dig dis!cover: Ron Flatter

Today we have Ron Flatter as our guest. Known from labels like Einmusika Recordings, Katermukke and Traum Schallplatten. In 2008 he founded his own label Pour La Vie Records and today he will tell us how his music career has developed, what opportunities the Corona pandemic has brought him and what his current projects are.

You now have almost 300,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and your tracks have been streamed millions of times. Did you expect such success when you started making music back then?
Well, while I wasn't expecting it I was definitely hoping for it! Because when I started back then, I just wanted to make my music and share it. I definitely didn't expect this big response.
In the beginning, everything was on record and not digital and it developed rather slowly at first and partly in the background. Now I'm really super happy that I can reach so many people with my music through Spotify.

How did it start in general? What motivated you to make music?
I was a skateboarder for many years and it started with hip hop and the Beastie Boys. One night my skateboarding friends took me to a rave and that was my first techno party. When I got there, my first reaction was, "Omg, what is that?" And wow, I knew then: that's what I want to do, too. Since then I stuck with it and with each following party I knew that what the DJ up there was doing was also something I wanted to do. It was kind of my destiny. 

Can you remember which club it was in and who exactly was DJing?
It was in my hometown Halle and I'm not sure, but I think Steve Mason played. It was more melodic and I think that influenced me from the beginning. Generic tracks without a melodic part are nothing for me, as to me a track always needs to build and evolve itself while listening.

You've been in the music business for almost 20 years. What do you think has changed the most and is there anything you would like to change about it?
What has changed in any case is the fast pace. Back then, you released a vinyl and that was sometimes enough for almost a year to reach people with it. Nowadays you release something every 1-3 months, with some remixes in between - so the fast pace has really increased enormously. I also have the feeling that the people out there also expect you to release something every month. The fans of course always want to stay up to date, to see the development and expect maybe even better releases.
The rapidity has really gone crazy. It took me some time to adjust to it at the beginning, because the workload increased significantly and the pressure was enormous. 
I was able to take the pressure and stress out of while being in a pandemic and really do what I want to do and what I enjoy. What I've learned in the last 2 years is that I don't let anyone influence me. And that works really well right now, thank God.
To the question of what I would change: In principle, I am satisfied as it is. Every time has its advantages and disadvantages. At that time this was better, today that is better - I don't have any faith in the old times anyway. So I'm rather future-oriented.

Which artist would you most like to work with?
Difficult. I've never seen it as a challenge to have to work with anyone in particular. I'm more for myself, maybe you can see me as a loner. I'm also maybe a bit headstrong and want that one part of the tune to stay that way and just be unpleasantly persuasive.
Of course, there are also some artists that I totally favor or where I say wow, what comes out is great.
In the current pandemic, I had a lot of time to search because I needed artists for various livestreams. That's when I noticed a lot of young artists that nobody knows yet, but who have developed so well and so quickly, and I think that's impressive.
I would like to look over the shoulder of my favorite artists and if the chemistry is right, then I can imagine that we bring out something together, but it must also fit together on a more human level.

You have already performed at several festivals such as the Ikarus Festival or Fusion Festival. Which festival or gig did you enjoy the most?
Actually I don't care which festival it is exactly, - as long as the people in front of me come alongand we have our fun together, then I don't care if it's a big or small festival. If I feel that the energy of the people fit and I can give that back to them, it is worth more to me than the name of the festival. 
I have to be honest and say that I don't have a checklist of places where I would like to play. It is not important to me to perform in certain clubs - if there is a request, then I'm happy of course, but I'm not necessarily working towards it.

You are quite active on social media channels. What significance do Instagram or Facebook have for your music career?
Both play a relatively big role, because nowadays there is not much that works without social media. I also like to interact with people and ask them questions. I can introduce my new stuff on these channels and can see how it will be received beforehand. For example, if I post a picture of my studio, I can find out if it will get a lot of response or not. For me, this is all very important, but I think not overdoing it is key here. 
 

How did you come to dig dis!?
I had a label management before - the Karate Group and who were already with dig dis!  I have since parted ways with them, but nothing else came into question for me because they always did a good job. The thing is: As long as I can deliver a release and feel like people are talking to me and working with me and that they care about me, then that's worth a lot. Everyone wants to be appreciated for what they do. If I'm satisfied with someone, then I like to work longer term, and the collaboration is working very well at the moment.

What other projects can we look forward to this year?
Today my single "Galissa" came out and I was really looking forward to it. The feedback so far has been great already and I'm very happy that the tracks are out now. I also have some exciting projects coming out in the next few months. I sometimes get a little ahead of myself in terms of the whole release because you have to saturate it first, but that's also kind of the good thing about dig dis! that you can release at your own pace. 

Thanks for the nice interview Ron and thanks for your insight into the music world. 
Check out the latest release from him: spotify:album:1yeFt2ishOi9hh7P9k8sv2
If you are interested in giving us a look into your music business, don't hesitate to let us know!