DJ T. Biography 2020 update (short version)
In today’s electronic music world, there are not many artists who can lay claim to a legacy like that of DJ T. From spending his youth collecting Disco, Funk, Soul, early Hip-Hop and Electro, to this day, still collecting, still full of energy and inspiration. DJ T. has notched up a seriously impressive list of achievements during his illustrious career, which spans over more than three decades.
In the last few years, he has produced four albums, curated numerous compilations, produced a long list of EPs and remixes and toured the globe several times over. He has also been a key member of the collective who launched Get Physical Music, the brains behind Groove Magazine – Europe’s premier electronic music publication – and single-handedly launched Frankfurt’s only House club in the first half of the naughties, the Monza Club.
Despite so many accolades, his passion for music remains staunch, recently making several key changes to his professional life that have inspired him to explore new terrains. With releases on labels like AUS Music, Moon Harbour, True Soul and Jackathon, and of course his old homebase, Get Physical, representing his continued desire to push his creative boundaries.
A highly-skilled DJ and producer and an A&R with an uncanny ability to discover and nurture new talent, DJ T. is a master selector and one of the industry’s most influential figures.
Celebrating 30 years of DJing with another world tour, he has brought his art to the Americas and Europe since the beginning of 2019 and finished that chapter of touring one year later. In March 2020 he came out with his latest album, “Trans Orient Express” on his home label Get Physical, which already five singles have been released from with remix packages by artists like Adana Twins, Andhim, Musumeci, Bawrut, Chaim & Uriah Klapter, Theus Mago, Kiwi, Rey&Kjavik, David Mayer, Daniel Bortz, Mordisco, Balam and Alien Alien.
DJ T. Biography 2020 update (medium version)
In today’s electronic music world there are not many artists who can lay claim to a legacy like that of DJ T. Born in Dusseldorf, DJ T. (aka Thomas Koch,) relocated to Frankfurt with his family in the late 70s. During his formative years, he fell for the hypnotic grooves of disco, inspired by his parents’ record collection. At the age of nine he was already completely enraptured by music and that love affair continues until this very day. He began an obsessive quest to collect music, feeding his soul with everything from Disco and Hi-Nrg, through to early Hip-Hop and Electro, Soul, Funk and R’n’B. The groovy, infectious rhythms of all those genres continue to permeate into the music he makes and plays today, providing an intrinsic part of his sound ethic.
He took up breakdancing, before becoming a DJ, playing at private parties initially before landing his first professional gigs in the late eighties. This period proved to be a pivotal moment in his life as Acid House swept through Europe, landing in Frankfurt and taking over with the launch of Sven Väth’s legendary Omen club in 1988. The first wave of House and Techno took hold and T. was there at the forefront, absorbing all the fresh new sounds from Chicago, Detroit and the UK. He picked up a residency at the infamous Music Hall and held residencies at countless clubs across the city during the next 10 years from Plastik and Dorian Gray to The Box. By the end of the nineties, he was one of Frankfurt’s best-known selectors.
In 1989 DJ T. tapped into another side of his creative energy to set up Groove Magazine. Identifying a gap in the market and fuelled by a need to satisfy his own desire for specialised music journalism, which focused on his interests – namely underground dance music. Under his leadership the magazine was launched into the public’s consciousness and he guided Groove to become one of Europe’s premier dance music publications, which it still is today.
DJ T.’s progression continued at a pace, as he launched his own club, Monza, using the experience gained through a decade of club events and tours under the Groove Magazine banner. He also invested his skills and knowledge into conceiving Get Physical – a label, which remains one of the world’s best- known House and Techno platforms. Though he left in 2010, T. still occasionally A&Rs for the label, lending his uncanny ability to uncover new talent to the seminal label.
Production-wise, he has been consistent ever since his debut release, the ‘Monsterbaze’ EP with Steve Bug, which was released on Poker Flat in 2000. Since then, T. has released several well-received EPs, a slew of remixes and three albums, ‘Boogie Playground’ in 2005, ‘The Inner Jukebox’ produced with Thomas Schumacher in 2009 and ‘Pleasure Principle’ in 2011. His special touch has also been employed by numerous labels to curate compilation mixes , including ‘United Under The Ball – 30 Years Of Disco’ in 2011 and ‘The House That Jack Built Vol 1 & 2’ in 2012. In 2013 he celebrated 25 years of DJing with a very personal mix compilation, followed also by ‘Body Language 15’ and collaboration with Defected and Strictly Rhythm to celebrate the latter’s 25th anniversary. DJ T.’s reputation for being a master selector has been cemented by these superlative collections of music, each of which has received widespread praise, often featuring many of T.’s own edits of classic tracks.
