Est. April 2003
MPIII.com is an online community of people that find interest in electronic music. We strive to promote electronic music and the artists that create it. MPIII.com features downloads of live sets and mix sets posted by our members. These live sets and mix sets are posted in appreciation for the artists that created them. You will find biographies, images and links for all the artists featured on the site. This helps in promoting the people that create the music which we love. MPIII.com takes much pride in being a site rich with information and knowledge. Artists and DJs alike can use the site as a stepping stone to help them in their musical careers while we here at MPIII.com continue to provide thousands of downloads, videos, livesets and mixes to our devoted members.
If you would like to join our community you can register by clicking here. If you have any other questions please check the FAQ section by clicking here.
If you are the owner of any of these live sets or mix sets and wish to have them removed, please contact us by clicking here.
If you would like to join our community you can register by clicking here. If you have any other questions please check the FAQ section by clicking here.
If you are the owner of any of these live sets or mix sets and wish to have them removed, please contact us by clicking here.
Overall Rating: 8.3
Audio Quality: 7.3
6
0
Not available
Members that downloaded this also downloaded
Michael Mayer - Barraca - ES - Apr 2008
Submitted By: 
szikkboj
szikkbojGenre: Techno
Date of Set: Apr 1st, 2008
Filesize: 41.43 MB
Total Downloads: 18
Biography of Michael Mayer
BORN
Black Forest, 1971
FAMILY
“I was surrounded by music at home. I’d stay awake and listen to the radio all night, recording things if I was too tired. My parents gave me the chance to learn the piano which maybe helped, but in the end I destroyed all my classical music wisdom when techno came along.”
MUSICAL ROOTS
“My favourite band was the Alan Parsons project -why ever? – I used to love them as a child, especially the electronic tracks. I was a disco kid. When I first went to a youth disco night and realised that you could mix records on special turntables I instantly fell in love. I knew that I had to do this. The first things that I bought and played were some Italian disco stuff, Stock, Aitken and Waterman, Pet Shop Boys, all those extended versions of pop hits, some funk… I used to play at school parties and then got my first job in a big discothèque at 18. It was perfect training but it didn’t work out very well. I had to stop half a year later because the audience didn’t like my music very much. Then I started to do parties with Tobias [Thomas]. That was back in 1991. We used to play all the newer kinds of dance music – hip hop, house, techno – and finally we concentrated on four to the floor stuff.”
FIRST PROJECTS
“This was when I moved to Cologne in 1992. At first I was only a DJ and I didn’t feel that I had to automatically produce tracks. For me it was two different things. When I met Reinhardt [Voigt] and all those guys we had some fun nights and thought ‘let’s make something out of this’ so we founded our band, Forever Sweet. I still regard making music as a hobby. I’m not a professional producer in the classic sense. I’m too bad on techniques and I’m not interested in reading manuals. I feel I’m playing with instruments and not a serious producer.”
LABELS AND PRODUCTION
“Only Kompakt is active now. I used to do stuff for Ladomat too but that was five or six years ago.”
DJING
“The only thing I pre-determine is that I play 4/4. The rest happens by accident. I love the deeper side of music, obviously, but I like it raw and kicking. There has to be some pop sensibility too but in a third kind, not obviously. The structure of my set is very pop influenced: I don’t mix tools for hours. There have to be waves like a pop song. I love records that are structured, that have a beginning/middle/end. It’s the same for any clubnight, there has to be that progression. I love to warm up and take my time to get in to it, to take the people with me. There’s the prime time and then the end and at the end I love to play more songs and some things you can whistle on the way home.”
Interview
Kompakt is a record store linking the past, present and future of Cologne's house and techno sound. Established by Wolfgang Voigt (who, as Mike Ink, founded the city's minimal 4/4 reputation in the early nineties) it harbours DJ's, producers, record labels and clubnights. It's also a distribution centre, the running of which fills the days of DJ, Producer and Head-Honch Michael Mayer. The label itself has gone from strength-to-strength and 2003 could be it's biggest year yet. Artist albums are forthcoming from Mayer and wunderkind Superpitcher whilst Kompakt DJ Tobias Thomas has just completed a new mix CD. Overload met all three and discovered business and pleasure do mix.
