More...Ask a random person in Germany who they consider to be the most popular techno DJ, and you're likely to hear the name Sven Väth pretty quickly. Celebrating 30 years as a DJ in 2011, the Frankfurt-based Väth has inspired a plethora of myths and stories over the course of time. Whether it's the 40-hour long sets, the rumors about his spiritual trips to Asia or his part-time ascetic lifestyle, much of Sven Väth's legacy has always been built around the man himself.
Hearsay aside, Sven Väth has undoubtedly played a crucial role in propagating both trance and techno music. At merely 18 years of age, he became a resident in Frankfurt's legendary Dorian Gray nightclub in 1982. After a brief and commercially successful stint alongside the Euro dance project OFF, he opened his first own club in 1988. Until its closure ten years later, the Omen became one of the most important techno clubs in Europe, inspiring a whole generation of producers. In addition to the club, Väth also guided Eye Q and Harthouse, two of the most popular labels in Germany throughout the '90s.
But in 2000, Väth reinvented himself as a businessman. Starting as a simple booking agency, the brand "Cocoon" has since become a household name in the electronic music scene, both known for its record label and its mammoth events. And then there is Cocoon Club, a multi-million venture that raised both the bar of club culture in Germany and the eyebrows of many bystanders once it opened in 2004. Then again, Sven Väth has never been a man of compromises. And 30 years in, he shows no sign of slowing down.
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