Another beautiful track explodes onto our dancefloors from one of our finest producers
Interview : Dan Prince
Jacob welcome to DMCWORLD, where in the world are you right now?
“Hi DMCWORLD. I am in Berlin right now, I have just returned from four days of DJing.“
How was Corsica on Friday night?
“Great! Via Notte is a great club. I really enjoyed it and went on with the crowd very well. The club setting is quite good and I very much enjoyed the restaurant within the club. That was a great icing on the cake.”
You like so many of us were first introduced to music in our father’s car. What was the music he was playing that you remember?
“That was more like an overall mixture with taste. Nothing cheesy rather a good selection of rock and pop music. At least very entertaining stuff.”
It took you a little while to settle on the type of dance music you loved, you even flirted with Drum & Bass. Tell us the story of how you finally landed where you are today musically…
“Being born in Berlin I spend some time in other parts of the country. After returning to Berlin the Techno / House music virus really caught me. I fully experienced the underground club scene being on the dancefloor at all those small clubs and freestyle locations which are unique to Berlin. In 2010 I started the bedroom DJing with two 1210s. In late 2011 the Asaf Avidan ‘One Day’ Remix happend which went to No.1 in 8 European countries. From there the career started with me joining the Get Physical Music camp and DJ booking got going all over Europe…”
When I told the guys in the DMC Buzz Chart office that I was interviewing you today, they said ‘wow – he is the king of beautiful techno’. What are your thoughts on that comment?
“As I mentioned above I was at home on the dancefloor at all those Techno and House clubs. To me that has not really changed which means I still feel like being within the crowd while instead I am on stage or on in the DJ booth but I still play for them and try to give them maximum musical entertainment. This kind of entertainment can be described as ‘beautiful’ because of the variety, joy, melody etc. I try to put into a 3 – 4 hour set. The DJing is something I take really serious which means I spend hours and hours every week with the track selection.”
Both ‘My Heart Is A Jungle’ and ‘One Day’ were Buzz No 1’s several months before secretly crossing over to Radio 1 and the national top 10. For an artist, is that frustrating waiting around for your pride and joy to really see it’s full potential?
“I am very happy to have a very reliable and professional management and booking team with me. With both tracks the team kept control over the whole process to make it really happen like we wanted it. As soon as you lose control on those stages of your career there might be mistakes which you can hardly fix. In the end we relied on the serious building up of the tracks instead of a ‘hush hush’ release. Of course there was a lot of extra work on ‘My Head Is A Jungle’ to keep up at least a litte bit with ‘One Day’ which has sold 1.4 million so far.”
One of the things we love about you as an artist is your mixtapes. A perfect mix of house and eclectism – who were the DJ heroes you looked up to growing up that influenced you?
“A DJ I really rate is Acid Pauli who I used to see playing at Bar 25. He can celebrate club music in a really great way. Selection, mixing, attitude – all excellent. To me that is like school to listen to him and observe his skills. Of course other people like DJ T or DJ Koze are great DJs with huge skills and great abilities to rock crowds from small to festival size.”
What is the current Top 10 you are spinning…
1. DJ Yellow & Flowers and Sea Creatures – No One Gets Left Behind (Konstantin Sibold Remix)
2. Sable Sheep – Upon Burning Skies
3. Marvin Hey & Ferdinand Dreyssig – Coeur de la Nuit
4. Boris Dlugosch feat. Roisin Murphy – Never enough (Ian Pooley Raw Dub)
5. Chasing Kurt – From The Inside (Konstatin Sibold Remix)
6. Stimming feat. Urzula Amen – Ferdinand
7. Isolée – Allowance
8. andhim – Hausch
9. Daniel Dexter – Birds (Kollektiv Turmstrasse Blind Bird Remix)
10. Marlose – Avantgardistisch (Monkey Safari Remix)
I was on the dancefloor at Vista back in July for Get Physical. How was that Ibizan adventure for you?
The first time in Ibiza is always quite overwhelming I think. With all those clubs and DJs being on the same island there is quite a lot of competition and pressure in the air. Apart from that, I enjoyed the club and the nice stay at the Get Physical villa which turned into an unexpected very relaxing time.”
Where have some of the other stand out gigs been for you recently – Paris, Barcelona, Dusseldorf and Sofia looked rocking!
“I really enjoyed the festivals expecially MELT! and Sonne – Mond & Sterne both in Germany. Apart from that France is always super good and extra nice with the crowd. But at the same time I had a great gig playing Weekend Club in Berlin on a Tuesday last week. Overall most gigs are great so I can hardly pick a few.
I was reading in an old interview you did a while back where the journalist called you ‘a small underground, touring DJ’. I think it is safe to say those days are long gone, but do you miss those small intimate clubs?
“Of course I miss certain vibes which I experienced at certain clubs but everybody does that. As a DJ I try to be on a good balanced level which means sometimes bigger and sometimes smaller but of course I can not just like that return to the very small clubs where my roots are. But I started playing with an alias for free at certain occasions also. That is great fun!”
Who are some of the producers from around the world you are giving fives to right now?
“Ian Pooley, Re.you, Konstantin Sibold, Ame…”
It might not be good for my image, but the artist Wanklemut really loves…
“Good Food. Good Sleep. Girlfriend. Neil Young. East-Berlin.”
Best album you have listened to recently…?
“Stimming – ‘Stimming’.”
What is coming out next from you studio wise…?
“Remixes for Bo Saris, Fabio Gianelli and a few others. My new EP on Get Physical with Remixes by Ian Pooley. A new Wankelmoods Mix CD by the end of the year.”
What one song means the most to you?
“Neil Young – ‘Cowgirl in the Sand’.”
What is the one piece of studio equipment you cannot live without?
“Ableton live.”
And finally, what is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
“Take your time…”