O.M.
We hear the Kompakt crew has moved offices?
M.M.
Yep, and we are never going to move again. It was ridiculous, we moved over 100, 000 records. Still, now my body is in shape. I have muscles everywhere. The whole thing was like some cheap, Hollywood slasher movie. Every day somebody was missing: ‘Hey where’s Peter?’ ‘Oh, he broke his arm.’ ‘You’re kidding?’ ‘I’m not kidding!’ Suddenly we didn’t have 12 people we had 7 people, so I couldn’t even justify leaving to play the carnival that we have in Cologne every year . . .
O.M.
How is Cologne? I think you’ve mentioned in the past that the city has a big effect on Kompakt’s sound?
M.M.
That’s a difficult thing to appreciate when you live here. Maybe it’s easier for you to look on from the outside. Sure, the cliché would be ‘there’s nothing beautiful for the eye so we try and create something beautiful for the ears’. Eighty or ninety percent of Cologne was destroyed in World War II. You could say it’s a fairly ugly city with strange ‘50s/’60s architecture that can look fairly interesting at times. We still have some of the old city structure and this mix of modernism – people used to take two weeks to build houses – along with the old houses can be a beautiful mix. The little bit of our history that we kept we absolutely love, but we can get along with the new ugly things too. I’m not sure what effect on music this has. Cologne is a creative city regarding visual art etc so it must be something to do with the climate. Cologne is the warmest part of Germany and the city is very friendly. They say it is the most Northern city of Italy. Life on the streets is very different to the rest of Germany, it is very Mediterranean in its outlook.
O.M.
I’d like to talk about your last mix CD ‘Immer’. I’ve heard it described as ‘heroin house’, as being quite a narrow, edgy, paranoia-inducing sound. It seems far from that in reality, expansive and ranging.
M.M.
I think that’s for historical reasons. We used to be much more pure in sound. In the early minimal phase of ‘95/’96 we were very much focused on this super minimal stuff. But now, since everyone has been into this minimal thing, we are starting to explore the cutting edges with other styles. We try to keep the minimal genre as interesting as possible. Everything has been said as far as classic minimal techno goes. There’s really not much we can do to improve that style. So we have to compare minimal music with other styles, to find links between them and create something new, whether it be R & B or rock music, whatever. We blend it, take the best out of it, strip it down and use it in an abstract way.
O.M.
We should also mention Total Konfusion, Kompakt’s club, which has been running four-and-a-half years now. Is it still as exciting for you and the crowd?
M.M.
Yes, absolutely. When you do something for such a long period there has to come the day when you ask yourself ‘is this still as good?’ You have to control yourself and check whether you are enjoying it and putting in the effort that a clubnight needs or whether it is just happening automatically. We still really enjoy it and put in all the effort we can. The audience is partly the same as the one that started to party in Cologne and we have about 60 or 70 percent regular guests which makes the club much tighter socially. That’s the important thing, not just the music bit also the social systems. You need the interaction between people to make it a party.
O.M.
Is Kompakt an underground pop label?
M.M.
In a way, but at the same time we push our techno line through the Speicher series and ambient line. Kompakt is never one sound and never has one focus. We have very high output, we release a record every two weeks. We feel that not every record has to please everybody. People should check what each one is about and decide whether to buy it or not. We like to keep it as open as possible.
O.M.
Neil Tennant mentioned recently how much he likes Kompakt. Does this complete the circle?
M.M.
Yeah, definitely. When they played in Cologne at the end of 2002, the opening track before they took to the stage was a track from our Pop Ambient compilation. I wasn’t there, but when people told me that I was so happy. That’s perfect and closes the circle. They inspired us so much during the last fifteen years and it’s a good feeling that they appreciate what we do.
O.M.
