Ever since his first exposure to euro-dance pop as a twelve-year-old kid, Berlin native Sascha Funke followed the siren call of electronic music, carving out his own spot at the forefront of leading-edge dance music. A seasoned hunter constantly digging for epic melodies, kicking beats or top-tier records to grace both his studio output and DJ sets, he specializes in deep, sweeping sounds – but always favored sitting on the fence when it came to the occasional shootout between genre trenches.
A well-known purveyor of allusive, pop-infused minimalism, Funke successfully combines the straightforward and the uncanny, all wrapped up in lean and stylish arrangements that don’t need much tools to establish a complex atmosphere – a sort of lock’n’load romanticism that can be readily experienced on the much-acclaimed and highly influential full-length releases „Bravo“ (2003) or „Mango“ (2008). Both went on to become electronic classics in their own right and remain a rather popular choice on international dance floors to this day.
After establishing his unique musical vision on iconic underground imprints like BPitch Control or Kompakt, Funke has returned to the latter for his more recent efforts with Saschienne, a project he put forth with partner in crime Julienne Dessagne – resulting in 2012’s album „Unknown“, a master class in sparse, but highly effective techno songwriting that found its fair share of loyalists and serves as an ideal primer for Funke’s new solo output with the label. We could welcome him back, but then again, he wasn’t really away.
After the release, the duo toured around the world and further introduced their work with a dynamic live show. When Funke was not on stage with Julienne or spending his time with her and their son, he was occupying his weekends by playing his current favourite tunes and classics in some DJ booth around the world. The only Berlin-based producer that supports 1.FC Köln then had locked himself in the studio again and produced four new tracks for the label Multi Culti, which celebrate techno darkly with melodies full of New Age and Krautrock spheres, cosmic trance moments and a slower BPM power.
As well he released on Tiga’s Canadian label Turbo Recordings the EP “IFA” and delivered four enchanting tracks between bewitched minimal tribal, twisted piano house, stomping psychedelic and space techno. In 2017 “Lotos Land”, Sascha’s solo album, saw the light of the day on the Japanese label Endless Flight and transcends deep-felt emotions into a multidimensional ocean of sound. His most recent success was in 2018 with his Acatenango EP on You and Your Hippie Friends, and the B2 side Surumu being the absolute stand out track championed by Dixon and any others.
We’ve always been a big fan of Sascha Funke and are happy to welcome him for the second time on our series.
If you’re interested in a night beyond the average definition of techno and house and also present disco, wave, electro, cosmic, Krautrock and early electronic dance music, all mixed up with passion in order to kick all dancers into an unpredictable emotional journey, then on August 31st Sascha will return to Amsterdam for the first time since 2015, playing for Sinchi at Noorderlicht.
