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“If you want to get started as a DJ do it as a hobby initially. You can’t push the money up so early, you have to wait until people are willing to spend more money on you and are happy to pay more because they really want you. If you can get the chance to play twice a month for €50 euros a night somewhere where you can build your reputation, you should be really happy.” 12 years after he moved to Berlin to establish his own DJ career, Cologne raised German Dj Phoniqur (known as Michael Vater on his
passport) is firmly established as one of Germany’s biggest electronic club stars, as a both a DJ and producer for uber-cool label Poket Flat. Kickstarting career by the time honoured tradition of throwing parties and inviting unknown guests he helped launched the likes of Ivan Smagghe as well as his own career though he cautions it’s not so simple with Berlin no longer so open for all. “I think it’s very difficult for new DJs to find gigs these days because so many really good or well known producers and DJs are moving to Berlin or are already here so the competition is much fiercer. Everyone likes to have a residency somewhere to play somewhere on a regular basis so it’s much more difficult for newcomer DJs to find a place,” he suggests. “Having said that, when I was booking DJs in the past I’d often hear some guys doing a good job and I’d ask them if they wanted to play here and there, doing warm ups sets and that kind of thing, just for fun or maybe €50 then often after just three gigs they’d ask me for much more money. You can’t do that because there are so many other DJs here.” DJ advice aside he’s chatting to Skrufff today to promote his new album Good Idea, a double CD collection that’s just come out on Steve Bug’s aforementioned label Pokerflat that ranges from deep house, lounge and minimal, a mix he says simply reflects his tastes. “Other DJs or producers often come up with different artist names for different styles but when I started DJing I was already DJing different styles here in Berlin under the same name so I never decided to use different names for productions,” he says. . Of course when I’m booked as a DJ these days people expect some kind of house, electro-minimal set so of course I won’t play the very soulful tracks from my album. But that music is still in me so it had to be on the album.”
Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): Musically you’ve changed style pretty radically over the years, where are you at now?
Phonique: “I don’t think I’ve changed that much, it’s more that I’m more capable at making music that I really want to, production-wise these days. I’d still love to produce many more different styles but I’m still not able to. For example, when I was in Sao Paulo last time I met the vocalist of Sepultura (Max Cavallero) and he told me he’d like to try making some electronic music, like dub crossed with electro ska and I was trying to produce an instrumental but I couldn’t make what I wanted to make for him. I have something in my head but I’m still not yet able to produce it. I was always into different styles of electronic house music, I guess, and now on this new album I’ve taken that as far as I’m able to. I’ve got 27 tracks on the album so I’ve been able to focus more on the vocal, soulful listening aspect on CD1 with more club music on CD2.” Skrufff: Sepultura were hardcore death metal, were you into that style of music previously? Phonique: “No, maybe a little when I was a teenager. He’s one of the best friends of a friend of mine in Brasil which is how I met him. We were hanging out when I was there in Sao Paulo.”
Phonique: “Skrufff: Berlin mash-up producer Shir Khan told us recently that though the media and many producers in Germany are distancing themselves from minimal it remains the main sound in Berlin, would you agree?
