Malente Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Feb 20th 2010 12:13PM by Tricia Spencer
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With a discography that includes five albums, dozens of singles and scores of remixes on labels like Fool's Gold, Exploited, and Southern Fried, Germany's Malente has earned his stripes as one of the world's most cutting-edge producers and infectious DJ personalities. He was voted the 2007 and 2009 "#1 Act on the German Club Charts," and his musical instincts have sent him to the top of the charts and taken him around the world, including this year's SXSW in Austin.

Describe your style.

It's always hard for me to define my style. I'd rather tell people to buy some songs or come by when I perform so you can experience my style. Words can't define music. All the categories people or journalists choose for music hardly live up to the music itself. Words are just words. They can't describe changing sounds that have to be heard.

How did you come to be a DJ?

I listened to the radio, and I admired those DJs for all the fresh tunes they played. I recorded tapes from the radio and started mixing the radio tracks with my tape deck -- cutting stuff and extending passages in songs and doing mega mixes and all that. So that's what I did when I was a child at home, then the next logical step was to be a DJ at birthday parties for my friends. So it began with the music itself, and wanting to do something creative with it.

Everyone describes your music as electric, techno, funky, fun, etc. Who are your musical influences?

I think the music you grow up with as a teenager has the biggest effect on you. For me that would be acts like Depeche Mode, Duran Duran or Falco. But you wouldn't hear those influences in my music now. They helped influence my love of music, but I was always open-minded about all styles. I loved the late 80s and early 90s hip hop. I was always open to music in general, like I loved Nirvana, and I went through a grunge phase, and I still love Indie rock. But I'm a DJ, and my music doesn't sound anything like Indie rock, so for me it's just all about music-all music.

How did you choose the name Malente?

Malente is the name of the very small town where I was born. It's near the Baltic Sea in northern Germany. I'd finished an EP, and the label said you need a new name, so I thought, well, my hometown has a great name. It's warm and interesting, and when you hear the name it gives you a lot of empty space to fill in your own ideas about what it means.

What's your biggest vice?

Well, I quit drinking years ago. I don't smoke. I've had the same girlfriend for eight years. So yeah, I might be a boring guy. I enjoy being friendly with people and having conversations. It just sounds boring, but I'm not really boring. I'm just not the typical rock star DJ who drinks himself to death. To some people that seems more shocking than if I would take heroin or something. It's weird. People expect you to drink a lot then pass out behind the DJ booth, but I don't fit that profile. If you see how happy I am you might think I'm crazy and on all kinds of drugs, but I'm just not. I'm just happy.

What's your own musical guilty pleasure?

In the mornings for breakfast, I listen to UK Indie rock.

Beatles or Stones?

Beatles. Much more melody and a great rhythm section.

What's the funniest thing you've witnessed from the DJ stage?

Girls showing their breasts. And there's always some crazy character in the crowd and lots of people who just lose their minds. There's a lot to laugh at if you open your eyes, but sometimes I'm very concentrated in my performing, and I don't even see the good stuff. And sometimes it's just very beautiful to look out and see that you can really move the crowd. It gives you a lot of power, though, and you should never misuse the power. It's a scary thought, because you have control over masses of people who want to move. As a DJ I'm not telling anyone to go wage war or anything, but there is a responsibility.

What's one secret about you that no one has heard?

I'm a big lover of cheese, especially one Spanish cheese. I can't say its name, so I have to save it in my phone to order it from the Internet. Yeah, I'm a bit crazy about good cheese.

What's in your SXSW survival kit?

Maybe my underwear, some t-shirts, and the best music I can show you guys down there. I'll bring my freshest production. I'd rather bring more music than an extra t-shirt, let's put it like that.

Do you have any surprises planned for the SXSW Festival?

Well, I can't tell you everything now, but I'm very excited to come to the festival. I always play very exclusive stuff, like music that is coming out about a half a year later, or remixes that I've just finished. If people drop by, they will hear music that's just arriving on the scene for the first time. One song that will definitely be played will be my Malente vs Azzido Da Bass 'They're Killing It,' which is coming out on Dim Mak this March.

Tricia Spencer is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.