Name: Turqois Coloured French Tourists
Members: Slawomir Bias, Max Scharbatke
Nationality: German
Occupation: Producers
Current release: Turqois Coloured French Tourists's new EP The Crémant Sessions is out via So Glad.  
Recommendations for Hamburg, Germany:
Max: Golden Pudel Club (Hamburg St.Pauli Fischmarkt 27)
Max: Yeah, retirement planning ... but hey, maybe we should leave it at that ;)  

If you enjoyed this Turqois Coloured French Tourists interview and would like to stay up to date with the duo and their music, visit them on Instagram, and bandcamp. 



The path to becoming a producer is a process - but from many interviews, I am under the impression that there are nonetheless one or a few defining moments. If this was the case for you - what were they and why were they so incisive?

Max: Puh, that's a good one. I think it clicked when I realized what sampling could do, listening to my favorite rap and house stuff in the mid-90s. A cracked version of Cubase and a small groovebox did the rest.

Slawomir: I also started with a sampler, but my first encounter with an analog synthesizer broadened my horizons. All the knobs and buttons invited me to experiment and explore sounds, and they furthered my understanding of sound design and the entire creative process.

Tell me about one or two of your early pieces that you're still proud of (or satisfied with) in terms of production - and why you're content with them.

Max: I'd say "Love Is Only Moments Away" from our first EP on So Glad Records back in 2015.

The way we flipped that sample and laid it over a heavy kick still makes me smile.



In how far, would you say, was your evolution as an artist connected to the evolution of your music set-up and studio? Were there shared stepping stones?

Max: Yeah, it's always a back-and-forth between ideas and gear. Sometimes new ideas come from new equipment in the studio, sometimes just by pure coincidence or when you're in a record store (or on YouTube, haha) and suddenly hear a track with a little moment you instantly want to sample.

Overall, my current studio space has opened up new possibilities, since it's the first time I can actually use all my stuff at once  … more or less :)

Slawomir: As mentioned, a milestone was the first time I played a synthesizer. My love for the devices turned into a passion, and as a result, I acquired more and more equipment. Playing in a band also influenced my setup in some ways.

There are artists who can realise their ideas best with a traditional or modified piano interface, others with a keyboard and a mouse, yet others by turning knobs or touching screens. What's your preferred and most intuitive/natural way of making music and why?

Max: Turning knobs is definitely my preferred option, but in the end, anything goes. For me, the best workflow usually happens in the morning - but evenings, especially with a few sparkling drinks involved, are made for jamming. Ideally together with my partner in crime, since we don't live close to each other.

Slawomir: It is typically an instrument with a keyboard and knobs. However, it can also be a toy or a small device like the pocket operator that sparks an idea.

Tell me about the space of your current studio/workplace and how you've set it up to optimise creativity.

Max: Our setup's a bit of a long-distance mix.

I've got an external studio here in Hamburg, - perfect for making noise and being "away" from home - while Slawomir runs his operation straight from his living room. It's less a studio and more a collection of gear, basically a full production center with a couch in the corner :)

To have both options on hand helps us being creative.

From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, tell me about the production process for The Crémant Sessions, please.

Max: Sometimes things come together really fast - and sometimes they take ages, of course.

We actually started working on The Crémant Sessions back in 2022 or 2023, I think?

In the case of “Even Temper,” it was a typical TCFT production: found a lovely sample, chopped it up, and built the first arrangement in Ableton. Then I bounced an mp3 and sent it over to Slawomir on WhatsApp for some feedback. Added a vocal sample for the bridge and polished the drums to keep that smooth vibe.



Slawomir: Exactly! Some tracks pop out like a cork from a shaken bottle of Crémant, and some pieces need to mature like a fine wine ;)

Late producer SOPHIE said: "You have the possibility with electronic music to generate any texture, and any sound. So why would any musician want to limit themselves?" What's your take on that?

Slawomir: She's absolutely right, and it's nice to have that freedom. But sometimes it can have the opposite effect, where you get lost in the sound and lose your way.

Limiting it can help you stay focused.

