Catching Up with Sander Kleinenberg
On June 14, 2011 5K, a.k.a. Sander Kleinenberg, drops his long-awaited and self-titled debut album 5K. We sat down and spoke with Sander before his set at Pacha NYC to get his take on the album, his inspirations, and the past, present, and future of DJing.
Ten Ten Life: I heard that you started DJing around 1987. Who inspired you to get into it?
5K: John “Jellybean” Benitez. I was a big fan of Shep Pettibone, François Kevorkian, and a bunch of influences from the late 80’s. I love the whole break movement from New York.
TTL: Do you remember your first track? How long did it take you to produce? How did your friends react to your first productions?
5K: I started producing around 1990. A friend of mine had an MPC 2000, and before I was able to work on it, I had to clean his car and be his bitch really for like two months before he was like “alright, you can have a go at it.” So I definitely paid my dues. The first guy who let me use his studio really worked me like a bitch.
5K: And let’s not forget, in the late 80’s, shit was expensive. Now you can buy a laptop for a couple hundred euros or a couple hundred dollars, and you’re on your way. Back then, it was a real …
TTL: Commitment?
5K: Yeah, absolutely. And if you were to find someone with a studio and recording possibilities, that was a real treasure.
TTL: Have there been any big influences over the past 20 years that have gotten you this far? Friends, family, fellow DJs and producers?
5K: Oh absolutely. I owe a lot to a DJ from England called Sasha, who’s a great friend of mine. He’s actually here in Pacha with me tonight. He’s been really inspirational, specifically when it comes to the art of DJing, in terms of trying to take something from A to B. Instead of playing 20 hit records, he really taught me how to slowly build and sculpt a DJ set into a coherent journey. That is still, to me, the true art of DJing. Starting it from somewhere in a comfortable space, in a nice and warm environment, and then slowly taking it into more frantic territories. And that’s what I’m doing. [And let’s not forget] Danny Tenaglia has been a great influence.
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TTL: As you started to learn your craft from folks like Sasha and Danny Tenaglia, you were coming up within the context of a [DJ culture] in the early 90’s. So how would you characterize it then? How would you characterize it now? How do you think it has changed in the past 10 and 20 years?
5K: Well I think DJing has become far more of a career that it was when I started. When I started, I made 50 dollars a night and I had to clean the dancefloors. It was very humbling and down-to-earth. To have started there, worked on a fundament, and slowly built to where I am today really gave me a huge appreciation of what the true art of what DJing is and the people who were of such an influence to where we are today. And sometimes I do look around at this current climate and I see people with intentions of going into this business of becoming famous. I never really started DJing to become famous; I started Djing because I love to share my passion for music with as many people as possible.
TTL: What does 5k mean? Is it a new theme in your music, a new persona, or a new inspiration?
5K: I wanted to try and make a document of what moves me, and that’s what this album is. It’s like a glimpse into my heart, what motivates me and inspires me from the days in ‘86 when I listened to Planet Rocket to today when I listen to a Skrillex record, and everything that happened in between.
TTL: So how would you say the tracks progress from beginning to end?
5K: I hoped at the end the album would be like a journey into time. I did a lot of the songwriting on the album and I tried to capture what inspired me and the bigger moments in my life—not so much as a producer but more as a human being. I wrote a record about my mom who passed away a few years ago and it was a huge influence, and I wanted to leave something behind and give her something. There’s also a record called “Disco Riot” which is a bit of a protest song towards society nowadays so, you know, it’s personal.
TTL: One thing we noticed is that one of your co-producers was Josh Gabriel, a great veteran of American Dance Music. How has it been to work with Josh on this album?
5K: Well Josh moved to Amsterdam a couple of years ago, and I really wanted to have someone who could help me sculpt those ideas and dreams that I wanted to have on this album, and he was a perfect gentleman to work with.
TTL: Have you worked with Kraak and Smaak before this album? How did you guys come together?
5K: I lived in Leiden, where they’re from, for a couple of years. We had run into each other on various occasions, and it felt like a perfect fit to do something with them. I like their albums, I love what they stand for, and the approach that they have.
TTL: How was working together?
5K: As a matter of fact the session was really short. It was a couple of hours and the ideas were instantly there and I took it back home, worked on it a little bit more, and mixed the record. It was fun. I really wanted to try and do something discoey with them and something that captured my love for Muroder, the whole disco era and Donna Summer. This record captured that idea.
TTL: And how was working Miss. Montreal on the closing record?
5K: Miss. Montreal is a very famous local singer in the Netherlands. She’s kind of like a blues singer.
TTL: Very emotional, very soulful sound
5K: Absolutely. I wanted to do a record with her, make it fragile—it was a song I wrote for my mother—and Miss. Montreal was perfect for it.
TTL: For New Yorkers who’d want to take a 3-day weekend in Europe (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) where do you recommend they go? Where do you recommend they party?
5K: Friday you go to Ibiza. It’s still the capitol of clubbing culture in Europe. Saturday night you’d go to a great dubstep night in London. Then on Sunday you’d go to enjoy the greatness of the minimal scene in Berlin. Then on Monday you’d go back to Ibiza and chill on the beach.
TTL: You’ve been to plenty of festivals and concerts, but what seminal moments do you wish you could go back to with friends or other DJs?
5K: The thing I try to envision in my career is that my best nights are still ahead of me. I get inspired by moments in my life, but I’d like to take that inspiration with me to try to make the next weekend the best weekend ever.
TTL: One last question: You mentioned before that you can buy a laptop for 200 euros and be on your way and now we have so many bedroom and garage DJs out there. What is your best advice for someone to stand out in the crowd?
5K: You’ve gotta be unique. You’ve gotta be willing to work really hard. You have to find your own direction. Don’t get sidetracked by the trend of the day — that’s just hype. You gotta do what you really strongly believe in, and the rest will follow.
