Dutch producer Coco Bryce and Tokyo native Emufucka joined forces for a collaborative 7” on Fremdtunes under the moniker Cocofucka. Both beat connoisseurs are not held back by BPM- or genre restrictions, resulting in a cosmic trip into mesmerizing atmospheres, neck snapping 808-drums and hyped up beat creations.

Interview by Danny Veekens (Thefindmag.com)

What aspects of each other’s original track are appealing to you personally?

Coco Bryce: I basically like everything I’ve used in my remix of Hyperion. But in particular the 80’s sounding synths he used for the main melody. That stuff immediately puts me in some kind of nonexistent futuristic yet nostalgic zone. To me, Hyperion feels like memories of something that has never been…

Emufucka: I make electronic beat music, but I used to rap until I was 20 years old. I still love hip hop, especially productions by J Dilla and Madlib. So remixing Coco Slang kind of felt like going back to my roots.

You two have never met in person throughout the process. Don’t you think it’d benefit the chemistry and quality of a release if two artists create it together in person, rather than doing it strictly over the internet?

Emufucka: I agree with that, but unfortunately we never got the chance since I live in Tokyo.

Coco Bryce: I don’t agree with it. I’m pretty sure that would work for most artists, but not for me. I’m really bad at working on music with other people around me. I need to be alone. Most of the times that I’ve collaborated with other producers sitting in the same room, I got bummed out when I couldn’t do things exactly the way I wanted to do them. Either that or I’ll get annoyed if the other person is taking too long when tuning a bass drum or something silly like that. So I prefer to collaborate over the internet.

How do you get inspired for the creative process of doing a remix?

Emufucka: I don’t think about anything when making music. If I’m inspired to create, I just start up the software and put down random ideas that just pop up in my head. It’s the result of whatever emotion I’m feeling at that moment, like a fine artist painting on a white canvas. After the messing around I take the time to complete the track till it’s perfect. For a remix I always try to find a balance between adding my own elements and retaining the atmosphere of the original song.

Coco Bryce: I know what you mean. Most of the time I also mess around with the separate slices till I get something interesting. But for this remix I instantly had an idea of what I wanted it to sound like. That’s very rare for me. Normally when I know what I want a remix to sound like, it ends up super shitty and totally different from what I had in mind. I recently got into Trap music and I realized that that type of drum programming would suit Hyperion perfectly.

Emufucka: That’s indeed a completely different spin: the original song was supposed to be a fictional soundtrack to an imaginary cyber punk anime like Ghost In The Shell.

What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned from each other throughout or after this collaboration?

Coco Bryce: That I should probably stop making rap beats for Canadian weirdos and let Takafumi handle it from now on. His remix of Coco Slang is a gazillion times better than anything I could’ve ever done with those raps.

Emufucka: [Laughs] Throughout the process I’ve learned to value the first impressions I get from hearing an original track and to create something of my own right away. I think songs that are created with a specific vision in mind turn out to be a bit predictable. Since collaborating with Coco Bryce I try to get inspired by the original sounds right away.

Apart from yourself, which two artists from the Fremdtunes roster would you love to see on a collaborative remix 7” like this one?

Coco Bryce: I’d probably go for Emufucka again, but I’d team him up with either Pierce Warnecke or Kelpe. I think those guys are the most original sounding artists on Fremdtunes.

Emufucka: I’d also go for Kelpe. I would love to see a collaboration between him and Coco Bryce. They have their own distinct sound. The way they program drums, lay the synths, their groove… They both have something I don’t have, and a collaboration between them would definitely be interesting for me.

Order your copy at JET SET (JP), JUNO (UK), RED EYE (UK), RUSH HOUR (NL) or a store near you. Get the digital version at Bandcamp, Boomkat, Digital Tunes, Junodownload or any other webstore.