Born out of a flash inspiration and musical necessity, the concept of Monosurround was first formed in 1999 in Berlin’s notorious Kreuzberg district from the restless minds of Ramtin Asadolahzadeh and Erik Schaeffer.

Monosurround wasted no time, immediately jumping into the fray with production on a pair of film soundtracks as well as a daring multi-piece live performance. They were driven by a desire to constantly re-define an ever-evolving and vibrant sound of modern electronic music. The following years saw Ramtin and Erik refine their sound and live performance, becoming a dynamic duo on stage, regularly providing the spark for dancefloors across the world with both their live sets and burgeoning DJ team. Unprecedented studio success paralleled their jet setting lifestyles, with the anthemic “I Warned You Baby” becoming a favorite of the summer of 2002, finding a home in both festivals and charts.

Further hits only reinforced Monosurround as being one of the up-and-coming providers of storming electronic club music and naughty electro-pop, with a flurry of releases on a remarkable list of labels such as Superstar Recordings, Moonbootique Records, Dream Beat, 1st Decade Records and most recently France’s leading Citizen Records (label of Vitalic). It is on this latest platform that the culmination of nearly 10 years of relentless and fanatical musical devotion gives birth to the long-awaited debut album from Monosurround, “Hello World”.

From the icy hole which minimalistic electro leaves in its wake, comes the inevitable response: maximalism. Monosurround from Germany bring you this new maximalism, and they’re here to present you with their first album: “Hello World”.
 
Two musicians in Berlin embody this new maximalism: Erik Schaeffer and Ramtin Asadolahzadeh. You can feel it in each aspect of their music: experiencing them live, and now this epic album. It’s an encyclopedia of sound: chromatic vocals, energetic electro beats, and galactic melodies. With all of this and their penetrating bass lines, Monosurround is Germany’s answer to the French hooligan disco, à la Ed Banger and Kitsuné.

What’s its impact? Very simple. The range of music continually surprises as the album unfolds. Every song is a chapter; it’s own small world in the greater vision of the album. In “Mushroomed” you’ll note skilled musicianship locked in the melodic song writing. “Gloryland” brings together magical Glampop and masterful Turntablism. 13-Tracked “Hello World” is truly the antidote to the miserable minimal-flu from which we’ve all been suffering.
 
But wait! There’s more to these boys than musical excellence. The project comes wrapped in love and imagination. In a tapestry of rich artwork Monosurround deliver an album that invites you into a parallel world of story-telling, travel, and intrigue.
 
Go to helloworld-cycle.com to start listening to the entire album “Hello World” on high quality, whilst experiencing their multifaceted world of maximalism. It’s a world we’ve all been waiting for: encompassing music, narrative and imagery.
 
Monosurround present their maximalistic sound and concept on a huge scale in “Hello World”, leaving no doubt they are going to make a big impact on the electronic music scene.

When Monosurround step on stage, you can say goodbye to the boundaries between audience and performer, and "Hello" to Maximalism. The duo Ramtin Asadolahzadeh and Erik Schaeffer present not only a masterful repertoire of musical styles, but also that illusive skill: to read and then their feed their followers exactly what they want. The Monosurround party – DJs and dancers alike – go on an intergalactic journey through countless universes leading inevitably to their unique, maximal sound. It’s now available for you to experience on their "Hello World" – The Maximalism Tour. Ecstatic dance mosh guaranteed.

It’s no surprise that every concert and DJ-set these two play is a unique and heart-pounding experience. Monosurround stand for everything we want: overwhelming technical mastery, unquestioning passion, and absolute dedication to furious music-enjoyment.

There’s a new wave shaping the current musical climate. It’s called Maximalism. Monosurround are not just showing us the door to this new sound. They are leading the revolution.

"Hello World" – the debut album from the best electronic live band

After a long wait, Monosurround finally release their first studio album Hello World - A musical journey through an image–driven, epic story. An interview by Tobias Schwertner at the TV Tower on Sep. 4th, 2008 in Berlin gives some insight into the background and motivation behind the groundbreaking album.

How did you start playing together?

Ramtin: We met in a club in Kreuzberg Berlin where I was DJing in January 1999.