As far as the business goes does Kompakt exist now as an example for other independent businesses and record labels? Have you learnt lessons?
M.M.
Yep. It’s funny, we were never really interested in the business side of things - we are all more from the artistic side - but we felt a great responsibility to the artists that surround us. That was the point where we decided to build up a distribution centre, to be more independent, to make quick decisions, to put out whatever we want without discussing it with any other distributor. It’s sexy when you see that everything’s going well and money is coming in but we do it because someone has to do it.
O.M.
You’re there to help other labels too.
M.M.
It’s beautiful to see how everything’s growing. All the small labels we carry… you see the first, second, third release. You feel that those people are really into it then you hear the fifth or sixth release and it’s a bomb. You see where they were headed all along, what they always had, and you feel proud. It’s like being Daddy to a very large family. You’re proud that your youngest son has finished school, it’s a beautiful thing.
O.M.
Do you enjoy the DJ lifestyle despite having so much else happening in your life?
M.M.
For me it’s the perfect balance. If I wouldn’t be in a club every weekend and listen to all the records we distribute through the week then I’m sure I’d have a problem and wonder why I’m doing all of this. And it’s the same the other way around; as a DJ travelling around I would be missing my anchor. I need a straight job, an office job to keep me right. To ensure that I don’t lose my head as a DJ. I like doing normal things during the week and then being wild at weekends. It’s a perfect balance. A ying and yang thing.
O.M.
Which is the role you are most enthusiastic about?
M.M.
It’s all equal, all part of the same thing. I can’t say ‘I love this more than the other.’ DJing is my greatest passion as I’ve been doing it for 16 years. I could never stop DJing but I could stop working in an office for sure.
O.M.
If a respected record label can make ‘pop’ records, why are its artists frowned upon if they become popular?
M.M.
That’s maybe a British problem. I was always wondering why the British music industry works like it does. It’s so strange to watch it from the outside. It seems that nothing grows naturally and everything needs the big hammer of promotion. You have to do so many things to make your music popular, it’s not just the fact that the music is good. In Germany it is different. The whole attitude is more open. The people are more interested – seriously interested – in new music. They like digging for truffles, listening to hundreds of records and finding things that other people don’t have. I think this moment of happiness, of finding something that others wont have heard and wanting to play it to them on a Saturday is what pushes us in the right direction.
O.M.
Maybe it’s to do with the fact that Germany doesn’t have a rock tradition? UK magazines are reliant on the star system, on big front covers . . .
M.M.
Yeah, probably. Germany has an excellent infrastructure that built up in the early 90s when techno blasted off. Every little town has a good record shop concentrating on electronic music. We have lots of magazines, it’s totally independent from rock music or major labels and it’s basically a perfect network.
O.M.
Can you tell us a little about the Mayer and Superpitcher artist albums that are due this year?
M.M.
In my case there isn’t much to talk about. I’m looking for the direction and collecting tracks. I’ve got enough time because my album is scheduled for the autumn. Same for the Superpitcher album. There’s some excellent tracks that he already has, he has played me some new things which I really like and he has some very nice ideas regarding guest singers etc which takes some time. Now we have the new record by Wolfgang [Voigt] and me, the first time we have made music together since the old Forever Sweet days, on Kompakt Extra. We really enjoyed this. When we move our studios to the new place over the next month we will all work together and collaborate more. For years now everyone has worked in his own bedroom or solo studio and sometimes you have this period where you’re just inspired. It’s cool then to have some friends round, get some red wine and just enjoy it together.
O.M.
You have great concern for one another, a real family spirit?
M.M.
There’s self-control everywhere. We discuss absolutely everything and sometimes it sucks – “I’m right Tobias”/“Forget it Michael!” – but it’s a democratic system and that’s a great thing.
Black Forest, 1971
FAMILY
“I was surrounded by music at home. I’d stay awake and listen to the radio all night, recording things if I was too tired. My parents gave me the chance to learn the piano which maybe helped, but in the end I destroyed all my classical music wisdom when techno came along.”
