Even after a decade in the game, Austria’s best-known drum ’n’ bass exports Camo & Krookedare still finding ways to keep their sound fresh. With a penchant for melody-drenched, high-NRG bangers, Reinhard 'Camo' Rietsch and Markus 'Krooked' Wagner's music has already embraced everything from disco and Skrillex-y dubstep to stripped-back, techy productions. And yet they're still striking out into new territory – particularly on stage.
Listen to Camo & Krooked discuss Red Bull Symphonic in their exclusive Fireside Chat:
The duo's live shows are typically vast, intricate audio-visual spectacles that require months of preparation to pull together – like their 2011 tour The Cage, which saw the pair perform inside a towering cell of LEDs triggered by iPads and MIDI controllers. But even that pales next to their latest project: Red Bull Symphonic.
Over four months, the duo worked with the Austrian composer Christian Kolonovits to transform some of their biggest hits into classical arrangements – and then play them live alongside the 75-person-strong Max Steiner Orchestra. After discovering a shared language between two very different sonic worlds, the experience opened Camo & Krooked's minds to new ways of writing.
“It takes you somewhere where you have never been before emotionally,” they said of performing these new versions live at Vienna’s grand Wiener Konzerthaus. “It will last in our heads forever.”
After Rietsch and Wagner emerged from what they described as their “post-symphony blues”, the duo recorded a Fireside Chat interview (listen in the radio player at the top of the page), giving a behind-the-scenes account of the project. The pair also shared stories from their career to date, from being budding pro skateboarders and recording their breakthrough 2011 album Cross The Line to becoming globetrotting drum ’n’ bass stars. Expect some Camo & Krooked classics along the way, too.
Check out Red Bull's Around The World In Drum'n'Bass playlist below.