One week ago Italian duo Hunter/Game released their debut album Adaptation on Cologne’s infamous Kompakt label. We’re trying to find out why they did so.
Hello guys. Besides the fact that you have a new album, what are you up to at the moment?
We made a big step with this album. We’ve worked on it for years but we were never 100% sure so we always divided the tracks in different EPs. Finally with Adaptation everything came together so we can’t be happier to release it on Kompakt.
Now that the album is out – finally – we are touring with special visuals to deliver a real album show. On top of those visuals we also bring loads of analog gear and our visual/lights artist Veronika Maz.
Can you please share your vision and the story behind Adaptation?
We made this album in the summer and decided to retreat to a chalet in the Dolomite Alps, near a ski resort closed for the season. The deserted landscape really gave us the right inspiration to write music. The title idea came from the nature around us; wilderness has a profound impact on you and everyone can realize how human presence contaminate the nature as an adaptation.
What is the story behind the album artwork? Is this a way to pay a tribute to Ikea shelves?
The cover was made by our graphic studio, Artiva Design.
We started working with them from the beginning. They prepared the Hunter/Game logo and we collaborated with them for many other artist projects. They now take care of the graphic side of things of our label Just This too, going from artwork to flyers for our events.
Their style goes perfectly with ours so we can really trust them and let them do their thing. With Adaptation we asked a multiple figure with the concept of an evolution inside so this impossible, M.C. Escher inspired figure came out. They had to combine three cubes to get that figure like a geometric adaptation.
You had releases on Innervisions, Last Night on Earth… How did you ended up on Kompakt?
We’ve always been fans of Kompakt. It’s one of the greatest labels for electronic music with artists like GusGus, Michael Meyer, Guy Boratto and many others. They also distribute our label Just This so we can say we feel at home with the guys.
We worked really hard to write tracks that both represent our sound as Kompakt’s and in the end it’s a great honour to be part of the label.
What differences do you see between Italian and German techno?
The Italian club scene is new and is growing right now.
The crowd is starting to better understand the rules and the culture behind the electronic music while in Germany, there’s a great heritage.
Italians are pretty emotional and art is always inspired by the environment around the artists; for example our music is always a product of the atmosphere that Milano has and we can say it’s definitely a melancholic city.
While listening to your music I hear some Ten Walls, Stephan Bodzin, Gui Boratto elements. Do these (or other) artists have an influence on you?
We have been inspired by the music that came out between 2000 and 2010. We met each other in 2008 and we started to work together listening music from Kompakt, Boarder Community, Cocoon, etc.
We definitely love Stephan Bodzin music from his early works; how he uses a moog synth really inspired us.
We like music made with analog instruments because it’s not about the hype of the moment but it is done with immutable instruments that bring the music itself out of time.
Your name is pretty hard to google. Why did you choose it? Perhaps you like The Hunger Games series?
We love the mountains and its life and so we were looking for some names that fit this idea. There is a Massive Attack rework that is called The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game; it’s an old track and the first version of it was from 1966 by Motown artists. We really liked that juxtaposition (hunter vs game) and we separate this two elements with a slash that gave it a more minimal format.
Do you support AC Milan or F.C. Internazionale?
We’re not that much into sports but Emmanuele supports AC Milan. He’s been a bad supporter though as he didn’t see a full match in the last 3 year.
