nd_baumecker – leader of the pack.

Andreas Baumecker is nd_baumecker; resident DJ and head of programming at the Panorama Bar, while he regularly releases his own productions on the Berghain’s in house label – Ostgut Ton.

Taking his early influences from disco, new wave, EBM, acid house and punk, Andy is considered by his DJ peers to be one of the world’s best selectors and he will be making his Sub Club debut this Friday at Bigfoot’s Tea Party.

Well known for avoiding the limelight, (a difficult skill these days) Bigfoots still managed to pin Andy down for a quick couple of questions…

This is your first time at Sub Club (which is long overdue we think!) – what stories have your friends told you about the club?

It can get really crazy. And basically anything goes, right? I am already nervous :)

Before Frankfurt, can you recall your earliest musical influences?

Influences came definitely through my older sisters, who were into the Bee Gees and the Les Humphries Singers at the time (sometime in the early 70s that was). Not sure if that really shaped my musical path, but the Bee Gees never really left me… ;)

How did you come to have a relationship with Ostgut, and what would led to you becoming involved with the team?

I was the first to bring Daniel Wang to Europe for 3 gigs, later I also did Metro Area for the first time, I think that was around 1998, and for the gig in Mannheim, where I used to live at the time, I invited Daniel to play a Gay Pride party with the name „Proud About What Exactly?“. Thilo Schneider, who still writes for Groove Magazine, heard about this weird combination in Mannheim and was curious. He invited both of us to Frankfurt for an interview and this is where it clicked. Thilo was deeply involved with the Ostgut people and suggested that I should play at „Dance With The Aliens“ – a Friday night at the legendary Ostgut, even the old Panorama Bar didn’t yet exist at that time.

As soon as Panorama Bar opened I was booked more often and in its last year, I played almost every 2nd month at that club.

You moved to Berlin in 2004? What changes have you noticed in the last decade, both at the Berghain and around the city?

Rents went up and there was a lot of shite said about Berghain.

We saw you playing the Ostgut birthday earlier this summer and you made DJ’ing look very easy, is it something that just comes naturally to you?

Haha, no. It sometimes really does my head in. Usually before a gig. When I DJ I tend to go in some kind of “automatic mode“ and try to concentrate as much as possible on the music which results in almost never looking up. I am not a hands in the air, dancing around and “communicate“ with the crowd kind of DJ. Those things distract me to be honest. I don’t use a sync button either which would allow me to do so. I can lose my concentration very easily, so you better not talk to me while I play, just bring me drinks :) For the DJ-ing itself: That works in any possible state of mind without major hickups.

You seem to really enjoy the concept of “surprise” – what surprises you these days?

If you mean surprises in DJ sets, I love everything that breaks out of the norm. For me, for example, nothing is more boring than an hours long Techno / House sets with no variations on the beats and missing “music“ in the frequencies and DJs that don’t take any risks.

I like when I suddenly hear old tracks that have NOT been overplayed. These can also be the cheesiest pieces of music ever created. If it fits to the moment, these kind of musical master pieces will ALWAYS surprise me. And work as well. These are the things that people will take home, be it in a good or in a bad way. Those moments stay, not the 687th variation of a 909/808 pattern or „Plastic Dreams“.

The Massimiliano Pagliara LP you worked on for Robert Johnson is one of the best this year we think. What are you working on in the studio at the moment and are you collaborating with anyone else?

I only worked on one track with Massi for the album. And that was a lot of fun. We might do it again. In the meantime, my main focus is Barker & Baumecker with my music partner Sam Barker and we are doing jam sessions and work on tracks, if we both find the time, just like before.

It has been a while since the last Barker & Baumecker release, do you guys have plans for the future together?

When we did the last album, we had about 3 months time to put it all together and write tracks. This might happen again, spontaneously. Maybe very soon.

What is the most difficult part of your job? And the best…?

Getting line-ups together and having great line-ups in the end.

Finally, could you name drop a couple of tracks that have caught your attention this year?

Daphni & Owen Pallett on Jiaolong