Purple Disco Machine has been shaking up Dance Music since 2009 with his highly successful disco house project.
Over the near-decade since, this German artist received numerous including ranking #18 in Beatport’s all-time Top 100 artists chart, releasing on labels such as Defected, OFF Recordings, Club Sweat and Spinnin’ Deep plus amassing a mouth-watering remix résumé of like Jamiroquai, Gorillaz, Two Door Cinema Club, New Order, Claptone, Tom Odell, Faithless, Shapeshifters, Hercules & Love Affair and Sigma Ft. Paloma Faith, as well as a recent Essential Mix.
With all of this success, the talented artist has also recently released 13-track debut LP, “Soulmatic” – a collection of tracks that touches on all aspects of disco from traditional disco house grooves, through to funk, soul, boogie, nu disco and indie dance jams.
Here, with the album now available, we thought we’d get Purple Disco Machine to provide a few tracks that were seminal to his interest in music and the development of his unique disco-infused sound.
2009: Munk – Down In LA (Shazam Remix)
When I started PDM this was one of the tracks I loved the most and I played for years in my sets. Munk is a Munich music machine. The guy who remixed this track, Shazam, is from Australia, and was one of the most talented guys around at that time IMO. Unfortunately he stopped making music. This bassline is so good. It made me fall back in love with the Moog.
2010: Aeroplane – We Can’t Fly
For a long time I was always following what Aeroplane released, but when he released his debut album I was so impressed Musically this was the best stuff I had heard for a while. ”We Can’t Fly” has such a great arrangement and with the gospel vibes, a perfect track to lay back and relax to. Vito influenced me a lot, so it is a real pleasure to do collaborations with him now.
2011: Metronomy – The Bay (Erol Alkan Remix)
This track is really special for me. In 2011 I went with my wife to a festival for the first time together. I think it was Melt and it was a perfect sunny day. As we came to the main stage Erol Alkan just started playing and his first record was his Re-Edit of Metronomy’s ”The Bay”. I think that was the moment that my wife fell in love with this kind of music. Still today this is one of our favourite records and when she comes with me to a gig I always play it for her.
2012: Tensnake – Need You Lovin
Tensnake is also an artist who has influenced me a lot. His early productions like ”Coma Cat” or ”In The End” had such great vibes. Full of 80s, funk and disco elements. It was hard to believe that sounds like this came out of Hamburg in Germany. Even today I still play a lot of his productions in my sets. I met him for the first time 3 years ago as we played together in London and he’s not just a good producer he’s also a nice guy – like we Germans are in general :))
2013: Bag Raiders – Shooting Stars
“Shooting Stars” is one of my ultimate favourites. It’s just a great track that needs no words. There is a video of ”Shooting Stars” live at the Parklife Festival in 2010. This is 5 mins of goosebumps for me. Last year I finally had the chance to meet these guys in Sydney and we spent 1 day together in a studio and wrote ”Pray for Me” for my debut album ”Soulmatic”. It was so inspiring to work with Chris and Jack.
2014: Chromeo – Over Your Shoulder
As you all know I’m also a bit of a fan of Chromeo from Montreal. In 2006 I went for the first time to see a Chromeo live show. From that night on they got me as a fan. Since then I’ve seen these guys a couple of times live. I can highly recommend anyone to check out one of their rare live shows. It has just a perfect balance of 80s pop sounds, Dave1´s voice and P-Thugg´s Talkbox skills. And it’s good to see that these guys keep doing what they love without following any trends or hype.
2015: Crazy P – Like A Fool
In 2015 I played my first Glitterbox residency and this track still reminds me of these special nights full of disco energy on the White Isle. It is a classic Crazy P record. Smooth as butter and with a straight and catchy disco groove, a funky guitar and lovely strings.
2016: Lapsley – Operator (Dj Koze´s Extended Disco Version)
For me this is undoubtedly one of the tracks of 2016. DJ Koze is doing really rare remixes but what he does is 100% Koze. He completely recreates tracks in his own style. This remix for the the Liverpool born artist Låpsley is a perfect summer disco classic. Everything on the Extended remix version is on point. A perfect groove combined with Låpsley’s sweet voice.
2017: Jamiroquai – Automation
For me Jamiroquai is one of the disco ‘greats’ of the 90’s and 00’s. He channelled the energy and vibe of the 70’s & 80’s disco eras with his own twist. Plus the remixes were always by House legends like David Morales which still sound amazing today. So I was very excited to hear his new album and it did not disappoint. This is probably my favourite track. Even more exciting for me was to be asked to remix ‘Cloud 9’ from the album and to support him on his current European Tour. For this Jamiroquai fan from Dresden it does not get much better than that!
“Soulmatic” is NOW AVAILABLE on Sweat It Out BUY
