Purple Disco Machine

Bringing the feel good factor back to the Musique

Interview by Dan Prince


Tino welcome to DMCWORLD…where on planet dance are you today?

“Hi Dan, actually I ́m sitting in my kitchen. During the week I try to be at home as often a possible. Spending time with the family is the best way to relax a bit.”

Well what a summer you are having, culminating in a tune that has sent the Buzz Chart office crazy, ‘Musique’ swinging our way on Off Records. Please talk us through the sound and history of the track…

“Well, “Musique” is a typical feelgood track. The main plan is to make people smile and transfer happiness. I’m a big fan of French electronic music from the ‘90s such as Daft Punk or Etienne de Crécy . With “Musique” I tried to capture that feeling of being a teenager in the ‘90s. During the production process I got a big, big smile on my face and felt like Marty McFLy in ‘Back To The Future’.”

Check the video here…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K06NwAyjGMg

When I told Guy Garret – king of all things Buzz Chart that I was interviewing you today, he shouted across the office…”we love PDM…this track captures everything of all the elements of Ibiza and summer grooving”. Thoughts on that little comment?

“Brilliant! That’s what I mean by trying to make people happy.”

We interviewed Sigma a couple of weeks ago and love their Paloma Faith track ‘Changing’, a tune you have wonderfully remixed. What was your approach to this rework working with such a great original?

“The track is amazing and it was a big honour to remix it. Last week I saw that the original reached #1 in the UK charts. That’s fantastic. As I started to think about my remix it was quite hard to bring the mood and the feeling from a 150bpm D&B track into my typical Purple Disco Machine deep funk sounds. After a few days of working on it I got into the flow and I was finally happy with the result.”

Hear it here…https://soundcloud.com/3beat/sigma-ft-paloma-faith-3

A quote from you …” We’ll never forget the best decade in music though, the 80′s.” With that in mind…give us your 1980’s All time Top 5 classic tunes…

01 Everything from the early days of Phil Collins


02 Chemise – She Can ́t Love You


03 Jungle Brothers – I ́ll House You


04 Giorgio Moroder – From Here To Eternity

05 Change – Lovers Paradise

Talk us through your studio set up…

“Well, mostly I work in my own studio with Cubase 7.5 as DAW and MCU Pro as a controller. For me it’s important to be able to execute all my ideas as fast as possible so I like to be as efficient as I can be. I also like to work with the Arturia Bundle or the, from time to time I use one of my analog studio tools or synths like the Juno 106 or Moog Minitaur.”

You are a massive film freak, non more so that Quentin Tarantino and the early 90s. What though is the last GREAT film you saw…

“During travelling I love to watch films or TV-Series . At this moment I’ve been obsessively watching’True Detective’, one of the best for me, right after ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘A-Team’!!”

What is the best and worst thing about living in Dresden?

“The best thing is the city in general and having all my friends close by. The worst thing definitely is our ’international’ airport.”

Okay let’s rewind for a moment. Tell us about your earliest memories of music growing up…;

“I have to thank my father. He’s a big music lover and I had the luck of growing up with the best musicians and bands in my ears. He took me to a lot of concerts: Phil Collins, Pink Floyd, Moby…it wasn’t a surprise that I became a music lover too.”

What were your first encounters with dance music?

“In the mid 90s we had a radio broadcast called ‘NJR Friday Scene’ and every Friday I was sitting in front of the radio and recorded hundreds of tapes. My friends didn ́t understand it at the time but, whatever haha.”

When did the idea of a career in music start to form in your mind?

“I never planned a career in music but after a few years of making music, trying out the DJ thing and working in a record store, I got infected with the dance virus. I can’t imagine spending my days without music and every year it became easier to make a living with it. 10 years ago I decided to finish my 9-5 job to do music full time.”

Your first big break?

With PDM, my first big break was definitely ‘My House’. After that release everything changed.”

The gig of the summer?

“This year, I had the honour to play my first time in Ibiza and it was amazing. It’s such a magic island.”

The 5 big tunes in your box this weekend?

01 Robosonic – Good Old Feel


02 Daniel Dreier – Don ́t Hang Up

03 Tigerskin – I Believe


04 Indeed – Turn Me On


05 Boris Dlugosch – Stronger

Some of the producers you are high fiving at the moment?

“Definitely Claptone, Jungle and Monte as well.”

The Forbes DJ Rich List with producers earning more than $20m a year. Thoughts?

“Really? I’m going to have a rant at my booking agent later…”

What makes a great Purple Disco Machine production?

“Everything starts with a good groove. If you have the groove, you have the girls on the dancefloor. I always try to link different styles and mix it my typical PDM sound. The music should sound warm and analog, like a ‘70s funk band.”

And finally, what is coming out next from you studio wise?

“I just finished remixing ‘Hercules & Love Affair’ and ‘Robosonic’. But I’ve also been working on my debut album for the past year, which is about finished.”

http://www.purplediscomachine.com