I think it’s fairly safe to say that German house is a rather hot commodity at the moment. In a land more commonly associated with schnitzels and harder techno producers, labels like Playhouse, Perlon and Steve Bug’s Poker Flat have quietly been forging their own musical path over the past few years. Perhaps as a reaction to a wave of harder minimal tech sounds, a new breed of German producer has found both DJs and a wider clubbing audience receptive to their stripped down, futuristic house sound.

German producer and DJ Steve Bug defies cultural stereotype in a more conventional sense too. Far from traditionally austere, he’s witty, charismatic and more than a little cheeky when it comes to his music, and life itself. Noted for producing house which is paradoxically minimal yet warm and melodic, Bug’s influences range from breakdance tunes to early eighties synth-pop. Initially responsible for the label Raw Elements, he currently runs Berlin-based Poker Flat – home to producers like The Märtini Brös and Martin Landsky.

It’s an imprint that’s been releasing some of the world’s finer underground house since the mid ‘90s. “In the winter Berlin is really fucking cold, minus 14 degrees Celsius or less, so you have to spend a lot time at home/ in the studio, which is good. There are some special influences which come from living in Berlin itself but no big difference between producing here or anywhere else “I’d consider moving to Barcelona one day, or New York, but right now, no! I really love this city, the vibe is amazing and there is so much going on all the time.” Steve’s musical vision drives Poker flat but he’s receptive to “the production of our artists, like Märtini Brös, Martin Landsky, Glowing Glisses and Jeff Bennett, I try to work closer with some people and not just to sign big names or be too similar with the releases, so all the artists kind of decide with their productions where the label is going to, as long as it’s not to far from my musical taste.” We are really happy right now, we have a lot of good artists, and a really good standing almost around the whole world, plus we’re just touring the world, and the sales are still good. What else do we need?”

He ventures to Australia this year to play at Sydney’s Mad Racket NYE gig. “Every time I’ve been to Sydney I’ve played for the Mad Racket guys, they where actually the first people who brought me over. I played some other gigs in Australia, in Perth and Melbourne, but Sydney has been always something special because of my friends Jimmi, ken, and the others at mad racket, also the club is very special and the crowd is amazingly cool. Honky Tonks in Melbourne was also really good, I loved it there, compared to gigs over here in Europe, I have the feeling that the scene is pretty small, which sometimes makes it easier to play, because the people are really into the music.”

Bug’s relationship with DJ Cle is both professional and personal. “I’ve know Cle for such a long time, I don’t even remember for how long. Years ago we did some tracks together and we often played at the same clubs. He’s married to one of my friends now, and has always been around. So when he met Mike and they started to do tracks together I was one of the first people who released their stuff, that time on Raw Elements, later on Poker Flat. It’s always fun and a bit of stress working and traveling with them, because they are very special at some points,” he grins.

Steve’s third solo album Sensual was released earlier this year to widespread acclaim. As with his previous release The Other Day the release is filled with track titles that allude to that most primal of human desires – sex. Is it a conscious running theme in his music? “I don’t really know, but music for me has always to do something with love, lust and sex, – that’s what life is all about. Maybe a bit of hate and war sometimes, too, but I try to forget about that.” Describing how he retains so much warmth in very minimal music is a more difficult task. “I don’t know, never thought about that, it just happens. It’s two points I like about music and I try to have them in my tracks, somehow it works (mostly, not always).”

As for what’s really inspiring him about music at the moment: “There is a lot of good vibes from the early days of house in some of the new tracks. The 80s disco/funk revival as produced by Chicken Lips, Metro Area and so on. The German techno scene is shrinking, more space for good house. All the original wildstyle tracks featured on Grand Theft Auto – Vice City” for PS2….and my new synths make me funky.”


31/12/02 Mad Racket, Sydney

3/01/03-Cotton Club – Byron Bay

10/01/03-Honkytonks- Melbourne

11/01/03 – The Poker Flat Party, Adelaide

11/01/03-Minke-Adelaide

12/01/03-Honkytonks-Melbourne(Martini Bros only)