Published in the November 2009 Issue of DJ Times Magazine
Volume 22 - Number 11
By Robert LaFrance

Miami Beach, Fla.—Fresh off the release of his new artist album, Teufelswerk, Germany’s DJ Hell descended upon Miami’s South Beach this past March for Winter Music Conference. But as with anything Hell attempts, his party was anything but typical.

No, it wasn’t about glamour, limos, and VIP sections. Instead, it was a mix of pop art and society’s seedy underbelly. His all-night party was at Goldrush, a strip joint, and it should be serve as no surprise that it was a blast.

Design and outside-the-box thinking are no small considerations for this label owner and longtime DJ/producer (aka 47-year-old Helmut Josef Geier). His International DeeJay Gigolo Records label is famous not only for its place in the music scene, but also for its punk-themed, controversial graphic arts, forward-thinking fashion, and defiant attitude, which peaked with the recent Electroclash rebirth.

Teufeswerk, German for “devil’s work,” is divided into two sides dubbed “Day” and “Night” and is considered somewhat of a techno masterpiece. The album is sinister, retro-futuristic, and visionary. Like an electronic soundtrack to a forgotten Mad Max movie, it nods knowingly to the past, while keeping its eyes squarely on current clubland and beyond. And with collaborations from A-listers like Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry, P. Diddy, and co-producer Pete Kruder from Kruder and Dorfmeister, it’s packed with pleasant surprises.

The day after his party, DJ Times caught up with DJ Hell at a poolside cabana and somehow talked shop through South Beach’s blaring beats.

DJ Times: So, what made you decide to do your WMC party at a strip club?

DJ Hell: I did one here five years ago, and it turned out to be one of the wildest and most talked-about parties at the seminar in 2002, and every year I was told, “Let’s do it again.” But, it was never the right moment. This year, I said, “Let’s do it,” and Goldrush [renowned downtown Miami strip club] was up for it. They even treated us. I don’t want to say better, but different—the whole organization was highly professional and on such a smooth level. We even broke the mixer at 5 in the morning.

DJ Times: The whole staff was very professional at the door.

Hell: I found out that [the manager] has been doing this for 12 years. He got the Goldrush from his parents—it’s a family business. He really takes care of everything and it was such a nice honor to work with him. He was a famous guy to me. He manages about 80 girls. He said everyday there are new girls coming to work at the club. Everyday he has to deal with that. I told him, “I am going to watch you and I can learn from you. It is hard for me to handle one girl. You know, I don’t even know how to do that.” [laughs] He gave me a lot of lessons. He was such a professional. I was at that level some time ago. I would like to go back. It is really hard to balance everything out. I have a lot of dancers as well on Gigolo Records.

DJ Times: What’s difficult about that?

Hell: Everybody wants attention. They only want to talk to me. Sometimes it takes a lot of energy out of you. I am the boss of Gigolo, so they only want to talk to me. I was going to places like the Goldrush to learn from the masters. Serious. I learned that since it’s $20 per song—usually a three-minute song for a lap dance—you should not play an eight minute song because it is too much work for the girls. [laughs]

DJ Times: You are obviously well-known throughout Europe, but why do you think America is still discovering you and your music?

Hell: I did some radio interviews and they did not know my name. I was kind of confused when they said they did not know about Gigolo since I did about 260 releases. I worked with all these DJ legends like Jeff Mills and Anthony Shakir. I worked with house legends and I worked with all these people more famous than me. The big time was four, five years ago when Gigolo was everywhere and now, since we are not on the top of the charts and not ruling the fashion world, we are still there, but on a different level. It is interesting for me to see that when I go to a radio station, they ask who I am and, “What is Gigolo?” It is funny and interesting to me.

DJ Times: So, tell me about the label, what is your goal there?

Hell: I said that when we started doing this in 1996-’97, I want to be like The Beastie Boys of techno music. You know what they did for hip hop music? I want to do that for techno music. You know, bring some flavor back into the party scene. The music was just like hard beats, hard techno. It was the most popular section, but somehow innovation went to some other genres.
DJ Times: Like trance?

Hell: That was not innovation there. This is not true.

DJ Times: Trance was what was popular in the U.S back then.