Erik: He was playing a really freaky 60’s funk sound. I’ve never heard that kind of stuff before – lots of hot and sexy atmosphere. He was well dressed, wearing a tie and driving the crowd crazy. A few days later we met to talk about music and our ideas. We both had the feeling that this collaboration could last a long time and that we were going to do great things together.

How did you come to the French label Citizen Records?

Erik: Fred Gien with Citizen sent us a message one day, completely crazy about our track "Borschtchick". At that moment we were looking for a label to release our track "Cocked, Locked, Ready To Rock" which we had just finished, so Fred put both tracks on an EP.

Ramtin: We enjoy working with people from all over the world. There are small but noticeable differences in the way you rock crowds in each country. It’s great to join them.

Why is your album so much different than what we heard from the German techno scene for years?

Ramtin: There is a reason for the name "Hello World". We don’t want to just satisfy a specific scene. This album is made for everyone in the world no matter what their age or musical taste.

Erik: We’re artists, we wanted to make a huge album. Both of us love the figurativeness of classical music, so we create our tracks in a symphonic way.

Ramtin: We love to play with different styles, create sounds and go into details. That’s why it took 7 years to finish the album.

There seems to be a "Hello World" story. I noticed the extraordinary picture–book inside the CD cover.

Erik: Yes, we talked to our long-time friends Jesko and Steffen about the artwork for "Hello World". They do really weird stuff as the artist duo Hoellein/Marx. We have our studios in the same loft. They worked secretly for 5 months and organized photo shootings with us etc., but revealed nothing about their ideas or work. 

Ramtin: And then they surprised us with a complete visual "Hello World” tale and imagery like the strange Outer Space Organ.

Erik: That is the vehicle we use for our journey around the world.

Ramtin: For every song they created a piece of art. Each one has its own marvelous story – you will love every song even more while looking at these pictures and diving into them.

What about the audio book you mentioned?

Erik: We talked to another friend, the Berlin author Sebastian Julius Boes, because we were so happy about the evolving story. He is currently writing the novel for the audio book "Hello World”, that will be based on the picture–book.

Ramtin: ...and of course also on the music.

Erik: We already read the first episode – it’s somewhere between Terry Pratchett and Bertholt Brecht – very trippy. But more about the audio book in the future...

Ramtin: We are really happy having all these great friends supporting us.

What can we expect from future live performances?

Erik: We reworked the music for the "Hello World" tour to create even more live power. People freak out when Ramtin goes crazy on the microphone. He is a real stage addict. I provide the sound and rock the keys.

Ramtin: We want the audience to have a real live experience. It’s a must for us to party on stage together with the crowd and to be really close to them.

Erik: We are very optimistic about becoming the best electronic live band in the world...

Ramtin (with a very deep voice): "Hello World"!

You’re from Berlin. How did you meet and what kind of music did you release in your beginning stages? 

Ramtin: In the beginning, we combined a 60’s sound with breakbeats and bigbeats. Within one year, we had already composed music for two German cinema films.

Erik: Then, out of a whim we decided to make a club track called "I Warned You Baby" which ended up being our breakthrough.

How did you get to know each other?

Erik: I met Ramtin in a club in Kreuzberg Berlin in January 1999. He was DJing there, playing a really freaky 60’s funk set. Very sexy stuff. He was well dressed, wearing a tie and driving the crowd crazy.

Ramtin: A few days later we met to talk about music and our ideas. We realized quite quickly that this collaboration would last much longer and that we were destined to do great things together.

It took quite a long time before you finally managed to release your first studio album. How do you explain the time between the release of "Cocked, Locked, Ready To Rock" and "Hello World"? 

Erik: We started working on "Hello World" more than 7 years ago. That was long before the "Cocked, Locked, Ready To Rock" single. Like other artists, we wanted to create a huge and diverse album that stood out as more than just a collection of dance hits. Since both of us admire the figurativeness of classical music, we chose to create our tracks in a detailed and symphonic way.

Ramtin: That’s why it took such a long time to finish the album.

How did you meet the Citizen label and why have you chosen them to release your music? 

Erik: Fred Gien with Citizen got in contact with us one day, completely crazy about "Borschtchick". At that time, we were looking for a label to release our new track "Cocked, Locked, Ready To Rock", so Fred put both tracks on the "Cocked, Locked EP"

Ramtin: It’s great to work with people from all over the world. There are small but noticeable differences in the way you rock crowds in each country – it’s very inspiring.

