Love No Matter What is ASA 808 and DAEDE’s first collaborative release since they were teenagers. Taken from ASA 808’s upcoming solo album Boy, the song crush feels like a warm burst of unconditional queer love, inspired by the two musicians’ long history of making music throughout their youth.
We have had the pleasure of interviewing him and this has been the result.
Thanks for talking to us. Where can we find you right now? How did you start your day?
DAEDE: I’m on vacation in Greece and started my day with a coffee and a marvelous sea view from the mountains. I’m really grateful.
ASA 808: I’m in Berlin preparing the release of my album and some music videos next week:)
When did the idea of starting a musical project start to take shape? Has it always been something you wanted to do?
DAEDE: Asa and I both always have been making music. We started with classical music and then even had our first concert in an indie band together when we were young. I then worked more in the pop genre, writing and producing, Asa built their name in the electronic scene.
This musical collaboration felt really organic and the timing was perfect as I was working on my electronic tracks, when Asa approached me for a joint track. They sent over a couple of tracks and this one resonated immediately. I came up with the airy choir and the mantric topline that was inspired by the title of the track that was already given by Asa – “Love No Matter What”.
ASA 808: Yeah. When Laura sent it back, I completely fell in love with it. She really has the midas touch with choirs and melodies. Suddenly, it was all there. We just had to arrange and mix it properly. Moomin did the rest with his incredible mastering.
How much time do you get in the studio with your collaborators? Or is it mostly remote working these days?
DAEDE: For this track we basically worked remote, although we only live 5 min apart in Berlin-Neukölln. We exchanged some voice messages over the lyrics and the arrangement and finally had tea at Asa’s place to do the final touches. That was the only time we actually spent some studio time together. But in general I really enjoy sharing the producing experience in the studio as it is always an enrichment to have more souls, ideas and input around. I would love to have some
ASA 808: I also love to get together and work on ideas together. Sadly, during the pandemic I just had a few sessions with my friends Budakid and Dark Sky, but that was already so inspiring. I’d love to do some more sessions with DAEDE soon, haha!
Tell us about your new single – there seems to be a very clear message of positivity inherent in there.
DAEDE: Definitely. The music is so wholesome and “Love no matter what” is such a strong message already. It felt like my words were just expanding what Asa intended to express with their music in the first place, in a way that felt really organic.
ASA 808: Yeah, I got the feeling that it really speaks to people and that it’s not just Easy Listening. I originally wrote it about unconditional loving kindness. Then during our collaboration it naturally evolved into a hymn also about the diversity of love, about its transformative power and the feeling of being high on it.
Is this the vibe we can expect from the upcoming album?
ASA 808: It’s a mixture of electronica, ambient and house that tells the story of a very personal inner journey: the fight against toxic masculinity and my quest for gender identity. The songs deal with love, awareness, mindfulness, the gender spectrum, fighting patriarchy, detoxing masculinity and generally with openness, peacefulness and compassion. These are also feelings that I’d like to leave people with when listening to the album.
What other artists are you interested in these days?
DAEDE: Yaeji, Interplanetary Criminal, Cecilia Tosh, Pooja B
ASA 808: Tom VR, Waleed, Daphni and of course DAEDE!
Can you tell us anything about your projects for the rest of the year and beyond?
DAEDE: I’ll have another single coming up at the end of the year, will finish my debut record that will be released at the beginning of next year and have been working on some remixes of friends’ music. Really excited for everything to come.
ASA 808: We’re also celebrating our big 10 years TOYS Berlin anniversary on November 26th at ://about blank with a big awesome lineup (raising funds for the Tubman network) and a DJ TOYS compilation with amazing contributions from producers like 2XM, Dark Sky, DAEDE, Makeness and me. And I have more ambient and electronic ASA 808 productions that wait for their release. 🙂