MUSICAL ROOTS
“My favourite band was the Alan Parsons project -why ever? – I used to love them as a child, especially the electronic tracks. I was a disco kid. When I first went to a youth disco night and realised that you could mix records on special turntables I instantly fell in love. I knew that I had to do this. The first things that I bought and played were some Italian disco stuff, Stock, Aitken and Waterman, Pet Shop Boys, all those extended versions of pop hits, some funk… I used to play at school parties and then got my first job in a big discothèque at 18. It was perfect training but it didn’t work out very well. I had to stop half a year later because the audience didn’t like my music very much. Then I started to do parties with Tobias [Thomas]. That was back in 1991. We used to play all the newer kinds of dance music – hip hop, house, techno – and finally we concentrated on four to the floor stuff.”
FIRST PROJECTS
“This was when I moved to Cologne in 1992. At first I was only a DJ and I didn’t feel that I had to automatically produce tracks. For me it was two different things. When I met Reinhardt [Voigt] and all those guys we had some fun nights and thought ‘let’s make something out of this’ so we founded our band, Forever Sweet. I still regard making music as a hobby. I’m not a professional producer in the classic sense. I’m too bad on techniques and I’m not interested in reading manuals. I feel I’m playing with instruments and not a serious producer.”
LABELS AND PRODUCTION
“Only Kompakt is active now. I used to do stuff for Ladomat too but that was five or six years ago.”
DJING
“The only thing I pre-determine is that I play 4/4. The rest happens by accident. I love the deeper side of music, obviously, but I like it raw and kicking. There has to be some pop sensibility too but in a third kind, not obviously. The structure of my set is very pop influenced: I don’t mix tools for hours. There have to be waves like a pop song. I love records that are structured, that have a beginning/middle/end. It’s the same for any clubnight, there has to be that progression. I love to warm up and take my time to get in to it, to take the people with me. There’s the prime time and then the end and at the end I love to play more songs and some things you can whistle on the way home.”
Interview
Kompakt is a record store linking the past, present and future of Cologne's house and techno sound. Established by Wolfgang Voigt (who, as Mike Ink, founded the city's minimal 4/4 reputation in the early nineties) it harbours DJ's, producers, record labels and clubnights. It's also a distribution centre, the running of which fills the days of DJ, Producer and Head-Honch Michael Mayer. The label itself has gone from strength-to-strength and 2003 could be it's biggest year yet. Artist albums are forthcoming from Mayer and wunderkind Superpitcher whilst Kompakt DJ Tobias Thomas has just completed a new mix CD. Overload met all three and discovered business and pleasure do mix.
O.M.
We hear the Kompakt crew has moved offices?
M.M.
Yep, and we are never going to move again. It was ridiculous, we moved over 100, 000 records. Still, now my body is in shape. I have muscles everywhere. The whole thing was like some cheap, Hollywood slasher movie. Every day somebody was missing: ‘Hey where’s Peter?’ ‘Oh, he broke his arm.’ ‘You’re kidding?’ ‘I’m not kidding!’ Suddenly we didn’t have 12 people we had 7 people, so I couldn’t even justify leaving to play the carnival that we have in Cologne every year . . .
O.M.
How is Cologne? I think you’ve mentioned in the past that the city has a big effect on Kompakt’s sound?
M.M.
That’s a difficult thing to appreciate when you live here. Maybe it’s easier for you to look on from the outside. Sure, the cliché would be ‘there’s nothing beautiful for the eye so we try and create something beautiful for the ears’. Eighty or ninety percent of Cologne was destroyed in World War II. You could say it’s a fairly ugly city with strange ‘50s/’60s architecture that can look fairly interesting at times. We still have some of the old city structure and this mix of modernism – people used to take two weeks to build houses – along with the old houses can be a beautiful mix. The little bit of our history that we kept we absolutely love, but we can get along with the new ugly things too. I’m not sure what effect on music this has. Cologne is a creative city regarding visual art etc so it must be something to do with the climate. Cologne is the warmest part of Germany and the city is very friendly. They say it is the most Northern city of Italy. Life on the streets is very different to the rest of Germany, it is very Mediterranean in its outlook.
