Stefan Goldmann

There are few artists that can lay claim to conquering the dancefloor as well as the avant-garde end of electronic music, yet Stefan Goldmann has managed to excel in both. In fact, he is increasingly setting the musical agenda for others to follow in his footsteps. While many DJs and producers seem to promote retro escapism or the security of obvious functionality, Stefan Goldmann emerged to become one of the great techno visionaries today. As UK’s Mixmag wrote on Goldmann, “only Villalobos approaches this level of weirdness while retaining such danceability”. Dancefloor and fine arts have probably never been as close as they are in his hands.

Helping to raise the profile of legendary labels such as Perlon and Innervisions, Stefan Goldmann released hit singles, produced stellar remixes and rocked the world's most respected venues.

His first album, 2008's 'The Transitory State', catapulted his name into all relevant music media and was celebrated as “one of 2008s best techno albums” by Mixmag. The album was also nominated for Germany’s Grammy, the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik.
In keeping with his obsessive love of music - spanning jazz, postpunk, avant-garde, house and techno – Stefan Goldmann set out to push the musical boundaries and challenge the dance scene's preconceptions by single handedly introducing elements to house and techno that have never been heard in that context before - like uncut Bulgarian choirs, irregular metric systems or avant-garde orchestral music.

As tracks such as year-defining 'Sleepy Hollow' and 'Lunatic Fringe' were released, an avalanche of accolades emerged, including production and remix requests from Planet E to Get Physical, in-depth features in iDJ, The Wire, Groove, Raveline, Trax and Gonzo Circus, a bunch of podcasts and glowing write-ups from Resident Advisor to BBC News. For four successive years his singles entered Groove mag’s reader’s poll for “Track of the year”. The praise is universal.

With a barrage of remixes and productions on respected labels (including Cocoon, Perlon, Minus, Mule Musiq and Systematic) earning him acclaim from his DJ and producer peers, Stefan Goldmann shocked and inspired the industry in one masterstroke.

Stefan Goldmann took another huge step forward with the launch of his label Macro. Set to be a boutique outlet for his own works as well as for outstanding material from likeminded artists, the label has pulled the premier league of artists including Underground Resistance’s Santiago Salazar, Peter Kruder and Namlook and remixers like Ricardo Villalobos, Morgan Geist and Pépé Bradock. The label’s list of licensing partners reads like the ‘who is who’ of the industry, including Fabric, Minus, Cocoon, Mute, NRK, Resist, BBE and Global Underground. Since then Macro has become a quality leader of the electronic music market.

While Resident Advisor stated early that “something is going on with this guy that has nothing to do with what we’ve heard before”, no one was quite prepared for what Stefan Goldmann did next. Releasing the ‘Voices Of The Dead’ album as a 5x7” box set, he set electroacoustic, beatless experimentalism on the map of techno. For the album’s debut live performance, he conceived the Elektroakustischer Salon for Berlin’s Berghain club, which has become the premier event for experimental electronics in the capital. So far ‘Elektroakustischer’ has featured Villalobos, Mika Vainio, Moritz von Oswald and Ulrich Schnauss among others - as well as the man himself.

In 2009 Stefan Goldmann released his highly acclaimed ‘The Empty Foxhole’ mix CD for Japan’s Mule Electronic label and the massive hit ‘Art Of Sorrow’ which has been praised to be one of the biggest tracks of the year. A celebrated album-length edit of Igor Stravinsky’s 1913 masterpiece ‘Le Sacre Du Printemps’ as well as his most controversial work to date, the remix for Santiago Salazar’s ‘Arcade’, followed within weeks. 2009 also is the first year of Macro’s label residency at, arguably, the world’s number one club – Berlin’s Panorama Bar. Label showcases in Paris and Washington DC took it to the international stage.

In 2010 Stefan staged a ballett with world reknown choreographer Kevin O’Day at Nationaltheater Mannheim for Time Warp festival. With forthcoming productions and remixes with notable techno tastemakers, a release for the mysterious Tapeworm project and upcoming Macro showcases, Stefan Goldmann is continuing to move the scene forward.