We Know The Feeling: Dave Heugel

We Know The Feeling: Dave Heugel

30 August, 2010 | 10.12AM

• Written by: Beatportal
• Filed under: Music News: we know the feeling

Every one of Beatport’s staff is a vital element within the company’s existence, a cog that drives the machine that drives the industry. And at Beatport we know that our staff members are more than pistons and prongs, they are multicoloured rainbows that shine out above the musical community at large, raining down multitudes of techno, house and the occasional heavy metal record.

Yes this week, we introduce to you one of the most enigmatic and hard working DJs within the Berlin office, Dave Heugel. Those within Europe will probably be already aware of Dave, a familiar face within the Robert Johnson and Tresor clubs of Germany, Dave has been spinning techno and house for many years now.

About to embark as a producer Dave recalls to us his tales listening to Slayer, how he acquired the name ‘Dave The Rave’ and how he’s manages to see through the clothes of his fellow employees for so long without anyone of us catching on.

First off, tell us what your role here is at Beatport?

I am the labelmanager for Europe.

And what does that actually mean on a day to day basis?

I am the connection between the labels and Beatport, which means I am receiving between 150 and 200 emails a day and talk with labelpartners on the phone, Skype and i-Chat about upcoming releases, promotions, things that should be fixed on releases and sometimes be someone to just to say “hi” and have a nice chat.

I am also collecting information, dj feedbacks and whatever could be interesting to put that together in a suggestion sheet for the weekly siteupdate for banners, featured releases or newsletters. I am also signing new labels, or deleting them!

Where were you born and raised?

I was born in Karlsruhe which is in the south of Germany, 200 km down Frankfurt. I had a nice time as a kid, the suburb I grow up was almost countryside so I knew how it feels to play real games like hide and seek or how to build a slingshot to shoot friends with. At the age of 19 I moved out of my parents house and got my own place with some friends in Karlsruhe downtown, a crazy community with a lots of party and long weekends. The kitchen was always a mess, by the way which one of you bastards has my microwave…?

And when and why did you move to Berlin?

I recieved a phonecall from Ronny Krieger in July 2007, who offered me a job as a labelmanager for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. At that time I was working for Playhouse, Klang Elektronik and Ongaku Musik in Frankfurt as the Head of Press and Promotion. The offer sounded challenging, so I came to Berlin for the job interview. Two weeks later I started my job here at Beatport.

Tell us about your music upbringing – what were the first acts you were into?

My mother had a great collection of records, so I discovered Lou Reed, The Velvet Underground, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and such artists I was very young. As a young teenager I got in contact with other kids who listened to more harder stuff, like Slayer, Metallica and The Misfits. So I started to grow my hair, founded a death metal band and became a drummer at the age of 14. The influence of others in that age is quite big I so I am wondering what I would be doing today if I would grown up around Hip Hop freaks, or country fans.

And how did you get into electronic music?

After some years in a metal head which included a lot of headbanging and pogo dancing with my hair down till the belt, some friends of mine took me out to a club called Vibration. They had to give me clothes so that I could pass the evil bouncers. I was wearing a baseball cap and put my hair into a ponytail. Somehow, even though I looked very stupid and wrong, plus being underaged I was allowed in.

Inside there was a black DJ playing Manchester house, his name was Carl Cox. I had never heard that name before, but I really liked the atmosphere in there. Everybody was dancing, and had a good time, much better than dancing pogo, drinking beer and having pointless discussions with other nerds about who is the better drummer of Slayer, Dave Lombardo or Paul Bostaph? (ed - Dave Lombardo easily!)

I was infected! I started to collect mix tapes from DJs like Sven Vaeth and DJ Hell. I cut my hair short and started to visit clubs far away like the Omen in Frankfurt, the Aufschwung Ost in Kassel, The Ultraschall in Munich, The Prag in Stuttgart or Tresor in Berlin.

What was one of the first club nights you went to?

I really liked techno in the first years, there was a clubnight we went for years in Stuttgart at the Prague called Neue Heimat. They booked a lot of acts from Brighton like Surgeon, Subhead and Cristian Vogel. Another highlight was always Oliver Chesler aka The Horrorist live with a visual show.

With the age and also the move to Frankfurt I finally discovered house music. Ata and Heiko from Playhouse had a clubnight on a Thursday called Wildpitch Club which had amazing bookings. So I got to see DJs like Andrew Weatherall for the very first time as well as Derrick Carter, Dj Sneak, Losoul, Luke Solomun. Soon after that the mighty Robert Johnson Club opened it’s doors.

