Fresh from a gig at London’s Beyond, we caught up with the pair to talk about making music, gay dancefloors and DJing disasters.

What came first, DJing or music production?
Serhat: I first started producing in several studios in our hometown Hamburg. When I first met Matthias in 1998 he infected me with spinning records.

Matthias: I already started DJing 22 years ago. I had a weekly residency at a big room spot close to Hamburg. I also had some friends that time who were involved in production, but when I finally met Serhat we brought it all to another level.

How would you describe the sound of your tracks?
Serhat: We'd say it's called funky-electronic-tech-house, with vocals and soul!

Are there any juicy productions you are working on at the moment?
Matthias: There are many tracks coming up soon. For example a new single with Alexandra Prince, which is ready to be released on WePlay Rec. It's called ‘So Alive’ and already received huge response from the big names in the scene. Another hot piece of music with Jay Sebag on the mic will follow a couple of weeks later. Then another one with Cosmo Klein. And also in the pipeline some collaborations with CeCe Rogers again, and some other well known US artists - watch out!

Which artists, vocalists or producers would you most like to work with in the future?
Serhat: For sure Quincy Jones...
Matthias: ...or maybe Depeche Mode... I’ve been dreaming of it since my youth...

Many of your tracks have become massive gay anthems. Why do you think your sound goes down so well on gay dancefloors?
Matthias: Maybe it's about the vocal-section in each track. Some of the lyrics seem to touch. And the vocalists we've always chosen may work for you as well. But to be honest - we don't really know why. We just know that we're very honoured about this fact. Gay-people have class. They have style. So we're more than happy that you all feel our music.

Where can we catch you playing out at the moment?
Matthias: The last weekend we played in Greece, next week a Tour in Brazil with 9 gigs starts. After that we have several gigs in Europe again. But better check our dates online at www.myspace.com/sykensugarstarr or follow us on twitter @sugarstarr.

Ever had any DJing disasters?
Matthias: Sure. In so many years things happen. For example, last year at Miami's Winter Music Conference we had a gig at the Nikki Beach. The club was totally packed when we came in. Just the dancefloor was empty... We found out that the DJ before us, a well known guy from the US, was not playing with CDs. He was preferring to perform with only his laptop and his own mixer. And he worked without any headphones! With every mix he dropped out of about 2 seconds.

It so happened that as well as this, his bad choice of music was annoying the crowd extremely. Guests, promoter and other DJs behind the DJ-booth were trying to stop it, just to start our performance earlier. Done. We started playing our first track, the dancefloor was packed again and everyone was partying. Then 3 mins later the music stopped abruptly. What had happened? The DJ before us was crawling on all fours under the DJ booth to un plug his laptop and mixer - but it was the wrong plug! Things happen.

What was the best/most exciting gig you’ve ever played? What made it so good?
Matthias: I'm remembering a gig @ Family in Brisbane Australia some years ago. Great sound system, superb audience and the venue itself. It was just perfect.

You recently played at Beyond in London... how was that? Any plans for a return visit?
Serhat: To play a set from 9-11 am is not really usual for us but it was pure fun to start a day this way.

Matthias: Yeah. I loved it as well. Top club with a great crowd. And most of them seem to know us... would definitely come back.

Syke ‘n’ Sugarstarr’s top five tracks:
1. Chevonne – ‘Catcall’; 2. SHM vs SNS – ‘One Belief’; 3. Prok & Fitch vs Todd Terry – ‘Something Going On’; 4. Patrick M – ‘You Got’; 5. Full Intention vs Marco Demark & Dave Mann – ‘I Live America (LYS Mix)’.

Find out more at www.syke-n-sugarstarr.com.