Hell: It was the early ’90s when there was innovation in trance music when some European bands or producers started doing some trance music and it was a new thing, a new flavor, a new experience. I remember DJs playing trance music the whole night and I would close my eyes for 10 hours and float away—when “trance” was not a bad word. I agree it is ruling the whole world. If you look at the Top 100 DJ list, it is all trance.

DJ Times: That’s not you.

Hell: No, it is not my world. I try to understand what is going on in their world, but the innovation went out of this music 15 years ago. They repeat their successful form again and again until now. I was never in that circle that repeats a successful formula. I always try to come up with a new formula with some exciting new ideas, new music, new artists, new combinations, unexpected—even like party set-ups, not just DJ after DJ.

DJ Times: What’s your approach?

Hell: When we first started doing this, I always had this concept that the DJ starts playing two hours, then live act coming up, then DJ coming up. At first, people hated this set-up because they were used to the DJ thing and then there was a live act coming up. I always tried to go in directions where it is not repeated, something fresh like The Beastie Boys. I remember when they went on tour and there were cages with dancers and they always had a great live show, the magazine [Grand Royal], their fashion line. It was sad when they stopped doing it.

DJ Times: And it’s more than just about the music right?

Hell: Absolutely, because that is why we went to a strip joint. We loved it so much we are going to do a European tour in a most upper kind of gentlemen’s club. We want to do this more and more to get a new flavor and bring people into a club situation where they are not focusing only on the music. I learned so many things there about their life. A lot of people who are into electronic music think it is the only thing that is happening. I have been thinking the same thing for a lot of years, but this is just a little scene. There are a lot of things going on.

DJ Times: So you try to take influences from all over, not just dance music. You obviously have a graphic-arts influence going on, too.

Hell: Very much. I always love to work with new artists. I am searching for them, looking for them, always trying to reinvent like a new picture of the videos, the artwork, the flyers, the t-shirts. I am doing a lot of work with fashion shows now. I work with the fashion designers on music for the catwalks. This is already another level. I do not want to limit myself and make a decision to go on this never-ending world tour where I play three gigs in a week and the next morning ask my tour manager where we are going to go next.

DJ Times: What’s wrong with that?

Hell: If you decide to go that way, it is maybe the right way, an interesting way, but it is only one way. You only focus on the DJing. A lot of them, they are totally into the music. That is all they are doing and you can hear it and it is great. But there are a lot of DJs out there that have lost it completely. I think they do not even know why they are doing it anymore. It is just like going on, collecting the money, don’t care where they play or when, if the offer is right they do it. I never did it that way.

DJ Times: And you approach it differently.

Hell: I like to work with people like Goldrush. It is my audience, or maybe a different audience and I never played for them. I never liked to work with commercial huge clubs because they are so used to it or play music where they only do minimal bookings and then I jump in there and play some maximal kind of stuff or even play some minimal with a different kind of touch. Always try to keep it fresh.

DJ Times: Talk about how you first started DJing.

Hell: I am DJing nearly 30 years now and I am coming into a period where there are not many DJs the same age as me. I mean, there is François K and some other guys like me. I try to create my own world and I think I did it with Gigolo and I think I did it with my music and my DJing. This is a special kind of world and it is working for me, but maybe not a lot of other people. But this is how I feel comfortable. And this is how I want to continue. It is never totally clear what I am going to do. I started doing a lot of designs for friends. I started doing sunglasses design with a company in Germany. I did some CD wallets for DJs, but it is more pop-art.

DJ Times: Like Andy Warhol kind of stuff?

Hell: Yes, I said to myself, “How would Andy Warhol do this?”

DJ Times: There is definitely an Andy Warhol influence in your artwork.

Hell: Yes, in everything I am doing. I don’t want to copy. I am just influenced. If you see what he did in all his years, it is incredible. I could spend the rest of my life searching and learning from these genius kinds of people. I really love what they did. If I can create something in the CD world, I just think about how he would do it now.

DJ Times: Were you influenced from early Detroit techno?

