Walter Merziger and Arno Kammerheimer just know how to producing music as well as founding labels. Their own record label “Get Physical” is considered the finest address when it comes to technoid sounds of House music. All over the world, people enjoy dancing to their songs such as “Body Language” and “Charlotte”. “The Sun And The Neonlight” – their last album – was one of those masterpieces of sound: On the one hand, they bring you through the night and then on the other take you gently by the hand to usher you home or into the tent when the early morning light starts glimmering. Their performances work similarly. As Kammerheimer once had illustrated in an interview, it is all about “this wobble between euphoria and melancholy, which can be felt precisely when the sun rises”– that’s definitely the case.

If you get to know each other in a record store, then there is no other option but to make music together. That’s what Michael “Hausmarke” Beck and Thomas “Thomilla” Burchia found when they met in such a specialty shop. For more than ten years, the two of them have been behind the turntables, have liberated themselves from their old Hiphop constraints and created their very own style. The outcome is electronic wild-style which they call “boogie” – an amalgam of House music, straight and broken beats, as well as pumping Electro. Totally danceable, though. No wonder, their live DJ sets are sold out. Beck and Burchia simply understand how to rock the turntables.

Since 1996, the brothers Schwarz have been the main suppliers of tunnelled beats of Deep House, which in turn form the basement of their miscellaneous sounds. Alexander and Sebastian search for inspirations rather outside of dazing genre boundaries. “We’re travelling across the world and are receptive to any kind of music. That means a richness of sound – working quite instinctively.” This diversity is reflected in the organic as well as exciting Hits by Tiefschwarz, be it in their House tracks “On Up” and “Acid Soul”, in their Acid-House-inspired Saturday-night-kick-in-the-pants “Issst”, their bridge buildings into the direction of Pop like “Warning Siren” (feat. Rapture singer Matty Safers) or “Wait And See” including vocals by Chikinki’s frontman.

Originally, Andreas Kubat and Sebastian Bohn had devoted themselves specifically to electronic music when they founded Northern Light in 1997. Then the two guys from Erfurt bought in a guitarist in 2001. Since then, Northern Light have amalgamated progressive techno and electro pop with rock guitars fairly successfully. Beside their own songs, they have covered “Go with the flow” by Queens of the Stone Age. This is a testament to their musical diversity and is still part of their standard repertoire at each gig of Northern Light. The meanwhile four-person band has been an integral part of big festivals for a long time now, where they prove  their high-quality live performances time and time again.

Josh Wink is firmly established in the realm of Acid House. The DJ and producer from the states was only just 17 years old when he started DJing at the clubs of his home town Philadelphia. Back in the day he probably didn’t have a clue that, eight years later, his song “Don’t Laugh” would hit the charts around the world. Until present day, he has remained true to himself and his Acid House style, which often plays with a slight psychedelic overtone. Nonetheless – and thank god – Josh Wink doesn’t funk collaborations with musicians such as Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), Caroline Crawley (This Mortal Coil) and Ursula Rucker. The tracks always have this certain Josh Wink touch.

In the late 90s, they met in the venerable creative hub Low Spirit of West Berlin and knew immediately that they are tuned on the same wavelength in musical and human terms: Alexander Gerlach and Kai Paul aka Lexy and K. Paul. Undeniably, they’ve had a great influence on Technolectro, or as you may call it: sophisticated electronic dance music. First and foremost Lexy and K. Paul’s live performance skills are notorious. They don’t barricade behind their turntables but know how to party on stage and make the crowd sweat. At the end of their gigs they leave their audience with a feeling of entrancement.

aka Timo Maas & Santos

Timo Maas brought home the bacon: from a small town in Lower Saxony into the wide world and up to collaborations with top artists like Kelis and Brian Molko. By his globetrotting he came to work together with the Italian producer Santos. The moment they met, they instantly sealed the DJ project – and the Mutant Clan was born. Santos’ rich, deep sounds and Timo Maas’ techno and house entanglements form a fusion long overdue. In sum, the project combines a double portion of clicking electro beats and mighty bombs of bass. Techno Dub or Acid House – this duo brims the dance floor with pure joy of dancing.

