Sven Väth

OCTOBER 26, 1964 SVEN IS BORN IN OBERTSHAUSEN

THE YEARS BEFORE 1982 ADOLESCENCE TRANSFORMS "LITTLE SVEN" INTO AN ENTERTAINER, WHOSE EXPERIENCES, ADVENTURES AND IMPRESSIONS DOMINATE THE NEXT TWELVE YEARS...

1982 THE DORIAN GRAY CLUB FROM REGULAR PATRON TO DISCJOCKEY! HERE SVEN'S CAREER BEGINS WITH SOUL OLDIES AND HIGHENERGY IN THE "NEW ROMANTICS"PERIOD. FREAKY COSTUMES AND SELFACKNOWLEDGED NARCISSISM CHARACTERISE SVEN IN THE MIDST OF THE NEW "LIFESTYLE" AESTHETICS OF THE EIGHTIES.

1983 THE "OTHER" CLUB ON THE SCENE AT THIS TIME, THE VOGUE. SVEN PLAYS DIVERSE STYLES, BEGINNING TO MOVE FURTHER AND FURTHER AWAY FROM THE MAINSTREAM. CHAMPAGNE FLYING THROUGH THE AIR AND RECKLESS EXCESSES UNUSUAL IN THE PRETECHNO PERIOD WERE AN OMEN FOR THE LOCATION'S NEXT CHAPTER IN HISTORY.

1984 SVEN IS NOW THE PERMANENT DJ AT THE VOGUE ON THE WEEKENDS. HIS ARMY OF FANS GROWS RAPIDLY FROM WEEK TO WEEK. TYPICAL MAINSTREAM DISCO MUSIC CAN ONLY BE HEARD EARLY IN THE EVENING. AMERICAN CLUB UNDERGROUND REPERTOIRE MAKES ITS WAY INTO HIS BAG.

1985 "JACKIN' THE HOUSE", CHICAGO'S CLUB SCENE CONTINUES TO DEVELOP AND THE TERMS HOUSE NATION AND HOUSE VIBES FIND THEIR WAY TO EUROPE. THE CLUBS ARE THE SAFETY VALVE OF THE US GAY SCENE. HERE THE STEAM IS LET OFF THAT SHORTLY LATER IS TO GET THE VOGUE CLUB COOKING. THE WORD "PARTY" BECOMES A PERMANENT FIXTURE IN VÄTH´S VOCABULARY.

1986 STILL DJ IN THE VOGUE CLUB, HE STARTS MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF ON AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL AS A PARTY MASTER. HE WORKS IN IBIZA AND FOLLOWING TO HIS RETURN TO FRANKFURT HE PRODUCES HIS DEBUT PROJECT, OFF AND THE STAN RIDGEWAYINSPIRED SINGLE "BAD NEWS" (ON THE BELLAPHON LABEL), WITH MICHAEL MÜNZING AND LUCA ANZILOTTI (LATER TO FORM LOGIC/SNAP). THIS MAKES SVEN THE FIRST CLUB DJ IN GERMANY TO PRODUCE AND MARKET HIMSELF. IT ALSO LAYS THE FOUNDATION FOR THE "SOUND OF FRANKFURT". IN THE SAME YEAR, HE AND MÜNZING/ANZILOTTI PRODUCE THE SECOND SINGLE, "ELECTRICA SALSA".

1987 AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR SVEN SWITCHES BACK TO THE DORIAN GRAY (WHICH HAS GROWN SINCE HIS EARLY DAYS) AND BECOMES COPATRON OF BELGIAN TECHNO/UNDERGROUND MUSIC (LATER TO BE CALLED ELECTRONIC BODY MUSIC EBM). IT'S MOTTO: POGO INSTEAD OF DISCO FOX DANCING. "ELECTRICA SALSA" TURNS OUT TO BE AN INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS AND TOURS THROUGHOUT EUROPE AND SOUTH AMERICA FOLLOW. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE YEAR THE FOLLOWUP SINGLE "STEP BY STEP" IS RELEASED, THEN "HARRY ABER JETZT" AND "TIMEOPERATOR", AND, IN NOVEMBER, THE ALBUM "ORGANISATION FOR FUN". WITHOUT THE GERMAN PRESS NOTICING IT, THE UNDERGROUND CLUB HIT, "BE MY DREAM" (ALBUM TRACK) IS DECLARED "GOTHIC TECHNO" IN THE USA AND ENGLAND.

