Guide: Lehult

What effect has the closure of the Golden Pudel had on Hamburg's nightlife?

LC: It's probably the worst thing that's happened to Hamburg in the last five years. It never materialised that we did a night there which is a big shame and something I really regret. We should have pushed it a little bit harder. Hamburg is a city that lives on a balance. It's a place that works because you have the contrast of very posh areas but also some very left-wing alternative areas. The Pudel was one of the last balancing points that gave contra to this flashier nightlife that's coming into Hamburg and isn't fun for anyone into music. The Pudel was a place you could go every day of the week and there would be something on which is crazy.

Assam: In Hamburg there's a scale of negative stuff going on with money flowing into the wrong cultural areas. There's a new building for a philharmonic place that cost millions and millions. Pudel made it bearable to live in the city. It's overflooded with these awful commercial things. Now it's gone, there's a big hole.

Do you guys feel you have a responsibility to fly the flag with your own parties at PAL?

Assam: It would be nice if people see it that way. We just wanted to get out there and do nice parties for our friends. If people feel that way then that's perfect.

LC: Hamburg definitely has the potential. Pudel has been a place where these things can be showcased, especially on the weirder spectrum. Maybe we have a little less ideology than the Pudel. We just want to do parties for our friends to come together and have a good time. It's not really to go against things that are going wrong in the city. There's kind of a bit of political activism connected to Pudel which we wouldn't really have at our parties.

What's so special about PAL?

LC: It's a very clean club in terms of design. Its programming usually goes towards the techno end of the spectrum. We're one of the few house nights there. It's been working out really great so far. The system's really good and it's a place where there's only really a dancefloor and you can't do much else but dance. It always stands and falls with the music. If there's bad music people will leave, if there's good music it works out!

Assam: The guys that do it definitely filled a hole in Hamburg. There wasn't really a place that showcased this kind of house and techno music for a few years. It was all in a bit of transitional phase.

LC: Hamburg's always going up and down a little bit. We've all DJ'd and been involved in different scenes. I wouldn't say we're veterans but we started going out when we were 13, 14 and 15. So it's been like a coming and going of clubs. PAL is a place that offers a space where they have aspirations musically. It's not a place where they go for stupid, blind programming just to get cash, they actually care about having good music played there. For us to do a few house-orientated nights there is a pleasure. We're standing next to Smallville and the guys from Session Victim. For us guys being new to this thing and a young label, it's been an amazing thing.

What do you look to achieve?

LC: I think it can really go hand-in-hand just to make people have a good time through music. We take quite a bit of pride to put in a good warm-up at our parties. A lot of parties start full-on nowadays and they don't really seem to care. We always try to have a good warm-up, a solid main set from a guest then a finishing set that keeps people there for as long as we can. Our aim is to really bring people together and give them a space where they can have a good time.

How important is it for you to combine high-profile names like Prosumer and Boo Williams with local guys like yourselves at your parties?

LC: For us, we're in a financial position where we can get these guys to play with us. Most of them are people who have inspired us, from whom we've learned a lot about music and DJing and all these things. It's just an amazing opportunity to be able to play a warm-up for or close after one of these guys we admire. We try to go through a mix of the bigger acts, while slipping in people who are up-and-coming as well. We've had Galcher Lustwerk and Shanti Celeste in the past. We do smaller parties where we look to book local DJs and friends. Being able to curate a party is a great opportunity to push people you like and show them to the people who go out here. Many people didn't know who Shanti was before they came to our party and after they were like 'who's this girl? She's playing amazing'. That was just really nice to hear that.

Do you have plans to throw parties outside of Germany?

LC: That will be the next step. A few of us are playing abroad every once in a while. Liem has taken off quite a bit, He's over in France every other weekend. He's playing in the UK too. DJ Assam has played Lisbon recently. Our Hamburg night at PAL will be our flagship event but we'll sneak in a few other parties in the city. We've just spread out to Berlin where we've done two parties so far. It's more of a techno-leaning club but they seem to like our house vibes because we've been invited back. The next one is end of June.

Finally, tell us a bit about the mix and the tracks you've included.

LC: We decided to narrow it down to tracks that are going to come out on Lehult from now until the beginning of next year really. As you can hear, it goes from two different places. It starts with a hip hop beat and then it goes into groovy house, vocals, then into deeper territories before fading out with some slower jams. We really wanted to showcase this whole spectrum we put out on the label. I do think we have a sound but I don't think it's narrowed down to any genres. It's got tracks from the third, fourth and fifth EPs and two tracks from my new one. There's one or two from Liem and Eddie's EP, one from Johan and a curveball from DJ Slyngshot from the 10th release. Also another track from me which is a contender for the Lehult sub record we'll do. It's what's hot for us now and an overview of what we've been doing.

Assam: People who are going to listen to it probably haven't heard of us before so we thought it'd be nice to give an all-round view of past, present and future.

The 'U Still Coming Over' EP by Lucky Charmz is out now

Dave Turner is Mixmag's Digital News Editor, follow him on Twitter