When they were thirteen-year-olds they played Punk and Metal. They were yound and didn’t care about the money. Then Blur released their album “13”, giving them a piece of their mind and making them rethink. From now on the school mates created their own style: they masterly mixed electro sounds, playful beats and mighty samples with drums and electric guitar and added English and German lyrics. Hence, their career has just begun. In 2007, their debut album entitled with the band’s name was released, only one year later, their second album “The Colour of Snow” including the No. 1 hit “Allein Allein”.

DJ Rush describes himself as off the wall and wacky, his shows as harsh and entertaining at once and his style as hard energy. He loves what he does, no wonder that he works at the decks up to ten hours if necessary. “Motherfucking Bass”, which made him famous in the late 90s, was to become a club hymn. DJ Rush knows well how to entertain. Isaiah Major, as is his real name, was born in Chicago and influenced by the local disco and house music scene in the 70s and early 80s. Quite soon, he tinkered with his own tracks and stood behind the turntables at the weekend. He continued with his sets in well-known club in Chicago, London and Berlin.

Dubfire unscrupulously hybridises Punk, Industrial and New Wave with Jazz, Dub, HipHop, House and Techno. That means going back the his own roots as well as being highly innovative and trend-setting. He is tearing down walls in musical terms and, thus, confronts us with our musical prejudices. His obsession with music shines through his tracks and live performances. He’s both mainstream and underground. Even back then, being a member of the producer coalition Deep Dish Ali Shirazinia a.k.a. Dubfire became quite successful. In 2007, his track “RibCage” turned into a club hit and made Dubfire famous.

He made Sven Väth’s “Dein Schweiß” a biggie, entitled his debut single “Die Offenbarung” (“Revelations”) and made sound like one whereas “Paranoid Dancer” was to be heard even on the great international dance floors. Well, the veteran from the label Kanzleramt has left his mark in the world of Techno – as a producer and DJ. His distinct feature: deep bass melodies sneaking upon you from below and knibbling on your feet, so that you simply cannot stand still.

He who has proven to be a first-class human sonic amplifier at the “Front” in Hamburg, who has bewitched even Moloko singer Róisín Murphy to refine “Never Enough” with her voice, who can adjust to every crowd and manages/masters skilfully any variant of electronic music in his DJ-sets no matter if House, Electro, Techno or Minimal – well, he who meets all these criteria, as is the case with Boris Dlugosch, is certainly always a welcome guest at SMS.

The league of artists alone which Tobi Neumann has guided from his producer chair does his open-mindedness credit – and his expertise. This quite heterogeneous group includes Miss Kittin, Bananafishbones or Chicks on Speed. And by the way he is one of the most appreciated House DJ in the Cocoon artist roster and has delighted umpteen dancaholics at Sven Väth’s Millennium Party in Thailand, at the classics Mayday, Love Parade and at SonneMondSterne as well.

Moguai has seen the club all over the world, performed there from Johannesburg to Melbourne to Ibiza and Zurich – but his heart still beats for the Ruhr area. There he was inspired by Kraftwerk’s minimalistic highway of sound in the early 90s, only to accelerate on the fast track by the energy of the upcoming rave scene. Moguai is a regular guest at the Bleiloch barrage – and will once again grace SMS with his presence this year.

Robag Wruhme and Monkey Maffia are dreaded worldwide. At every vodka shot taken by the audience, this duo from Jena tosses down three – bottles notabene! The Wighnomy Brothers’ records consistently prove that electronic dance music and a delightful sense of humour are not mutually exclusive. Consequently, not only did Robag remix probably every high-level techno producer on this earth, but he also plays ball with guys like Helge Schneider and Rocko Schamoni.

Niklas Worgt a.k.a. Dapayk has already released two wonderful Pop-Techno albums together with his incomparably more famous significant other Eva Padberg. Beyond that, they both run several small labels. Their role allocation is traditional: Eva writes the lyrics and sings, Niklas is responsible for the electronics. Joint performances are few and far between. The more are we proud to welcome Dapayk & Padberg at this year’s SMS festival.

