As summer draws to a close, things continue to stay alive and vibrant across our dancefloors as we get set for more international action to come in and truly blow the venues apart. One such character is of course, German DJ/producer/label owner/presenter/promoter Moguai. ITM’s Vocal Assault pinned down this unstoppable force, as he wrapped up things in the studio just a few days prior to take off, to get the word on the ever-expanding world of Moguai.
It was 2004 when Andre Tegeler (as his parents know him best), last came to our shores. It was on that trip that he discovered a little wonder on the Sydney scene that we all know and lovingly refer to as Kink. As Kink continue to go from strength to strength, they’ve decided to follow up their successful night by taking their first step into the widely-travelled path of mix CDs. And what better artist to ask to do the honours of providing the first international chapter than the leader in the techno/electro/punk cross-over scene Moguai, who still speaks highly of his first Kink experience to this day. “I had so, sooo much fun there, when I was out before,” he enthuses. “Then, just a few months ago, Scott the booker approached my Australian booker and asked if I might be interested in doing the mix. So I thought ‘why not? They’re a great brand to be involved with.’ So I worked on the mix back at home in the studio right away. I went and put out a request for rights to 50 tracks I had in mind that best reflect the current state of my live set. Then out of those that I got back I carefully selected 15 to use in the final mix”.
The style of the mix is so elaborately fused that you’d be crazy to try to put a distinct label or genre tag on it. It may only be 1 hour mix, but it manages to steadily glide through a vast array of techno, breaks, electro and everything in-between, which is what we’d come to expect from such a broad-minded musical force. “With a mix or a compilation, you should always pay homage to all of the differences that have come before you and you should also make sure that it reflects the same mood and cross-breed of your live sets. Where things are seen more in colours and shades, rather than simple blacks and whites,” he says of the selection process he used when putting together the mix. It’s a well-crafted effort that sits just as comfortably in your car, in your bedroom as you prepare for another big night on the town or even as you stumble into the early shift in a quiet downtown café on Sunday morning after a large night before.
Although how he managed to fit in another mix into his already over-flowing schedule is what inspiration is made of. The over-achiever and high flyer has been juggling many different hats in the industry of late, as he presents a local radio show for one hour once a month in his hometown with fellow locals Mousse T, Paul Van Dyk et al; as well as signing and releasing ground-breaking new releases on his record label ‘Punx’, touring around the globe inflicting pain on the feet of punters everywhere and recording his latest artist album offering, due out later this year. “I’m really happy about where the label is at right now,” remarks a chuffed Tegeler. “I had my first fluke signing not so long ago.” After hearing many a story from fellow DJs/label owners around the world, about fluke signings that had happened all by chance after a track was dropped by a fellow artist on the bill, he’d decided that it was a well-worn legend and that wouldn’t be likely to happen to himself. But after playing in Paris, he found the very same experience had finally found him, when a track was dropped by one of the night’s residents Master Dan. A week later and the dotted line had been signed and the track is due to hit stores in the coming weeks, tagged as an instantly addictive dancefloor thumper, set to take us all by surprise.
In the way of his own forth-coming artist album, he’s been hard at work taking over the studio at all hours to get his constant flow down on record. “I’m excited how easily it’s been coming along for me,” he shares. “I have about 20 or so tracks finished and ready to go now. When I return from Australia, I’m going to put down about 10 or 20 more and then cut it down to the best 13 or so tracks for the final album list. It’s going to be a solidly structured album, that has as much flow as an album listened to in whole, as it does singles to drop on the dancefloor.” But out of all of those extra tracks, what becomes of them? Are they to be lost forever and never heard again or will they pop up as b-sides and the like in the near future? “Actually, it’s funny you should mention that, cause I had another artist album all recorded and ready to go about a year and a half ago. But by the time I’d finished it, I had changed tastes and didn’t believe in it all so much anymore. So I scrapped it altogether and most of it is unlikely to be heard by anyone,” he laughs of his pedantic way of working. “I believe that you should only release work that you still 100% believe in, otherwise what’s the point, it’s all you’re going to be living and breathing for over the following year,” he elaborates. “But to answer your question, only the strongest few of the leftovers will survive and either make it into my live sets or be left for use on compilations, when say people like Skint or whoever ask me for a thumping track to include on their compilations,” he concludes.
Keep your eyes peeled to the record store shelves for the first chapter in the Kink catalogue, set to hit stores March 19, through those wonderful people at Ministry of Sound/EMI. And make sure you don’t miss your chance to catch one of Moguai’s infamous high-energy DJ sets as he gets set to rip it up around the country:
Sat Feb 25 – Sydney, Kink
Fri Mar 3 – Melbourne, Room
Sat Mar 4 – Byron Bay, Play
Sun Mar 5 – Yallingup, Cave’s House
Fri Mar 10 – Brisbane, Empire
Sat Mar 11 – Gold Coast, Palladium
Sun Mar 12 – Hobart, Syrup
