Photo Credit: Tibor Bozi
Greco-German Vamparela and Brax Moody of unstoppable DJ and producer duo and couple Local Suicide do not believe in half measures when it comes to their music. In addition to maintaining careers in the music industry, and putting on some of the most infamous underground parties Berlin has to offer, these two are still finding time to make waves with their productions and drive live audiences into a frenzy not just in their chosen hometown of Berlin but across all four corners of the world. A wild fusion of new wave, acid, slow techno, EBM, and dark disco is what defines the signature Local Suicide sound, and these propulsive grooves have recently been woven into releases with the likes of influential artists such as Rodion, Mijo, Theus Mago and Curses, winning them overwhelming support across the board from the music press and prolific DJs.
Local Suicide has just released their much-anticipated debut album ‘Eros Anikate’, and now the pair are looking towards the forthcoming drop of ‘Eros Anikate Remixes’, a series of 12″ with remixes by Adana Twins, Biesmans, Echonomist, Die Selektion, Silicone Soul, You Man and many more on their own Iptamenos Discos.
Now, fresh off from the release of their ‘Eros Anikate’ LP, EG caught up with Local Suicide to learn more about the record, the forthcoming ‘Eros Anikate Remixes’, their chemistry, future endeavors, and more.
EG: Hello guys! Welcome to EG. It’s a pleasure to have you here with us today. Where are you guys based right now? How have you been?
Local Suicide: Thank you so much for having us! Brax Moody is originally from Munich and Vamparela from Thessaloniki, but we have lived in Berlin for almost 15 years. Since the pandemic started, we have been working remotely and have spent a lot of time in Chalkidiki and Thessaloniki in Greece. The year so far has been quite busy for us with the release of our debut album ‘Eros Anikate’ and two EPs by Boys’ Shorts (with remixes by Each Other, Luca Dell’Orso, and our own remix with Lott) and Wiener Planquadrat (with remixes by T.Raumschmiere, Birds and Tech Support) on our label, Iptamenos Discos. That, and the release of our debut Dina Summer (our new band project with Kalipo) album ‘Rimini’, and a lot of touring, as well as working for our day jobs and playing weekly gigs in Berlin and abroad.
EG: Congratulations on the release of your long-awaited debut album ‘Eros Anikate’! What has the initial reception been like so far?
Local Suicide: Thank you! We are very pleased with the response so far! We received great feedback from our friends, plenty of press coverage and airplay, and the support of DJs, Spotify, Apple Music, and stores like Beatport, Bandcamp, or Juno. Our label, Iptamenos Discos, was even featured as Juno’s ‘Label of the Month’!
EG: ‘Eros Anikate’ sounds rather powerful. What does ‘Eros Anikate’ mean? What was the inspiration behind the record? Is there an underlying concept tying it all together?
Local Suicide: ‘Eros Anikate’ means invincible love in Ancient Greek. It is a phrase from Sophocles’ play, ‘Antigone’, that talks about the power of love. The concept resonated with us as we have been an artist duo and couple since 2008. We were both DJs before we met but quickly started performing together and then releasing music as Local Suicide in 2014. For us, ‘Eros Anikate’ is a product of our love for each other, the music, the scene, the artists we invited to be a part of it, our family, friends and followers, humanity, the environment, etc. Love is the driving force behind everything we do, and we genuinely believe in its power to overcome all odds. Thus we decided to name our debut album after this epic phrase and ideal.
EG: What can your fans expect to find on ‘Eros Anikate’, sonic-wise? What sets this apart from your previous work?
Local Suicide: It includes most of what our fans know from us. It explores genres like synth-pop, new wave, dark wave, new beat to EBM, electro, and techno, including more trippy and downtempo tracks through to hard-hitting club bangers. We spent a lot of time planning the album, and it is definitely one of our more consciously executed releases. We carefully selected and produced the tracks, deciding on specific sounds and features for vocals and production collaborations. Since we released the album through our own label, we had complete control over the release process, including the artwork and videos, packaging, single selection, release date, and the rollout plan. We dedicated a tremendous amount of time to it, and it is our most complete and well-thought body of work so far.
