Interview with Stevo

Interview with Stevo

So here we are, sitting, waiting for one of the most mysterious electronic dance music producers; a producer/DJ who has been known in the dance scene since the 1980´s someone that we saw with thousands of other electronic dance music enthusiasts in Ibiza many years back. We feel calm as we wait, but when it’s Stevo, also known as Rain Man 雨男 [T.A.A.K.A.S.], that walks in, we can’t help being a little bit nervous.

Stevo has been a staple in the electronic dance music scene since the 1980´s, when he released years later “Mama India”, the world´s first orient techno house genre track released as a single, it was a underground club hit all over the world. and he’s collaborated with a veritable roster of electronic dance music legends like Sash!, Doug Laurent, Culture Beat, Snap!, StoneBridge and many others like Elissa, the highest-selling female Middle Eastern artist etc.

Interview:

Because not all of our readers and listeners are particularly familiar with electronic dance music, could you give us a little bit of background on your career? How you got into electronic dance music, how you got your start, that kind of thing.

Stevo: I got into electronic dance music before it was called electronic dance music, it was called Italo Disco, or EBM, or early 80’s New Wave/Synth-Brit-Electro-Dance back then, so a long time ago. I first fell in love with electronic dance music when I was a little boy. When I first heard the kick drum at the night club at the age of 12, as I enjoyed going out and partying with friends older then me. Therefore I started buying synthesizers like Roland Jupiter 8,  Roland SH-101 in the early 1980s, later Ensoniq SQ-80, and legendary drum machines like Roland TR-909, or Roland TR-808 (which I bought for ca. 70 US Dollars at that time, as the previous owner had no idea what to do with it), same time I started with doing my own label Cyclope Records and doing my own parties. When I made the track “Mama India,” that was kind of the start of my international producer career. Together with DJ Delani we were the leading innovators in the birth of the orient techno house genre, it was Afro Cosmic’s influence from Italian DJs like Beppe Loda or Daniele Baldelli. Back then, I don’t think radio played any dance-related things at all. But there was a good Techno scene in Germany already, so we went over there a lot. We met Sven Väth (together with Thomas Koch aka DJ T, the publisher of the Groove Magazin), when he opened the dance club “Omen” in Frankfurt with Michael Münzing and Mattias Martinsohn, Omen was the nucleus of the Frankfurt scene when it was still considered one of the leading forces on the electronic music map and the “sound of Frankfurt”. My next big things were Discotronic “Guru”, MRX “Music Takes U Higher ”, Cyberbeat “Merkaba”, I did mainly together with Ralf Kappmeier and of course Area 51  “Das Boot”, a techno adaptation of the film’s title melody, which had been originally composed by Klaus Doldinger, a track which was produced earlier also by my good friends Alex Christensen, Skadi, Ingo Hauss, Helmut Hoinkis, and Hayo Lewerentz aka U96. The surprise B-side: Das Ende (Assault On Precinct 13), written by John Carpenter become a huge club hit in Spain. Upon release of my track ‘Hardcore Vibes (Surprise Mothafucka!) ‘ under my pseudonym Rain Man – in October 2014, immediately it went to the No.1 of the MTV.com Popular Artist in the United States.

Again, for our readers that aren’t that familiar with electronic dance music, how would you describe your sound?

Stevo: The way I see it – you kind of go through different music phases in life, and I think it’s very important that you keep evolving and not stick always to the same sounds, usually my house tracks have a very forward drive. It is a common misconception amongst “non electronic music” musicians, that unless music is written the old fashioned sheet music and the piano method, using traditional instruments then it´s not valid form of music. A lot of people seem to think that sitting down in front of a laptop and writing a deep house track involves no talent; therefore house music must not require any talent to make; anyone can do it. What a load of crap!

You kind of touched on this already, but you’ve been in the music industry for quite a while now – how would you say it’s changed since you started?

Stevo: Everything has changed. Without question, Internet/Social Media has had a profound impact. Before that, you had all the Majors, who already did electronic dance music a little bit. But I think of DJs like Sven Väth, Carl Cox, StoneBridge etc just embracing electronic dance music, that just made such a huge impact. And that has had an effect on the world. Electronic dance music is just big worldwide now. I think the good thing about electronic dance music is that still it has such a solid underground base. I personally quite like what Damien Hall is doing and I think EDX, Dave202, Axel Hall, Michael Murica, Zia, GERO (Gernot Lexer & Roland Gutsch), is doing a lot of really good stuff as well. As long as there’s good music, this scene and this music genre will stay strong. Don´t forget The FPIA aka Fake Producers Intelligence Agency (Twitter: @TheFPIA),  is considered by many to be the best Twitter account for electronic dance music out there.

You released the StoneBridge remix of “Encore [Frenchie Rude]” recently on cdpool.com (Europe’s number one promo service). Your new single “Encore [Frenchie Rude] (StoneBridge Mix)” is available in over 250 digital stores worldwide. Can you tell us a little bit about your new stuff that’s coming out?

Stevo: I think in general in life you have to reinvent yourself and think of something new to keep yourself happy. I took a few years off to really get into it.  I’m dropping the compilation “Monte Carlo – The Finest Deep House Sèlection”, so “Encore [Frenchie Rude] (StoneBridge Mix)” is part of the compilation, also included on “Club Area 51 – Full Spectrum Dominance Beta”, and “VATICAN 666 – Deejay Selection Beta”.

Rich FMX: Check out his latest release “Encore [Frenchie Rude] (StoneBridge Mix),” here:

https://www.cdpool.com/catalogue/underground/