In 2015 Emanuel Satie carved a name for himself through a series of dancefloor bombs released on imprints like DTFD, Get Physical and Audiojack’s Gruuv. This good run of releases culminated in him being included in Resident Advisor’s ‘Top Charted Tracks of 2015’ (that would be the track ‘Private Show’ on Get Physical, a track which Pete Tong championed as having ‘probably my favourite bassline of 2015’).
But Satie were only warming up, and 2016 saw him produce an even more consistent string of successful tracks. His rework of Late Nite Tuff Guy’s remix of DJ Le Roi & Roland Clark’s ‘I Get Deep’ hit number 1 on the overall Beatport charts and held strong in the top 5 for 6 weeks. Then there is his his debut single on Nic Fancuilli’s Saved Records, ‘Come As You Are’, which got a fair rinsing across the scene’s biggest dancefloors. And the transformation from aspiring to full time global player was complete when Mixmag touted him as ‘one to watch‘ ‘in their ‘Hot 6’ feature.
For the next Balance Selections podcast the Berlin-based DJ has crafted an immersive tech-house workout which rolls and rumbles in all the right spots. ‘I wanted to build a journey out of old and new, but timeless tunes’, Satie explains, and with tracks from acts like Reboot, Radio Slave, Photek and even Human League included in the mix, we think that he has achieved that quite expertly…
Balance Selections Q+A
Name:
Emanuel Menzel
Location:
Berlin
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/emanuel.satie
Soundcloud:
www.soundcloud.com/emanuel-satie
Alias/Producer name:
Emanuel Satie
Labels affiliated with:
Saved, Moon Harbour, Knee Deep In Sound
My last 3 releases:
What music did you listen too as a child?
My father was a record collector and played the piano, and my mom was a ballet dancer, so there was always music and dancing in the house. The main influence were my father’s Soul and Funk records. People like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, that was my thing. I can clearly remember sitting in front of the record player for hours and singing Stevie Wonder songs haha. They always had the lyrics on the back.
When was the first time that you realized that you liked electronic music?
I only really fell in love with electronic music once I was able to get into clubs with 18. Before I was more a hip hop guy and only knew electronic music from the radio or MTV. Daft Punk, Armand Van Helden for example I loved a lot, I didn’t even know this was house music though. The moment I properly fell in love with it was in a house club in Stuttgart where my ex-girlfriend dragged me to. I remember standing there, dancing like crazy and thinking to myself “Wow what a vibe, everyone’s friendly, no pretentiousness, this is where I wanna be“. From then on it was all about house and techno.
When was the first time you saw a DJ in a club?
I can’t remember, I was never paying much attention to the DJ actually. The first time someone left a lasting impression on me I can remember well though. It was Luciano at Cine Colibri in Stuttgart, an old cinema, where you would dance on the stairs. Usually they played deeper, more minimal music, but Luciano just blew the roof off with a very energetic set, people went nuts, it literally felt like the club was on fire. This influenced my approach to DJing a lot.
Which producers/artists/acts inspire you?
Well as I just mentioned early influences were people like Luciano, Sven Väth, Ricardo Villalobos, Loco Dice. At the moment I like a lot what the Martinez Brothers and Seth Troxler are doing. They bring the good vibes when they play, and what they release on their labels is really standing out. On the producer front I’m extremely open and it changes a lot, but certainly people like Radio Slave, KiNK or DJ Koze bring a lot of inspiration. Classy, timeless club tracks. That’s what I’m striving for as well.
What was the last album that you downloaded/bought?
To be honest, I’m pretty much out of the album game, I’m listening to music on a track by track basis or I just listen to DJ sets. The last album I bought was Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.a.a.d. City. An excellent album. The guy brought a new dimension to the rap game. He makes intelligent, poetic, yet still rough and real hip hop that is also accessible to the masses. A balance that’s not easy to get right. Talking about it, I should get his next album.
What is your current production and DJ set up like?
I’m not a gear guy at all, I’m always so into making music that I don’t have the nerve to grind my teeth into a new machine. I always wanna do it more, but apparently it’s not a priority. So my set up is just a Macbook and Adam speakers, plus various plug ins. More is less a lot of times, I know many people that have incredible gear but get lost in technicalities and don’t produce good results.
What releases do you have on the horizon?
I’m working on a Body Language compilation for Get Physical at the moment. It is a huge project because every track I’m using will be an exclusive edit or remix from me. I’m very fired up about this as it gives me the chance to rework some of my favorite tracks of all time. This is going to be out in June. I also have a release on Eats Everything’s Edible coming up and an EP in progress for Truesoul. On the remix front there’s a Matthias Tanzmann, Claptone and Black Coffee remix in the pipeline. More to come for sure!
Where can we hear you perform?
The highlights over the next couple of months are gonna be Ibiza, where I’m playing Ants @ Ushuaia and a couple more exciting one’s that can’t be announced yet. Sonar of course, Moon Harbour at Pacha, Alt at La Terrrazza and probably also a Get Physical party. Festivals like Eastern Electrics, Nature One, my Belgian friends from Lab Open in Croatia and Floorfiller festival. Then I’m playing some of my favorite clubs like Watergate, Kater Blau, Hive, Mint Club. I also can’t wait for my next Australia and South America tours that are going to come soon. I hope to meet as many of you here or there as possible.
Tell us more about the podcast you made for Balance?
I wanted to build a journey out of old and new but timeless tunes. A mix that can be listened to at home but would also work on the floor. For me the highlight of the mix is Cinnamon from Echonomist. An incredible tune. It also includes my newest single Soso, which just came out on Saved Records.
My Recommendations
The top track in my DJ wallet currently is:
Radio Slave’s Another Club is a belter
If I could recommend only one of my tracks for you to listen to it would be:
If I could recommend only one track for you to listen to it would be:
Perfect for a nice sunny spring day in the park.
My favourite Balance compilation is:
The Joris Voorn one is a masterpiece.
The last movie I watched that I really liked:
Hell or High Water
My favourite TV show:
Sopranos
If I could choose anyone to compile a Balance comp it would be:
Me obviously 🙂 Besides that I would be very very excited about one from DJ Koze.
Tracklisting
01 Steven Julien – Begins
02 Richie Hawtin – Intro (From Our Minds To Yours Tiefschwarz Remix)
03 Synkrone – Error 404
04 Isolee – Pisco
05 Reboot – Are You Loosing My Mind
06 Fango – Cerebellum
07 Echonomist – Cinnamon
08 Photek – Glamourama
09 Radio Slave – Another Club
10 Emanuel Satie – Soso
11 Mall Grab – Pool Party Music
12 Luna City Express – Mr. Jack (Robag’s Edna Mompf Remix)
13 Human League – The Things That Dreams Are Made Of (Original Dub)
