Herzen

Born in 1989, Christian Raetzer, aka HERZEN aka ZETH, spent his early years in rural eastern Germany. He started playing the piano at the age of 10. Shortly afterwards he took up skateboarding - it would not only become a protracted passion in his life but would also provide scope for alternative political and societal stances. He then became devoted to music, playing Blues, Nu Metal and other hand-made music in several bands. In the course of this he was first exposed to music production tools such as DAWs to record songs and sketches in the rehearsal room. By the age of 16 a bright flame was ignited in Christian's heart by his older brother Patrick who would enthusiastically report on his Love Parade attendances. On his Laptop, Christian started to produce his first beats and soon soaked himself in the infinite spheres of electronic music production. After Christian moved to Berlin he began to beat match techno tracks with turntables. From then on, the flame in his heart was not to be suffocated anymore. He merged his creativity with social and political engagements as he moved into a sociocultural open space and housing project in Jena where he organized various events like public soup kitchens, open stages, electronic music events, concerts and lectures. He furthermore became part of the Berlin based club, arts & music collective JONNY KNÜPPEL where he continues to help with event production and deejaying.