Hell: I think you can hear it on the “Night” part of the album that it is based on formulas or music from Chicago house or Detroit techno. I think I brought these two cities together again. Derrick May called me the “blackest white man” he ever heard—I think it is a compliment. I never felt this kind of European flavor. I always try to bring another flavor on it. Of course, I am very influenced by Detroit, original Detroit music and back in the day, Detroit funk music and Motown and all this great music. I was a hip-hop DJ back in the day in the ’80s. I was playing a lot of new wave and punk music, early German electronic music, and I touched every genre, ambient, cosmic music. Now it feels right. It feels right to work with Peter Kruder and all his musicians to go in this direction. I am very happy about this album. It turned out to be the best work I ever did.

DJ Times: Your CD is called Teufelswerk. What does that mean in German?

Hell: It means the devil’s work. It says everything already because my artist name is Hell, and if I say, “devil’s work,” you can come up with whatever you want. A lot of people might think I am anti-religious or something. It can be misunderstood. I am not like that, but I am also not a good guy who goes to church every week. When I see these mega-churches here [in the U.S.] on TV—we do not have that in Germany—I love to watch it. My dream would be to have my own TV show once a week, playing Gigolo music.

DJ Times: Is there a particular set or sound that you look for when you talk about artists on Gigolo?

Hell: No, I look for some fresh thing, some unusual thing, maybe classical. I am releasing a guy who is doing some early Chicago, a Lil’ Louis, Larry Heard-sounding material, but it sounded so old-school I just loved it…

DJ Times: That is kind of like your album, I think. You have DJ tracks on there, but there is definitely material that’s more mainstream or just listening music. Is that why you broke it up into “Day” and “Night”?

Hell: There was so many tracks that I had to split it. I cannot do a song for the clubs and then come up with some cosmic, ambient ideas. It would be confusing. The “Day” album should be constantly floating story from one song to another like they did it back in the days, really inspired by Pink Floyd or early German electronic music. I tried to put my touch on it and do it in a different way, but still it is kind of one song the whole album. But on the other side, I also want to prove that I am doing stuff that is happening in the clubs now. I choose a lot of new producers and studio guys to work on this concept with me. It turned out to be like 16 or 17 songs. It is a lot.

DJ Times: How did the vocal collaborations come about? Do you do any of your own vocals?

Hell: I am not a good singer, so I choose professionals. I could not think of a better combination than working with Bryan Ferry [on “U Can Dance”]. He gave me the opportunity to work on a song he did back in the day that was never released. He gave me all the parts and said you should do something new with this. He really liked what I did with P. Diddy. He really liked the remix of “Check You” and “Let’s Get Ill.” I played it for him in London and he really freaked out about it. I was totally surprised. I was really thinking to not play stuff like that. I played him some jazzy, poppy stuff. I did not think he would be interested to listen to a techno-oriented bassline-sounding “Check You” track. He really loved it and said he would like it if I did something like that. We did not know where to go with the song, but finally I got to the moment where I got the rights to release it and I could not be happier right now.

DJ Times: What was it like working with Bryan Ferry?

Hell: It was not easy to work with a legend like Bryan Ferry because he is one the most popular singers in my world. The most important thing is that Bryan likes it and he really liked it. Who knows what is going to happen in the future? He is working on a new album right now. Maybe hopefully on a Roxy Music album, I will be happy to help if he wants.

DJ Times: How about working with P. Diddy?

Hell: The Puffy thing, he was working with all of these other producers for the techno-house album. It was never released, so I still kept the parts. I did some songs for him, but it was never released. I was thinking of using this vocal for the new album stuff that is touching the clubs now. He liked it and said, “Go for it.” I think the same way he thinks and [what he says on the track] about the DJs and the crowd: Get your shit right and play the long version of the song. If he speaks out people will listen.

DJ Times: Are you going to do more stuff with him?

Hell: I hope so. If he wants to. If he calls me now, I would do it right now right after this interview. Because he is like: “Here is the studio. Here is the set up. What equipment do you need? We are going to do it now right away.” He does not lose any time. I really like that about him—if he gets an idea, he works on it now and it is interesting to watch people like him. I can only learn from people like him.

DJ Times: What type of equipment did you use on the album?

