“ on Classic back in 2002. He continues his fine form in 2007 with his easy-going remix of IT’s ‘Women In Toilets’ and his own warped ‘Beluga’, and it’s this consistency that has seen those Mulletover rogues invite him over to headline their room at their Mulletover meets ISSST party in London on Saturday 7th July. Stefan took some time out from his day to day bizness to fill us in on his particulars. Now who said Germans don’t have a sense of humour?
When and how did you first discover electronic music?
A friend of my parents gave me Tomita’s “Pictures At An Exhibition” synth record for Christmas when I was 5. Does that count?
But of course! What about clubbing/raving? What were your first experiences like?
I believe my first club visit was seeing Shy FX at a club called WTF in 1995. This was awesome! Obviously I was more into drum’n’bass then. What really turned me on to house was Dixon’s residency at WMF – once he did a Svek night there which was quite memorable. Think I never told him that.
How would you describe the music you make? And how do you feel this has changed over the years?
I can’t, and it’s not really my job to describe what I do. As for my intentions, I try to do every single track in a way different from all the previous tracks I’ve done. So if I managed to do so, naturally a lot of change should have happened over the years. The worst thing in music production is sticking to a formula.
Aside from the styles of music you produce, what other forms of electronic music really excite you?
To be honest, I’m more excited by Mr. Bungle and Meshuggah now than by any recent development in electronic music.
Who would be your dream collaborator in the studio? Living or dead?
John Zorn. Dead or alive.
Your track ‘Sleepy Hollow’ has been massive over the past year. It’s very distinctive for sure. Any background story about that?
Yeah, there is one actually. ‘Sleepy Hollow’ was originally made for Perlon, but they were unable to release it in 2006 and we agreed I’ll give it a release somewhere else. I then got CD-Rs out to Richie Hawtin, Villalobos, Luciano and Dixon (who later signed it for Innervisions) – who all happened to rinse it at WMC. Some of them passed it on to people like Steve Bug, Carl Craig, Garnier, Lazarus, and Gilles Peterson – without my permission of course! Anyway, this way it became the hit at WMC that year and from then on there was no way back. The history of this tune is a great exercise in name dropping. Sorry about that.
If you’ve got it...flaunt it. Are you still Berlin based? Is it as much fun as everyone makes it out to be?
Oh yeah, it became almost impossible to leave. It’s more fun than you can imagine in your wildest dreams. West Berlin is the next big thing though.
Do you think the whole minimal “trend” will die down anytime soon?
Trend? Die? It just starts growing on me.
You will be playing for Mulletover at their joint party with ISSST on July 7th somewhere in London. What do you know of the two respective parties?
Did you know Tiefschwarz named a track after Issst? Issst is probably the most Berlin you can get in London. A lot of my DJ friends have been playing Mulletover, so I’m well prepared.
What were your previous experiences playing in England like?
I had my first UK gigs due to Jesse Rose, who was just starting his career back then and managed to get me over on several occasions. We played some smaller spots together, such as Bridge and Tunnel in London and Scuba in Sheffield. I especially enjoyed playing in the North, since people seemed to go from the door straight to the dancefloor. You don’t have that anywhere else. We really had a good time, but now playing Room 1 at Fabric is quite a thrill too (for Jesse too I suppose).
Do you have a favourite time of night to play or does it not matter to you?
That totally depends on the place. At Panorama Bar for instance I really love the opening spot from midnight til 4, although they always try to convince me the one in the morning is the best (which is around lunchtime on Sunday). When you start early on, you can really build a set towards something, while at peaktime people kind of won’t tolerate me playing Derek Bailey, if you know what I mean.
What’s the one record in your box that’s guaranteed to cause havoc on the dancefloor wherever you play it?
I won’t tell you. There are around 5 of them and I recently found out that none of them is on Beatport! Digital is so 2006, mate.
Stefan Goldmann plays alongside The Hacker, Geddes, Bobby M, Kevin Griffiths and more at Mulletover meets ISSST on 7th July in London. Click the link for more details:
http://www.issst.com/index.php?option=c ... view&id=72
Interview by Ben Gomori