1988 IN FEBRUARY 1988 SVEN LEAVES THE DORIAN GRAY (TO GO TO PARIS AND DO DANCE PERFORMANCES). AFTER HIS RETURN THAT SUMMER, HE BUYS THE VENERABLE VOGUE TOGETHER WITH MICHAEL MÜNZING AND MATTHIAS MARTINSOHN. FOLLOWING THE COMPLETE RENOVATION AND THE GRAND OPENING IN THE BEGINNING OF OCTOBER, THE CLUB IS CALLED "OMEN" AND WRITES A NEW CHAPTER OF CLUB HISTORY. SVEN BRINGS THE ACID SOUND (SMILES!) TO GERMANY. HE PRODUCES THE NEW SINGLE "LA CASA LATINA".

1989 ACID LOSES POPULARITY. HOUSESTYLE VOCALS STILL HAVE A CHANCE ON THE DANCEFLOOR. RELEASE OF THE SECOND OFFALBUM, "ASK YOURSELF", PRODUCED BY MATTHIAS HOFFMANN (NOW EYE Q). SINGLE "MOVE YOUR BODY". THE BSIDE, "DAS LICHT", IS THE FIRST TRANQUIL CLUB HIT. SVEN SPLITS WITH HIS FORMER PRODUCERS MÜNZING/ANZILOTTI AND CONTINUES HIS PROJECT MOSAIC WITH PRODUCERS MATTHIAS HOFFMANN AND STEFFEN BRITZKE. RESULT: "IT IS SERIOUS" (LATER TO BE COVERED BY ENIGMA "SADENESS"), THE FIRST TRACK WITH A CHOIR. MOSAIC REMIXES SUCH CLASSICS AS "DÉJA VU" BY SPLIFF AND "OXYGÈNE" BY JEANMICHEL JARRE AND CREATES THE BASIS FOR FURTHER ASSIGNMENTS.

1990 MOSAIC'S FOLLOWUP SINGLE "DANCE NOW" BECOMES VERY SUCCESSFUL AND GOES INTO THE CHARTS. SVEN'S TURNTABLE STYLE BECOMES HARDER, THE NIGHTS LONGER. THIS SUMMER TECHNO BREAKS OUT IN GERMANY. SVEN IS AGAIN ONE OF THE FIRST TO ACCEPT, ADAPT AND PLAY THIS MUSIC. THE OMEN CLUB BECOMES AN INTERNATIONAL MEETING PLACE FOR CLUB CULTURE; SVEN IS ITS PROTAGONIST. BY THE END OF THE YEAR, HARD BEATS AND ENERGETIC VIBES DOMINATE AT THE OMEN.

1991 TOGETHER WITH PUBLISHER/MANAGER HEINZ ROTH AND PRODUCER MATTHIAS HOFFMANN, SVEN FORMS THE EYE Q LABEL. FIRST HIT IS ZYON'S "NO FATE". SVEN SHIFTS HIS SET TO "HYPNOTIC, MONOTONE HOUSE MUSIC", LATER TO BE CALLED TRANCEHOUSE, AND THROUGH HIS WORK SUPPORTS MANY PRODUCTIONS IN THE FRANKFURT AREA: THE "SOUND OF FRANKFURT" TAKES ON A NEW DIMENSION. HIS COMMITMENT TO THE TECHNOHOUSE SCENE ALSO INFLUENCES THE REPERTOIRE AT EYE Q, FOR WHOM HE PRODUCES MANY REMIXES.

1992 SVEN ("THE GODFATHER OF TECHNO") DEEJAYS IN LEADING CLUBS AROUND THE WORLD. HE ESTABLISHES THE DJ LABEL HARTHOUSE AND RELEASED THE ALBUM "THE ART OF DANCE" UNDER THE PSEUDONYM BARBARELLA. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE YEAR HE MEETS RALF HILDENBEUTEL AND BEGINS PRODUCTION OF HIS FIRST ALBUM IN HIS OWN NAME: "ACCIDENT IN PARADISE". RELEASE IN SEPTEMBER. FORMATION OF AN ADDITIONAL LABEL, RECYCLE OR DIE. THE GOAL OF ALL THREE LABELS: THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW ELECTRONIC MUSIC ON THE BASIS OF GERMAN AVANTGARDE MUSIC FAR BEYOND ANY COMMERCIAL STRUCTURES.

