Thank you to my biggest fan, Thomas Fath, for finding this gem in your Tape Collection.

FRONT 05.06.1994 Boris Dlugosch

One of Germany’s leading house music lights, Boris Dlugosch’s chameleon-like approach has helped him to amass an incredibly enviable catalogue of grooves that continues to grow every year.

Releasing on illustrious labels like Gerd Janson's RUNNING BACK,  Classic Music, Defected, Suara, Toolroom Records and Poker Flat Recordings in recent times, Dlugosch’s chunky basslines, crisp percussion and earworm melodies have found their way to all corners of the house music scene. His successful working relationship with Purple Disco Machine yielded L.O.V.E. and Set It Out, which both hit the #1 spot on Traxsource and the Top 5 on Beatport, as did Peppermint Jam’s 20th anniversary remix package of his classic Keep Pushin’.

Keep Pushin’ was the track that broke him through onto the global house scene in the mid-’90s in a big way. Germany wasn’t exactly a hotbed of house music talent at the time—making him somewhat of a rarity—and it soon became clear with further anthems like Hold Your Head Up High that he was a producer with a serious sense of musicality as well as dancefloor prowess. After this series of club smashes, the big-name remixes started to roll in: Aaliyah, Mary J Blige, Adeva, Randy Crawford… and then came that remix for Moloko’s Sing It Back, a huge crossover track that became the official radio version and hit #4 in the UK Singles Chart. Next came reworks for Daft Punk, Basement Jaxx, Jamiroquai, Mariah Carey, Moby…

Eventually growing wearisome of the declining funky house / garage sounds of the era, Dlugosch discovered a new-found love for the French electro scene in the mid-noughties, releasing Bangkok on Erol Alkan’s Phantasy Sound imprint and Cycle on Lektroluv Records (complete with a remix from Etienne De Crecy), with the likes of 2manydjs, Boys Noize and Laurent Garnier all throwing their weight behind his updated sound.

After the electro scene became saturated and the times progressed once again, he metamorphosed into the producer we know him as today, taking a modern approach to classic house music that draws on multiple influences. “I constantly check for new tracks and absorb what’s out there” he says of his hunger for new sounds and styles. “We all change constantly!” he adds of his—and indeed others’—evolution over the years. “I don’t want anyone to pigeonhole me”. And nor should they. When you have as much musical talent as Dlugosch, it’s criminal to keep making the same sounds over and over again.

A Boiler Room Berlin set in 2013 introduced him to a new generation of house music lovers, and his regular In The Mix uploads on SoundCloud give a good idea of what can be heard in his rocking club and festival sets. Upfront house meets garagey classics and disco cut-ups, dashes of electro, acid and deep melodic moments to give a well-rounded selection that perfectly marries house music’s past, present and future. 

He is also an erstwhile label owner, having set up Golden City Sounds in 2013 with Digitalism’s Isi and HEY TODAY!’s Raik Fargo—but the imprint is currently dormant. He’s eyeing up the possibilities of launching a new label, but only when it feels right and makes sense on a creative level. We live in hope.

A true legend who continues delivering the goods today, Boris Dlugosch is one of house music’s real treasures.