Alex Bau Interview

The Egg Birthday guest talks Credo, future plans and the enduring appeal of techno

Raised on a teenage diet of '80s synth pop, goth and new wave, Alex Bau was fully primed for when techno exploded across Germany. Having been playing and producing it for over 15 years, we brings his deep knowledge of the sound to the Egg LDN Birthday Weekend Part II this Saturday, joining Green Velvet, Enrico Sangiuliano, Tobi Neumann and more.

Looking forward to Saturday, Alex spoke to us about his label Credo, the enduring appeal of techno and getting to meet his hero at the birthday party...

You've been in the electronic scene for over 15 years. Can you tell us how you first started out?

It all started some years before, actually. Before playing techno only I also played all sorts of other music on different occasions, mainly lots of synth-pop, new wave and gothic rock, but also hip hop and indie. At that time techno was a small part of what I played during the night, maybe 30 mins. The more I got into techno and its cosmos the more I realised that this was the sound I wanted to dig into much deeper, not only as a DJ but also productions wise.

Who and what were your main influencers as you began your career ?

I can definitely name Sven Väth here in terms of electronic music. I can still remember my first parties with him. He always had a special aura and the vibe changed as soon as he took over behind the decks. I think it's still like this, but at that time in the early/mid '90s it was really special, maybe also because it was all new for me. Apart from Sven I also have to name DJ Simon. Nobody knows him actually, just the people in my home area. He had his weekly Saturday night residency in a legendary local club and his knowledge and range of music, selecting music out of 20 or more different genres, was paired with a sense of what to play at the right time. He has done so much for my musical education. An amazing guy.

What was the key to your success and what were the pivotal turning points in your early career and even till today?

Hmm, very often people say that they admire that I’ve always stayed true to my sound. Even at times when trends like Schranz, hard techno, then later on minimal, or deep house and then tech house became fashionable, I dare to say that I always stayed with my personal definition of techno. It seems like this helped a lot in gaining a solid reputation, but it`s hard for me to answer this by myself, really. In terms of turning points, I'd say that the change in DJing technology made a huge impact on me, just as on many other artists, and it definitely changes the way you play music.

How did your label Credo come about? Can you please tell us a bit about the history of the label and what you feel are some of its finest moments?

'Credo' was an album on Zenit initially and the guy who ran the company asked me to release on the label. After some releases he offered me a 5 x12" album deal. I said, 'Done'. The sad thing about it was the guy cheated on everybody and crashed the company; nobody ever saw any money, no artists, no pressing plant. After that experience I decided to take my music and start my own small platform to release my tracks. I wasn't into running this as a proper label with all the things involved, but when I received a demo by Folker Zwart I felt the time was right to open up the label for other artists as well. Now in its 10th year, the label is more alive than ever before and I am happy with it, although it's a lot of work and time that I have to dedicate to it because I´m looking for a very unique, special sound which requires a lot effort on the music and communicating this with the artists.

How would you define your sound?

Oh my god, it’s so hard to write about music! OK, well, let's put it like this: it ranges from grainy dub whenever I can play it to techno rooted by a powerful but warm bass, mechanical but organic at the same time with atmospheric escapes to lighten things up. In any case, it's always what you could call techno in its basic sense.

What equipment stands out in your studio set up? Do you have favourite pieces of kit you like to use?

Well, that's kind of unspectacular, I would say. A really important part is Logic 5, which I still use as the sequencing software though it's more than 15 years old. The sound is still amazing, direct and honest.

What are five stand out moments of your touring career ?

1. The biggest moment was not while touring, but must be mentioned here: the first time I managed to beat match two records with each other a long time ago. It felt like learning to ride a bicycle as a kid. Once learned, never forgotten.

2. My first gig travelling by airplane. It’s so exciting to experience when promoter pays all your expenses just to have you play your music at their party. Nowadays it's normal, but back then… wow!

3. A crazy Australia tour some years ago. Leaving home on Wednesday night, arriving Friday morning, playing Sydney, then Brisbane, then Melbourne, leaving again on Monday morning and arriving back home on Tuesday evening. I lost any idea of what day or time it was.

4. Playing at the Kappa Futur Festival in Torino 2015. Before my own gig there I visited Sven Väth quickly to say hello and exactly at the moment I went up on the stage, he played my track 'Back To Space' from my album ‘MUSICK’. What insane timing - it was like the universe wanted to tell me something.

5. A sad one at the end: Loveparade 2010 in Duisburg. When I was about to start my set there were already rumours about some injuries and accidents, but nobody knew exactly what was going on. The promoters decided to let the music play on on the stage I was booked for, so I started my set but it felt strange to play music in front of 100,000 people knowing that something was happening. There was no way you could enjoy a single minute...

