Daniel Bortz

It was the mid-・0s, the heyday of techno in Munich-Riem, home to the Optimal and other legen- dary clubs, when Daniel Bortz stepped into the never-ending, untiring loop of the stoically pum- ping bass drum. He was born in Berlin in 1981, but for the last 13 years has been forging his deep beats, grooves and tracks for the club world from his base of operations in Augsburg. And it precisely that club world that Bortz has been gracing with his releases, aiming right for its hype- craving g-spot. His sounds include crate digging, house-nostalgia, dancefloor-transfer, sample insanity and a healthy dose of eclecticism. Be it ・0s new wave, ・0s West Coast hip hop, disco or dance mania, Daniel Bortz brings things together that arent bound up with realness and street credibility: He fuses his own world of sound for todayt dance floor, with his refined sense of har- mony playing a major role: work a lot with tunings. It takes a lot of work to make a few harmonic elements fit perfectly together. I make sure the bass drum and percussion match the tonality of the samples and harmonise with one another・ He stands firmly rooted in two worlds, and is as aware of his special status in the close-knit Bavarian scene as he is of the sceptical gloom- and-doom prophecies of Berlin music buffs: Цhile being a music producer in Augsburg has its challenges, I dont just want to play for those in the know. I like appealing to a mixed audience that doesnt mind if I play Whitney Houston or Phoenix now and then. Daniel does whatever he feels like, a simple and most respectable approach that sets from apart from run-of-the-mill hitma- kers, who crank out the next short-lived club hype.