Artwork borrowed from a piece by German-American artist Josef Albers.

CF: how and where was this mix recorded?

I recorded this mix a couple of days ago in my hometown Essen, using a classic setup with turntables and CD players.

CF: you first started playing records at squat parties in your hometown at the age of 17, what do you know now that you didn’t know then, in terms of your style and approach to DJing?

Well, I think I didn’t know anything at that time regarding what it means to be a DJ or how my style would sound like one day. I had no intention to become a DJ. it just happened by chance. I began to organize parties primarily to fight boredom. DJ wise it was some kind of wild style experiment mixing funk, soul, hip hop & rare grooves. then I started to lay hands on electronic music and to collect house & techno records. Nowadays things are coming back together. What I know now and what I didn’t know back in the day is that these soulful tunes would become an inspiration and part of my profile as an electronic music producer today.

CF: a couple of years ago you started the Mild Pitch label with Manuel Tur & DPlay, what were your expectations when it first launched and how has it evolved into present day?

We started Mild Pitch as a platform to explore a more versatile take on electronic music. Us three (DPlay, Manuel Tur and me) had releases on other established labels before founding the label in 2009, but for us it felt like the next logical step to create our own imprint which simultaneously meant less borders regarding our output. Over the last two and a half years the label has grown and there are a lot of things to keep your eyes on.

The music industry, especially manufacturing vinyl, is not an easy business these days and there are lot of things which need to be discussed over and over again; this also means we have to spend a lot of time on thinking about the way we want to act and where to lay our focus on. In the beginning we had to compete for people’s attention. nowadays we enjoy public attention and it’s a challenging task to handle in order to keep things off too much pressure and to continue our own way without being affected by expectations.

CF: what do you normally listen to at home? which are your top three favorite albums?

I listen to a lot of different music. These are some albums I have been listening to over and over again the last year:

Slum Village – Slum Village – Barak Entertainment / 2005
Wildbirds & Peacedrums – Heartcore – Leaf / 2008
Massimiliano Pagliara – Focus For Infinity – Live At Robert Johnson / 2011

CF: what is your favorite thing about living in Essen?

This is hard to say. You have to know that Essen is not a city blessed with beauty. For me it’s always about the people and projects keeping me at a certain place.

CF: which projects are you currently working on? what does the future hold for yourself and Mild Pitch?

I´m currently working on my third single for Mild Pitch, as well as follow up 12″s for labels like Dessous Recordings and liebe*detail. Regarding Mild Pitch our 13th release has just come out. It’s by Jacob Korn and features a remix by myself, which can also be heard in the mix I did for you. Furthermore, there will be another RIBN release featured on a Poker Flat compilation called “Gunslingers & Greenhorns”, which will be released by the end of the month.