Jens Mueller, DJ and Producer from Essen, Germany has been on the Techno music scene since 1994 and has performed at some of the biggest Techno events in Europe, including Love Parade and Nature One Festival.
Having released music on a variety of labels, including Dolma, Autektone Dark, Reload Black, and Agile. Mueller’s music is characterized by dark, driving beats and powerful, melodic basslines. He founded Sound Kleckse Records a label that now supports new artists and help them to develop their careers. The imprint demonstrates Mueller’s faith in the emerging producers in the industry and has allowed him to advocate for new Techno talent in the scene helping then to get their music heard and played in the right places.
For his own productions he draws inspiration from techno heavyweights such as Chris Liebing, Dj Rush, Andreas Kraemer and Steve Stoll. He has worked on numerous German web-radio stations and featured in online magazines such as One EDM, Hypestorm, ElectroWow and Global Techno. We took some time to sit down and talk about his connection to techno, his tips for new producers and his plans for the year ahead.
Firstly, thank you for taking the time to share a mix for our Trip Presents Series, we love it. Where was it recorded, could you share what set-up you use for your DJ/Live performance?
Thank you very much I’m very happy that you like the live recording, if I remember correctly this was recorded in the Fusion Club Münster, or in Bologna Italy…
My minimum set-up for a DJ set is 2 Pioneer CDJs & 1 Pioneer DJM of course. I like 3-4 CDJs to be even more flexible in the creative sound design.
Can you tell us a little about how your passion for and connection to techno came about?
I got into techno very early. A big influence was the Love Parade in Berlin, Germany, which was broadcast on TV at the time and inspired us all. However, I got into electronic music first via hardcore and then in the direction of techno.
In between there was sometimes a swing over Hardstyle & Trance then to Hardtechno/Schranz and again back to the classic Techno from melodic to driving.
If you had to describe your DJ’ing style in just three words what would they be?
Driving, intoxicating, hypnotising.
Your Label, Sound Kleckse Records could you tell us how that came about and what was the idea behind starting it?
The label was founded by myself in 2009 to release some self-produced tracks because it was quite hard to find labels that support new fresh artists. The name of the label comes somewhat from the Techno Minimal time and means that different blobs of sounds are merged into one, so many influences that come together in techno. With the label, I also wanted to offer a platform including. a radio show and podcast to support new artists where only the music and the passion count and not sales figures or fame.
Who have been your biggest influences in terms of your sound and style behind the decks?
Artists like DJ Rush, Chris Liebing, and Eric Sneo had a big influence on me, but also some local event series and clubs with their resident DJs have influenced me a lot. Like the Acid Wars and Techno Rulez events that have been going on in the scene for decades.
What have been some of the highlights or funniest memories from the parties you have thrown or played at so far on your journey?
Some important points and highlights in my career as a DJ were a successfully won DJ Contest in the renowned Butan Club Wuppertal. I went on to play for almost 5 years as a resident DJ, also some years there an own floor and hosted. In addition, there were appearances on large stages such as Nature One Festival, the Loveparade on a track and many clubs.
You are throwing your dream event or party. What is the line-up, where in the world is it and who is attending?
That’s a very interesting question, a dream lineup is hard for me to put together because there are so many insanely good artists. An important point would be that the evening is a journey through music. Starting with slow melodic techno and ending with driving RAW techno up to hard techno so that the guests are completely taken on this journey and can let themselves go.
What’s on the label this year?
The coming year is still undecided, but this year has already seen some great releases and radio sets from weekly changing guests.
Have you any sound advice for new DJs/Producers just starting out?
Always stay on the ball and be consistent, make the music you enjoy and build passion with it so that the music gets its own character and you are authentic.
Finally, what is on the horizon for Jens Mueller in 2023?
This year there are still some great festivals for me on which I can play, Nature one and Ruhr in Love Festival. After the summer it will be exciting to see how the scene in southern Europe develops again when it goes back to the clubs. Of course there will be a lot of new tracks from me. Some of them are already signed to labels like Supdub, Phobiq and others I’m not allowed to name yet. Also on my own label will be released after a long time again. So it remains exciting and creative with passion.