“For us, ‘Eros Anikate’ is a product of our love for each other, the music, the scene, the artists we invited to be a part of it, our family, friends and followers, humanity, the environment, etc”
EG: There is a large number of collaborations on ‘Eros Anikate’. How did these come about? Were you able to collaborate in person with all of them? How hard is it to select the right collaborator?
Local Suicide: We love doing collaborations and have done plenty in the past. Those were done in person at the studio, and it was usually with friends whose music we love. For the album, however, we followed a different approach. Half of the collaborations are with beloved producers like Theus Mago, Curses, Skelesys, Kalipo, and Lee Stevens, which were done together in the studio. Of course, we later continued and finalized the tracks remotely, but the main ideas of the tracks were born and developed together. The only exception and produced from a distance is ‘Cobra Wave’ with Kalipo, which we made while trying out a new plugin that allows working collaboratively on a project in real-time from different locations. We have worked with all of these highly talented producers and personal friends before, so we knew from the very beginning that we wanted to have them on the album. The remaining half of the collabs are vocal features, which were predominantly remote. In this case, the music was finished, and we then sat down to decide who would fit the tracks and feature on the album. We chose our friends The Hidden Cameras, Sissi Rada, and Hard Ton, whose work and voices we love. We also wanted a special feature for the title track and asked Greek new wave legend Lena Platonos, who has been a significant influence for us throughout the years. In the end, it all worked out, and we are stoked to have all these exceptional artists on our debut album!
EG: Are there any plans in the work to present ‘Eros Anikate’ in a live format?
Local Suicide: Last month we did our first ever Dina Summer live performance. We have been busy with the label, album release, DJ gigs, and full-time jobs, so it has been difficult to work on a Local Suicide live set yet, but we have done some hybrid sets with live vocals, and we hope that we’ll find the time to work on a Local Suicide live set soon as well!
EG: Let’s dive into the studio for a bit. What’s your chemistry like in there? Do you guys have ‘roles’? Do you play on each other’s strengths and weaknesses?
Local Suicide: We both work together on the composition using our hardware. Brax Moody is better technically, so he takes care of most of the dirty work on Ableton afterward, arranging, mixing the track, and so on, while Vamparela usually writes the lyrics and performs the vocals.
EG: These past few years gave us all a chance to slow down and reassess. What would you like to see more and less of in our scene?
Local Suicide: The scene needs to stick together. Everyone has to realize that we are all in this together and working towards a common goal. The bookers and clubs should work on creating a strong scene rather than just booking the acts that their algorithm tells them are the most popular right now. The love for music and community needs to be the driving force rather than just making money. If there is a community and events are organized with respect to the crowd, they are also likely to be more successful and better for everyone in the scene rather than simply booking someone for a 5-digit amount.
“Since we released the album through our own label, we had complete control over the release process, including the artwork and videos, packaging, single selection, release date, and the rollout plan. We dedicated a tremendous amount of time to it, and it is our most complete and well-thought body of work so far”
EG: What else can we expect from Local Suicide in the next few months? What new milestones are you looking forward to?
Local Suicide: There are four ‘Eros Anikate Remixes’ 12”s coming out in the next few months, with some of our favorite artists at the moment remixing the tracks from the album! The debut album of Dina Summer, our band project with Kalipo was released last month via Audiolith, we played a few live shows and have a few more coming up, the next one will be at Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg in September. As Local Suicide, we have a busy tour schedule with gigs all over Europe, but we will try to slow down a little and spend some easy days by the beach before the summer is over. The last months have been very intense, and we could use a little break.
EG: Thank you for your time, guys! We wish you all the best!
Local Suicide: It was our pleasure. Thank you for the invite!
Local Suicide’s ‘Eros Anikate’ is out via Iptamenos Discos. Purchase your copy here.
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