Despite so many accolades, his passion for music remains staunch, recently making several key changes to his professional life that have inspired him to explore new terrains. With hot new releases on AUS Music, Moon Harbour, True Soul and Jackathon representing his continued to desire to push his creative boundaries.
A highly-skilled DJ and producer and an A&R with an uncanny ability to discover a nurture new talent, DJ T. is a master selector and one of the industry’s most influential figures.
Celebrating 30 years in the business with another world tour, he has brought his art to the Americas and Europe since the beginning of 2019 and finished this chapter of touring one year later. DJ T. has taken this new wave of inspiration to the studio and produced a new album for his old label Get Physical Music, the 4th one of his career, which came out in March 2020. The name of the album («Trans Orient Express ») says it all, DJ T. is drawing a lot of world music influences from eastern/oriental cultural circles to inject them into a wide spectrum of Nu Disco and Indie Dance aesthetics. Meanwhile five single eps have been released with remix packages by artists like Adana Twins, Andhim, Musumeci, Bawrut, Theus Mago, Kiwi, Rey&Kjavik, Daniel Bortz, Mordisco, Balam and Alien Alien. The cycle of the album is extending into 2021 with two more packages in spring, so stay tuned.
DJ T. Biography 2020 update (long version)
In today’s electronic music world there are not many artists who can lay claim to a legacy like that of DJ T. During a career spanning three decades he has not only injected every inch of his being into the music industry, traveling the length and breadth of the planet to spread his gospel, but he has also been responsible for setting up some of the most prominent platforms in the business and kickstarting the careers of numerous international stars through these. DJ T. has an unsurpassed depth of knowledge, an unrelenting passion for discovering and nurturing new talent and unflinching determination, which has been the catalyst behind a hugely influential career lasting almost 30 years and counting…
Born in Dusseldorf, DJ T. (aka Thomas Koch), relocated to Frankfurt with his family in the late 70s. During his formative years, he fell for the hypnotic grooves of Disco, inspired by his parents’ record collection. At the age of nine he was already completely enraptured by music and that love affair continues until this very day. He began an obsessive quest to collect music, feeding his soul with everything from disco and Hi-Nrg, through to early Hip-Hop and Electro, Soul, Funk and R’n’B. The groovy, infectious rhythms of all those genres continue to permeate into the music he makes and plays today, providing an intrinsic part of his sound ethic.
Around this time he took up breakdancing, compelled by the energy of Hip-Hop and early Electro pioneers to push himself physically, channelling the energy of true body music, which remains part of his musical DNA. From body-popping and locking and electric boogie, he progressed into DJing, a discipline through which he could share his undying passion for music. T. started to play at private parties in his hometown, soon picking up his first professional gigs.
The late eighties proved to be a pivotal moment in his life as Acid House swept through Europe, landing in Frankfurt and taking over with the launch of Sven Väth’s legendary Omen club in 1988. The first wave of House and Techno took hold soon after and T. was there at the forefront, absorbing all the fresh new sounds from Chicago, Detroit, the UK and what was also called “the sound of Frankfurt.” He picked up a residency at the infamous Music Hall and held residencies at countless clubs across the city during the next 10 years from Plastik and Dorian Gray to The Box. During this fertile period, DJ T. established himself as a reputable purveyor of electronic music and, by the end of the nineties, he was one of Frankfurt’s best-known selectors.
In 1989 DJ T. tapped into another side of his creative energy to set up Groove Magazine. Identifying a gap in the market and fuelled by a need to satisfy his own desire for specialised music journalism, which focused on his interests – namely, underground dance music and club culture. Under his leadership the magazine was launched into the public’s consciousness and he guided Groove to become one of Europe’s premier electronic music publications, which it still is today. He served as editor and publisher for 15 years and took the brand on the road with numerous tours and club events in and around Germany, not only on the road but across the airwaves with a weekly radio show.
After a decade of events under the Groove banner, DJ T. injected all of his experience as a promoterinto the launch of his own venue. In 1999 he teamed up with his friend, Patrik Dechent, to open his own intimate club space in Frankfurt, Monza. Over the next five years his creative vision and unique music programming kept the club buoyant and even spawned an Ibiza franchise; presenting the very best House music to a discerning, open-minded crowd.
