We Know The Feeling: Michelle Owen (Beatport Berlin)

We Know The Feeling: Michelle Owen (Beatport Berlin)

26 July, 2010 | 11.28AM

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

We live and breathe music here at Beatport. Whether it’s the newest crowd-rocking anthem, the heads-down underground house cuts, or soundscapes found in headphone-centric ambient compositions, we love music.

With a incredible group of people working behind the scenes at Beatport, between two offices spread across the Atlantic ocean, Beatport is a company full of vibrant music lovers who not only help present the best music to you, but spend day and night obsessing about the electronic sounds keeping the people moving and grooving across the world, for their own personal enjoyment. Simply put, music continues to drive us and help us wake up early in the morning to come to the office, pour a fresh cup of coffee, turn on the computers, and get to work.

In a new series, entitled ‘We Know The Feeling,’ we take a quick look into the diverse and wonderful folks inside these office walls, and give our music-loving friends around the planet a chance to get to know us a bit more. Our first feature is with Michelle Owen, an Australian turned Berliner who thinks Elvis is the best member of the Beatport staff. Read on!

Where were you born and raised?

Sydney, Australia mate!

Where else have you lived?

Ibiza, London and now Berlin.

Tell us your earliest musical memory…

Getting ‘Peter and The Wolf’ on Vinyl when I was about six years old.  I LOVED that record.

How did you discover electronic music? Who inspired you?

New Order, Massive Attack, and Everything But The Girl were a huge deal for me. I didn’t realize I was listening to electronic music when growing up because I considered them bands, but I started to like electronic dance music when I saw Danny Tenaglia for the first time.

What was it about hearing Danny Tenaglia that sparked this electronic dance music interest? Can you remember and songs played that fateful evening?

It was the party, the people, the different styles of music he played. He did play ‘Music Is The Answer’, which soon became one of my favorite tracks of all time.

And now you’re a member of the Berlin life… what do you find to be the biggest difference of life in Berlin vs. Australia?

The pace of life in Berlin is more relaxed, bigger underground scene for music, cheaper to live. Sadly, there are no beaches in Berlin.

Tell us what you see as being the best part of life in Berlin?

I’ve learnt I can have a career, a boyfriend, a life, etc., all at the same time. In Sydney I was so focused on my career I never gave myself a chance to have or enjoy anything else. I love how I finally have the time to make music.

What was your career while in Sydney?

I worked for SONY BMG for three years as an International Product Manager. I looked after Kings Of Leon, Fatboy Slim, The Prodigy, Deep Dish. I DJ’d as much as I could. I worked for vinyl stores Central Station Records and Savage. Before leaving Sydney I worked for Thought By Them, a think tank agency owned by Inthemix.com.au.

What do you consider to be the worst part of life in Berlin?

I miss my friends and family very much, but the worst is buffet Sundays in Berlin! Nearly all cafes I like do a buffet lunch—serving the exact same food. Kills me!

What do you do here at Beatport, and how long have you been with the company?

I’m a label manager and I’ve been here since 2008.

Tell us a little bit more about what this involves, for our curious readers.

A label manager looks after a roster of labels for particular world territories or through distribution companies. We make sure new labels are on the site, releases are there for customers to find, and help build the profiles of labels as much as we can.

Do you have a preferred style of dance music to listen to?

House, but it depends on the mood. I like finding old mixes from the ‘90s to listen to, they always have a good mixture of different styles.

Can you list some of your favorite producers at the moment?

Andomat 3000, Anonym, Deepchild, Pezzner, Murat Kilic, Jay Shepheard, Nacho Macro, Gorge, Moodymanc, Jamie Lloyd, La Fleur. But I love the old schoolers like Chez Damier, Derrick Carter, Ashley Beedle, Kerri Chandler, Larry Heard, Green Velvet, Lawnchair Generals, Mark Farina, etc.

How about outside electronic music, can you tell us some other musical influences and artists you’re into?

Anything from jazz and blues to rock music. Right now it’s band like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Black Ryder, Mary Ocher, Kings Of Leon, Howling Bells. I love listening to Cinemix at work – it’s a online radio station for soundtrack scores.

Tell us a little bit about your musical endeavors – any recent DJ gigs of note, productions?

I played at Arena for the summer closing. Over summer they close the club and open outside at Badeschiff. My debut EP ‘Swing It’ on Lost My Dog is out July 26th with remixes from Pezzner and Murat Kilic. I’m going to Gothenburg, Sweden for the first time on September 3rd to play. I’ll be in New York in September so if any musicians or creative people want to collaborate, hit me up. I recently started having drum lessons. I’m taking up my childhood dream a little late, but I would love to be in a band!

Can you tell us one electronic song that best matches your personality?

Kevin Yost’s ‘Dreams Of You’ - I love this song with all my heart.

Can you tell us one of your favorite memories involving dance music?

DJing at Electrosplash in Valencia, Spain. That was a crazy party on the beach with great music, good friends, fun times and nothing will ever compare to it. Then Benicassim at night where Damian Lazarus pulled on the charms get me into the sold out festival. Once in, I heard ADA play live for the first time, she was great! Oh and eating seafood with Fatboy Slim at Café Sydney. He used to be one of my favorite producers so that was a bonus in my book!

Lighting Round:

Best Movie:

‘The Breakfast Club’

Best Rock n’ Roll Band:

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Dogs, cats, or Catz n Dogz?

Dogs. I miss my dog ‘Earl’ in Sydney.

70’s disco or nu-disco?

I’m no disco girl. House music all night long!

Best website to waste time on:

The Selby and NASA

Favorite employee At Beatport:

Elvis (The office dog)

What Instruments can you play?

Guitar and recently the drums

Worst fashion statement or clothing brand?

UGG boots in summer - What tha?

Jeff Mills: human or alien?

Aren’t we all aliens?

Fictional Hero you wish you could be?

Storm from X-Men

Michelle Owen’s Swing It Chart (July 2010)

Michelle Owen productions on Beatport

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