What does the future hold in store regarding productions and gigs?

I just started working on a new album and there’s a collaboration coming out with The Horrorist on DJ Hell's Gigolo label in the summer and maybe some new music on Cocoon later this year, as well as a few remixes for different labels. Gig wise it's going to be quite interesting too… I’m going to visit some places for the first time like Dubai and Vietnam soon. There are also the 'regulars' in whatever city I’ve already played at which are exciting again and again, simply because no night is exactly like the one before. Actually, I am looking forward to returning to those places as much as I'm excited about new places because 99% of my memories are nice.

Can you tell us a bit about your production partnerships and who you’ve worked with in the past and what labels you’ve featured on ?

Many people still connect my name to Chris Liebing's CLR label, although my last work for the label was around seven years ago. I’ve also released on labels like the UK's Sleaze Records on a more or less frequent basis. Most recently, however, my sound is defined by the music I did for Sven's Cocoon and of course my very own Credo imprint. Apart from this, I´m not a very good co-partner, I think, as I have a very unique idea about how I'd like my stuff to sound. As I just said, there are co-ops like the recent one with The Horrorist, but it wasn't a co-op in the sense of sitting together in the studio. In these global times it's not necessary anymore. You can trigger ideas easier by sending elements forth and back and then getting surprised by what the other one did at the other end of the line.

Which artists are currently on your radar ?

Mainly the artists I try to gather on Credo of course, like Vloyd, Dirty Basscore, Nastia Reigel, Temporary Permanence or H_W_A who is coming soon. DJ wise there are also some artists I really like these days like Tensal, Architectural and Andre Kronert to name a few.

What is your DJ set up when you play and do you have a favourite format?

My favourite music format is vinyl, without a doubt. I still buy vinyl regularly, but when I’m DJing I'm really happy with my all digital setup currently because it helps a lot to create this continuously rolling, forward moving momentum that I look for in every set. It's hard to achieve this when being limited to the vinyl setup. And the digital setup also enables me to include elements I could never use when playing vinyl or via CDs. It simply enriches sets much more and leaves more options to do things with the tracks you play.

Any tips for budding DJs/artists ?

Actually only one, which sounds old fashioned maybe, but which is really important: stay true to yourself. Don't try to copy artists you admire. It's ok to get inspired, but don't do things just because they do it.

The electronic scene is ever evolving - how do you see the scene going in the next couple of years?

I've experienced that everything goes in cycles. It started to become really big and leave the hidden warehouses in the early '90s with techno, then it slowed down tempo wise and house became bigger. A few years later in the late '90s/early 2000s techno returned with its loopy approach or also the harder version many people called Schranz. In the mid 2000s minimal was the big thing, followed by an inflated overdose of deep house and again techno, defined by Berlin or artists around that sound, became big again. You see the pattern? It always returns to techno somehow. Maybe techno's popularity will slow down again a bit because of new (old) stuff like psy-trance, drum & bass, reggaeton or whatever people call trendy these days. But all these styles have been there for ages so it's just a question which one goes through the roof at a certain time. But it's always techno which pulls the whole electronic scene to a new level.

What lies ahead for your label and you in the next few months?

We're still celebrating our 10 year label anniversary of Credo until the end of the year with the CREDO.TEN compilation released earlier this year and CREDO.TEN showcases happening in selected cities around the world. We've got some nice new releases coming out soon from people we had on the label before like Klaudia Gawlas, Dirty Basscore or Folker Zwart, but also new names like H_W_A from China or Dykkon from Spain. And, of course, touring, touring, touring...

You're coming to playing the Egg LDN Birthday Part II alongside Green Velvet, Tobi Neumann, Enrico Sanguiliano, Daniel Miller, Margot and Jay Shepheard. Who are you looking forward to hearing and what can party people expect from your set on May 6th?

The easiest part to answer: expect techno, pure, direct, energetic, bass-driven. In terms of the line-up I'm part of, it's definitely Daniel Miller that I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing. I mean, what can you say about him what hasn't been said before. Such a visionary entrepreneur and role model for electronic music. Keep me a flyer with my name listed below his please!

Top four tracks that never leave your box

Sorry, that's a secret!

And lastly anything we should be listening to to get us in the mood on the way to the Egg LDN Birthday?

On the way to the party I would recommend something more dubby and chilled instead of peak time banging stuff. You never fail with a nice mix of Basic Channel I'd say, or maybe check out this set here I played on an early afternoon outdoor event in September last year.