Stompy Music

When we first received a label in our inbox named Weplayminimal several years ago, we have to admit that we initially judged a book by its cover and didn't think it was going to be anything special. Boy we're we wrong. Not simply boring, one dimensional, minimal techno, it had a groove and bounce to it that we were instantly attracted to, and we've had our ears on label boss M.in ever since.

Since then, M.in has become a driving force in the funky minimal sound out of Germany that can easily be classified in the Tek or The Funk sections and not be out of place. Besides his own labels, he also has produced for the likes of Andre Crom's OFF, Loco Dice's Desolat and Claude VonStroke's Mothership. There's countless others, but you get the idea--people dig his music.

He also runs a booking agency and if you're lucky enough to receive promos in your inbox, its very likely they came from his Kaufe Promotool. He took a small break from working and drinking beer to have a chat with us so we can find out the M.ax about M.in.

Stompy - How did you start your day?

M.in - Today I woke up 5 minutes ago and still feeling a bit tired and my neck is hurting … too much nodding :)

Stompy - Running a label, promotion company, producing, remixing and Dj'ing--how did you get your start?

M.in - I started DJing at 11 years old. For me it was directly a passion to dj and make music. At 14 I started to produce breakdance music but nothing really good, but for us to dance to it was enough! I started doing parties about 15 and at 19 I became a club DJ. When I was 24 I released my first track on Ibrahim Alfa’s label Semi Automatic 006. Three years later I decide to start my own label Kaufe Musik together with my good friend Alexander Kaufmann and we also started the producer and dj team Kaufmann & Ferdinand. After two years of Kaufe Musik I needed something new and so I came back to house music and started to produce as M.in. In this time I also started the Kaufe Musik Promopool to promote my label and others like Robsoul, Souvenir, Om Records, Micro.fon, Stylerockets, International Freakshow and much more.


At the moment my priority is focused on producing my album and djing but I'm still working on my label and the Promopool is still running fine!

Stompy - Was the music business something you wanted to be a part of growing up?

M.in - I think the music business is one of the hardest I know of, which is why it is not the business I like but more the musician thing. I started to dj before I ever visited a club or a party, and I also made music in elementary school so this always was something I loved to do. It always gave me ease of mind and let me forget all the troubles around me. But I also did breakdance, graffiti and rapping but the dj thing was always the thing I wanted to do. After I played the first parties I got more and more self-confidence and I saw how the people reacted to the music. And it is still a great feeling when people dance to my music, fall in love to my music, have fun to my music … whatever. I love what music means for the people! You know … music speaks louder than words :)

Stompy - What's your studio set up like?

M.in - Please don’t laugh … I have an old Acer Aspire laptop with 1.73 Ghz duo core processor, a M-Audio Fast Track Pro soundcard, a M-Audio KeyRig 25 Midi Keyboard / Controller, Alesis M1Active 520 speakers and a lot of plugins! Today I just got a new Acer Aspire laptop, but for my album I’m working with a pianist who has a Nord Stage Piano 88 and I borrow some synthesizers from friends.

Stompy - How did the techno project with Kaufmann & Ferdinand originate?

M.in - Alexander just wrote me a long time ago because he searched a booking agency, and after I listened to his tracks I was really taken by his music. We were very good friends instantly and then I asked him to start a label together and we started our producer and dj team Kaufmann & Ferdinand. We just found each other!

Stompy - Is there a different approach to the music when collaborating instead of working solo?

M.in - Sure it is because he is more into straight techno and I am more into weird and funny techno stuff and also house music. When we produced we always had a lot of fun and made some crazy shit like that "Maden Magda" track. We never released the original but we did a 'Maden Magda' remix contest and the winner got his remix released on Kaufe Musik 005 and it was a great success. We also started to produce together again and we actually have a release on Stylerockets. I think together you have more fun but it is not as easy if you're both into different music. But for our project it works really good.

Stompy - Your sound has been widely popular in both the techno and house communities. Do you identify with any particular sound more than the other?

