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Under the gun: Steve Bug
The RA mafia tracks down the Poker Flat don in a hotel room in Rio to talk records, Final Scratch and what’s on his turntables at the moment.
German DJ and producer Steve Bug is head of a family of record labels releasing minimal, tech house and deep house by the likes of Trentemoller, Martin Landsky, Guido Schneider and John Tejada. The operation is split into three labels: Poker Flat concentrates on a tight cluster of tech house artists, Dessous Recordings releases more house-oriented material, and Bug’s latest baby Audiomatique looks outside the Poker Flat family for new producer talent.
It makes sense then that Bug’s DJ sets sit somewhere in between these varied styles – as a spinner he takes pride in being able to move the room seamlessly from one genre to the other. In his top ten Bug even lists a track he doesn’t particularly like, recommending it as tool rather than a track in its own right.
As a DJ, Bug is also known for using Final Scratch technology, which lightens his baggage load considerably. RA asked Bug whether mixing on a computer now means he’s stopped buying records: “No, I'm still a big collector. Even though I do buy some stuff on Beatport, I still buy the vinyl to put in my studio. I encode all of my files from vinyl using a nice phono pre-amp because I think the sound is better.” And how big is that record collection now? “Well, I just moved house so I sold a lot of it. I definitely want to get rid of more promos though because I have so many records that I’ve bought. Let’s see…I packed up sixty boxes so around six thousand to seven thousand?”
RA asked Bug what the best place for vinyl addicts to shop in Berlin was: “Since I moved to Berlin I buy my records at Melting Point. I also sell my older vinyl there and then they resell it so it goes back into the circle. I like that idea. I go there with all my friends every week. They save the records for us so it's not like just going anywhere. It's very close to my house too.”
Bug is a hard man to track down these days. His 2007 DJ schedule is taking him to Argentina, Europe, Japan as well as Global Breakthrough in South Africa in February. When we finally located our target, he was in a hotel room in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His top ten went something like this:
 Harry Axt - Magik [Grand Petrol]
Steve: "This one I bought on Beatport since I’m on the road. When you're touring for three weeks you don't want to get all behind! This track is very hard to describe. It's a hypnotic track with a weird line through it that screws your mind. It's really beautiful. I think this one is very special – what makes it weird is that it plays around with the tune so much. There's no track out at the moment that comes to mind that sounds like that. I just bought it, and I've only played it in the middle of my set, which is where I want to use it. Even though it's not hard, for me it's a main time track. I always try to get from deep into harder stuff and then back, and so you always need stuff like this which bridges from here to there. This is one track that would probably almost fit in with every track. It's very easy to use as well. It's like a tool, but it has a very special thinking to it as well". MySpace: Harry Axt – Magik
 Joseph - Transformed (Knee Deep Remix) [Next Dimension]
Steve: "This is a real deep house tune. With all the minimal stuff at the moment, I'm really trying to dig other stuff up as well. This one is really beautiful – it has some nice vocals in parts and it’s very housey but still pumping. It's not too deep, but it's also kind of hypnotic. I always like this kind of hypnotic feel. It's just a lovely deep house tool with extra chords so I was really happy to find this one. I've always played deep house, but it really depends on the night or the club. Some nights you need to play harder stuff – on those nights it’s better not to play a tune like this. Sometimes I try, but I prefer to play the deep stuff. As I said, I like to take people down and then take them up again. I don’t like to keep the same level all night because that's boring. I think this tune is more for advanced crowds or for smaller clubs or perhaps for the beginning. In some places if it's like a really cool club and the crowd is really interested, then you could play it during the main time. But yeah, I’d say it's more suitable for a small club." MySpace: Joseph - Transformed (Knee Deep Remix)
 Martin Landsky - Let Me Dance [Poker Flat]
Steve: "This is going to be released in early February. We also have remix from Sebo K. We really dig all his stuff on Mobilee and we've been trying to get him for a remix for some time, but we weren't able to. So this time it finally happened. The original has a nu-groove feeling, an old school touch. It's got some very nice spoken vocals as well. It has a nice bassline that goes on, then the vocals come in. For me it works very well but it's also a small club kind of thing. The remix is a little more housey. It has some weird sounds coming in, some weird minimal lines. It's a really cool too – I’d probably use it more in the beginning. Or if it's a cool club, I would play it more in the main time as well. I'm really happy with this record because we've been waiting so long for the remix. Finally he was able to do one of the tracks that we'd asked him for! Also I'm very happy because Martin is a good friend of mine, and I'm always happy to release good friends. "
 Sam K – Doesn’t Matter [Perspectiv]