1993 RELEASE OF THE SINGLE TRACKS FROM THE ALBUM AND THEIR REMIXES: "RITUAL OF LIFE", "L'ESPERANZA" (CHARTS) AND "AN ACCIDENT IN PARADISE". AT THE SAME TIME, BESIDES MANY PRODUCTIONS FOR HARTHOUSE, EYE Q ESTABLISHES ITSELF ON A WORLDWIDE BASIS AND SIGNS A DEAL WITH WARNER MUSIC GERMANY.

1994 SVEN VÄTH IS BY FAR THE MOST SUCCESSFUL DJ IN THE WORLD. (THE PRESS CALLS HIM "THE ONLY GERMAN POP STAR"). START OF PRODUCTION FOR THE NEW ALBUM, "THE ROBOT, THE HARLEQUIN AND THE BALLETDANCER", WITH RALF HILDENBEUTEL ("SPIRITUAL AMP").

1995 RELEASE OF THE REMIXALBUM "TOUCH THEMES OF HARLEQUIN ROBOT BALLETDANCER", INCLUDING REMIXES OF BZET, UNDERWORLD AND SPEEDYJ, WHOSE REMIX OF "BALLET FUSION" IS ALSO RELEASED AS A SINGLE. SVEN IS WITHOUT EXAGGERATION EUROPE'S NR. 1 DJ ("SVEN IS HOLY MAN AND BIG CHIEF OF EUROPEAN TECHNO" NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS) AND SIMULTANEOUSLY SUCCESSFUL ALL OVER THE WORLD: FROM JAPAN OVER MEXICO TO THE US, WHERE HE IS ELECTED TO BE THE FIRST DJ AT THE FAMOUS "LOLLAPALOOZA FESTIVAL". TOGETHER WITH BZET (STEFFEN BRITZKE), SVEN STARTS A NEW PROJECT ASTRAL PILOT AND WITH "ELECTRONIC ACUPUNCTURE" HE AGAIN RELEASES A MILESTONE SETTING ALBUM APART FROM THE MASSCOMPATIBILITY OF MANY OTHER RELEASES.

1996 SVEN PRODUCES THE SOUNDTRACK FOR THE RALF HUETTNER MOVIE "DER KALTE FINGER" ("THE COLD FINGER") TOGETHER WITH STEVIE BZET. IN APRIL, INITIATION OF HIS EVENT PROJECT SERIES COCOON. NATURALLY ITS FIRST STATION IS FRANKFURT (SVEN'S HOME BASE), SECOND IS IN MUNICH AND THE LAST ONE IN COPENHAGEN AT THE ARTFESTIVAL. SVEN'S FIRST OFFICIAL NORTH AMERICAN TOUR IS A MAJOR SUCCESS, PLAYING THE BEST CLUBS AND PARTIES IN 9 CITIES FROM COAST TO COAST.

1997 SVEN'S PINNACLE POWER TAKES A WHOLE NEW DIRECTION AS HE LEAVES THE EYE Q/ HARTHOUSE COMPANY TO BEGIN A FRESH START, A NEW AND EXCITING BEGINNING THAT WILL TAKE HIM WELL INTO THE NEXT CENTURY. HE ALSO FORMS A BOOKING AGENCY TO FEATURE AND SUPPORT THE MANY TALENTED ACTS HE IS INTERESTED IN.

