A globally respected and highly accomplished artist, label boss at the seminal Hot Creations, founder and curator of the worldwide Paradise event series and member of cross-genre band Hot Natured, Jamie Jones has achieved iconic status in the electronic music world. A trendsetter and seasoned tastemaker, the Welsh dance music superstar pioneered his own distinct sound, drawing on his deep knowledge and experience to cultivate DJ sets that weave through a range of diverse, complementary styles selected to energise and enchant the dance floor.

He’s the techno punk, the unboxable nomad: Berlin DJ, producer and label owner Alex Ridha, better known as BOYS NOIZE, made his DJ debut at the age of 15, taking a teenager´s love of house and techno to a global scale. Accolades have been bestowed by Rolling Stone, who named him one of the "Top 10 DJ's Who Rule The World" and Beatport, who elected him “Best Electronic Act” 3 years in a row. He´s rocked the world's biggest stages, lit up Coachella three times, took Lollapalooza by storm, and headlined festivals and clubs on every continent – from Berlin techno temple Berghain to Fuji Rock in Japan to Justin Vernon’s Eaux Claires Festival in the woods of Wisconsin.

As an artist and producer, Ridha has created a sound and a vision that’s peerless, uncompromising, and enduring – respected in the scene, banging from underground to mainstream, it flies in the face of convention at every turn. He’s remixed Depeche Mode, Daft Punk, David Lynch, Feist and Nine Inch Nails, collaborated with Snoop Dogg, Erol Alkan, and Jarvis Cocker, worked on Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Special” and on the soundtrack for upcoming Oliver Stone’s Snowden, and released group projects with genius pianist Chilly Gonzales (Octave Minds), Skrillex (Dog Blood), and Mr. Oizo (Handbraekes). The list of names alone speak volumes about Ridha’s multifaceted approach.

Ridha is also the heart of Boysnoize Records, the label that he started back in 2005. Founded originally in order to retain his full artistic freedom while releasing his own music under Boys Noize, The Berlin-based anarchist collective —and it’s sub-label, BNR Trax— became a home for multidirectional quality electronic music and is responsible for more than 150 releases incl. Strictly Raw (2015), Out Of The Black (2012), Power (2009), Oi Oi Oi (2007) and Octave Minds (2014).

"... and the spinner will spin. and the bass will be thunder subterranean. and the river will rise as raindrops. from berlin. my favorite electronic house music in the world. immediate. throbbing." - Justin Vernon (Bon Iver)

“One of the most prolific and brilliant artists.” - Zane Lowe (Beats 1)

"BOYS NOIZE makes brilliant music. He doesn´t make a lot of music but when he makes it it´s always CLASS." - Annie Mac (BBC1)

"BOYS NOIZE is the only DJ who can play underground techno for 30,000 people." - 2MANYDJS / Soulwax



For Rune Reilly Kölsch, Kompakt has become a great label to call home. In 2013 the German imprint celebrated 20 years of record releases at the cutting edge of electronic music, championed in June by one of the most genre re-defining albums and personal music projects for an era: Kölsch’s landmark long player, ‘1977’.

A melodic autobiography on black wax, the Kölsch project has seen 36/37-year-old Rune take stock of a diverse and successful production career and draw upon his own personal beginnings: a nostalgia for childhood, family, friends and the confusion of applying his split-cultural heritage to what it means to think of ‘home’. As Rune freely admits, “being half Irish, half German and living in Denmark – it was all one big messy period of my life.” 

Born to hippie parents in the freetown of Christiania (a commune-like autonomous borough of the Danish capital Copenhagen) his childhood was spent surrounded by creativity. His mother was an artist whose family had roots in German politics and his father a singer songwriter who travelled through Asia playing music in the early 70's. Kölsch, however, did miss out on building friendships and found solace in making up “this imaginary world that I would spend days in,” before the family moved to Germany – a period of memories, relations and characters from which ‘1977’ derives its titles.

For Rune, the tracks he began building from 2010 took in this personal reflection, his being “completely locked in to reminiscing about what shaped me as a kid and into the individual that I am now” – contemplating his unique past to form the brickwork of ‘1977’, one of the most future-facing techno albums of recent years.

Influenced by hip hop, pop and the incredible legacy of Jeff Mills and Derrick May, Rune started producing in 1995, embarking on a string of success stories. In 2003 he released the multi-million selling, saxophone-infused ‘Calabria’, that saw collaboration requests pouring in from artists as diverse as Nicki Minaj, Shakira and Flo Rida. He then set up Tattoorecs – releasing pioneering underground tracks with no titles, just tattoos for artwork, that garnered critical acclaim and support from minimal and techno trailblazers such as Sven Väth, Richie Hawtin, Magda, Tiefschwarz and Ricardo Villalobos.

