Pornbugs is the alter ego of ‘Sven & Sven’ – two electronic music aficionados that have played together since 2005 – playing and pro- ducing deep-tech house sounds aimed firmly at the dancefloor.

Here with their Echoing In My Mind EP for Sublease Recordings, they are back doing what they do best – making high octane dance music with a touch of class.

The title track is a firing deep tech workout with a clean production and distinctive sound design, enriching the ever present dancefloor tension.

The EP also features two versions of Ramenko – the original is a slinky tech house groover with an irresistible bassline, while Sascha Dive’s Soul 2 Soul Remix leans towards a soulful disco house groove while maintaining a strong edge.

To celebrate the release, they recorded a new exclusive mix for our Select Cuts series. Enjoy!

WWD: How did you both come together to form Pornbugs? Can you talk about the origins of your unique name?

We’ve known each other for a long time, I think about 29 years. Relatively quickly we discovered our common passion for electronic music. Our duo wasn’t always called Pornbugs, instead we had another project called I.D.O.G. & Crypton from 2001 to 2006, where we were more involved with the trends of techno at the time. Pornbugs we then founded in 2006 I was also in Ibiza a lot during those years and got a lot of inspiration sound-wise from there.

As a result, we wanted to create a project where we present ourselves a bit more housy. This was the birth of Pornbugs, along with the creation of our label Bondage-Music. With both projects we wanted to build something that in our opinion has more soul. Well, as for the origin of our name, that’s less spectacular than you might think. Actually, we wanted a DJ name from one word, but that says it’s more than one person.

WWD: You have a very distinctive deep and tech house sound. How did you develop this, and what are your influences?

Our very first contact with the deep-house sound came through Steve Bug and his label Pokerflat, that inspired us a lot. That’s why our current release on Steve Bug’s label Sublease is something very special for us. Beside this we have there are quite a few labels and artist we like, some of our favorites are Berg Audio, Rutilance Recordings, Joule Imprint, and Yoyaku. To name a few artists we like very much, Mihai Popoviciu, NTFO, Okain, Janeret, Traumer.

WWD: Can you talk about your creative process? How do you go from an idea to a finished track?

To be honest, we are very slow. It takes us a long time to get something done. Is also due to the fact that we do not live in the same city. Thus, actually always an idea arises, which is then constantly sent back and forth.

WWD: What’s the story behind your new release ‘Echoing In My Mind’ on Sublease? How did it come about?

As mentioned before, we have been fans of Steve Bug for a very long time. Of course, we quickly noticed that he founded the Sublease label in 2020 as a sublabel of Pokerflat. At some point we had a few tracks ready, which we then sent him.
He reacted relatively quickly and offered us to release an EP on Sublease. Then we exchanged ideas about a remixer and so we could round off the release ”Echoing In My Mind’ with a remix by Sascha Dive. So you can say, for us a dream came true and hopefully we can do a follow-up EP on his label in the future, then our wish would be ‘Steve Bug mixed Pornbugs’ 😉

WWD: Sascha Dive did a remix of ‘Ramenko’. What is your relationship with Sascha Dive?

Sascha and we know each other since 2016, it started with a remix he did for a release by Mihai Popoviciu on our label. Since then we have been working with Sascha on a regular basis, he has released several EPs on Bondage-Music and his last album was also released on our label. It has also become a friendship from our collaboration. Currently we are working on a joint EP.

WWD: You have released on several different labels like Acker Dub, Brise Records and Klauselle. Can you share your experience working with these labels?

We can only say good things about the labels, a very familiar atmosphere between artist and label. And the EPs were presented super professionally, we are very happy with them and would work with the labels again any time.

WWD: As established artists in the electronic music scene, what advice do you have for up-and-coming producers and DJs?

The most important thing is certainly to always be true to yourself. You have to always be active. Try yourself to find a good start in the scene. You also have to go to parties and events a lot to socialize, you have to be present. Later, you should also start producing your own music, if you want to do something on a more global level.

Today you can also achieve a lot if you have a very good online presence, that was not the case when we started in the early 2000s. At that time, we were still distributing promo mix CDs 😉 In short, be active, just do it, follow your dreams, make and create are the most important points.

WWD: Can you share your thoughts on the current state of the electronic music scene? How do you see it evolving in the next few years?

So, after Covid you could see a strong techno development, techno sound that is also very fast. But also, with the house sound, the tracks are very fast. Somehow, we can’t imagine that this trend will last for a long time. Somehow this trend is to the detriment of the soul.

WWD: What are your plans for the future? Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations that you can share with us?

Nice that you ask, there are still some things coming this year. Next is a remix for uzzv on his label 12+1 London. Then there’s a remix for Sascha Dive, besides us there are other remixers like Lola Palmer, Dilby and Cristina Lazic on the same release. Then comes a remix for Rangø, a new upcoming artist on our label. Then later this year comes an EP together with our friend Frink. As we had mentioned earlier, we are currently working on a joint EP with Sascha Dive, one track is as good as finished.

WWD: If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?

We’ve liked two artists a lot for a while, Traumer and Janeret. We love the sound of both of them. The tracks from both of them are really great, we often play stuff from both of them.

WWD: In 2006, you created the label Bondage Music, and you have released music steadily since then. How do you see the label’s future? 

Well, so our next goals are definitely the 20th anniversary of Bondage-Music in 2026 and then also sometime our 100th release on vinyl, currently we are at release number 70 on vinyl.

We definitely want to stick to releasing on vinyl. Musically we will stay true to ourselves, we make music for the club. The artwork will still have the signature of our Pete “Bombart”, he will always make changes but stay true to his unique line.