German Deep House from a scene purveyor…
David Mayer’s sound reflects a life spent moving between cultures. Raised across Germany, Spain and Norway before settling in Berlin in 2004, he developed an approach to dance music that has never sat comfortably inside a single genre. House and techno form the foundation, but the real through-line is rhythm: funked-up low end, muscular four-on-the-floor grooves and a sense of swing that keeps even his deeper productions firmly connected to the dancefloor.
As both a DJ and producer, he balances hypnotic detail with an instinct for hooks and forward motion. It’s a combination that has carried his work well beyond Berlin, while preserving the restless, open-ended character at the centre of his sound.
On this Balance Selections, the German producer stays true to form with a 60-minute deep house-rooted mix. Featuring tracks from Dino Lenny, The Deepshakerz, the late Nico Stojan and more, it’s an easy soundtrack for a day spent on an open-air dancefloor.
Tracklist
01. Deep Aztec, Da Mike – Caught In Silence (Henrik Schwarz Remix) {Connected Frontline}
02. Hard To Tell – Joy Of Monday {Maccabi House}
03. Boogie Vice, Deep Aztec – Promises (N-You-Up Extended Dub Mix) {Get Physical Music}
04. The Deepshakerz, Black Savana – You’re Not The One {Club Bad}
05. Avangart Tabldot – Still Care For You {Exit Strategy}
06. Made By Pete – Ripper {Life In Colour}
07. Fcukers – Beatback (Justin Strauss en La Piscina Remix) {Ninja Tune}
08. Dino Lenny – Magic House (Jackin House Extended Mix) {Bedrock Records}
09. Ede, Ivory – I Don’t Wanna Leave {Scorpios Music}
10. Bipolar Sunshine, Hardt Antoine, Nariman – Stay {VOD}
11. Neil Frances – No Way Back (CLUB NF Version) {Nettwerk Music Group}
12. SOMMA, Jesse Boykins III – In The City {LE YORA}
13. Édel, Terranova, Paul Brenning – Leave Me Dancing {AZZUR}
14. Nico Stojan, David Mayer, Tooker feat. JAW – Wake Up {SONARA}
15. Hess Is More – You And Me and Them (Kenneth Bager Remix) {Music For Dreams}
Name: David Mayer
Location: Berlin
Alias/Producer name: David Mayer
Labels affiliated with: SONARA Records
My parents were not musicians, but they each owned a collection of blues, folk and rock records that was contemporary to their generation and, luckily, somewhat intricate. Classical music was also typically playing in the household every day, and I was fortunate to receive my first formal lessons in classical and folk music as early as kindergarten.
As soon as my parents understood that I was interested in rhythm-heavy music, they began actively introducing me to artists like Tom Waits and Frank Zappa. The typically summer-long road trips with my father were accompanied by The Beatles, John Coltrane, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, all played from cassettes and loudly blaring over the engine of our diesel truck.
I was four or five years old when my first conscious memory of music and basic sound manipulation was formed. I remember regularly enjoying some unattended time sitting in front of the sound system in the living room, with record sleeves scattered around me, listening to Janis Joplin, Donovan and Tracy Chapman while experimenting with the pitch selector on the record player.
I remember being fascinated by the way my listening experience changed depending on how fast the record was played back. I never stopped looking for ways to manipulate sound after that.
I had been listening to the radio and recording my own mixtapes throughout my childhood, but I never really reflected on the fact that the music I was hearing was being curated by DJs. The undeniable importance of a sophisticated DJ only really occurred to me when I was 15 and started going out to dance clubs.
We had venues like Jazzhaus and Waldsee, as well as a regular club series in town called Root Down, where DJ heroes like Raimund Flöck and Rainer Trüby played all sorts of funk, acid jazz and house.
Those dance nights were spent among grown-ups, accompanied by only a small group of close friends who all had impeccable taste in music. They became the foundation of my love for electronic music, long before I even understood that making such music myself was a realistic possibility.
It all came together in Berlin, where I was introduced to actual club culture, real techno and, at the time, electroclash and minimal house. There are some tracks I heard back then that have been burned into my memory ever since.
Golden Gate, around 2004: Nathan Fake ‘The Sky Was Pink’ (James Holden Remix).
Berghain, around 2005: I will never forget stumbling into a live set by Mathew Jonson, where he played ‘Return of the Zombie Bikers‘. Haunting.
Panoramabar, 2006: listening to Ben Klock and Marcel Dettmann’s ‘Dawning’ on a Sunday morning, with the blinds opening, the morning sun flooding in and all. That had more than just a profound impact.
The way those kinds of melodies hit my brain changed me forever.
That was the unreleased album of my dearest friend, Nico Stojan. Nico tragically passed away this summer. He was more than a friend to me; he was a brother and a teacher. Throughout the past two years, he had been sharing thoughts about his process and occasionally giving me glimpses of the album, which we would discuss together.
He finished the album shortly before he passed away. It will always remind me of everything Nico meant to me, and of the special creative bond we shared.
I’ve had regular access to some great studios over the years and have always enjoyed working with hardware. My favourite possession is my Prophet-6. A Prophet Rev2 is on my wishlist, and I certainly wouldn’t mind owning a Moog or two.
That said, I’ve always relied heavily on working in the box. Due to life circumstances lately, my core setup has been stripped back to just my laptop, a basic Mackie Big Knob Studio, my Beyerdynamic headphones and a pair of Neumann KH 150s.
When I started DJing in 2008, vinyl was my training ground, and I played my first gigs hauling records around for a year or two. But CDs, and later USBs, soon became the obvious choice. I like things handy and practical, so Rekordbox and USBs are definitely the right setup for me.
We started SONARA together in 2025. Tooker, Nico Stojan and I had been working collaboratively on music for some time, most intensely over the past two years.
Of course, Nico’s tragic passing this summer had a profound effect on us. But Tooker and I are determined to honour Nico by continuing to release his music, as well as the music we made together as a group.
The next release from that collaboration is ‘Wake Up‘, featuring JAW, arriving September 25.
For this particular tracklist, I wanted to explore my appreciation for vocals, bouncy house grooves and deeply rooted acid elements. Since I was in the middle of moving house for the first time in 17 years, which took a lot of effort, I was very happy to have my laptop to rely on for making this mix.
Using Ableton Live to assemble a mix offers a lot of flexibility, allowing the playlist to evolve naturally over the course of several weeks.
Can’t go without ‘Sing It Back’ (Mousse T’s Feel Love Mix). Such an amazing crow reaction every time and easily rounds off almost any kind of set.
‘Secrets‘ is secretly still one of my proudest moments.
Since I mentioned my initial Mathew Johnson experience earlier. One of the tunes I find most fascinating of all time, most groovy and most inspiring to this day is “Dump Truck” by Cobblestone Jazz (Mathew Jonson, Danuel Tate, Tyger Dhula et Colin de la Plante)
If documentaries count, I found the most recent The Rise Of The Red Hot Chili Peppers documentary quite emotional.
I don’t really enjoy the concept of watching TV on an everyday basis. But I like to download documentaries, movies and series specifically for traveling. Most recently, after many years of nothing tickling my fancy, I came across this series called Ripley, which I found to be really cool and classy.
Nothing beats the calm I experience on Isola Di San Pietro, Sardinia: the home of Tooker and birthplace of SONARA Records. No hotels, no Starbucks, no McDonald’s or Zara, just beaches and a quiet island life.
