Super Flu need no introduction, as this pair of melodic maestro’s is one of the most influential acts in our modern scene. Whether as founders of the illustrious Monaberry, or through their releases with the likes of Diynamic & Disco Halal, it’s an honor to welcome Super Flu for their XYZ debut.

They twist Motip White’s title track Long Shadow into a low slung bomb, retaining Motip’s jaw dropping vocal chops and the main heaving hook. Super Flu add a linear edge, shifting deep into club territory with defiant dance floor moments on offer.

To celebrate the release of ‘Long Shadow (The Remixes)’ we caught up with the German duo to break down the remix and see what’s next! 

Hey guys, thanks for chatting with us and congrats on the release! 

Thanks for having us and thanks for the warm welcome.

What do you look for in a track when you are considering a remix proposal?

The original track must have some element that catches us. A nice melody, a catchy vocal, a great synth line or something else that we want to work with and build our idea of the song around it. And one thing that sounds strange for most people is that the track has to be imperfect in a good way. If the track is perfect in our ears, we don’t want to do our own version, because it is perfect and we don’t want to “destroy” that perfect version.  

Well we’re thrilled with how it all came together. How did you approach this remix? It certainly contains that unique Super Flu melodic mastery we all love! Punchy yet emotive.

Our workflow with this remix was very straight. We have heard it, we had an idea and we were able to find an instant nice groove for our version. That is always the same. Finding a great loop and then arrange it to our favorite length. This remix was special because on the one hand we had this great voice that we wanted to give enough space to, on the other hand we didn’t want to destroy the depth by too much kitsch.

It looks like you guys have been doing a lot of traveling recently.  What has been your favorite party in play in the last few months? 

We are super happy to travel again and do what we love. After 2 years of lockdown and fear we are happy about each party and enjoy every moment. You can’t compare the different events, because each is special in its way.

What are some ‘road tips’ you’ve learned over the years? Anything you do every tour to help ease life on tour?

Road tips that work for us after years are great noise canceling headphones. They often give us the sleep and quiet moments we need to relax and reflect on what we have experienced. Drink water. Eat healthy. Yes … it is that simple. And we discovered that it is very helpful to start your week at 8 in the morning, even after a long weekend. Trying to have a normal day and night rhythm helps us a lot. The secret recipe at the end … sport.

What keeps you busy outside of music? Any hobbies or activities to get out of the studio? 

If we are not in the studio or doing some label stuff we are taking care of some alpacas. They really love our old synths. So once a week we are playing a small concert for them. After a few months we noticed how fluffy the coat has become.

How did you two originally meet, and when did you decide you would become Super Flu? 

Our first meeting was in high school at the prom. We had the same dress. Which was not funny at the time, but we made the best out of it and after some shots of Vodka Energy we danced the whole night. The next morning we saw Mathias’ sleeping room and all the records. We started spinning immediately and after some more Vodka Energy Super Flu was born.

What are the light & dark sides of being in a duo? The positives and negatives of being two heads…

After such a long time playing together for us there are mostly light sides. We can share each moment, have a friend on stage, can talk while traveling, can push us in each moment. You always have somebody you can rely on. We know all the dark sides of each other, but keep them as a secret.

Tell us about Monaberry. How has the creative vision of your label developed over the years? What Monaberry releases are you most proud of?

Monaberry is our musical playground and a place for so many talented artists. Here we can show our understanding of great music. We can push new artists and have a direct way to present our music. We never had a vision, the label grew with us. We love each release, because at this moment it felt right and touched us. On the one hand big names like DJ Koze, Stephan Bodzin and Solomun are awesome to read on the release list. On the other we love the new wild like Viktor Talking Machine, Yamil, AIKON to name just a few. 

What is going on in the studio these days… Any exciting projects we should keep an eye out for in 2023

Our studios are playgrounds, so we can’t really plan what we want to achieve tomorrow. If we have a solid idea and the deadline is coming closer it is getting more serious, but before this there is a lot of trial and error. We have a bunch of remixes in the making, a lot of originals have to be finished and we will release our first sample pack together with PML. 

Thanks again for joining us, looking forward to hearing more from you next year!

Thanks again for inviting us and the nice chat. You will hear from us 🙂

Connect with Super Flu
Soundcloud – https://soundcloud.com/super-flu-de
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/superflumusic/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/superflu_music/

Connect with XYZ – https://linktr.ee/wwd.xyz
Stream releases in full via Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2uDd07z

Motip White – Long Shadow (The Remixes) [XYZ060]
Release Date – 12.16.22
Stream – https://xyzlabel.lnk.to/LongShadowRemixes