The Untitled Interview #220: Starring Plattenbau

Hands down, Plattenbau was my favorite discovery out of this year's Macrock. The Berlin-based trio kicks out a scuzzed-up, wiry, electric post punk racket, kicky and abrasive in equal measure. 

The band released their self-titled long player earlier this year, which you should definitely check out. And while you're giving it a listen, why not get to know Brandon, Lewis, and Tobias a bit better? Read on.      

Fuzzy Logic: How do you do?
Tobias: Alright. The sun's up.

FL: What was the last song you listened to?
Brandon: B-52s - "Private Idaho."
Tobias: Really can’t remember. Just went through a Youtube-medley-skip-after-30sec-looking-for-somethin’-good.
Lewis: "One Hour of Cisco CallManager Default Hold Music" I was zoning out to on Youtube the night before.

FL: Playing music is:
Brandon: exciting and calming.
Tobias: frustrating, necessary and awesome.
Lewis: rarely great.

FL: What album most made you realize you wanted to make music?
Brandon: Steely Dan's Pretzel Logic
Tobias: The Strokes - Is This It
Lewis: Prob Nirvana or Pumpkins, I'll say Melancollie

FL: Beatles or Stones?
Tobias: I don’t like either but I do dislike the Rolling Stones.
Lewis: Beatles.

FL: What’s your first music memory?
Tobias: First music memory must be horrible Disney songs. I sometimes went out of the room when they started to sing. But the first pleasurable music memory is when my dad and his friends put on Nirvana. Think I was 5-6.
Lewis: Rockin out to the Boss with my brother.

FL: Top 5 albums (of now, of this week, of ever):
Tobias: The Strokes - Is This It, Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures, Sonic Youth - Sister/Daydream Nation/EVOL

Brandon: Animal Collective - Sung Tongs, Gun Club - Las Vegas Story, tune-yards - WHOKILL, Vieux Farka Touré - S/T, Two Tears - Little Tea

Lewis: Tops - Picture You Staring, The Blood Brothers - Young Machetes, Portishead - Dummy, DFA 1979 - You're a Woman I'm a Machine, Eden Ahbez - Eden's Island, too many to mention. . .

FL: Favorite music-related movie?
FUBAR.

FL: Half-full or half-empty?
Tobias: If you had a sip it’s going down.

FL: What's the first thing you think when you wake up in the morning?
Tobias: Maybe I had a good dream so I think about that for a while.
Brandon: Is there anything I have to do today?
Lewis: Ah fuck I'm awake again.

FL: Little-known Plattenbau fact?
Tobias: Our first demo was recorded with the help of a vacuum cleaner as a mic-stand.
Lewis: We're not German.

FL: The greatest record store in the world is:
Lewis: Sounds that Swing in London found me some real faves.

FL: What was your first show, either in a band or as a fan?
Brandon: A middle school talent show I'm sure.
Tobias: Some local punk show when I was 15.
Lewis: I think the first time I played was with my brother and friends playing a Sepultura cover at a birthday party when I was 13.

FL: Your boots were made for:
Brandon: Winter.
Lewis: Stalking.

FL: Shaken or stirred?
Brandon: Beer.
Tobias: Wheat beer.

FL: What’s the longest flight you’ve ever been on, and where to?
Brandon: Berlin - USA.
Tobias: Yup, same.
<-> Lewis: London - Auckland.

FL: If you weren't in a band you'd be?
Brandon: Disappointed.
Tobias: Alone on stage with a drum machine and funky synths but probably just being a poet.
Lewis: Filmmaker.

FL: Favorite spot in Berlin?
Brandon: Tempelhofer Feld, the old airport that's now a park.
Tobias: The roads from Frankfurter tor to Kottbusser tor, so fun to ride a bike late at night as fast as you can.
Lewis: Imren Grill.

FL: If you were so inclined, whom would you form a tribute band in honor of?
Tobias: A noise-pop band playing 2 minute songs of Bach.

FL: Best song ever written?
Tobias: Google knows.

PLATTENBAU...

As a movie:
Lewis: A synth-punk opera about our former drummer Lucas.

As a drink:
Brandon: Tap water.
Tobias: With a straw and no ice.
Lewis: Also known as council pop.

As a weather event:
Brandon: Light rain with spots of sun poking through the clouds.

As an obscure vintage LP:
Lewis: Maybe a record called Body of Desire about a fictional pair of peeps from California who called themselves Plattenbau. 🙄

As a moment in history:
Tobias: Three dinosaurs randomly meet figuring out how to play drums 3 hours before the asteroid hits earth.
Lewis: 1453 as the Ottomans raid Constantinople.

As a denomination of currency:
Lewis: bout 10 euros.

As a place in Washington, DC:
Lewis: Freemasons HQ.
Tobias: Yes! Such an awesome building. They know how to build their stuff.

As a video game/character therein:
Tobias: A glitched out 90’s zombie game.
Lewis: Mortal Kombat.

As a campaign promise:
Brandon: "Maybe your life will get better - it can't get any worse!"
Tobias: haha ”god knows we’re close!”
Lewis: Vote Tesco.




[posted 6.12.16]