O.M.
I’d like to talk about your last mix CD ‘Immer’. I’ve heard it described as ‘heroin house’, as being quite a narrow, edgy, paranoia-inducing sound. It seems far from that in reality, expansive and ranging.
M.M.
I think that’s for historical reasons. We used to be much more pure in sound. In the early minimal phase of ‘95/’96 we were very much focused on this super minimal stuff. But now, since everyone has been into this minimal thing, we are starting to explore the cutting edges with other styles. We try to keep the minimal genre as interesting as possible. Everything has been said as far as classic minimal techno goes. There’s really not much we can do to improve that style. So we have to compare minimal music with other styles, to find links between them and create something new, whether it be R & B or rock music, whatever. We blend it, take the best out of it, strip it down and use it in an abstract way.
O.M.
We should also mention Total Konfusion, Kompakt’s club, which has been running four-and-a-half years now. Is it still as exciting for you and the crowd?
M.M.
Yes, absolutely. When you do something for such a long period there has to come the day when you ask yourself ‘is this still as good?’ You have to control yourself and check whether you are enjoying it and putting in the effort that a clubnight needs or whether it is just happening automatically. We still really enjoy it and put in all the effort we can. The audience is partly the same as the one that started to party in Cologne and we have about 60 or 70 percent regular guests which makes the club much tighter socially. That’s the important thing, not just the music bit also the social systems. You need the interaction between people to make it a party.
O.M.
Is Kompakt an underground pop label?
M.M.
In a way, but at the same time we push our techno line through the Speicher series and ambient line. Kompakt is never one sound and never has one focus. We have very high output, we release a record every two weeks. We feel that not every record has to please everybody. People should check what each one is about and decide whether to buy it or not. We like to keep it as open as possible.
O.M.
Neil Tennant mentioned recently how much he likes Kompakt. Does this complete the circle?
M.M.
Yeah, definitely. When they played in Cologne at the end of 2002, the opening track before they took to the stage was a track from our Pop Ambient compilation. I wasn’t there, but when people told me that I was so happy. That’s perfect and closes the circle. They inspired us so much during the last fifteen years and it’s a good feeling that they appreciate what we do.
O.M.
As far as the business goes does Kompakt exist now as an example for other independent businesses and record labels? Have you learnt lessons?
M.M.
Yep. It’s funny, we were never really interested in the business side of things - we are all more from the artistic side - but we felt a great responsibility to the artists that surround us. That was the point where we decided to build up a distribution centre, to be more independent, to make quick decisions, to put out whatever we want without discussing it with any other distributor. It’s sexy when you see that everything’s going well and money is coming in but we do it because someone has to do it.
O.M.
You’re there to help other labels too.
M.M.
It’s beautiful to see how everything’s growing. All the small labels we carry… you see the first, second, third release. You feel that those people are really into it then you hear the fifth or sixth release and it’s a bomb. You see where they were headed all along, what they always had, and you feel proud. It’s like being Daddy to a very large family. You’re proud that your youngest son has finished school, it’s a beautiful thing.
O.M.
Do you enjoy the DJ lifestyle despite having so much else happening in your life?
M.M.
For me it’s the perfect balance. If I wouldn’t be in a club every weekend and listen to all the records we distribute through the week then I’m sure I’d have a problem and wonder why I’m doing all of this. And it’s the same the other way around; as a DJ travelling around I would be missing my anchor. I need a straight job, an office job to keep me right. To ensure that I don’t lose my head as a DJ. I like doing normal things during the week and then being wild at weekends. It’s a perfect balance. A ying and yang thing.
O.M.
Which is the role you are most enthusiastic about?
M.M.
It’s all equal, all part of the same thing. I can’t say ‘I love this more than the other.’ DJing is my greatest passion as I’ve been doing it for 16 years. I could never stop DJing but I could stop working in an office for sure.
