CGNY: Tell us about your origins as a duo – how did you (Thomas) and Tassilo start working together?

PP: We actually met at SAE (School of Audio Engineering) in Berlin six and half years ago. The fact that we both liked the same kind of music, a fact that made us also different to the rest, connected us immediately. Everybody was into Rock, Hip-Hop or Punk, and we were the exotic Techno-Lovers :) So these days we started doing our first experiments as a duo and recognized pretty soon that it works out great - as a DJ- and production team.

CGNY: What were your early influences?  Can you remember the first piece of music you heard that made you go “aha!” I want to play/make THIS kind of music?

Thomas: Anja Schneider’s "Dance under the Blue Moon" and Marushas "Rave Satellite" were two radio shows which really caught my attention and made me get into electronic dance music. Do you still know "Who is Elvis” by Interactive? That was my first "aha" track.

Tassilo: Well I started with DJ Hell and his International Gigolo Stuff. I worked at a club from DJ Hell and we all were very into the Electro Clash stuff. There are a few tracks which made the "aha" effect: Slam - "Lifetimes", Ricardo Villalobos "Easy Lee", Luciano & Quenum "Orange Mistake"

CGNY: What was your very first gig as Pan-Pot?

PP: It was a self organized "event" at a place called "Pavillion" in a park in Berlin. We invited Anja Schneider, hoping the party was gonna be a success. Well it wasn't :) But this night we talked to Anja Schneider and Ralf Kollmann about our productions and they told us about their future label Mobilee. In the end we decided to send them a demo ASAP and they would listen to it. So we did and it was Mobilee No. 2 - "Popy & Caste".

CGNY: What equipment do you use to produce? From seeing you at the Blk Mkt party in Brooklyn earlier this year – I think you spin vinyl – am I correct or does it depend on the gig?

PP: We use Logic 9 in the studio with lot of software plugins. At our gigs we play with Traktor, depending on the party (size, music, etc) we decide if we play with timecode vinyls or controller setup. We really enjoy having the choice of different ways of playing a show.

CGNY: Speaking of great gigs – that Blk Mkt party with you Anja and Sebo K was definitely a highlight of the year for me! I think you came on at 4am in the morning and played through noon!! What do you think makes a great party? Apart from the obvious great music!

PP: A great party is a combination of a lot of parameters. It starts with the mood of all participants, crowd and dj. Then you need a proper comfortable venue with nice, polite and friendly staff. And the sound system has to be good, not too loud but with bass-balls :) From our experience good parties don't have huge lineups. It’s nice when a dj can build up the night with his set and create certain moments. This usually takes more than 2 hours.

CGNY: You’ve collaborated with a host of other great artists including Slam (one of my faves – and remixed Room 2 definitely a track of the year for me). How did that collaboration come about?

PP: That is actually a funny story. We played at a "festival" in Ireland, called Tullamore Techfest. So we arrived at the airport in Dublin and our driver told us that we have to wait for some other artists arriving from Scotland. Suddenly the Slam guys stood in front of us. We've both always been big Slam fans, so we were extremely excited. Fun fact, we had to drive 1.5 hours from Dublin to Tullamore in a small car. 2 big Scottish Slam guys, 2 big German Pan-Pots and a crazy Irish driver. It was a hell fun drive and in the evening we got drunk together and since then we're really close and work together.

CGNY: Working with Mobilee must have given you a huge boost and it wasn’t long before you were signed with the label. How did that happen?

PP: As already mentioned before, we met Anja Schneider and Ralf Kollmann before they started Mobilee. We've been with Mobilee from the beginning and will stay with them. It's a very comfortable and creative relationship. We have our studios in the same space as the Mobilee office, which means that we're hanging out constantly during the week. So we like to say for both, the label and us, we’ve always boosted each other.

CGNY: What has been your favorite club to play this year?

PP: In the beginning of 2010, we had another Japan tour and this time we had the chance to play at "Ageha" in Tokyo. That was a really special experience as it has probably the best sound system in the world. The sound system architecture is so futuristic and perfect, that it will be hard to find something better. But we have to drop some other names too here. We always love to play at Watergate in Berlin or Cityfox in Zürich and for sure one of the highlights every year is our rooftop party in Barcelona during Sonar Festival

CGNY: Any new tracks that you’re working on?

PP: There is the next album project waiting to be finished. We hope to be done till summer next year, let's see :) There are also some more remixes to be released and we did our first sample library for Florian Meindl’s "Riemann Kollektion", available on "Sounds to Sample".

CGNY: What’s a typical day like for you when you’re not on the road?

PP: We spend most of the time in the studio working on music and all the side work. Just lately we brought a Playstation to the studio and this little bitch wants to be taken care of too now :) But also we're both much into sports, which offers us a good balance to the music stuff. And for sure, we love talking bullshit.

CGNY: Is there ever a night when you say “I’d really like to stay home tonight and not go play!” If so, how do you psyche yourself up for going out – (probably helps that you have a DJ partner!)

PP: It happens from time to time that we definitely would prefer to hug the couch instead of playing. As soon as you see the people having fun in the club, everything is ok again. After some years of doing this we gained some routine and know how to handle these "no-motivation" moments. And yes, it helps being as two on the road :)

CGNY: Pan-Pot is coming back to NYC on NYE!! Should be an amazing night! Looking forward to that gig?

PP: Yes, absolutely. Since we got the request in May, we're looking forward, as we really had fun last time. NYE will be a good one too, we're pretty sure.

CGNY: Any up and coming artists/producers that you like?

PP: Clint Stewart from San Schranzisco, he’s the man!!!!

CGNY: Your 3 desert island disks – the songs you must take with you?

PP: Slam - "Lifetimes", Sebo K & Anja Schneider "Rancho Relaxo", Black Sabbath "Paranoid"

www.myspace.com/panpot

soundcloud.com/mobilee.../pan-pot-confronted-mobilee054