Tell us where you’re based and how you first get hooked on dance music?
I live in the south-west of Germany near Karlsruhe. I had my first contact with techno music by chance. In 2008 a friend had told me about the Gotec Club in Karlsruhe and that extremely legendary parties are supposed to take place there. Of course I had to convince myself of that. When I was inside the first time, the magic of the atmosphere and the lightness of the people caught me. Of course before that I was already in contact with electronic genres in private, but from that day on I was obsessed from the techno culture.
Who are the people that most inspire you in dance music right now?
It’s really hard to pick favorites because the market really has an extreme density of very talented and good artists. But believe it or not, I get most of my inspiration from other genres. I often go to concerts that have nothing to do with techno. I like to party privately on Drum n Bass and Heavy Metal – but I don’t live for the genres. But to come back to your question: Len Faki, Kaiserdisco, Wehbba and Thomas Hoffknecht are right on my nerve. I know it’s a wild mix but I’m very complex.
How would you describe the style of music you’re making and which major labels have you featured on?
Phew – really hard to say. Personally, I don’t really see myself in a corner. Like I just said, I’m very complex. I try to find a healthy mix of different subgenres of techno for myself. Sometimes I like trippy and rolling functional sounds. Sometimes I need more complex things with more feeling and melody and produce melodic or serious mainroom techno. But sometimes I have to restart my brain and make some rancid harder techno. It always depends on how I feel. You can also see my complexity by my history of releases. I have released on many great major labels in the past. For example Intec, Pursuit, Orange Recordings, Pornographic Recordings, Redrum Music and many more. And this year there are already some new major label deals signed.
Is there any philosophy behind the music you’re creating? Are you imaging how it will affect people? Or are you just making music?
Of course I do what I do with extreme passion. The music I make has to drive me personally and whip me forward. My philosophy behind: I just want people who listen to my music to understand my music, to forget life and all the stress for a moment and to be able to escape into another world, even if only for a short time. It should connect people, spread love and create a feeling of community – no matter who you are or where you come from. Fun-fact: When I try to explain to people who are not from the techno scene what techno means to me, the conversation always ends with the following sentence: You only can understand techno if you dance techno. This is followed by a prolonged embarrassing silence…
What have been some of the biggest highlights from your career to date?
Success is always in the eye of the beholder. For me, success is when my own music is celebrated properly and people are happy because of my music. But a huge milestone and door opener was clearly my release on Carl Cox label Intec Digital and when Carl Cox said about me and my music that I will be a future star in techno. This was followed by some great gigs from small to large festivals and clubs. When you’re really interested in my hole discography feel free to check my homepage or facebook.
Talk to us about your latest release and who’s been supporting it?
My latest release was only 6 days ago. I need to catch up: I’ve been trying for 5 years to convince Steve Mulder at Orange Recordings to release my music. I’ve had a few cancellations in the past but now it finally worked out and I’m really happy about it. With my track “Close your Eyes” I have landed on the new “Selections V.3”. The track got a lot of support and feedback from a lot of artists like Enrico Sanguliano, Karotte, Joyhauser, just to name a few, but also a lot of other DJ’s. But you can also see this on Beatport: Within 5 days the track climbed to position 16 in the Beatport Hype Techno Chart and to position 61 in the real Beatport Techno Chart. I have the feeling that this is not the end of the journey and I can reach the top for the very first time. Of course it all feels mega great and surreal. But I really have to thank everyone who buys my music and supports me. A lot of people write me how cool the track is and that fills me with pride. Beatport itself even put me on place 2 of the best hype techno tracks of March. But still back to your question: It feels really cool when the established sizes and smaller DJ’s support you or give you feedback. One lives on feedback. And actually I get for nearly every release feedback and support by many big names.
Tell us about your DJ setup when you’re performing. Any plans to perform live?
Also here I am really multilayered. I’ve been working on getting my hybrid live act ready for a year now. And my debut in public will be at the 18th of April 2020 at the Gotec Club Karlsruhe. There I will play the after hour and close the club for Len Faki. I am really looking forward to that date! For my hybrid live act I use A&H Xone:96 as mixer and also as audio interface, my Roland TR8-S and my analog SE-02 for live drums and live synths, many external effect panels and also some software stuff. The Software I use is Traktor 3 with 3 track decks and 1 remix deck. I control this with midi, to be exact with two Traktor X1 and one Traktor F1 Controller. Also I use different stand-alone vst plugins. Sometimes I play with the Pioneer Setup (3 CDJ’s + DJM 900nx2) a normal Dj-Set. But there I also use my TR8S for my own Gero Jansen fingerprint.
Do you have any other releases planned for the future that you want to share?
Sure, I produced in cooperation with my friends AM to PM a track and we signed it to Ramon Tapia’s Say What?. Release date will be at Mai 15 pre-order / 29 exclusive on Beatport and Spotify. Additionally Spartaque signed me with my own EP to IAMT. The release date will be at July 10 ore-order / 24 exclusive on Beatport and Spotify this year. There are also many other releases planned but not confirmed at the moment.
Can you share your top 5 tracks, so our readers can get a better feel for what you’re playing?
Uff… it’s really hard to pick my all time top 5! I have to pass this question because there are so many great artists with a unique sound. I can’t say one track is the best. It depends on my mood. But I told you earlier in the interview my favorite artists.