In the late 90s, Arne Schaffhausen and Wayan Raabe founded their project Extrawelt in Hamburg and produced various EPs at record labels such as Cocoon, Traum oder James Holden’s Border Community. Last year, they finally released the much longed for debut album “Schöne Neue Extrawelt” (“Brave New Extraworld”), which is beautifully evidence for the good match of Techno and melodies. Trance shall not be understood as a curse word, but rather mean a “unity of kaputness and something beautiful”.

Markus Kavka became known by his role as a news speaker at MTV and phrases like “we’ve learnt something new”. He likes to address his audience with “ladies and gents”. Moreover, Markus Kavka is a versed DJ, having collected a whole walk-in cupboard full of record over the years. Minimal Techno is preferably on his agenda, of course, always mixed stylistically appropriate. Legions of dancers will appreciate it.

DJ Phono is the ‘general practitioner’ of the hurly-burly posse Deichkind. And he has also mixed for International Pony and Erobique. Phono is considered the Bud Spencer of today’s club DJs with good reason, his sets as forceful as a hammer blow. The DJ from Hamburg frequently likes to shout out his rage or rapture and spill it onto the dance floor. Despite his HipHop origin we can expect a varied selection of Techno, French House and Neodisco at the SMS.

The motto of Frank Lorber’s label “Nummer Schallplatten” also applies for the sets of this Cocoon vet: “Everything that’s fun in musical terms or electronic chat-up!” What seems to sound quite abstract makes sense if you’re ready to be entranced by Lorber’s repertory and then be interrupted by unexpected sounds. If electronic chat-up sounds like that, you readily put up with it.

Sienkiewicz experienced his personal Techno big bang at underground rave in his home town Warsaw. By his juvenile-stubborn I-want-to-do-that-as-well-attitude he quickly made a name in the Polish DJ scene, just to assert himself internationally not least by the reputation of the Cocoon crew. The title of his release at Cocoon Records fits well indeed: “Good Night And Good Luck”. In his DJ sets he meets both criteria.

If a DJ is touring around the world for twelve months, it can only mean one thing: He’s bloody good and knows his craft. That’s absolutely true for Gregor Tresher. His booking calendar is brimful – the one day a DJ-set in Hollywood, another in Belgrade and one in Graz. And everywhere, the people lionise this “Elektrolux” disciple. Above all, he seems to amalgamate tender electro sequences with one another blindfold – without lapsing into monotony. A master of his trade.

He’s the new global player: At first, Felix Kröcher transmitted the beat via “Sunshine Live” from Frankfurt into the world, then, he took over Chris Liebing’s legendary “Freitagaaabend” (meaning “Friday Niiight”) at the U60311. And now: Madrid, Budapest, Naples, Altötting. And he moves on. It’s clear as daylight that the keeper of the grail of Hardtechno is listed “best national DJ” in the Raveline poll 2008 – ahead of Sven Väth, Wittekind and van Dyk. He has put more than 60 releases – artist albums, EPs, remixes – on the market. What a great deal of work: precisely “When the going get’s tough” ...

Indeed, Turkish producer and DJ Onur Özer is just in his late twenties but already one of the most popular representatives of his guild worldwide. His debut album “Kashmir” was recorded with analogue and digital instruments equally. The result oscillates between Orient and Occident, since Özer specifically integrates features of traditional Turkish music in his tracks. That specialty has brought him remix requests for artists such as his great idol Dave Gahan.

He’s the mightiest lord of Bongo, Clave and Maracas. Mathias Kaden is constantly creating true beat monsters connecting House with the rhythmic cosmos of foreign cultures. The pattern of Bass Drum, HiHat-Opening on the one hand and percussions on the other – solid, complex and devoid of any knickknack – has made him one of the republic’s renowned DJs. In the current reader poll of de:bug (music mag), the resident of Muna and Kassablanca is ranking among the top ten.

Cassy’s career as a minimal and house DJane was already in full swing when the native Englishwomen moved to Berlin five years ago. Having released records on labels such as M_nus, Playhouse or Perlon, she is one of the residents at Panoramabar in Berlin and has mixed the first Panoramabar compilation. Just by the way, she runs her own label. Cassy is well-known for her deep and extensive sets with many moments of suspense at which dance floor euphoria might change into sheer hysteria any moment.

