Michael Mayer

One of the key figures of Cologne, Germany's electronic music scene, Michael Mayer has a durable reputation as a remixer, DJ, and producer. He's released numerous well-received mix CDs (with 2002's Immer enduring as an all-time classic) and singles, as well as a handful of studio albums. The majority of his tracks have been released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kompakt%22">Kompakt</a> -- the legendary techno label and distributor he helps run with founder <a href="spotify:artist:3pq8SlVVKJdVO3MHEFSpsw">Wolfgang Voigt</a> -- and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kompakt%22">Kompakt</a>-related labels like <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22New+Trance+Atlantic%22">New Trance Atlantic</a> (NTA) and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kreisel+99%22">Kreisel 99</a>. His own productions, whether dabbling in house or techno, tend to be minimal with dubby flourishes -- and no two sound alike. His debut solo full-length Touch appeared in 2004, and a full-length with <a href="spotify:artist:55BdmUTmTmoUNOFQxm54k5">Superpitcher</a>, as <a href="spotify:artist:0xe3cDuR59Zm2RrkOSDkFO">SuperMayer</a>, arrived in 2007. Following 2012's Mantasy, Mayer collaborated with several other artists for 2016's &. He looked to dance music's past as well as its present on 2024's The Floor Is Lava.

Mayer was born in the Black Forest, Germany in 1971 and moved to Cologne when he was 20. He began working at a record store called Delirium along with <a href="spotify:artist:3pq8SlVVKJdVO3MHEFSpsw">Wolfgang</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6ymI8iWj5p9Ezgyz3b2ICX">Reinhard Voigt</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5zzqzIMneFGMgiufQNGoBI">Jörg Burger</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:51qSeH9HimuYMMQ7qbWGrk">Jürgen Paape</a>. The entire group became instrumental in establishing the city's techno scene through several labels and club nights. Mayer released his first two 12"s on NTA in 1997, before <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kompakt%22">Kompakt</a> was established in 1998, combining numerous labels, the record store, and event organization. Kompakt Köln Präsentiert Michael Mayer, a mix album of tracks from the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:5YLPsxY09exWvpVlvtA0zI">Sanasol</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6wXFUcaG7779tb1Ok72GBn">Herbert</a>, OM1, and <a href="spotify:artist:21BfjoxdHptm7obdPQhk88">the Modernist</a>, was released in 1998 by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Neuhouse%22">Neuhouse</a>. Four years later, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kompakt%22">Kompakt</a> issued Immer, another mix album. Tracing the developments made in microhouse/tech-house since Mayer's previous mix, the disc featured material from <a href="spotify:artist:44A3e7VYa7sXhYYgJK8E7y">Carsten Jost</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3sGo1fGde8kx9sFUu8TZb4">Akufen</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0kx7i6G3cGxnE5hxuM1wpH">Selway</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0CROf2xks9ajVyoMjvlP9K">A Rocket in Dub</a>, and it showcased an unrivaled knack for selecting and sequencing.

At this point, Mayer became something of a poster boy for Cologne techno. In 2003, he released a pair of mixes. The first was one of the first several releases in <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kompakt%22">Kompakt</a>'s Speicher 12" series, while the second -- a more playful and melodic affair -- was commissioned by London's Fabric series. The following year, Mayer released a second Speicher mix and finally delivered his long-promised debut album of productions, Touch. During the next few years, as he continued to operate <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kompakt%22">Kompakt</a>, he put together Immer 2 and Immer 3, as well as his second and third overview mixes of the Speicher releases. He also collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:55BdmUTmTmoUNOFQxm54k5">Superpitcher</a> as <a href="spotify:artist:0xe3cDuR59Zm2RrkOSDkFO">SuperMayer</a>, which released an album on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kompakt%22">Kompakt</a> in 2007.

Mayer kept busy as a remixer (with <a href="spotify:artist:3OsRAKCvk37zwYcnzRf5XF">Moby</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2ycnb8Er79LoH2AsR5ldjh">Pet Shop Boys</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:762310PdDnwsDxAQxzQkfX">Depeche Mode</a> among his clients) in addition to DJ'ing around the world and continuing to run <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kompakt%22">Kompakt</a>. His follow-up to Touch didn't arrive until 2012. That album, Mantasy, was released in October. Following another break from solo productions, Mayer released a split 12" single with <a href="spotify:artist:6ymI8iWj5p9Ezgyz3b2ICX">Reinhard Voigt</a> in 2015. He then collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:2D9Oe8R9UhbMvFAsMJpXj0">Kölsch</a> on a 12" released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22IPSO%22">IPSO</a> in 2016. Later in the year, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22%21K7%22">!K7</a> released &, Mayer's third studio album, which featured collaborations with <a href="spotify:artist:3QhNv79NoIvarU6N57GBzL">Miss Kittin</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:37uLId6Z5ZXCx19vuruvv5">Hot Chip</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:380fnmlGnkyueBMqGWx2k5">Joe Goddard</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:27LGatz1m8aJ7ZaVVWEphc">Gui Boratto</a>, and several others. Mayer's installment of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22%21K7%22">!K7</a>'s long-running DJ-Kicks mix series arrived in 2017.

The Speicher-related one-off single "See You" appeared in 2018, then Mayer concentrated on EPs, with 2020's Higher preceding 2021's Brainwave Technology. He also mixed a volume of the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kompakt%22">Kompakt</a> retrospective series Connecting the Dots. Speicher 125, in collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:5UwHHsEQqO6OiQCtYHDpn9">Barnt</a>, appeared in 2023. Mayer's first full-length in eight years, The Floor Is Lava, appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kompakt%22">Kompakt</a> in 2024, inspired by the gleeful abandon of early house productions, and described by its creator as "a DJ album by a DJ that's easily bored." ~ Andy Kellman & Paul Simpson