmash of sub-interests and sub-scenes with no clear boundaries. I would also never rule out doing a grunge or non-reggaeton beat. It’s about the emotion and the soul behind it.
Prodbypengg (c) Stefan Niederwieser
The Amapiano track by Peter Fox was cultural appropriation for some.
Prodbypengg: I’m having a hard time with that. I think music is by the people for the people. It’s nice when a culture from one side of the world influences another culture. Music is the most open and inclusive thing there is. We’re grumpy Viennese at heart, we’ll probably never make reggaeton or Afrobeats out of ourselves. But that’s no reason not to try. Reggaeton is a very strong rhythm, only a few rhythms are currently so present.
How often do you recognize a hit in the studio?
Prodbypengg: Sometimes there are core elements that stick in your head, a melody, a beat or a rhythm. “Nimmasatt” has very basic chords, but you have them and that synth sound immediately present. I immediately thought there was something to that. Things like that happen all the time. It also takes luck because marketing and the release date have to be right. I find this part of the business a turn-off, looking at how well songs perform or where you rank in certain playlists.
Aren’t labels responsible for that?
Prodbypengg: Exactly. This is what they can still offer today. Plus maybe a little bit of management or organizational stuff. Labels like to act as if they are the ticket to success. But labels are often a bad bank loan with a five-hour-a-week office worker.
So what should you do?
Prodbypengg: Just don’t go to the labels. [lacht] The idea that you’ve made it as a small artist with a big signing, that’s just really not the case. This is what they promise you in order to get you to sign. But you have to be clear about what you are signing. Information is the most important thing – contract duration, recuperation, LSG, publishing rights and so on. A helpline is cool, but it’s difficult to get that information to all the people who need it. In the Swift Circle we discuss such things with each other. None of us are swimming on the noodle soup, but we know how it works. This allows us to do whatever we want. We want to build up the home country and be there for the scene. I really enjoy communicating with new artists and producers. And now, for the first time, there are a lot of people here doing really different things. You enjoy being Viennese and enjoy being in Vienna.
“Tokio” by Eli Preiss and Prodbypengg will be released in November 2023.
++++
Eli Preiss live: 14.12. Linz
++++
Links:
Prodbypengg (Instagram)
Swift Circle (Instagram)
Bibiza (Instagram)
Eli Preiss (Instagram)