Swing to me is less important than groove. Do you try to put the swing rhythm into your productions? And whether this swing really exists in the musicвЂ¦ I mean, it is called electro swing, not swing. I think this aspect should play the bigger role. It was an attitude toward life, a lust for life. Marcus: They donвЂ™t, but what was swing? On the one hand, the word swing was a technical description one the other hand, the practice of swing was a lot more. Do you agree that a lot of Electro Swing productions these days donвЂ™t really swing? This year I talked about Electro Swing with a former German big band leader, Paul Kuhn, who described it has something mechanical. ThatвЂ™s what makes it so exciting to me вЂ“ that something new materializes. In a single song sometimes I end up with 200 or 300 audio tracks that add up to something new. ItвЂ™s too easy to take a sample and then put a beat under it. Marcus: When it comes to creating sounds вЂ“ yes. I guess itвЂ™s hard to convince you musically because youвЂ™re such a perfectionistвЂ¦ Honestly, if I like what somebody is doing, I would say: Yes, perfect. But I havenвЂ™t been happy with what they are doing, so IвЂ™ve yet to give permission. Have you received requests from people who want to sample Parov Stelar? This question plays a much bigger role than most people think. If you visit the website you can see who sampled what. I have to admit that in the beginning I didnвЂ™t realize that all the Daft Punk albums вЂ“ with the exception of the last вЂ“ were based on samples. But sometimes people simply donвЂ™t know when samples are being used. Marcus: Not always the songs on the current charts. Because a lot of chart songs use samples? Marcus: From what I hear in the charts, no. Do you think sampling culture is on the way out? Every place we turned people told us, вЂњWe canвЂ™t help you.вЂќ Your current album is titled The Art of Sampling.

We hired two law firms with expertise in this area. WeвЂ™ve been trying for years but nobody feels responsible for it. For one of your well-known songs you sampled a complete vocal line from the 30s. IвЂ™m not as interested in the vocal phrases or hooks of the 1930s as in its style of recording, whose sound can no longer be reproduced today. By sampling music from the 1930s I avoid some of these difficulties. Marcus: Even if I take a single line вЂ“ вЂњItвЂ™s a sinвЂќ from the Pet Shop Boy song, say вЂ“ itвЂ™ll take a long time to clear. I take just a small portion and combine it to create something new. You also want to sample things that are catchy such as vocal lines anyone can identify.In contrast to the Marvin Gaye number I normally avoid putting the original song in the foreground. Marcus: If you sample pop itвЂ™s not just about that one keystroke of a synthesizer вЂ“ that I can do myself. I would also like to sample pop music, but there itвЂ™s more difficult to obtain permissions. For me itвЂ™s important to connect things they neednвЂ™t be limited to jazz or swing. My album Coco borrows elements from soul, as does The Princess. Marcus: IвЂ™ve been interested in this period for a while now. Did you expand your sampling field to the 1960s and 70s? In вЂњKeep on DancingвЂќ we hear the voice of Marvin Gaye. 10,000 people were expected, but nobody knew about it. It was five or six years ago at a festival in Munich. But you have to endure it itвЂ™s part of the growth process. When I played my first tracks for them two weeks later, their response was вЂњHm, yes, wellвЂ¦.вЂќ (laughter). I had been studying art and suddenly I was making music. And what about your friends and the clubs? Was it hard to convince them of what you were doing? ItвЂ™s in those situations that you decide whether you want to stay down, or keep dancing. Though you know, when I listen today to the tracks I did back then, I probably wouldnвЂ™t have responded at all.Still, in the moment you are so convinced of what youвЂ™ve done that rejection is hard to take.

Marcus: They all say the same thing: вЂњWeвЂ™re not interestedвЂ¦but we would like to keep your materials on fileвЂќ (laughter). I received enough rejections to wallpaper my entire bathroom. Marcus: When I was just starting out I submitted songs to around 50 record labels. You have to get hit in the face a few times if you want to stay in the ring. When you started out, did you have to fight for recognition?

Marcus, the music video вЂњKeep on DancingвЂќ is about boxing.

Parov stelar songs