M.in - The M.in sound is something between House and Techno. I started M.in because I saw that the classic way of house music came back and I wanted to be part of the new house wave. My first remix as M.in did well, and my first M.in E.P. became a summer hit with more than 3000 sold vinyls-- at this time even 1000 sold was good! After that E.P. I got a lot of remix requests from big names like Thomas Schumacher, Radio Slave, Anthony Rother and more. Those remixes pushed me into a bit more of a techno style, and sometimes I also feel like I need something more to push myself forward. If you take a look at my E.P.'s you'll see they all are more housey and the remixes have a bit more techno in it.

Stompy - Do you feel its house with a touch of tech, or tech with a touch of house?

M.in - Both! I can’t do the same music again and again that’s why I always drift between the lines of techno or house. Also my co-operations with Patrick Lindsey or Patrick Kunkel had always a touch more of tech.

Stompy - With the promotion company, you're constantly hearing fresh music. What are some of the artists and labels that have had a 'Wow' factor for you lately?

M.in - Hard question … After I started to travel all around the world I changed my sound but never lost the essential thing what is important for me. But I always preferred a bit of freakyness, weird stuff and also more of a musician kind of house or techno music. I always try to pick the best tracks I can find from each label because they all have sometimes something special. A label that I love is Made To Play because they always are different than any other label and they also found a new style--which is great because always the same style can be boring. Also labels like Mintgum, Yippiee, Brise or Dantze brought me a lot of cool tracks I’m playing very often. Also artists like Filtertypen, Marek Hemmann, Dirty Doering, Dualton or Remerc have made such great tracks lately! Ah, and I became a big fan of the new Frivolous album on Cadenza. This one is the best albums of the year--so fresh and so cool! He’s also an inspiration for my upcoming album.

Stompy - How do most of the artists find their way to your labels? Do you actively seek out certain producers, or do you still look for the diamonds in the rough from people that send you promos?

M.in - At the moment it is really hard to find some cool new talents because I’m getting so many demos, but the mails are always strange like “Here’s my new demo hope you like” with no other info about the artist. Sometimes I get only a sendspace link with no email address or artist info only “Hope you like for your label”? But I meet so many cool producers on tour so I always find some fresh talents I like to push, and I also try to do big promos for them and if they get bigger through those releases or releases on other labels I also put them on our booking agency. It works really well (considering we just started a couple months ago) and we are also working with a lot of international partners so our artists are fortunate to get bookings all around the world.

Stompy - Do you have any special up and coming artists that no one knows about yet?

M.in - I've pushed some artists that got big after they released on Weplayminimal , and another special talent is Remerc who is a good friend of mine. I think he will be a big one soon and we also started our first tracks together, so we will see what happen next!

Also Dualton are one of my favorite artists on Weplayminimal and Komm mit Musik (my vinyl only label). I did some remixes for Mousse T. (Peppermint Jam) and for Amelie, and they helped me with two tracks.
And there is also Adam Berecki, Muovo and Fabian Noa who have a lot of talent and also have some cool upcoming releases and remixes on Weplayminimal soon.

Stompy - What's in your fridge?

M.in - Today? Almost nothing. But I love to cook so I will drive to a butcher soon to buy ham and some fresh asparagus (the asparagus season in Germany has begun) and cook a Pancake filled with ham, asparagus and spinach gratin with cheese!

Stompy - Beer, Wine, Liquor or Water?

M.in - Okay okay.... I was at a well known restaurant in my home town Mainz (near Frankfurt) to eat with my wife and her mother and this restaurant also has their own beer plant. It's the best beer I know of in the whole world and you only can buy from them but you can also take it home. I actually just opened a one liter bottle at this moment...so fuckin tasty! I also took Martinez and some other friends to this place and they agree the beer is the best they know!

Stompy - Are you obsessed with anything besides music?

M.in - Cooking and watching old Kung Fu movies with actors like Ti Lung, David Chiang or old Jackie Chan movies, but most of all my wife and my unborn child … he will be released in August :).