XLR8R Podcast 511: Bodin & Jacob

Those fans of weirdo minimal house, electro, and off-kilter techno will surely be aware of Bodin & Jacob—formally Bodin Stojanoski and Jacob Chenaux. The Frankfurt-based duo has had a big few years, becoming something of a stable in many of the world’s finest purveyors of these playful sounds. Few would deny them their place in XLR8R‘s Best New Artists list of 2016.

Bodin met Jacob in 2013. Frankfurt’s electronic music scene, at the time, was rather stagnant—a far cry from the nucleus of club culture that it once was. The pair crossed paths in Freebase Records, where Bodin was then employed, and discovered a mutual appreciation for two things: intelligent dance music and electronic production. Inspired, they hit the studio together and paired up as a production duo, starting the collaborative project later that same year. Soon thereafter came the Action EP, a four-tracker featuring a collaboration with Julian Chenaux. It landed on Traffic Records, the label they co-founded alongside friends Martyné and Patrick Klein.

It was a big moment for both the duo and the imprint. Support for the EP came from some of the scene’s leading names. Rhadoo, Raresh, and Petre Insprescu, the Romanian trio, played it out heavily; while Ricardo Villalobos played all four tracks in a single set. Bodin, Jacob, and their fledgling label were now on the map.

Fast forward to today, and it’s a very different picture. Traffic Records and the boys sit at the forefront of what some are calling a Frankfurt renaissance. More releases have followed—albeit rather slowly—the most recent of which came in the shape of two tracks on the label’s recent Gesandt four-tracker. On the DJ front, they’ve recently signed to the Cocoon Booking agency, and they’re beginning to tour with increasing frequency. With semi-regular Traffic parties rocking local institution Robert Johnson and beyond, it seems the duo are going to be about for some time to come.