Steve Bug: Out Of Fashion Since 1999

German DJ and producer, Steve Bug talks about 20 years of his Poker Flat, new remixes from Catz 'n Dogz and Acid Pauli of his track 'Loverboy', and why he launched a new label Sublease Records

Steve Bug is one of electronic music’s true originals. His relentless commitment to quality – both in his own work and in the many producers he has championed – has made him one of the world’s most revered artists and curators, and along with his label Poker Flat has made a sizeable contribution to building the European house and techno scene as we know it.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2019, Poker Flat have marked this impressive milestone with a series of remixes of some of its most iconic releases from an incredible array of talented artists, alongside a number of anniversary events over the coming months. In fact the series was so extensive that many of the releases have spilled over into 2020, with the latest a pair of stunning remixes of Steve’s own ‘Loverboy’ – one of the first tracks ever releases on Poker Flat – by Acid Pauli and Catz ‘n Dogz.

Here, we caught up with Steve to discuss the remixes, the series in general and new label Sublease Records.

Hi Steve, thanks for talking to us. How’s your 2020 been so far?

Pretty good, I’ve been touring, skiing, bouldering, and finally managed to spend some days in the studio.

Last year you celebrated 20 years of Poker Flat. I guess it’s impossible for you to pick out highlights from all that time, but what does the label still being around and thriving today mean to you?

It means a lot, I don’t think we’ve expected to be around for more than 20 years when we first started, but it’s a great feeling, and lately our consistence seem to pay off. We’ve received so many amazing demos, by area artists over the past few years. I think musically we are definitely at another peak right now.

Were there ever any moments in your history when it looked like you wouldn’t be able to continue?

We’ve been quite lucky with the set up we’re having. We had very strong moments, but we never went crazy on expenses, so we managed to cope with the not so strong moments easily.

You’ve said previously that with Poker Flat, you want to give artists a home without signing them exclusively. Does that mean that you have to put a lot of trust in the people you work with on the label?

No, I simply think there is no point of signing someone exclusively. If the artist is happy with our work, they’ll keep sending stuff, if they’re unhappy, they’d probably send shitty music to fulfil their contract. Also nowadays, it can be very helpful if an artist releases on other platforms as well. It will help her/him grow, and that will also get back to us.

Acid Pauli and Catz ‘n Dogz have both just put out new remixes of you single ‘Loverboy’. Even after all this time, is it strange to hear other artists do their takes on a record of yours?

No, I love it. Especially in this case, they are both amazing remixes. And it is definitely a difficult one to remix, since it has so few, but at the same time very memorable elements. Both remixes are great: they stay somehow close to the original, but add something, that the original doesn’t have. I’m very grateful for these updates.

The new remixes are part of an ongoing series… can you tell us about what’s coming up next?

I think the next one is Martin Landsky – ‘1000 Miles’ by Harry Romero, but there is plenty more in the pipeline. Stay tuned.

Tell us about your new label, Sublease. Why was the timing right for you to launch it, and how does it differ from Poker Flat?

I started to play lot of this rather minimal, deep tech tunes. And I also charted this kind of stuff, so people started to connect with me and sent over demos. The tracks were so good, that I had to release them, but they didn’t really fit on Poker Flat, so we decided to start a new sub-label. I felt it was a good time for something new, I really feel that there is a growing movement towards modern, DJ friendly minimal house & techno. Stuff that works great in a mix, that floats and doesn’t have big build ups.

I saw you tweet recently that the rising property prices in Berlin is really becoming a problem. How do you think it will effect the scene, and what can be done to combat it?

I don’t think there is anything that we can do about it: there are simply not enough spaces anymore, due to the influx from other cities/countries. And there is a big need for huge office spacers from start-ups, and other companies who think that they need to be here. And they don’t seem to have a problem to pay 30€ per square-meter. It will definitely effect artists of all types, I’ve already seen photographers, painters, and music producers having to move out of places, because a bunch of small units was being transformed into huge office spaces. Berlin doesn’t have that many areas to switch to. Almost all areas are already overpriced. So I am sure that many artists will move to other cities instead. Actually the same thing will happen with many clubs, as well as restaurants and all other businesses. So it will change the feel of the city in a big way.

What still excites you about the electronic music scene?

It’s the music itself. But it’s also about sharing experiences with people. Being able to connect with a crowd through a DJ set is priceless.

Where can we catch you playing over the coming months?

In various countries in Europe, as well as in the United States, and in South America.

Thanks Steve – here’s to another 20 years!

Thanks a lot 🙂

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