O.M.
If a respected record label can make ‘pop’ records, why are its artists frowned upon if they become popular?
M.M.
That’s maybe a British problem. I was always wondering why the British music industry works like it does. It’s so strange to watch it from the outside. It seems that nothing grows naturally and everything needs the big hammer of promotion. You have to do so many things to make your music popular, it’s not just the fact that the music is good. In Germany it is different. The whole attitude is more open. The people are more interested – seriously interested – in new music. They like digging for truffles, listening to hundreds of records and finding things that other people don’t have. I think this moment of happiness, of finding something that others wont have heard and wanting to play it to them on a Saturday is what pushes us in the right direction.
O.M.
Maybe it’s to do with the fact that Germany doesn’t have a rock tradition? UK magazines are reliant on the star system, on big front covers . . .
M.M.
Yeah, probably. Germany has an excellent infrastructure that built up in the early 90s when techno blasted off. Every little town has a good record shop concentrating on electronic music. We have lots of magazines, it’s totally independent from rock music or major labels and it’s basically a perfect network.
O.M.
Can you tell us a little about the Mayer and Superpitcher artist albums that are due this year?
M.M.
In my case there isn’t much to talk about. I’m looking for the direction and collecting tracks. I’ve got enough time because my album is scheduled for the autumn. Same for the Superpitcher album. There’s some excellent tracks that he already has, he has played me some new things which I really like and he has some very nice ideas regarding guest singers etc which takes some time. Now we have the new record by Wolfgang [Voigt] and me, the first time we have made music together since the old Forever Sweet days, on Kompakt Extra. We really enjoyed this. When we move our studios to the new place over the next month we will all work together and collaborate more. For years now everyone has worked in his own bedroom or solo studio and sometimes you have this period where you’re just inspired. It’s cool then to have some friends round, get some red wine and just enjoy it together.
O.M.
You have great concern for one another, a real family spirit?
M.M.
There’s self-control everywhere. We discuss absolutely everything and sometimes it sucks – “I’m right Tobias”/“Forget it Michael!” – but it’s a democratic system and that’s a great thing.
Superpitcher - Barraca - ES - Apr 2008
Submitted By: szikkboj
szikkbojGenre: Techno
Date of Set: Apr 1st, 2008
Filesize: 41.43 MB
Total Downloads: 18
Biography of Superpitcher
Superpitcher is Aksel Schaufler, a German producer with close ties to Cologne's Kompakt label. Like a lot of other producers on that label, it's nearly impossibly to predict exactly what he'll do next. He made his first appearance on Kompakt's Total 2 compilation in 2000 with “Shadows,' an eerie trip-hop production seemingly designed to soundtrack a 3 A.M. drive down a foggy urban alley. In 2001, he contributed a track to Kompakt's first Speicher 12' and released Heroin, a three-track 12' with three different sounds; “Tomorrow' was later included on that year's Total 3. 2002's Total 4 included yet another track from Schaufler, a straightforward electro-pop cover of Brian Eno's “Baby's on Fire.' Soon after that, Schaufler released his second 12', Yesterday, which featured re-workings of “Tomorrow' and “Heroin.'
He also made another appearance that year on Kompakt's fourth Speicher 12'. Since stepping out, Schaufler has done steady remixing work for the likes of Dntel, Carsten Jost, Contriva Phantom/Ghost, and several others. In spring 2004, Superpitcher released his most dynamic work yet with Here Comes Love. A year later, he released a mix album for Kompakt called Today.
He also made another appearance that year on Kompakt's fourth Speicher 12'. Since stepping out, Schaufler has done steady remixing work for the likes of Dntel, Carsten Jost, Contriva Phantom/Ghost, and several others. In spring 2004, Superpitcher released his most dynamic work yet with Here Comes Love. A year later, he released a mix album for Kompakt called Today.
Not available
eldanny
Rating:
(9)
Apr 11, 2008