Hell: I think you can hear it. Even in minimal music, they use the same plug-ins. I try to bring organic flavor. There is a lot of acoustic guitar, bass guitar, a lot of vintage gear, keyboards, drum machines. Peter Kruder has one of the best studios I have ever worked in. It was incredible. We used real old-school compressors because it sounds real. A lot of musicians were coming inside, jazz musicians coming in to play some string lines, bass lines, melody sections. It was like working in a band. I come in with my concept and I hire the people and tell the people how it should be and sound, a lot of listening sessions. Altogether, it is one sound. I tried to keep my flavor in it.

DJ Times: The “Day” and the “Night” sides have different feelings, but it still sounds very much like your style, very cohesive. How did you achieve that?

Hell: To me, the album is very personal. I do not know how to do it differently. Even if I work in different studios, I put my flavor on it. I know exactly what to do and how to get to the point where it sounds like that. And, I learned a lot from Peter Kruder how to get inside. But sometimes you choose a keyboard and you work on some sounds trying and you are working for an hour and think you can’t find it the sound in your head. It is close, but not the one, then you jump to another keyboard. But, Peter really knows how to make this happen, how to get inside. It is so nice to watch people like him manipulate things.

DJ Times: What is his title for the record?

Hell: He is a producer on the record and I am a producer. There are other people as well. Like a band situation, everybody brought his knowledge in there—but in the end I am the one to make the decisions. I do a lot of arrangement; I am choosing every sound, the concept of the album, so I am there to work it out with people who have a lot of knowledge. I brought all my experience and used the experience of all these people.

DJ Times: Your recent mix CD, DJ Hell presents Gigolo, it was all very signature Gigolo sound, but all different genres.

Hell: Everything you can think of. But in the end, it is one picture. It all fits together. It is chopping from one into another. It is hard to describe. It is not a form that I am using. It is when I hear something and I think it is special and it has a unique touch, and it fits in the mega church. Even if I know I am not going to sell it, I will release it.

DJ Times: Do you have a preference for analog vs. digital in what you release and what you play when you DJ?

Hell: When all the plug-ins with a digital system started years ago, it defined a complete new sound into techno music and I think it brought some new flavor in there. To me, I think the freshest sound is if you use both analog and digital. If you know how to do it, you can create something unique, not just only doing analog. Some of the older techno music does not fit with the newer, but some still sounds fresh. It is the way the producers use their equipment and how they manipulate their drum machines. There are so many producers who are doing analog stuff and it sounds fresh. You should not limit yourself in the studio.

DJ Times: Has that whole Berlin minimal techno scene influenced your work?

Hell: Definitely, I was in Berlin in the ’80s. I was there when the first minimal wave was coming up. I was there when Berlin defined their way of house music. On the other side, there was the Detroit scene. Now it is not only minimal. I think it is the Mecca of electronic music. It is just paradise.

DJ Times: Are you playing CDs now, or vinyl?

Hell: CD and vinyl, yeah.

DJ Times: No laptop?

Hell: I had this Serato thing going on for a while. I like the way Josh Wink is doing it. He was one of the first ones to use Serato. He played Serato and he stopped it after three years because he did not like the way his DJing was going. He played all these classic tunes suddenly because you have your whole catalog with you all the time. I am more like one of these classic kind DJs who has 150 records and you react to its equation. I am an old-school guy, but I really like this knowledge of working with the vinyl and original DJ work. I know it is the new way. I would maybe use it in the future with some new programs or just use part of it also using vinyl, when it is still all about the DJ work, not checking your emails at the same time.

DJ Times: How are you approaching your DJ sets these days? Are you leaning on one particular sound?

Hell: No. I have a lot of directions to go. The set I played yesterday, it was a different situation. There were lots of girls dancing, but I knew I had to find a different perspective. What is the feeling in the air? I knew I can’t do minimal or hard techno because they will not appreciate it. I think I played more vocal house tracks. I try to play different sets at every party I go to. I never like to play the same thing. I do not want to repeat it. Even if I am playing and find out I played the same three records, like the night before, I think about stopping.

DJ Times: Why?

Hell: I think, “What are you doing? Just because it was working yesterday, how can you think it will work for a different audience in another city or another club?” I don’t want to pre-select all these things. It is always the moment I create. I think an experienced DJ knows how to use all these different styles and it is a wide mixture of everything, but in the end it is me. A lot of times people come up and say, “What is this sound that you are playing?” I say it is the Gigolo sound. It is the sound of my mega church [laughs].