DJ T.’s ambitions pushed him forward into yet another successful venture in 2002 when he collaborated with five friends to set up Get Physical, a seminal label which has received universal respect since its conception and has been responsible for launching the careers of a long list of global stars. Though he left in 2010, T. still occasionally A&Rs for the label, lending his remarkable ear to the continued success of the label.
As well as DJing, event organisation, journalism, club ownership, A&Ring and label management, T. has also produced an impressive catalogue of releases; both singles and albums, which demonstrate his ability to create a diverse range of sounds, drawing on his extensive experience of collecting and playing music. In the early stages of his production career, from debut EP, ‘Monsterbaze’, with Steve Bug in 2000, to his first album ‘Boogie Playground’ in 2005, DJ T. was incorporating all the music he was surrounded by in his formative years into creating hypnotic House and Disco grooves. In 2009, he also produced his second album ‘The Inner Jukebox’ in collaboration with Thomas Schumacher. With three albums under his belt, he has proven time and again that he can make body music with soul, unleashing deep enchanting rhythms influenced by a wide range of genres. In 2011, on his most recent album, T. partnered up with Stefan Eichinger (aka LOPAZZ) to create a long-player that explored his songwriting capabilities and allowed him to expand his creative boundaries, working with a fine selection of some of the world’s most popular vocalists of the electronic circus, such as Cari Golden or Jaw (the frontman of dOP) . Entitled ‘Pleasure Principle’, it remains his most successful album project to date and spawned a hugely popular series of remix EPs, featuring contributions from the crème de la crème of contemporary House and Techno including Maceo Plex, Maya Jane Coles, Tale Of Us, Art Department, David August, Daniel Bortz and Jamie Jones & Lee Foss.
DJ T. himself has also become synonymous with remixes, putting out numerous reworks for an array of artists and labels over the last decade including: Get Physical, Defected, Suara, Exploited, 20:20 Vision, Strictly Rhythm, Roush and Culprit, among many others.
Having already made a name for himself as a selector and editor of music, it was only natural that DJ T. would be chosen to curate several key compilations over the years. In 2006 he released his debut commercial mix, followed by ‘fabric 51’ in 2010, ensued by two Disco and Jacking House genre anthologies, the following years. In 2013 he celebrated his 25 years of DJing with a very personal mix compilation that included a lot of his personal dj edits of big classics, followed also by ‘Body Language 15’ and a collaboration with Defected and Strictly Rhythm to celebrate the 25 year anniversary of the latter. DJ T.’s reputation has been cemented by these superlative collections of music, each of which has received widespread praise, often featuring many of T.’s own edits of classic tracks. T.’s love for curating can be further attested to by his weekly instalments of “my classic of the week,” where he attentively chooses a record from his personal collection to discuss its particular history and significance with his fans via his Facebook page.
With this extraordinary list of achievements behind him, T. shows no signs of slowing down, in fact his unrelenting drive and thirst for seeking out new avenues has led to several key changes in his circumstances recently. Since 2015, T.’s output has hit previously unexplored terrains, with music landing on high-profile labels such as AUS Music, Moon Harbour, Truesoul and Jackathon. Turning once again to his Chicago and Jacking House roots, T.’s latest tracks blend the old school styles with a modern sound ethic, focused around contemporary Tech House and the dark and ravy sounds emanating out of the UK underground—in unison with new production partners Riccardo Paffetti (aka Black Loops) and Emanuel Satie.
Celebrating 30 years in the business with another world tour, he has brought his art to the Americas and Europe since the beginning of 2019 and finished this chapter of touring one year later. DJ T. has taken this new wave of inspiration to the studio and produced a new album for his old label Get Physical Music, the 4th one of his career, which came out in March 2020. The name of the album («Trans Orient Express ») says it all, DJ T. is drawing a lot of world music influences from eastern/oriental cultural circles to inject them into a wide spectrum of Nu Disco and Indie Dance aesthetics. Meanwhile five single eps have been released with remix packages by artists like Adana Twins, Andhim, Musumeci, Bawrut, Theus Mago, Kiwi, Rey&Kjavik, Daniel Bortz, Mordisco, Balam and Alien Alien. The cycle of the album is extending into 2021 with two more packages in spring, so stay tuned.
For Booking DJ T. please contact: patci@wilde-agency.com
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