My DJ sets
Living in London and Berlin in the early 2000s, I was lucky to experience a rave and electronic music scene that was pre smartphones and pre social media. The vibe was silly, unpretentious, and raw. I am not saying that these kinds of parties don't exist anymore, but they are harder to come by in today's Instagram world. Throughout all these years, I've been collecting the music that moved me the most and at some point started to put these into mixes. Here a list of some of these mixes with a short story and some background to each. I hope you enjoy!
Gradually, then suddenly - Feb 2021
When I recorded this mix I had fallen down the Bitcoin rabbit hole around 6 months prior. I had been interested in Bitcoin since 2014. I bought my first coins then, however unfortunately sold them sometime in 2015. At that time, I had not fully understood the promise of Bitcoin yet. That changed in autumn 2020 when I listened to a podcast by Robert Breedlove, explaining the origins and key properties of money and how Bitcoin is superior in almost all dimensions. I then spent the next few months reading everything I could get my hands on around the topic of Bitcoin and Austrian economics and eventually even created a video explainer to synthesize what I learned for others. The experience of "falling down the Bitcoin rabbit hole" or "having taken the orange pill" is seriously mind-altering. Once you understand the core principles and potential of Bitcoin, the world looks forever different. This mix was my personal homage to Satoshi's invention.
It's a long way - 2019
This is a mix that I recorded when we were living in Munich. We had just moved back to our family origin in Bavaria after living several years in Los Angeles. It was a hard landing for us. We were suddenly confronted with all the reasons why we had left Germany many years before. It was time to clear and heal our primary relationships - especially to our parents. We had partially moved back because my father was unwell (he was 82 at the time) and it was not clear how much longer he would live. My wife and I both felt that we had already done a lot of inner work and felt overwhelmed and exhausted by the prospect of going through another cycle of deep inner work. With that in mind, this mix starts with Caetano Veloso's "It's a long way". The path of healing and inner unfoldment often is a looong way. And we need a lot of tenacity, perseverance and faith to make it through. This mix is a reminder that "it's a long way" but that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
California Dreaming - 2014
This is the first mix I ever recorded. It came together in Carmel near Big Sur, California. It was a magical time of deep flow and guidance, exploring my inner landscape and traveling the world. I recorded this set at the parents' house of my good friend Celeste. Almost every day we were somewhere exploring the incredible nature that Big Sur offers. Shortly after recording this mix I "stumbled" into my first Burning Man. Friends of mine happened to be in California to go and convinced me to come. In hindsight a beautiful opening that opened many more doors in my life. Re-listening to this mix I can connect back to the magic and mystery of this time.