1998 IN MARCH 1998, SVEN VÄTH'S NEW RECORD COMPANY VIRGIN RECORDS RELEASES HIS FOURTH ALBUM FUSION, A POTPOURRI OF TECHNO, HOUSE, TRIPHOP, ELECTRO AND BIG BEAT ELEMENTS. THE ALBUM LIVES UP TO ITS NAME: ON FUSION, THE TYPICAL VÄTH SOUND IS UPDATED, MODERNISED AND OBVIOUSLY STRATIFIED. SVEN VÄTH STARTS HIS FUSION WORLD TOUR, PLAYING NOT ONLY ALL OVER EUROPE BUT ALSO IN ASIA, AMERICA AND CANADA. SVEN VÄTH SEEKS CONTACT WITH VARIOUS REMIX ARTISTS WORLDWIDE IN MARCH. HE ENTHUSES NAMES SUCH AS CLAUDE YOUNG, RICHARD BARTZ, JOHANNES HEIL, SENSORAMA (AKA ROMAN FLÜGEL & JÖRN WUTTKE), MICHAEL MAYER, THOMAS KROME, CHRIS LIEBING, STEVE O'SULLIVAN AND BUCKFUNK 3000 (AKA SIMON BEGG) WITH HIS IDEA TO REMIX THE BEST TRACKS OF THE FUSION ALBUM WITH COMPLETELY DIFFERENT INDIVIDUAL STYLES. THE RESULTS ARE RELEASED IN MID 1998 ON LIMITED VINYL ­ SIX RECORDS, WHICH ARE ALREADY MUCHASKEDFOR COLLECTOR'S ITEMS. THE SIX COVER SLEEVES OF THE 12INCH SINGLES REVEAL ­ WHEN FITTED TOGETHER AN OVER DIMENSIONAL HEADPHONE. SVEN REACHES A TIME IN 1998 WHERE HE BIDS FAREWELL TO A MAJOR ELEMENT IN HIS LIFE: THE LEGENDARY OMEN SHUTS DOWN ITS DOORS FOREVER TO THE PUBLIC ON OCTOBER 18TH, 1998. TYPICALLY SVEN VÄTH: "AN END IS SIMULTANEOUSLY A NEW BEGINNING, ONE SHOULD NEVER STAND STILL". FOR THE SAKE OF KEEPING A PLATFORM FOR ELECTRONIC MUSIC IN FRANKFURT ALIVE, HE INITIATES COCOON CLUB. (COCOON STARTED ITS FIRST EVENTS IN 1996, WAS STOPPED HOWEVER, DUE TO ORGANISATIONAL REASONS). HE CHOOSES U60311 AS LOCATION, WHERE EVERY SECOND FRIDAY OF THE MONTH COCOON CLUB TAKES PLACE. COCOON STANDS FOR METAMORPHOSIS, DEVELOPMENT, NEW BIRTH, SURPRISES...

1999 THE BIG YEAR TO SET NEW MILESTONES ­ SVEN VÄTH CANNOT BE STOPPED... THE NEXT STEP IS THE RELEASE OF ALL THE SIX MAXIVINYLS AS A REGULAR ALBUM AND UNDER THE NAME OF "SIX IN THE MIX". IN THIS YEAR ALSO SVEN INITIATES ANOTHER WORLD TOUR THE "SIX IN THE MIX" TOUR. COCOON SPROUTS FURTHER INTO COCOON CLUBBING, A MOBILE EVENT AGENCY TOURING IN GERMANY'S MOST WELLKNOWN TECHNO CLUBS SUCH AS STAMMHEIM/KASSEL, TRIBEHOUSE/NEUSS AND PRAG/STUTTGART. BUT THIS IS NOT ALL: COCOON CLUB@AMNESIA, IBIZA WITH FOUR EVENTS IN THE FIRST TEST PHASE, PROVES TO BE A MAJOR SUCCESS AND A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE FOR MANY. COCOON CLUB BECOMES A PERMANENT ELEMENT OF AMNESIA'S SEASON (EVERY MONDAY FROM JUNE TILL SEPTEMBER). SINCE EARLY 1999, SVEN VÄTH AND COCOON HAVE BEEN WORKING CLOSELY TOGETHER WITH SURFACE (FRANKFURT) ON THE NEW COCOON WEB PAGES, AVAILABLE FOR ALL SURFERS STARTING APRIL 2000 UNDER WWW.COCOON.NET. INFORMATION REGARDING COCOON EVENTS, COCOON BOOKING, SVEN VÄTH, COCOON MERCHANDISING AND OTHER PROJECTS IN THE MAKING, SUCH AS COCOON CLUB RADIO AND THE COCOON LABEL CAN BE FOUND UNDER WWW.COCOON.NET. FOR HIS NEW ALBUM "CONTACT" (RELEASE DATE MARCH 27TH, 2000) AND PARALLEL TO COCOON'S FLOURISHING DEVELOPMENT, SVEN VÄTH COPRODUCES TWELVE TRACKS WITH PRODUCERS SUCH AS ANTHONY ROTHER, JOHANNES HEIL, AND ALTER EGO. THE NEW ALBUM PROVES TO BE A PIECE OF ART WITH EXTRAORDINARY FLAIR AND MUSICAL DIVERSITY. CONTACT IS A FRANKFURT PROJECT ­ NOT ONLY REGARDING THE MUSIC IT EMBODIES. THE RESPONSIBLE MAN BEHIND THE STYLING CONCEPT IS DANIEL WÖLLER, THE PHOTOGRAPHER IS MARC TRAUTMANN, THE GRAPHICS ARTIST IS MARKUS WEISBECK (SURFACE), AND EVEN THE ENTIRE TEAM INVOLVED IN THE VIDEO PRODUCTION COME FROM FRANKFURT.

