“Everything is changing and it’s almost impossible to go back where you came from because you just know too much about certain things and just do it differently, it’s just a natural evolution.”
Techno mainstay, Steve Bug hits The Factory on Sunday, May 31. JAI CHOUHAN reports.
Entrenched in Germany’s house scene for over two decades, Steve Bug has done it all. Juggling an international touring schedule, curating his own releases and running three labels, his life is house music and he’s somehow managed to keep it about that, the music.
Heading up his labels, Audiomatique, Dessous and Poker Flat, Bug has seen the industry’s evolution first hand.
“With Audiomatique, we simply just stopped doing vinyl because sales were not good enough.” Bug opens.
To his surprise, Dessous, Bug’s deep house label has struggled on the vinyl market, losing money on a number of releases.
“But with Poker Flat we’re fine. We pretty much do every release on vinyl unless an artist says we’re not doing it or there’s time-pressure because with vinyl these days it can take so many months to get it ready and you want to release it before the summer. Of course you have to be available on all the platforms now as well that didn’t even exist when starting the labels, you definitely have to adjust.”
The German DJ has also just released an EP of his own, Coconut Paradise, Bug’s first of 2015.
“I’ve always been a fan of releases where you have completely different tracks to choose from for different times of the night, for different clubs or just for different people. The A-side is quite summery, that’s why it’s called Coconut Paradise, then there’s a more dubby, techno-ish tune on B1, and then more of a classic Steve Bug, weird bleepy sounds and a more mind-screwing track.”
Since his debut release back in 1994, Bug’s approach to making music hasn’t changed per se, but it has certainly developed.
“In the beginning, I was using very little gear. But now, with the possibilities of what computers can do these days, having collected synthesisers and drum machines, of course there are different possibilities when working on music. Everything is changing and it’s almost impossible to go back where you came from because you just know too much about certain things and just do it differently, it’s just a natural evolution.”
Heading up three fronts with DJing, producing and A&R work, Steve Bug finds that his time is equally divided, with no one aspect taking precedence over the other.
“Everything is taking a third of my time. A third is DJing, a third is producing and a third is running the labels with my partner. Of course, DJing comes with a lot of travelling, and that might be the biggest part of it, but in the meantime I’m working on other stuff. It all comes together as one package, I can’t think of it as one without the others.
“Down-time is rarely happening, I’m simply working all the time. Even if I’m not doing anything, my mind is still there. With every self-employed person, even when you’re on vacation for three weeks, you’re still doing emails and thinking what to do next.”