Citizen used to be more techno orientated. Did you know that? 

Ramtin: The musical orientation of a label does not really matter. It’s more important for us that a label loves our music and supports us. We have to feel that these guys are every bit as motivated as we are.

About your style, it’s hard to define. It incorporates hip-hop, breakbeat, pop and electro, of course. Do you think you have your own touch? 

Erik: Of course there are influences coming from many different styles in our music since our backgrounds are so broad. "Hello World" is made for everyone in the world no matter what their age or musical taste. We love to experiment with weird combinations, to create new and unique sounds, and to go into details.

Would you accept it if one were to say that you’re the German Simian Mobile Disco? 

Ramtin: Principally yes; we would also accept Mireille Mathieu, The KLF or The Kings.
But honestly, we like best the name Monosurround.

"Cocked, Locked, Ready To Rock" has crossed the boundary outside of the dance scene and is used in a TV campaign. How did you react when you learnt it? 

Erik: Of course we were happy about it.

Has it changed a lot of things for you?

Erik: We receive lots of great feedback on this TV advertisement. But Cocked, Locked was already successful before this happened.

Among the 13 tracks of the album, there are lots of vocals, sometimes with vocoder and sometimes more electro-hype. You didn’t want to do a dancefloor-only album, did you? 

Ramtin: No, "Hello World" is more than just an album. It’s a project. For the artwork we talked to our long-time friends Jesko and Steffen. They do great stuff as the artist duo Hoellein/Marx. In the beginning of 2008, they started to work secretly on the artwork. They organized photo shootings with us etc., but revealed nothing about their ideas or work for more than 5 months. Suddenly, out of the blue, they surprised us with the complete visual "Hello World" tale.

Erik: It’s a wonderful and complex story containing imagery like the strange Outer Space Organ. In the story, it’s a kind of spaceship that we use for our journey around the world. They created a piece of art telling a marvelous story for every song. You’ll love every song even more while looking at these pictures and diving into them.

I saw you DJing in Montpellier around 3 years ago and you were quite focused on dancefloor electro-house beats. Do you feel like you have to do both (producing "pop" and mixing "electro")?

Erik: We would not exclude producing another club album in the future like we already did with "Early Days". But you have more freedom when composing a diverse studio album like "Hello World". There were practically no rules or limitations, and you can hear that in the final work.

Ramtin: When we’re on stage as DJs, we want the crowd to have a rocking party night with us. We only play the sound that we like to party to ourselves. It can be electro-house-techno-bastard-break stuff – whatever.

On the album, you even venture into a kind of lounge music with "All Night Long"... Surprising! 

Erik: We started composing this track in the early days of the album production, however this song has gradually developed and changed through all the years. Only when we recorded real instruments like strings, brass, drums, bass, etc., the song really found it’s final touches. "All Night Long" has it’s own special and unique, acoustic sound – perfect for "Hello World"

Do you think it’s a good thing to be so eclectic when you produce Electro?

Erik: Definitely, yes. We’re eclectic in all matters. It was great seeing the artwork arising from the music, and after that to see the whole "Hello World" tale arising from both the music and artwork.

Most modern producers just try to be efficient. It seems you give more value to musicality more so than simplicity, right? 

Ramtin: Exactly. We’ve never had a timetable when composing music since it would be in contrast to our way of producing. A track is just finished when we are completely satisfied, not one second before.

Would you be happy to be signed on a major company like Digitalism was for instance? 

Erik: As we already said: It’s important to us to work with a label that supports and understands us. That is what matters to us the most.

Will there be remixes/EP coming from this album? 

Ramtin: Of course. "Cocked, Locked, Ready To Rock – Summerized" is just the first single release of "Hello World". On top of this, several tracks have already appeared on compilations of different musical genres.

What’s next for you? 

Ramtin: We already mentioned the "Hello World" audio book. We are currently working on that, but more about that in the future.

Erik: Another big focus is of course on our live tour. We entirely reworked our music so that the audience will have a real live experience. You have to watch us rocking the crowd – Ramtin is a real stage addict!

Ramtin: And Erik is a crazy keyboard-rocker...

Erik: Finally we’d like to become the best electronic live band in the world...

Ramtin (cheering):
"Hello World!"