Sascha Funke Biography 2017
Time and space are shifting, the objective world dissolves and the body becomes
shapeless: of all seven arts, music is the only one that has the power to kick people
immediately into a sublime journey through sound.
Since his childhood the Berlin-born DJ and producer Sascha Funke knows about this
energy. Growing up in the shadow of hammer and sickle in the East-Berlin’s
Lichtenberg district, he sang, from early age, Communist songs with the young
pioneers. In the evenings after school, he quickly turned on his radio, pressed the
recording button of his double-tape-deck, and recorded mix-tapes with music from the
West, to which he danced all alone in his childhood room. This abruptly changed
when the wall came down: the Berliner bought his first Vinyl: Technotronic:
Megamix. A short time later Underground Resistance records entered his record shelf
and from that moment on he was captured by the power of techno and the wild
undefined Berlin days and nights of nineties. He intensively went dancing in
legendary clubs like the Walfisch or E-Werk, he began to throw self-organized parties
in youth clubs, got his first DJ engagements in the clubs like SO 36, and started early
attempts as a producer together with Paul Kalkbrenner.
At the start of his twenties he called Ellen Alien’s label (BPitch Control) his new
family, also releasing his first EP Campus on the Cologne based label Kompakt, and
started to DJ regularly in clubs like Ostgut, WMF, Maria am Ostbahnhof, and Tresor.
At festivals such as Melt or Sonar his name was permanently on the bill. And he
danced continually, as before in his 12 square metered room. But this time, not alone.
Instead he found himself in the midst of a new youth culture that keeps people
moving around the globe breathlessly, even today.
During all that time Sascha Funke never stood still as a producer either. He has
released three albums and various EPs for BPitch Control & Kompakt. Haunting
tracks like Bravo or Mango, which can be found on the soundtrack of the techno
movie Berlin Calling, became club hits. In addition, he produced numerous remixes
for friends like Ada, Thomas Fehlmann, Gui Boratto, Heartthrob, Paul Kalkbrenner or
Superpitcher, as well as Indie-rock bands like Foals.
Musically no release copies its predecessor: ambient, house, minimal, techno, electro,
synth-pop, experimental electronic - from record to record, from track to track, he
always zigzagged his art with fresh musical turns full of haunting grooves, bass-lines,
and melodies. Creative standstill was never his style.
His latest project Saschienne from 2012 impressively proves this. Together with
Julienne Dessagne (who also releases solo works under the alias The Twins/ Fantastic
Twins) he produced the album entitled Unknown and seduced with its melodic and
deeply moving amalgam of pop songs, chanson, the repetitive magic of the techno
and live-recorded instruments. After the release the duo toured around the world and
further introduced their work with a dynamic live show. When Funke was not on
stage with Julienne or spending his time with her and their son, he was occupying his
weekends by playing his current favourite tunes and classics in some DJ booth around
the world.
Now (most likely) the only Berlin-based producer that supports 1.FC Köln has locked
himself in the studio again and produced four new tracks the label Multi Culti, which
celebrate techno darkly with melodies full of New Age and Krautrock spheres, cosmic
trance moments and a slower BPM power.
As well he released on Tiga’s Canadian label Turbo Recordings the EP "IFA" and
delivered four enchanting tracks between bewitched minimal tribal, twisted piano
house, stomping psychedelic and space techno. And there is also a new solo album in
the pipeline. It will be called "Lotos Land", will see the light of the day on the
Japanese label Endless Flight and presents the 40-year-old as a musician, that
transcends deep felt emotions into a multidimensional ocean of sound.
Those who would like to hear first impressions of his newest musical output should
come to one of his DJ gigs - Sascha Funke likes to play unreleased sounds in DJ sets,
which lately go beyond the average definition of techno and house and also present
disco, wave, electro, cosmic, Krautrock and early electronic dance music. All mixed
up with passion in order to kick all dancers into an unpredictable emotional journey,
in which their bodies become absolutely unrestricted and bodiless.