Tell me about your aesthetic preferences for picking effects like reverb, delay, compression, chorus etc - what was the role of these effects in the production of your current release?

Max: Let me pass this to Slawomir as he is our Plug-In and production Guru.

Slawomir: Although the plug-in folder has grown considerably over the years, the stock plug-ins from Ableton Live are still used 90% of the time. Filters, flangers, choruses, phasers and the glue compressor all sound simply beautiful.

Only for reverb or when a compressor with more character is needed, I pick an external one.

The current production process allows for fast and infinite variations. Can you tell me about how you deal with this potential for the infinite and what ultimately decides on how many iterations to create and which version to release?

Max: I think it has both a good and a bad side. The good side is that you can easily tweak things and fix mistakes without spending thousands on studio time. The other side - and I guess everyone knows this feeling - is that often the first take is the most intuitive, and frequently the best.

But of course - don't wanna miss today's possibilities.

Tell me about the role collaboration played in your recent productions - and how you see the potential for machines as collaborators compared to humans.

Slawomir: Collaboration is important to us. Mutual interaction and inspiration in developing ideas is a big part of it. Added to that is the feedback, which ultimately determines how a piece develops and which one ends up on the record.

I haven't yet spent enough time with AI to figure out whether it can replace a human collaborator. However, I don't believe a machine is capable of feeling music the way we humans do and spitting out objective, formula-based feedback rather than emotional feedback.

But who knows what will come next; development is progressing rapidly.

Production, as opposed to live performance, can be a lonely process and feedback from listeners isn't always tangible. What is it about it that gives you satisfaction?

Max: The moment you find the perfect loop is always the moment of pure satisfaction.

Slawomir: Luckily, there are two of us, so we can play ideas to each other. That way, you quickly get the impression whether you're going in the right direction or have lost your way.

Satisfaction usually comes as a text message from Hamburg, preferably with the reply: Yeah, that's dope! hahaha

We can watch videos on production, take producer courses, and exchange deep insights on gear forums. Amidst these options to improve one's chops/skills, how do you keep things playful?

Max: These days, I mostly watch Loopop reviews on YouTube (since there aren't any more Stimming reviews), but I really should check out more tutorials on mixing to sharpen my EQ skills.

Slawomir: When I watch a tutorial video that is well done and I finally understand something or have learned something new, then the fun comes automatically when I use it in the next session

AI is already capable of making something most people would recognise as music. I am curious, though, and will keep this question somewhat broad on purpose: What do you think that means?   

Max: I'd probably call it the beginning of the end - though, of course, we've been dancing around that idea for years ;) We've always dreamed of brain-to-MIDI anyway - that would be insane.

It's both fascinating and a little terrifying to think that a machine can now do what we once thought was purely human. I just hope that, in the end, people still want to hear and see real feelings, real blood, and real sweat. Because I do.

Slawomir: I'm really excited to see where this journey takes us. So far, the AI is able to reproduce what it's learned, and yes, what comes out really does sound like music. But the question is, will the AI be able to create something new? I mean, something like a whole new genre.

As far as I can tell, most new music styles came from a kind of underground rebellion. Will the AI rebel at some point and create something original, or will it forever obediently respond to our prompts and deliver the desired result?

So, for now, we'll continue to need creative rebels to further develop ourselves musically.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though producing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?  

Max: I express myself through music - honestly, I'm not even sure exactly what I want to say. Maybe it sounds simple, but I just want it to groove, so I can nod my head or tap my feet along.

I think about music almost every day, constantly, in between everything else -  my own stuff, our projects - it really means everything to me. That's just how I am ;)

Slawomir: Fundamentally, a musician is just as much an art service provider or entertainer as a good cook or a good coffee roaster. We create a product that makes other people happy and content in the moment.

The biggest difference is that we can trigger many more emotions with a song. For me, there's the "soundtrack of my life" and it plays in real time, and with the musical accompaniment. I can amplify or calm my feelings, be it sadness, anger, happiness, or simply entertainment.

A good coffee can't do that, but maybe I'm wrong, because to be honest, I'm not a coffee drinker ;)