2000 SVEN STARTS HIS CONTACT 2000 WORLD TOUR IN FEBRUARY. WITH 33 GIGS IN THREE MONTHS, HE HAS SUFFICIENT TIME AND SPACE TO INTRODUCE HIS NEW ALBUM. VARYING FROM GIG TO GIG, HE PRESENTS ONE OF THE THREE COPRODUCERS OF THE ALBUM ALTER EGO, ANTHONY ROTHER OR JOHANNES HEIL AT HIS SIDE. COCOON GROWS UNSTOPPABLY. WITHIN COCOON RECORDINGS, SVEN ESTABLISHES ­ TOGETHER WITH PAULI STEINBACH AND TONI RIOS ­ A FURTHER PLATFORM FOR DJS AND ACTS. APART FROM SEVERAL SINGLE RELEASES, THE COCOON COMPILATION "A² IS RELEASED IN JUNE 2000. SINCE AUGUST 2000 THE TWOHOUR RADIO BROADCAST "PITCH CONTROL² HOSTED BY PAULI AND CHRIS LIEBING IS ON AIR, FEATURING INTERVIEWS, GUESTS AND LOADS OF MUSIC. AFTER FOUR DATES IN 1999, COCOON IS NOW REPRESENTED IN IBIZA EACH MONDAY WITH 14 DATES AT THE AMNESIA. SVEN'S IDEA OF CONNECTING ELECTRONIC MUSIC WITH OTHER FORMS OF ART, AND THUS OFFERING THE CROWD A MULTISENSUAL EXPERIENCE, IS BROUGHT TO LIFE IN THE MOST PERFECT WAY IN IBIZA. THE CONNECTION OF MUSIC, VISUAL ARTS AND THE BREATHTAKING SURROUNDING ON THE ISLAND PROBABLY FORMS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL 'COCOON'. BEING IMPRESSED BY THE ATMOSPHERE, AND IN ORDER TO PROVIDE HIS FANS WITH A MEMORY OF THIS SUMMER, SVEN DECIDES TO PRODUCE HIS FIRST OFFICIAL MIXCD EVER: "SVEN VÄTH IN THE MIX ­ THE SOUND OF THE FIRST SEASON² IS RELEASED ON COCOON RECORDINGS IN NOVEMBER 2000. IN DECEMBER 2000, VIRGIN RECORDS RELEASES A COMPILATION OF TEN TRACKS, FORMING A CROSSSECTION OF THE MUSICAL OUTPUT THROUGHOUT SVEN'S YEARS AT EYE Q, ENTITLED "RETROSPEKTIVE 19901997². TODAY, SVEN VÄTH IS ­ IN THE TRUE SENSE OF THE WORD ­ A GLOBAL PLAYER. THIS SHOWS IN THE FACT THAT HE TOURS ALL OVER THE WORLD, THAT HE IS OFFICIAL CULTURAL AMBASSADOR OF THE GERMAN GOETHE INSTITUTE, OR IN HIS PERFORMANCE AT THE EXPO 2000 IN HANNOVER, WHERE HE SPINNED SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH KEN ISHII IN TOKYO AND KIT CLAYTON IN SAN FRANCISCO.

2001 FOR THIS YEAR, A NEW ALBUM IS PLANNED. REGULAR PERFORMANCES AT THE END/LONDON AND AT TWILO/NEW YORK ENSURE THAT SVEN REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR DJS. IN SPRING, COCOON IS SHOWING PRESENCE AT THE MIAMI WINTER MUSIC CONFERENCE AND HOSTS THE TECHNO TENT AT THE DANCE VALLEY FESTIVAL IN THE NETHERLANDS IN AUGUST. THE COCOON CLUBBING CONCEPT IS TO BE STARTING ALSO IN SPAIN WITH A COCOON WINTER CLUB OPENING IN BARCELONA. THE STORY CONTINUES...