Those fans of weirdo minimal house, electro, and off-kilter techno will surely be aware of Bodin & Jacob—formally Bodin Stojanoski and Jacob Chenaux. The Frankfurt-based duo have had a big few years, becoming something of a staple in many of the world’s finest purveyors of these playful sounds. Few would deny them their place in XLR8R‘s Best New Artists list of 2016.

Bodin met Jacob in 2013. Frankfurt’s electronic music scene, at the time, was rather stagnant—a far cry from the nucleus of club culture that it once was. The pair crossed paths in Freebase Records, where Bodin was then employed, and discovered a mutual appreciation for two things: intelligent dance music and electronic production. Inspired, they hit the studio together and paired up as a production duo, starting the collaborative project later that same year. Soon thereafter came the Action EP, a four-tracker featuring a collaboration with Julian Chenaux. It landed on Traffic Records, the label they co-founded alongside friends Martyné and Patrick Klein.

It was a big moment for both the duo and the imprint. Support for the EP came from some of the scene’s leading names. Rhadoo, Raresh, and Petre Insprescu, the Romanian trio, played it out heavily; while Ricardo Villalobos played all four tracks in a single set. Bodin, Jacob, and their fledgling label were now on the map.

Fast forward to today, and it’s a very different picture. Traffic Records and the boys sit at the forefront of what some are calling a Frankfurt renaissance. More releases have followed—albeit rather slowly—the most recent of which came in the shape of two tracks on the label’s recent Gesandt four-tracker. On the DJ front, they’ve recently signed to the Cocoon Booking agency, and they’re beginning to tour with increasing frequency. With semi-regular Traffic parties rocking local institution Robert Johnson and beyond, it seems the duo are going to be about for some time to come.

Their podcast for XLR8R acts as a window into their ever-evolving sound, presenting just under an hour of free-flowing minimal beats, raw house, and forgotten electro.

When and where was the mix recorded?

At our dearest studio neighbors, Pressure Traxx.

Could you tell us about the idea behind it?

We want to combine different genres with a fluent flow. Not only one line with the same style.

Where do you think the mix is best listened to? 

If you hang out with friends warming up for a proper club night

How does it differ from a regular club set? 

It has the whole curve of a club set just in less time

How do you distribute your music?

For every release, we press several promo copies, which we give or send to some friends or artists we like.

How do you do the A&R for the label? 

We mostly release our own tracks. If we choose other artists we really take care about their philosophy and style. It has to fit one hundred percent on our label.

How does it work in the studio with you both? Do you both have specific roles?

Since the first time we met to make music together we harmonized very well. We mostly have the same direction of sound in our mind. We always find different approaches to diverse moods. There is no specific role; we always switch around.

What highlights stand out for you from the last nine months?

We traveled all around Europe and played at several highly recommended clubs, from bigger to smaller places like Robert Johnson, Concrete, Amnesia, and Club der Visionäre. We are also going to play at Goa Club Rome next week with Martyné. We are really looking forward to this one.

What’s next for you and Traffic Records? 

Next Traffic’s are already prepared. They will be from us with Martyné.

We work a lot in the studio so that we improved our sound. We also try to further develop our own style.

What have you got in store for the rest of the year? 

Soon there will be a split EP on Pressure Traxx by Martyné and us. Also, there will be some other releases which we can’t mention now.