dig dis!cover with Techno Germany

I am very pleased that we can talk together today. I think the name "Techno Germany" is a household name for anyone who is interested in techno or electronic music in general. How did the whole thing start?
We started in 2016 - just for fun, after a good party night. Back then, we created a Facebook page and initially posted simple memes and content about techno. That went on for a few years and we grew organically. Later, we also switched to Instagram. As our page got bigger and bigger there, we got more and more contact with artists. we finally founded our label in 2018. It was a very natural step that resulted from the growth of our page.

If it was originally conceived as a party name or party series, how did it develop such an enormous reach? How do you explain that? Was it because the content you posted got people excited at exactly the right moment? Or what would you attribute the rapid growth to?
I think it was a mixture of different factors. Of course, posting content regularly plays a big role if you want to grow. But to be honest, growth wasn't our goal at the time. We just did it because we enjoyed it - we were ravers ourselves and that's how we got into the scene. We just kept posting and the site grew organically. We didn't have a clear vision at the beginning. It only developed over time - in parallel with the techno scene as a whole experiencing a boom. The niche suddenly became mainstream and our label naturally continued to grow.

You already mentioned that the music label was founded in 2018. How did that come about? Did you specifically approach artists and can you tell us how the whole thing developed?
We adopted the name Techno Germany Records for the label - the name that already existed for our brand, even though it wasn't a label back then. The first artists actually approached us. by 2018, we had already built up a wide enough reach to promote and support artists - especially those whose music we celebrated ourselves. That's how the whole thing got rolling: Nico Moreno was one of the first people we were in contact with. At some point, the idea of releasing a few of his tracks came up. And that was the starting signal: We thought, okay, let's make a label out of Techno Germany. We didn't think twice about it, we just took over the existing name and got started.

Nice! You currently have almost 30 releases, which is definitely a lot in recent years. But you also have merch, and somehow I have the feeling that you do a lot. Is there something where you would say: "Okay, that's what we're focusing on" - or would you say it all belongs together for you?
Since the start in 2018, we've just kept going. Over time, many new listeners and ravers joined us, and a lot of things developed organically as a result - for example, we started selling T-shirts as merch. The booking agency came along about three and a half years ago.
None of it was really planned in advance - it all came about as an overall concept. As you say, the label has grown steadily and we now have almost 30 releases.
But our focus has never been on a specific area. It was always about the scene, the music, the artists and the ravers. We don't set ourselves any fixed goals or define a clear focus. Rather, we want to be a mouthpiece - a hub, a place for the community.

You've said that you focus on the artists and the people who listen to the music. But what criteria do you actually look at? In other words, what characteristics or qualities do the artists need to have in order to work with you?
We don't really have any specific characteristics or requirements. We are generally open to newcomers - you can also see that in our releases. With our "Rising Artist" vita, we deliberately focus on very small, as yet unknown artists.
We want to use our now extensive reach specifically to offer these artists - who are producing strongly and have real potential - a platform that they might not otherwise get.
For us, it's never been about how big someone is. It's more about how motivated someone is, what they produce and how much they stand behind their music. You can usually tell pretty quickly whether someone is genuinely passionate about it.
That's why we have always been - and will remain - open to all artists and producers who are really passionate about what they do.

I think it's great that you give newcomers in particular their own format. But would you still say that it's important to have a mix - between established artists and newcomers - so that the whole thing works together more harmoniously?
Definitely. I think it's generally important to give all artists a chance and a platform. It also makes sense to include established artists - for example, by featuring them together with lesser-known artists on an EP. A good balance between known and unknown is very important to me personally.
As I said, there are an incredible number of talented producers out there who simply never get the opportunity to present their music to a wider audience. That's exactly where we come in - we want to offer these artists a stage. Because good music alone is not always enough. Even if you have a strong platform that supports you, many factors play a role.
For example: What does the audience want to hear right now? Does the music strike a chord with them? Like many things in life, music follows certain trends.
In the end, it's always a combination of many things - and there's always a bit of luck involved. That doesn't just apply to the artists, but also to us as Techno Germany. Even though a lot of things have grown organically for us, there was definitely a certain luck factor involved.
The corona period in particular was such a moment for us: for us as a brand, as an Instagram page, as an online brand, it really was a stroke of luck. Many people were new to the scene back then - and online at the same time. That accelerated our growth enormously.
That's why: Yes, passion and quality are important - but a bit of luck is always part of it.