Phonique: “Berlin was always a very minimal city musically even before it was called minimal, so it has always been around then suddenly this big hype happened and you’d go to clubs like Weekend and all of a sudden the DJs that were playing there would be connected to minimal music, because they were playing some of it, but the whole thing was overrated in clubs like that. It’s still around in Berlin, sure but of course, the normal people are a little bored of hearing it everywhere. It’s not that important anymore for people to say ‘hey, I’m going to a club to hear some minimal’. People will go there because they know the DJ and like his style or the club rather than just to hear minimal.” Skrufff: How do you split your energies between Berlin and the rest of the world, do you sit down and think about building a presence in London for example? Phonique: “For DJing, I have an agent who does my bookings so I don’t care about those things too much. Of course, I’m trying to stay in contact with the guys who are booking me. At the moment if I’m focused on anywhere it’s Brazil. I’ve been there three times in the last year and I really love the country and the people there, Sao Paulo especially. So of course, I’m pushing more to get some bookings there but I’m not too fussed about other cities. As far as London is concerned though, sure it’s very nice and there are great producers living there with lots of clubs and I played there three or four times last year, at The End. I really like playing there but it’s not that super-special. Don’t get me wrong, I like it there but it’s not like the super special brand new club everyone is focusing on. But then look at Fabric; Fabric is voted the best club in London but I don’t like it. I played there once and I couldn’t feel the soul in the club so I told my agent I don’t want to play there any more. I prefer to play at the End definitely. The people working at Fabric are very professional for sure but it’s such a big disco. Whatever.” Skrufff: Is Ibiza an important place for you? Phonique: “No. I played there last year and I’m booked to play there this year too though I heard there’s some problems with the clubs there. I have a booking at DC10 for the end of August for Mr C’s Superfreq night. Ibiza’s not important, it’s a gig and it can be a good gig but that’s all. Last time I played at Monza at Space and it was good but nothing more.” Skrufff: Which gigs are important to you? Phonique: “You never know beforehand. For example, last year I played on a boat cruise in Brazil and there were 800 people on board for a house music party. It was one of the best gigs I’ve ever had. Because they knew I like slower and deeper music they asked me if I’d like to start the night and play from midnight til 4am and I played on the
ope- air deck so people slowly filtered there after having a nap in the evening. I built it very slowly and it worked so well that at 4am when the local DJs were due to go on they asked me if I wanted to go on any longer because they enjoyed it so much themselves. They let me play until 6am and because of that gig I’ve returned to Brazil twice already. There were lots of promoters and DJs on the boat and that helped. So that turned out to be a really important gig but I couldn’t know it before.” Skrufff: You came to Berlin in 1995, where were you before that? Phonique: “Cologne. I grew up there and when I was 18 I started to work in a club there, I was still going to school, but working there on the weekends to make some money though mainly because I liked being in the club atmosphere. Actually it was a gay club but they had the best music there and the coolest crowd, It was also the first club where Sven Vath was doing a residency. He used to play once a month on a Thursday night and it was the first time I heard of people coming to a club just because of a DJ. The club was called Yocoto and before that people were coming because the club was famous, this was in 1991/ 92 then all of a sudden there was Sven Vath. It was a Thursday night when the club was usually closed but a lot of people would be coming to see this guy Sven Vath. I heard how much money he got for that night and I couldn’t believe it, this was back in the day and he was getting around 2,200 euros,
15 years ago. I thought it was incredible.” Skrufff: Was that why you decided to become a DJ? Phonique: “No, no, no, I never thought about that I was just surprised at the time about how much it was.” Skrufff: Some of today’s big name DJs routinely make 20,000 or 30,000 euros a night, is there still big money in DJing today generally? Phonique: “Yeah, there’s still a lot of money to make, of course.” Skrufff: Are you ultimately aiming for massive pop stardom levels of success? Phonique: “No, I’m very happy with how things are now, when I tell my parents how much money I make on a typical weekend they still can’t believe it. My father was a truck driver so I usually make as much in a weekend as he did in a whole month. I’ve figured out that I need to work just another five or six years to make as much money in this time as my father did in his whole life so I\m totally happy with how things are. I enjoy DJing and of course the money is nice but I’m not focused on making more and more for each gig in the future.” Good Idea is out now on Pokerflat Recordings. Phonique upcoming DJ dates: 06.07.07 Portugal, Porto, Vogue
07.07.07 Germany, Berlin, Watergate
04.08.07 Japan, Tokyo, Spacelab Yellow
18.08.07 Germany, Ludwigshafen, Poker Flat @ Loft
25.08.07 Spain, Gijon, Loft.co
26.08.07 UK, London, The End
29.08.07 Spain, Ibiza, Superfreq @ DC10
31.08.07 Germany, Berlin, Poker Flat @ Panoramabar http://www.myspace.com/phonique (‘ALSO: PLEASE DON'T ASK ME TO LISTEN TO YOUR TUNES. I GOT NO TIME FOR IT!! I AM REALLY SORRY! and don't waste your time trying to post your new tracks or parties in my comments! . ..’) Interview by Jonty Skrufff (Skrufff.com) Subscribe to Skrufff music newsletter at www.skrufff.com
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