This appreciation of the complete musical spectrum has gifted Rune with a devotion to groove and melodics and with it the dexterity to input real creative change to the genres he reveres, not least his beloved techno. “2010 was the year of the ketamine house wave, where the music was 118 bpm and everything was extremely boring”, reflects Rune. “I wanted some melodic techno, some energy back in this scene. People needed the energy to express themselves and go crazy for a bit.”

This notion faced opposition, even from within Rune’s close circles. But it was Kompakt founder Michael Mayer who had the insight to see what Kölsch was trying to achieve. Rune’s conviction that vibrations and melodics are the key to human response had tipped the balance, underlined by his experience as a hip hop DJ where he “needed something to catch me and drag me in. And that’s what techno should do!” Here too he drew on his love of Jeff Mills and Derrick May, recalling how “they used to make mistakes all the time. It would be a big mash of all kinds of stuff, but at least something was happening. That’s what I was missing and that’s what I’m trying to change with the Kölsch project.”

The result is ‘1977’, a personal collection of dancefloor destroyers that are continuing to send clubs and festivals across the globe into melodic supernova. Take this video of Kölsch’s set at Belgium’s I Love Techno festival, one of Rune’s 2013 highlights, where “people were doing sit downs, singing along to all the tracks”. Watch it. It puts the hairs up on the back of your neck. “The response was overwhelming,” said Rune in a recent interview with Mixmag (who named Kölsch as one of their ‘Stars Of 2013’), as “when you think about it, it was just a bunch of childhood memories with a kickdrum underneath.” 

Elsewhere he’s ripped up the airways with an acclaimed Essential Mix for Pete Tong on BBC Radio 1, delivered his incendiary soundscape to Singapore’s world-renowned ZoukOut Festival, boomed his live show through the heaving basement of London’s XOYO and played the hallowed Space Terrace – in his words “a boyhood dream since I started going to Ibiza in 1999. That was what I wanted from life!” So opening Amnesia in 2014 with Joris Voorn will be a bonus then...

While these are reasons enough to keep the beaming smile beneath Kölsch’s trademark black fedora, his humility remains just as striking. While tracks like ‘Goldfisch’ have taken pivotal positions in the set lists of world class DJs from across the dance music spectrum – traversing the underground with Seth Troxler, while simultaneously providing credible new euphoric highs for the likes of Axwell – Rune remains joyously down to earth. All despite producing, with ‘1977’, an album that has crossed as many cultural and musical boundaries as his own childhood past.

From the face-twisting melodic drive of ‘Opa’ and ‘Bappedekkel’, to the chord-surfing piano groove of ‘Der Alte’ and the euphoric crescendos of ‘Lorely’, ‘Oma’ and ‘All That Matters’ (all hits in different countries), the fact remains that whether in your living room, on the dancefloors of the world’s greatest parties, or simply in your headphones on your way home, Kölsch’s ‘1977’ has re-defined techno and become an achievement that speaks for itself. 

Words: Phil Dudman – Clubs & Live Music Editor, Mixmag


LOST IN THE FIRE FEAT. THE WEEKND: http://smarturl.it/LostInTheFire

Listen to 'The Party is Over' radio - curated by the Keinemusik crue - on Spotify. Updated weekly: goo.gl/MbTbcY

When one could assume, &ME entered the House and Techno world somewhat out of the blue, it is due to his sublime modesty that’s already captured in his alias. His way to become one of today’s most praised and sought after DJ/producers is based on a solid foundation. A foundation comprised of solo-releases, remixes, projects and collaborations that numerous, we’d rather refer to his discography than weary you with namedropping. Besides, all those references would just distract from what truly matters – the music this guy is delivering. Not to underestimate the importance of a project such as Terranova for &ME’s current path, but still the alignment has been made – to focus consistently on his solo-work. And it shows.

There are not many artists around turning in such a slew of globally praised floormaterial like &ME did over the last years. Just think of his last offerings on Keinemusik, a collective of Berlin based DJs and producers, including Rampa, Adam Port, Reznik & artist Monja Gentschow, he helped founding in 2009, namely “After Dark” and “Woods” or his “Vermillion”-remix for Damian Lazarus – all serious bangers, played by every renowned DJ worldwide. Everything is falling into place for the fella. His DIY-approach to handle things, his easy going attitude, his reputation as a gifted producer and DJ extraordinaire, his ability to link innovative production with consensual reception, making him one of the most unique and original figures in the game.

gerardmcgillivray is following