How would you compare the nightlife between Frankfurt and Berlin?

First of all, Frankfurt has not so many party people to fill so many clubs, so there are not so many things going on. There is the Robert Johnson and the Cocoonclub right now, nothing else that really matters. Berlin’s nightlife lives a lot from the tourists, they want to go out as much as possible so the clubs are open till very late or they simply never close for the weekend.

In Frankfurt people are more focused on who is playing. A long night in the Robert Johnson for example goes til ten in the morning when people like Ricardo Villalobos or Magda are playing. That’s standard opening times for a Berlin club.

Where do you prefer to play?

Thats a difficult question because in the end it depends on the night, how crowded it is and what the crowd’s like. For sure the Robert Johnson has one of the best sound systems in the world, it’s always a pleasure to be the captain behind the decks for one night, plus I still have a lot of friends in Frankfurt, so it’s some kind of a homeplay. But I’ve had very good nights here in Berlin, for example at the Panorama Bar, the WMF, or the Weekend Club.

What’s the vibe like at Robert-Johnson, why is it such an important venue within the electronic dance community?

That’s difficult to describe, but it’s very special for sure. They don’t close the windows so you see the daylight when the sun goes up; you can sit on the terrasse and have a nice chat or simply enjoy the view of the river that’s only a few meters away. You should definitely check out the place, maybe even if Ata plays his aerobic night once a month which means only he play all night which is always a mindblowing travel into time and space, you never know how the night turns out, and that’s for sure something that’s missing nowadays; getting surprised from by a DJ.

What’s the biggest crowd you’ve ever played to?

I guess that must have been the Queensday in Amsterdam a couple of years ago. My friend Melon and I finished that outdoor stage, I am not sure but I guess around 5000 people. Most of them were wearing a lot of orange and were pretty drunk, but hey it was their national day.

How did you acquire the name ‘Dave The Rave’?

There was a time when I was famous for not needing so much time for rest, 3 days going out in a row was no problem at all. Luckily that changed a lot, I love to relax and taking things easy now.

What’s your preferred method of DJing – do you still use vinyl?

I am playing with Traktor and Vinyl. There was a time when I was playing a lot of cds as well, but it was always a mess to keep the overview. So I tried out the computer, and I really like organizing my collection in i-Tunes. I am only playing wav files, and I am mixing with time code vinyl, but I also bring some old records with me that I haven’t encoded them yet.

What’s your studio set up like?

I am using Ableton, a midi controller keyboard, the blue Korg Groovebox and one Yamaha DX 200, all that routed in a Macki mixer.

Do you have any productions coming out?

It seems like my first release will come out on Sonido very soon. Another track that I did with my Athens buddy Mr. Statik will released on Mo’s Ferry in October. Right now I am doing a lot of music, alone and with my studio partner Marco Freivogel from Exercise One.

Lightening Round

What track do you play before going out?

I don’t like to listen to banging music at home in general, not before I go out and for sure not when I am coming home. I would always play some music that brings you in a nice mood in a relaxed and easygoing way. Jus You from Jozif on Wolf + Lamb Music is such a track, whenever I listen to that I feel good and want to do something nice.

What are your favourite current peak time tracks?

Art Department - Without You on Crosstown Rebels

Shenoda - All Ears Mr. G Remix Hypercolour

Adam Marshall – Grapple New Kanada

Who are your current favourite DJs?

My favourite DJ was and will always be Andrew Weatherall. John Lennon said once, ‘it’s lonely at the top’, so I list only the general.

Techno or minimal?

Techno of course!

Techno or house?

I really enjoy both styles played from the right people at the right moment. I also play different sets on a sunny daytime party outside than a dark warehouse rave, there is a spectrum in my taste that goes from weird deep house to nice techno.

Techno or Slayer?

Thats tough! There should always be room for both, even if my heart is beating 4/4 there is always something evil deep inside me.

If you had super-human powers what would they be?

Actually I have super-powers. I can see through clothes, but of course I don’t tell anybody that, especially not here in the office!

Who’s your favourite Beatport employee?

I like all of them, the team is great and I am proud to work among all the guys here. But if I have to choose then it would have to be Stephan Mossmann who always does such an amazing job as my replacement when I am not in the office on vacation. I take my job very serious so it’s good to know that my labels get the same support even if I am not here. Thanks Stephan!

I also have to mention Stassy here who is doing also a great job with encoding my releases. He always spends a lot of extra time with fixing mistakes of deliveries, converting sound files and scale artworks to avoid the label having to re-delivery the release. Really appreciated!

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