House Is A Feeling

So it’s a pleasure for me to host a mix from Roman Flügel, and it came as a surprise when he got back to me late last year to say he’d record one. It came as a bigger surprise when, a few months later, when I assumed he’d been too busy, he mailed me to say he’d completed the mix.

I’m sure all of you are really familiar with his work over the years with so many great records in so many different styles, from Eight Miles High to Roman IV and collaborating as Acid Jesus or Alter Ego. I’m certain that a lot of people will really love this mix, I’ve been playing it loads in the last week or so and I think it’s easily one of the best guest mixes I’ve done here. Maybe the best. So it’s exciting to be finally sharing it.

I’ve asked Roman a few questions about the mix and house/techno in general and you can read the answers below, along with a tracklist etc. Feel free to comment.

So what can you tell us about this mix? Is this the music that you like most at the moment?

It is certainly just a little selection of trax I like at moment. For me it is interesting, inspiring and exceptional house music in different and deeper shades. I also thought about having – more or less -  an entire night in a 50min mix. It starts quite slow and experimental with the beautiful “Bodywork” by John Roberts,  reaches its “peaktime” with the latest Running Back and says goodbye with Subway’s “CS 78″ on Fritto Morto. I found most of the records in a tiny record shop in Frankfurt called DEO that has just opened. The owner is specialized on the weird side of house music and dares the impossible…

When did you first start DJing and how did you get interested in it? How different is it today?

I tried to mix my first records around ´87 when “electronic body music” (mostly from Belgium and Germany) merged with early house from Chicago. “Techno” was about to break through in Frankfurt due to Discotheques like the “Dorian Grey” or the “Omen”. It wasn´t much later when me and some friends started to throw our first Acid House Parties after we spent our holidays in Spain where we managed to get some DJ mix tapes from clubs on the Balearic islands and the Costa Del Sol that were absolutely brilliant. You could hear people mixing New Wave into Percussion Instrumentals into EBM and Acid House and back into the Gypsy Kings.

What do you think about the current scene? Are house and techno healthy? Are they ever unhealthy?
I don’t think they’ve ever been unhealthy. Dance music has always had its trends and ups and downs. Sometimes I was part of a trend sometimes I was not. It’s still an interesting scene to me even though I´m also waiting for the next “BIG thing” to happen since techno was called “minimal” and after it was “Electro House”.

Obviously there’s more focus on deep house in 2009 than there has been for a long time, your Roman IV tracks seem to be pretty influential, how do you feel about that sound returning?

It seems like history’s repeating for the more “mature” producers. It reminds me a little bit of the time between ‘94 - ‘98. Ata & Heiko (the guys who released my first records on Playhouse and Klang) started to do a 100% deep house night called “Wild Pitch”  at that time in Frankfurt. It was their way to resist against boring, fast, trancy and hard Techno that dominated the bigger clubs. Suddenly the scene was split into different parts. People were either into “House” or “Techno” (that finally ended in even harder manifestations like “Loop Techno” or “Schranz”.)

Today deep house ist the opposition of minimal for many people I guess. It brings back the warmth and soul many have missed in the last 12 months because of DJs that misunderstood the word “minimal” and played more or less boring music and dared nothing.

What annoys you most about what you do?
I feel very sorry about the fact that vinyl as a form of presenting music (not only as a soundcarrier) is about to fade away. And I won´t be able to stop that.

Have you ever felt like quitting and doing something else?

I did some things before like going to the university and doing shitty jobs for example. The ability to make music has been the best thing that happened in my life so far. At the moment I don´t see a reason to change anything.

Any major regrets over your entire career?

Too bad I wasn´t able to deliver another five “Rockers” and several “Geht’s nochs”. It would have been my chance to retire at the age of 38. No, honestly – no major regrets.

Do you ever worry about making bigger hits and still keeping that underground credibility? For instance your tracks as Alter Ego and your “Gehts Nocht” were very big during what was called “electrohouse”. (I’m not judging btw here, I liked those records, just I’m wondering if people have criticised you for them as tends to happen in techno…)

I’m not to sure about what “underground credibility” really is. I guess it is more a problem of some listeners who want to take part in something that is considered as “underground” and equivalent with “quality” for them. In many cases they are right but not in general. “Rocker” and “Geht’s noch” were never planned as major hits. But they both had the potential to crossover and some of the remixes made it a lot easier to do so. I don’t think there´s anything wrong with big tunes in house or techno. Think of tracks like  “Good Life”, “Promised Land” or “Stakker Humanoid”. They’ve been in the charts but I still consider them as important and cool. If people are really interested in something they can find out if there’s more behind than just a hit that destroyed their conception of how music should be.

Do you have an all time favourite record? Let’s say one that’s techno and one that’s not techno

Mr Fingers – Amnesia and Glenn Gould / Leonard Bernstein – Brahms Piano Concert #1, performance of April 6, 1962

Any plans for 2009 you want to tell people about?
I´ll do a remix for Frankfurts Motorcity Soul´s next single on Aus Music. And there will be some Alter Ego shows during summer where we present some updated versions of the music we did before “Rocker” changed our life.

Tracklist:

1. John Roberts-Bodywork (Feel Music 24)
2. Hot Coins - Christmas day (Untracked 06)
3. The Mole -There´s hope (Internasjonal 06)
4. Mark E ­-Night Mover (Creative Use 005)
5. San Proper & Steven De Peven ­ Huspers & Kletsers for live (Studio
Soulrock 02)
6. Rising Sun ­ B1 (Workshop 05)
7. 6th Borough Project ­ The Formular (Dub Vibes) (Instruments of Rapture
01)
8. Dplay ­ Tschaka  (Running Back 018)
9. Motor City Drum Ensemble ­ A Side (Raw Cuts 13)
10. Boola & Demos ­ Toon (a:rpia:r 03)
11. Subway ­ CS 78 (Fritto Morto 02)

Download the mix here. Subscribe to HIAF mixes as a podcast by copying and pasting this link into your itunes or similar.

Enjoy and please let me know asap if there are any probs with the podcast or download.