With Phatmoon almost upon us, Milan from Black Sun Empire has been nice enough to answer questions from Matt Baseline... read on for the interview.

How did the three of you come together to form BSE?

• Me and Micha being brothers, hooked up because of our parents and unlike some brothers we usually can stand each other so with their same interests in music it was easy to start working together. I met Rene in 1992 in high school, both still experimenting with various styles of music (house - techno - trip hop - hardcore etc.) We decided to start making music together in early 1995 and after we had been floating between all these types of music for a couple of years we finally found our musical direction around 1997, which resulted in the formation of Black Sun Empire....

Is there any particular meaning behind the name Black Sun Empire?

• I was blown away by the Star Wars movies as a kid and introduced it to Micha and Rene as well. Sci-Fi and electronic music have a very strong connection in a sense that both can draw you into a world of unknown surroundings were known rules don’t apply. When we needed a name to represent ourselves as a group we looked up some old Star Wars novels and flicked through them. Drawing together some words the name BLACK SUN EMPIRE was born and we have always stuck to it

In what ways do you each contribute to the overall BSE sound?

• We all pretty much have the same skills when we produce. Of course there are different ways of doing things and the roles do vary when we work. Like if one is sitting in front of the main production station (aka big mama) it’s easy to loose yourself in a sound and it’s good to have someone else say “what the fuck are you doing? That sounds horrible! Cut it out or I throw you out!” Also it’s generally hard to think about all aspects of production, like getting a good riff/sound going but also making it sound good. For that alone it’s better to have more people in the room

Outside of drum and bass, what are you listening to at the moment?

• I listen to a lot of different stuff but my favourite non dnb artist at the moment would be Trentemoller.

You’ve been to New Zealand every year for the last few, what is it that keeps you coming back?

• That’s an easy one, Egg Benedict & Flat whites!  But more serious, the scene in New Zealand is pretty spectacular let alone New Zealand itself. Besides that we’ve had a really good relationship with a lot of NZ producers. Matt from concord dawn for example stayed with us for a few weeks during his first tour in Europe (2002?)

You released a tune by, NZ producer, Trei on your oBSEssions label, have you been playing tunes by any other NZ artists?

• Of course! State of Mind, The Upbeats, Dose, Concord Dawn, Johnny Hooves all make excellent tracks.

Have you ever performed at a wedding before?

• Nope, really looking forward to it!

What’s your opinion on the state of drum and bass at the moment?

• I think the scene is very healthy, for us this year has been the busiest year so far and we’re only half way in. Besides that, there are tons of really good new producers.

What is in store from BSE and your various labels over the coming months?

• Well the last part of the Telemetrik LP is about to be released together with the CD. There’s another 12” ready to be released on Obsessions with tracks by Johnny Hooves and Isotone. We doing a few remixes for people and have a few other tracks ready but have no release schedule for those yet. So more about that soon  If you like to be updated on releases check our myspace or sign up to be blackmailed at www.blacksunempire.com/blackmail

What are your current top 10 tunes?

• - Telemetrik – My Lightyear
• - BSE & Eye D – Milkshake
• - Isotone – Trip
• - Johnny Hooves – Double or Nothing
• - Nphect – Musclecar
• - Noisia – Diplodocus
• - VC&UP - Ghostrider
• - Sub Focus – Timewarp
• - Phobia & Jubei – Guillotine
• - Mistabishi - Make It Go Away

Thanks for doing this interview, are there any shout outs you’d like to make?

• See you guys in a few weeks! Looking forward to it!

You can catch Milan playing at Phatmoon on the 12th of July, at the phat outdoors Inangahua site. Tickets and info at http://phatclub.co.nz