We've already talked a lot about Techno Germany, the label and also a bit about social media. But I would still be interested: What is your role in the whole construct? What are you responsible for?
I founded Techno Germany back then together with my brother - and I'm still responsible for everything today. In the first four or five years, we worked completely on our own. But now we have a team that supports us, for example in the Artist & Repertoire department, i.e. the label's A&R ring.
Designers also work with us on our collections and we also have employees in our booking agency.
Specifically, in the label context, I am responsible for listening to demos, maintaining contact with the artists and taking care of all contractual matters.
In short: I keep an eye on everything.

Do you share the tasks - for example, when listening to the demos? I can imagine that you get a lot of demos a day. How do you agree on that, how does it work?
You're absolutely right - with a big platform like ours, we actually get thousands of demos a year. It's almost impossible to listen to everything.
We try to divide it up as best we can - usually two or three of us - and listen to as many demos as we can in terms of time. Our aim is of course to go through as many submissions as possible and also to give feedback - whether positive or, if it doesn't quite fit, honest and constructive.
We really do our best, but it's simply not possible to do everything.

Is it also the case, for example, that you upload the releases to the dig dis! Platform, for example? Or do you have support with that?
That's an area of responsibility that lies with my brother Nico. He takes care of everything creative - music, content and also uploading the releases.
I myself work more in the background: I'm responsible for marketing, contractual matters and - as already mentioned - also for the demos.
Luckily, we have a good division: Nico is the creative head, I'm more responsible for the commercial and organizational issues. This results in a natural division of roles that works very well for us.

We really have been partners for years. How did you and your brother come up with dig dis! back then? And how were we able to support you with the label work in particular?
Absolutely - I really realized that again at the beginning of the year. We've actually been working with dig dis! since the start of our label, so since 2018 and the very first release. And nothing has changed since then. As you say, we're still partners after all these years.
And I can really only say positive things - the time alone speaks for itself. We are still with our first distributor and are extremely satisfied. dig dis! supports us in every respect. We particularly appreciate the fact that we have a fixed contact person - still the same as at the very beginning, by the way.
No matter whether questions or problems arise - the team is always available and ready to help us. The collaboration is very fair, based on partnership and on an equal footing. We are really grateful for that.
And yes - we are definitely looking forward to many more years together with you!

One more thing I would like to talk about: You have a super large social media following, but you're also extremely strong on SoundCloud. And there's also the podcast series, where the 168th episode was released last week - which is really impressive. Would you like to tell us how that came about and how you get the artists for the podcast?
As you say, we're close to 100,000 followers on SoundCloud, which is really incredible. Sometimes you really have to rub your eyes when you realize that. In everyday life, you don't think about it all the time, but when you hear it, you realize how many people that actually is.
We are particularly pleased with the podcast because we can also offer smaller artists a platform there. The mixes give our community the opportunity to discover new music. For us, the podcast series was the next logical step - podcasts are simply a great way to show listeners something personal or experimental.
Sometimes we approach artists directly, sometimes they approach us. There are no fixed requirements to be part of the series. However, we now get around 50 requests per week - that's around 150 to 200 per month, just for the podcast. So of course we can only consider a small number of them.
We make sure we have a good balance: between well-known and new artists, but also between different sub-genres. We're not just interested in classic techno - we also want to cover developments in areas such as bounce or groove, because there are some very exciting trends emerging at the moment.

It was a really great conversation with you. Thank you for the open insights into the development of Techno Germany, your way of working and the passion behind everything. We are excited to see what comes next - and look forward to working with you in the future.