The producer and DJ from Frankfurt has already remixed artists like Steve Bug, Sven Väth and Erlend Øye and been resident at Cocoon for quite a few years. In collaboration with Matthias Vogt, C-Rock is running the internationally successful project Motorcitysoul, which is totally devoted to Detroit House music as its name implies. Its sound is as deep as a quarry pond. And sometimes C-Rock likes to edge in one or two old-school acid records to keep the tension.

Minilogue has uplifted itself to the bel-étage of Techno by EPs at various labels such as Cocoon, Wagon Repair or Mule. The album “Animals” with its 26 (!) tracks is one of the most significant genre albums of the previous year. Minilogue capture exactly the spirit of the times with their combination of traditional Techno and typical minimal aesthetics of the noughties. The two Scandinavians live it up to the max. Anyway, Ambient and Downbeat are fixed features in their sets as well.

Not so long ago, Raresh was something of a sleeper. Meanwhile, his colleagues Tobi Neumann, Josh Wink and Ricardo Villalobos are not the only to know: DJ Raresh from Bukarest definitely rocks. On his slip mats, Tech-House and Minimal merge with House to a fine but forceful blend, channelled by deftly fingers (Jeff Mill would raise an eyebrow). He even co-performed with Villalobos in Rumania – it became his most extensive set to date.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the whole day. The better when you can have it with the Breakfastklub a.k.a. Janosh and Nick D-Lite. For sure, those two DJs from Leipzig and Halle do not break the bread, but – as is right and proper – break their beats. They proffer Tech House and Electro, seasoned to taste with vocals and scratches. Indeed, they have chosen their name after this old 80s Hollywood flick – because Janosh’s first 12’’ was the title song to “Breakfast Club” by Simple Minds ...

Delight in dance is good, but there’s also delight in tinkering. Wendelin Weissbach and Stefan Carl are the fabulous Krause Duo. They construct electronic blocks made of wit and gumption. Their four-four time sometimes dissolves into three or counts to 1210, depending on what absurdity commands them. Every night with Krause Duo is impulsively implosive: The dance floor turns into a black hole, in which time and space collapse, sense and reason resurrect.

With the greatest of ease, the Berliner Lexy strings together club sounds and chill chunks, danceable electronic and ambient moisted acoustic patterns. Admittedly, he’s one part of Lexy & K. Paul but he is also away on solo business, not only throughout Germany. Thanks to his reputation as long-term professional dance floor entertainer Alexander Gerlach, as is his real name, can transform every club into a party tent in the rotation of a vinyl with his subdued Techno bricolage.

The earth is flat like a disc anyway. The better when it comes from Marcus Meinhardt’s record case and his label “Upon You”. His tone arm once connected the Muna club with SonneMondSterne. Meanwhile, it has extended to the whole wild and wide worlds of bass drum. His elegant Tech-House is the throbbing wedding march when Floor and Four-to-the-Floor exchange wedding vows, staggering towards the party altar and fusing inextinguishably with minimal lightning.

Hanson & Schrempf vs. Reche & Recall (Special Live Battle)

Chemnitz  – “the modern city”. This slogan of the city’s promoters is supported by four workaholics in a impressive and exceptional way: Hanson & Schrempf as well as Carsten Rechenberger & Recall 8 are the men of action at the labels Rohrmusik and Miditonal. Their reputation as Hardtech heroes is echoing throughout Europe. And their live battles true to the motto “Techno from Chemnitz” are something of an institution. These DJs, producers and label owners bring back again the pumping synthie sound. The spirit of a timeless modernity is wafting above their sets.

Whereas Uri Geller is still looking for junior spoon benders, Germany has already found its new music generation: Chapeau Claque easily conjure Electropop with poetic lyrics out of their hat – as magicians did white rabbits once ago. Singer Maria Antonia Paula Schmidt and her band know the trick how to create a kind of Electro-Chanson-Pop-Romance without bending things and staying true to themselves.

Since the day his brother gave him his first 3-channel mixer and he experimented sonically in the spirit of Kraftwerk and Yello for the first time, a lot of water has flowed down the Bleiloch barrage. He became famous with this “Projekt 2000” and increasingly had gigs at hot clubs here, in London and at Ibiza. Between ourselves: This producer (Cecille, Below) with his liability to reduced tribal beats and richly garnished Minimal will be the next big thing.