Steve: "This track reminds me of Âme because it starts with some chords and it builds up and then there's a break - which I probably wouldn't do – but it's a nice break and then it starts to go off! It's also a deep house tune. Like the Âme stuff, the beats really make the track work even though it has deep elements, which is what I really like about it. It's very hypnotic as well. It’s deep house, but it works on big floors. I guess I don't know what to call this kind of track – it’s like in between everything. It's a deeper take on this more minimal sound, but it’s so deep and melodic – hmm…it's very hard to describe. The break really makes it special because you can just leave the track going and going. When the kick comes back in after the break there's something like a horn going on, which is familiar to me from more minimal tunes. But I think the break actually makes it into something you can play even in a main set – when it comes back in, everyone is really like "Yeah!" MySpace: Sam K – Doesn’t Matter
 St. Sebastian - Drunk Lover (My My remix) [Dessous]
Steve: "This is his third or fourth EP on Dessous. This time we chose My My to remix it. The original is cool, but it’s the remix that I'm playing at the moment. It's also more minimal than house but it's still got this housey feeling to it. That’s what I like about My My stuff. I really play a lot of their tunes, especially from the album. I think they are a great combination of modern house music using elements of minimal without being minimal at all. Very special. Same for the remix: it's a fusion of old school, new school and minimal stuff. It's kind of bleepy in a way – it has this one line that turns your brain around. St. Sebastian sent us some tracks maybe two years ago and we released his first record, which I think should have been a big hit. It never really became a huge seller. But every time I play it, everyone totally freaks out and ask me "What's this track?". I think he's a very talented guy and we'll definitely be working closely together for the next year for sure".
 Jahcoozi - Shake the Doom (Arto's Bubble In The Bathtub Shake) [Careless]
Steve: "This has some disco elements and some house elements as well. It's like a trip through music. But it’s like techno as well! A very special track. It's a main time track and it really works big time. It makes people really freak out. It's got this big break, and even though you might think that people don't understand this kind of music, this tracks does it to them every time. Whenever I play it, people just totally freak out. It's an amazing, rocking tool that I'm using a lot at the moment. If you see that the crowd is not really into it, play this one and you've got them." MySpace: Jahcoozi - Shake the Doom (Arto's Bubble In The Bathtub Shake)
 Mari Boine - Vuoi Vuoi Me (Henrik Schwarz Remix) [Universal]
Steve: "I got this a couple of months ago. Dixon gave it to me, a good friend of Henrik's and mine. When I first heard it, I just thought "Wow". I think this is one of Henrik’s most beautiful remixes or tracks that Henrik has ever done. The bassline he uses raises the track right from the start – it’s all so beautiful! I've started a lot of sets with this track and it's still in my box. It's a very special track. It doesn't work in all clubs, but if it works, it really does the job. It conveys this amazing feeling that not enough tracks have. The vocals, even though no-one can understand them also convey so much. Really heartwarming stuff – it’s an amazing tune."
Novox - Gearbox [Resopal]
Steve: "Actually this track is not very special. You know, sometimes you have to have tracks which don't do anything special to you! This is like a minimal builder and it works. It's another one that I bought on Beatport two weeks ago and now I’m playing it all the time. It definitely works well as a main time track because it builds up all the time. Unfortunately it's not 100% special, but I still love it. It's one of those tools that you always have to have."
The Viewers - Blank Images [Audiomatique]
Steve: "This is a new project from John Dahlback and another guy. John Dahlback has been releasing stuff for us for a long time. We also got a Lazy Fat People remix – I was really happy when I got this. Unfortunately Dahlback is releasing too much stuff in my opinion. Finally he has a project name and he’s not releasing everything under the same name. I try to explain to people not to release too many under the same name. But Dahlback is so young and so fresh to the business. But now I think he's taking it a little slower and trying to do different projects. I've been playing the original for a long time because we've been waiting on the remix for so long. If we could wait another four months to release it, it would be the next summer hit. It’s very melodic. The remix is more minimal and the other one is more techy. Since I got the remix I've been playing that, but before that I played the original a lot. It's a really good track to build up and create a nice atmosphere on the dancefloor."
 Barem - Nylon [Pariter]
Steve: "This is a very dark track. It creates a dark atmosphere but it's very atypical. He uses a snap instead of a clap, which gives it kind of a discoey feel. It's funky because of the snap but then you have all the minimal stuff going on later on. I really like the dark string melody coming for the morning hours. It’s better to take people on a darker track sometimes, and this is what I use. It takes them out of the energy but still keeps them on a hypnotic level – maybe it makes them think it’s going to get a little more darker, so they forget that the sun is coming up."
Check out Steve Bug in South Africa at the Global Breakthrough event happening in Cape Town on February 28, 2007.
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Published / Friday, 26 January 2007
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