It sounds like a fairy tale: In 2005, 29-year old OLIVER KOLETZKI presses 500 copies of his underground hit ’Der Mückenschwarm’ onto vinyl. One of those white labels lands in Sven Väth’s record bag and whenever he plays the track, the people go wild. Shortly thereafter techno-king Väth signs the track on his empire Cocoon Recordings. ‘Der Mückenschwarm’ - already considered a classic - becomes the best sold techno record of 2005, the best ever selling record on Cocoon and OLIVER KOLET Z KI gets voted newcomer of the year in the prestigious Groove magazine.But one would be fooled to think that this was the start of Oliver’s musical career. Since the tender age of 12 OLIVER KOLET Z KI has been deeply infected with the production virus. He starts out by programming hip-hop beats on the C64, but quickly falls in love with more electronic sounds like breakdance and synth-pop, which he produces on the first Amiga computers. When he turns 18, he also starts to DJ in his hometown of Braunschweig and quickly becomes a regular in the local clubs. In 2000 he decides to move to Berlin to study music, as well as the city’s excessive nightlife. He promptly lands himself DJ gigs in smaller clubs and bars, but with the release of his first record things change for the better. In the summer of 2005 he starts to play festivals, gets booked by the most prestigious clubs all over the world and remixes the likes of Rockers Hi-Fi, Client or Cassius. However, while superstardom is lurking around every corner, Oliver stays down to earth: “I have been making music for nearly twenty years now. That provides me with a stable base against going nuts. Basically, I am still doing the same thing I’ve been doing for years now: making music during the week and playing out on the weekends, even if it is on a slightly different scale now.”In October 2005, while still riding on the success of his debut single, Oliver realises one of his biggest dreams: to start his own label. He founds Stil vor Talent, a label dedicated to pushing new artists and creating a platform for a huge variation of quality electronic dance music – from minimal techno over groovy house to pop music. “From the beginning I wanted to give people the same chance that I’ve had and offer them a platform to release their music. However: the quality of the music is the priority above everything else. Firstly, I have to like it”, Oliver comments on the philosophy of his label. And he is a workaholic. He still spends countless hours listening to demo tracks and goes out to see newcomers play live in small clubs. Up until now, Stil vor Talent can look back on over 75 releases that include Oliver’s first artist album Get Wasted, the über-hit ‘3 Tage Wach’ or Oliver’s latest electronically influenced pop albums Großstadtmärchen and Lovestoned.OLIVER KOLETZKI proves that it is possible to achieve commercial success through an underground sensibility, of which Lützenkirchen’s ironic afterhour manifesto ‘3 Tage Wach’ is the best example: the song turns into the best-sold techno track of 2008. In 2009 Oliver continues this success story with the release of his debut LP Großstadtmärchen – an electro-pop album featuring national and international big names such as Mieze Katz (MIA),Axel Bosse or Die Raketen as well as many newcomers such as singers Juli Holz, Pyur and Fran. With Großstadtmärchen Oliver has achieved what only few techno producers manage to do: he made a record that marries pop aesthetics with club credibility. In 2010 Oliver seamlessly continued in collaboration with singer Fran and thus showed his tender side with the album Lovestoned. While 2011 primarily revolved around Stil vor Talent’s sixth anniversary as well as a number of high-caliber remixes, the spring of 2012 is going to witness the release of a new LP: Großstadtmärchen 2. Here, Oliver remains true to his extremely musical style and thus combines melodic house with vocals by renowned artists like Jake the Rapper,Axel Bosse and Fran, and younger vocalists such as Jan Blomqvist, Björn Störig or Juli Holz. In the summer of 2009, Oliver moreover founded his live band The Koletzkis with a few of his good mates as well as his wife, Fran. T he Koletzkis have been touring through Europe for the past two years, filling concert venues and festival tents alike.Label manager, producer, DJ, bandleader: above all, Oliver still manages to fill clubs around the world and makes people smile to his energetic DJ sets. Be it in the best clubs of Europe such as London’s Fabric or Berlin’s Watergate or major festivals like MELT!, Oliver knows how to perform and connect with his audience.
