Bjorn Wilke — Guest at Reflection

Bjorn Wilke is a self-employed producer, label owner and DJ who has to deal with business matters every day, record music, and do all sorts of work in the studio and the office. But I enjoy all of it. I spend my free time doing sport, going to the sauna, cooking, and hanging out with friends and family.

We invented the Balearic sound; it was a mix of progressive and tribal house, and melodic at that. A very sexy and yet underground sound. The main thing in the atmosphere of Ibiza back then was, of course, the energy. The parties weren't as large-scale as they are now. The DJ booth at Space was hidden behind the bar, the dance floor was quite small, and everyone knew each other. And the main thing — there was no roof over the terrace!

Yes, I like deep house and music with its elements, but you couldn't call me a big fan of American old-school house. I really like the music that was heard on the West Coast a few years ago — the labels Siesta, Tango, Big Chief and so on. Many of those who worked with them I later signed to the label Habalando Records, which I was running at the time. But no one had a noticeable influence on me; for me the main thing is to create a groove on the dance floor. Rhythm is the main thing in this music; absolutely everything rests on it.

On Kaato Music I navigate between deep house, tech house and dub techno, and this format is working great so far. Our catalogue has already gathered quite a few respected artists — Vincenzo, Someone Else, Afrilounge, Saeed Younan, Mic Newman, Mastra — plus many talented newcomers who grow before your eyes from release to release.

Yes, I met him on several occasions. He's a great guy, immediately likeable. We worked together on his album for BMG, and it was an incredible pleasure. His voice is still beautiful, and he's a true professional. As a rule, he recorded all his vocal parts in a single take.

I think making a remix of a track you really love is doubly difficult. How can you outdo something that's already good? But of course I do have favourite tracks and musicians — Paperclip People, Danny Tenaglia, Daniel Bell, Trevor Horn, Ron Trent, Robert Hood, Masters At Work — and this list could go on for a long time.

I use Logic and Ableton; 80% of the recording is done digitally, 20% analogue. My favourite is still the Jupiter synthesizer. Those who've worked with this machine will understand me.

Once I played on a tiny little island in Thailand called Koh Som, where ten years ago Loco Dice and I played at a party marking the middle of the lunar cycle. It was simply stunning; the atmosphere was completely insane. And we got to the island by motorboat across the Gulf of Thailand. My performance in New Caledonia (that's in the Pacific Ocean) was also great, as was my debut in Goa last year.

Oh, I had a huge amount of fun playing at this place! The people around were so pleasant, everyone was smiling and really getting into the music, which is completely atypical for Goa. I played percussive tech house at a tempo of about 125 beats per minute, and it all turned out just great. We even had to pay the police so that the party would run not until ten in the evening, as required, but until two in the morning. Taking this opportunity, I thank Alexander (art director of Shanti Goa) once again for this wonderful event! As for Goa, it is first and foremost a place where everyone can be themselves and express themselves however they like. In the seventies it all began precisely with this feeling.

This record came out in April and was recorded under the impression of my tour of India in November. There I played in three clubs in Delhi, Bombay and at Shanti Goa. The sound of the tracks on Hypnoindia resembles what I played in those clubs; it's hypnotic progressive tech house with very strange vocal samples. This release is a kind of gesture of gratitude to everyone who was there and danced to my music.