At the forefront of the Berlin scene Phonique will soon Eurostar it over to London and will be bringing his unique sound: icy, minimal, and robotically funky house business, with him.

After gaining huge exposure from his underground hit ‘The Red Dress’ the last 12 months has seen him perform throughout Europe and South America. With a debut artist album schedules for release on Dessous on the way RA caught up with him over a plate of Pomm Frit and Bratwurst.

You have been based in Berlin since 1995, a city that is well known for its Techno passion, how has the electro/tech-house scene grown since then?
Of course, there has always also been a house scene in berlin. and honestly, i didn't really realize it, when it happened, because it was such a natural process. clubs are opening and closing here almost every month and there are always people moving here. all of a sudden, we had lots of great house clubs and lots of producers moved here (e.g. tiefschwarz, richie hawtin, daniel wang, freestyle man and many more)

Many readers will know you through your massive hit ‘The Red Dress’, have you noticed a great deal of change in your global profile since the release?

Oh sure. it was just my second release on dessous and it helped a lot. this was somehow the first big step, then came my album, which was step 2 and of course the help of my booker goli was very important.

A host of quality labels including Jazzanova, Poker Flat and Dessous have released your material, with the later set to release your debut longplayer. Did you produce the mix with the view to finding a label, or it was a joint project from the start with Dessous?

First we thought to release it on Pokerflat, but Steve then offered to release it on Dessous as there is so much happening on Pokerflat and there was no artist album in sight for Dessous. so the label could really concentrate on that album.

You have collaborated with French artist David Duriez who rocked Playtime last month. What have you heard about this London Monthly Friday night of quality?

Honestly, i haven't spoken to David in the last month, so i haven't heard anything about it yet. i've heard this question quite often, but if you play 2 national or international gigs a week, then it's difficult to be informed about all the clubs, where you're supposed to play...

How are the crowds and clubs different in Germany comparison to the UK?
i only played 3 times in london and i didn't see such a difference. i guess it's more a question of what clubs you play.

Playtime in London is known for its intelligent, musically savy crowd with an ear for a cool sound. What can those in attendance expect to hear?

This sounds like the perfect crowd, maybe like the crowd on my Wednesday residence at Tresor. If they are not coming only for listening to the usual club-hits, then i have lots of new tracks, they've never heard before. i love to play a mix of deep and minimal tracks, but if they need a kick in the ass- i can also handle that!

The Miami Winter Music conference is in its 20th year this March. With the growth of similar festivals and industry conferences in Mainland Europe and the UK really expanding over recent years, do you see a shift in the ‘industry networking’ focus of Miami or will South Beach always be the place to launch a new record and mix with the DJs, promoters, press etc?

i've never been to miami and my label-boss Steve bug hasn't been there either. i think with the advantages of the internet, you don't really need those festivals. but maybe, i only feel so, because all the artists are sooner or later visiting Berlin and then you have the chance to meet ;-)

What studio Kit did you use to put the “Identification“ artist album together?

We mainly worked with Cubase and lots of plug-ins. my studio-partner alex had tons of hardware-synths, but in the end he sampled all the sounds, archived them and sold most of his equipment again. that's, why it's hard to say, which sounds are coming from the pc and which not...

What are your plans for 2005 in the way of Djing and production?

I’m traveling a lot, I’ve been to my first gigs in brazil and maybe i'll go to Argentina and Chile in June. but mainly i play gigs all over 'Europe', from Spain to Portugal, from France via Belgium to Italy, even Moscow and Tel Aviv (not really Europe). I also do a tour for a big sponsor through Germany- 15 dates with a singer/guitar-player, who is singing some of my tracks (incl. in my dj-set). this guy is called Ruben and we also produce some of his tracks, which are more pop-rock-electro. and besides remixing, i already produced the first 2 tracks for my next album :-)

Is ‘dance music’ increasing its presence on German commercial radio or is David Hasselhoff still ruling the airwaves?

David who? unfortunately, good music is not increasing its presence. we have of course, some good shows, some small good radio stations, but that's it :-(

Those in London can catch Phonique at Playtime at Egg on April 1