The idea behind Disco Dice was initially to beam the wild parties of the notorious New York Club “Studio 54” into our time. With a mix of club sounds and revivals of the seventies and eighties the DJ team has successfully accomplished its task. They send the audience into raptures with their pyrotechnical effects and “pimp” their sets with afro wigs and disco-style seventies togs. Not without reason, the Disco Dice guys call themselves “Your Favoured Heroes”.

A pinch of R&B, a good ear for catchy Pop-lines and a good deal of Electronica – Alex Amoon and Fabian Fenk know what fits together to form contemporary danceability. But the duo doesn’t seem to bother about trends. On the contrary, their songs like “I Like Holden Caulfield” work without run-of-the-mill features. On their current LP “Next Time” their keen sense for the right sound is to be recognised wonderfully.

Electronic freestyle is it what Gunjah calls his music – and he promises a cosmopolitan sound inferno: intense, innovative, progressive. His Funkwelt is a fixed entity in Dresden and far beyond. From the city at the river Elbe, the DJ, producer and club operator conquered the whole wide world with his danceable music for electronic connoisseurs.

When Chicago and Detroit came to Thuringia, Marco Remus was one of the first to welcome them to German House. By his “Ostcode”, Hardtechno became popular over here and Marco Remus’ booking calendar brimful. Never mind: He’s got a nerve! – since “Nerven” is his record label. So he can chill – even at “Techno unplugged”.

Luna City Express doesn’t stand for high-speed travelling, but for sophisticated voyages in casual style. Norman Webber and Marco Resmann (DJ Phage) majestically merge Deep House and Tech House into gender arcs of beats and concords. Besides, not only are Luna City Express deep and funky but they also love subtle effects. Makes you happy.

Delight in dancing – by strictly complying with the motto: less is more. Marek Hemmann proves that it’s not wrong having listened to guitar music once upon a time. His powerbook contains chiefly Minimal and House as well as pleasurable crackling. But when Marek Hemmann’s got his fingers at the decks, nothing will remain the same.

Back in the day when Tresor and WMF were exclusively known to hyper-insiders and Atari 1024 ST was the music instrument of the hour, club heroes Dole & Kom already performed DJ sets and live acts from San Francisco to Kiev. Certainly, the Disco and House duo is again resident at the still reasonably spick and span Tresor – and once again at this year’s SMS.

For the Cannibal Cooking Club, a mixer is still a mixer, not a soulless thing with screen and automatic faders. The two “cannibals” Hydro and Error can be pictured like the professional cook Johan Lafer on crack, but way louder. They stir C64 sounds with rattling of saucepans, Electro and D&B. Will “De Bomb” explode? they are wondering on the current release “Zoff am Zaun”. As sure as eggs is eggs.

At the time when the cult club 10/40 in Leipzig was still buzzing, probably few escaped it unscathed. Hardly surprising, since Kratzer was resident at this place and demonstrated the sound of the night: full of Techno, Schranz “or even worse” (according to Kratzer). At last year’s SMS, he has scratched his name into the auditory canals. You simply cannot get rid of his sound.

You can lay a lot at Laurens Lanting’s dance door. The DJ from Amsterdam has been an active part in the Dutch Techno scene for ten years now, involved in various Techno and House projects. This year, he’s founded the label “Soweso Records”.

A bare ten years ago, Christian Hilscher and Nico Plagemann have started their Techno project Kollektiv Turmstrasse in a men’s flat-sharing community. Fortunately, he hasn’t kept his talent closed behind his own four walls, ‘cause this pleasant and pleasurable sound belongs to vinyls and polyvinyl chloride dance floors.

Coming from Chile, DJ Pier Bucci is one of South America’s most significant Electronica acts. His individual Techno style mediates between classic Latin rhythms and abstract Electro sequences in an oscillating subtle way.

If you hear sea gulls screaming in Empro’s songs, don’t be surprised. He originally comes from the Baltic Sea, but meanwhile has become resident of the German capital. Empro feels as belonging to Minimal techno and prefers filling the dance floors with these sounds.