HAPPY BIRTHDAY GPM

 

DON’T ASK WHAT THE PARTY CAN DO FOR YOU, ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THE PARTY.

Philipp Jung is one part of M.A.N.D.Y., and not only that, he is labelowner of Get Physical and Kindisch, two of the most respected german labels for electronic music. And a very close friend.

Philipp, is there any private life besides all your activities?

Since two years I do not have a homebase, so travelling a lot I decided to extend the weekends to be with friends wherever my bookings take me, the few days around these weekends are my downtime. It is difficult to cut those days off as the labels take a lot of time and gigs and productions eat the rest, but as long as it is fun and gives me energy there is nothing to complain about.

You do live part time in New York and part time in Berlin…

I have sublets in both cities yes, some productions are made in a studio in New York and the labels are based in Berlin.

Are they somehow comparable?

Not at all, Berlin has the charme of an unfinished city who probably never will be finished, and New York has its very own character, it is as it is. Berlin as well has character for sure but it is more transcendent. After twelve years living in Berlin it was time for a change and New York feels like home to me, it is the perfect city, even if I can not really say why, the energy is very special and keeps me awake. Berlin is very much about underground and partying and I pretty much soaked this all up to the max but sometimes you need another inspiration or let’s say more input so it was time for a change.

Talking about inspiration, how do you manage to get so much sex into your sets and productions?

Makes me happy to hear that, thank you. The whole idea of Get Physical is about that, it is not just named after the song from Olivia Newton John but is definitely our approach to get people on the dancefloor and move them. And if you can as well deliver a mind-trip you got them where you want them to be – dancing. It is not about playing superficial house where every secretary can dance to (nothing against secretaries but we get what he wants to say) or this Ketamine sound which I do not like at all. For us it is about getting the girls on the floor because if they move the boys do so as well. It is a physical thing and if this is linked to sexiness then I am very happy about that.

That is why the compilations are named ‘Full Body Workout’ and ‘Body Language’, no? Number nine of the FBW was just released and number 11 of the BL.

Nico from Noze did a really good job on the new Body Language, we are always looking for artists that can reflect the current state of dance music and he found the right dose. We want real artists with a history, not the ubercool ones, if so you could as well listen to a podcast. We want them to really dig deep in their record collection to do something different, telling a not-so-obvious story.

Get Physical is amongst the top rated labels…

In the past year we were the most-charted label eight out of twelve times, that shows we go the right way. I lived in New York from 2009 to 2011 constantly but had to come back as Booka Shade left the label as did DJ T so it was obvious I had to come back, you can not run this from a distance. As well the team we put together is absolutely amazing, we are one big family and it is based on friendship rather than doing a job. Patrick (Bodmer, the other part of M.A.N.D.Y.) and me are so happy to work with them, it is essential to know that all are pulling in the same direction. It took us almost ten years to have a really good setup and this reflects in our output, it is as simple as that.

How do you choose the artists?

For Get Physical and Get Digital it is Patrik and me and for Kindisch there are as well Mantu and Martin involved, Mantu is our label manager and Martin the product manager. We do it the traditional way, testing tracks in the clubs and see how it works. After we know it works we need to fall in love with it, only then we decide it is good enough to be released. Thomas Koch, aka DJ T., is a huge help as well, he is signing a lot of great music too. He’s coming up with great compliation concepts and does amazing music himself. We can’t thank him enough…

The difference between Kindisch and Get Physical? Btw., Kindisch means ‘childish’ somehow…

Kindisch is not a sublabel from Get Physical, it is an own trademark and developed its own style. You don’t really need an A-side for it, as I love to play afterparties this is definitely more the Kindisch style, straight from the heart. Those 10 am tracks that you like to play as well…

I definitely do love to play them, yes.

The roster is amazing, Adultnapper, Jay Haze and Gavin Herlihy released on it and many many more. We are not in a rush with it, there is no need to follow a release plan, it is just music we love.

My fave is Adeline with ‘Love Handles You’…

Oh yeah, I love this girl. Do you have the fur coat remix?

No i don’t….

How could this happen? I send it over right now…

Upcoming releases on Kindisch, what can we expect?

In the Fuse club in London I met a guy called Hamid Benmessaoud, he delivered three amazing tracks, then there is Cipy from Italy, a newcomer but very good, and many more.

News from M.A.N.D.Y.?

Patrick and me are exchanging ideas constantly, in August we celebrate the release number 200 so this is going to be one of ours, and in Fall we go to New York together to work on an album. We will as well release a track on City Fox from Zurich, a label we work with very closely, and another one will be released on the 10 years compilation of Watergate, so we get busy again after a necessary break.

The origin of the name M.A.N.D.Y.?

In our early days we had to do a remix for Sony music and had no name for it so as we were brainstorming we had this girl in our mind and thought of calling it Mandy. In the video for the track there was this superhot DJane playing so all people thought when booking us this chick would be Mandy, getting confused when we both showed up… So finally we put the dots in between the letters and M.A.N.D.Y. was born. Five years later we went to an afterparty in Zurich and the obvious question came up – what is the meaning of it – and as we were not able to find a suitable explanation for the name one guy says ‘I thought it means Me AND You’ and we had our perfect explanation – it is always about Me AND You in some way. So the credit goes to this guy from Switzerland.

Your perfect day?

Definitely outdoors, very good food, doing some exercise and hang out with friends. I love nature and food…

And you love your friends… Philipp Jung in ten years?

Definitely playing less, maybe once or twice a month, as long as I love it I will keep doing it. I studied Hotel and Tourism management and love restaurants and hotels, so a combination of all would be the perfect choice.

Plans for Ibiza this year? You played already twice…

We play in Ushuaia with Sasha, another time with Steve Lawler in Sankeys and in August we play the Flying Circus in Space with Audiofly.

Do you think it is important for a DJ to have his own night? This year it looks like the game ‘musical chairs’ with Richie Hawtin going to Space, Marco Carola taking over Amnesia on fridays and many others, Billboards with a picture and name of the DJ are more ‘en vogue’ as ever before…

Nowadays it is all about branding, you need a name to get Sponsorship to finance your own night. I am more the loyal type, the changes in Ibiza every year have nothing to do with loyalty, everybody tries to maximize their own profit to take as much money off the island as possible. This not about feelings but pure business, no family vibe which is supersad. The same happens in Sonar Festival, it is simply too much, if every DJ does his own party it can not work out – but at the end of the day you meet them friends in some private house and everybody has a good time.

How many VIP zones should a club have?

When we celebrate our night in Watergate we close the VIP, our friends are always in there and we don’t see them on the dancefloor because they do what ever they do in there but it should always be about ‘Dont ask what the Party can do for you, ask what you can do for the Party’. As I said before, we like the people on the dancefloor.

What happens on the 21st of december 2012?

Definitely not the end of the world, this is written nowhere, but a shift in consciousness is definitely happening already, hopefully we move from this hardcore exploitation to a more downsized model. Obviously it is still not happening in big companies but on a personal level I see a lot of friends changing their minds. We decided to play more smaller clubs as well, experience shows that all that buzz does not make you feel happier, even if that means you make less money it makes you feel more comfortable.

Last one, what do you think about dub Ibiza?

Since the beginning I follow your editions, it is one of the first things to do when you arrive, read dub Magazine and you know what is going on, see who plays what where and get the insider stories. It is something like the bible of Ibiza.

Hmmmmmmmm – thanx for your kind words, as always a pleasure talking to you and see you soon ON the dancefloor.