06 MELANIE RIBBE DO YOU PREFER TO MAKE MUSIC ALONE OR WITH OTHER ARTISTS AS A COLLABORATION AND WHEN YOU DO COLLABORATE WITH OTHER ARTISTS, WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS YOUR STRONGEST SKILL SET AND AREA OF THE TRACK THAT YOU BRING TO THE TABLE? I love both. Creating alone gives me that meditative space where I can go really deep into my own world, which I enjoy a lot, but collaborations—when they’re with the right energy—can be magical too. I think my strongest contribution in collabs is groove and arrangement. I can take a basic idea and turn it into a full experience on the dancefloor. If I had one option though, I probably would choose to produce alone. YOU MENTOR AND SHOWCASE EMERGING TALENT THROUGH AGÁPE MUZIK. LOOKING BACK TO WHEN YOU WERE LEARNING PRODUCTION, WHAT SINGLE PIECE OF ADVICE WOULD YOU TELL YOUR YOUNGER SELF AND WHAT WOULD YOU WARN HER ABOUT? I’d tell my younger self: Don’t rush the process. Mastery takes time, and comparison will kill your creativity. What I’d warn her about is chasing trends or trying to please too many people. When you make music that’s truly you, the right audience will find you. Also, take care of your mental health—it’s easy to burn out when you’re trying to “make it.” IF YOU WERE COMMISSIONED TO CREATE A TIME CAPSULE REPRESENTING TODAY’S TECHHOUSE SCENE, WHICH OBJECT, SOUND SAMPLE, OR ARTIFACT WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY? If I were commissioned to create a time capsule representing today’s tech-house scene…I’d include a field recorder with hours of ambient sound from inside the world’s most iconic clubs and festivals—think sunrise timeless grooves on the beach in Sunwaves Mamaia, Romania, to hot Ibiza peak time, the low-end rumble from Fabric, or the reverb-soaked claps echoing through a warehouse in Berlin. Not just the music, but the crowd noise, the tension before a drop, the release when it hits—that raw energy is what defines tech-house culture right now. I’d also drop in a worn-out pair of USBs and a handwritten tracklist from a sunrise minimal set. Because as much as we talk about gear and plugins, it’s still about the human behind the decks, shaping moments in real time. A Sennheiser HD-25 headphone and a Polaroid with my crew. And maybe a sweaty backstage wristband—because if you know, you know. DESCRIBE YOUR MOST BIZARRE “MISPLACED” MOMENT ON TOUR, LIKE SHOWING UP IN THE WRONG CITY OR GIG, AND WHAT THAT TAUGHT YOU. Well, luckily nothing too significant has happened. I remember DJing in a country where “badwords or foul language” are considered illegal, and I didn’t knowmost of the songs’ break lyrics were going to shout illegal words. My face turned tomato red and I said sorry to the crowd, then turned around to the promoter saying sorry, with a very embarrassed look. Only to quickly change to the next track…with some similar raunchy lyrics by accident, haha. Also, there were many times I’ve been stuck in cities through connections, sleep-deprived, and put on standby for the second leg of the trip—up to 3 different flights sometimes. Only then to arrive exhausted, taking a taxi to a hotel that won’t let you check in for another 4 hours… but that’s the time you needed to sleep before your next show. I never rely solely on certainty. Touring is beautiful chaos—you have to stay sharp and be prepared for any and everything. TEQUILA OR A GLASS OF WINE? Usually Tequila before the set. Wine for dinner on weekends. Balance is everything. Though currently, I’m enjoying an alcohol-free rider—only Ginger Shots & Ginger Beer (nonalcoholic beverage of my Jamaican childhood). YOUR ALBUM PHOENIX IS A NARRATIVE ARC OF REBIRTH. IF A TRACK ON THAT ALBUM WERE YOUR GUIDE TO A PARALLEL DIMENSION, WHICH ONE WOULD IT BE, AND WHERE WOULD IT TAKE THE LISTENER? It would be “Mamaia”. That track feels like you’re stepping into a parallel world where everything is familiar—but shifted. A lot of light, and it hits differently. Time feels slower, and there’s this sense of freedom and clarity through minimalism. That’s what rebirth is to me—not becoming someone new, but remembering who you truly are. FINALLY, YOU ARE MARRIED TO ONE OF THE BEST TECHNO/ TECH HOUSE ARTISTS IN THE INDUSTRY—WHO GETS PRIORITY OVER THE STUDIO AT THE HOUSE “HAHA”! Haha, it depends who has a deadline! But honestly, we work around each other with a lot of respect. It’s less about priority and more about flow—if someone’s in the zone, the other steps back. It’s a rhythmwe’ve learned to dance together. Some of the best ideas happen when we share the space. However, I do use the studio much more than him since we moved in. It’s definitely my happy corner—apart from the sofa. YOU GREW UP BETWEEN GERMANY AND JAMAICA. HOW DOES THAT HERITAGE INFLUENCE THE ACTUAL SOUND DESIGN OR GROOVE IN YOUR PRODUCTIONS? Growing up between Germany and Jamaica gave me this beautiful duality in my musical soul. From Germany, I absorbed precision, structure, and the hypnotic minimalism & roots of European Techno. From Jamaica, it was all about rhythm, basslines that move your entire body with a deep sense of groove and soul. So even in my tech-house tracks, you’ll often hear a kind of swing or organic pulse that’s very much rooted in my Jamaican side—while the synth work and arrangement lean into that sharp, German discipline. YOU STARTED MIXING ON CASSETTE TAPES AT AGE 8. WHAT LESSONS FROM THOSE EARLY BEDROOM MIXES STILL SHOW UP IN YOUR STUDIO PRODUCTION AND DJ SETS TODAY? ALSO I NEVER HAD CASSETTES HAHA, SO TELL ME ABOUT HOW THAT ACTUALLY WORKS WHEN MIXING CASSETTES? That is when the early obsession was born with sound and arrangement. I didn’t actually “mix” cassettes like a DJ would, but I would record from the radio, over them, rewind, layer things in crude ways, and that gave me a sense of how music could flow and transition perfectly. The discipline to wait by the radio all day after school with a blank tape, counting the beats “1, 2, 3, 4” and pressing “REC“ at the perfect starting point, and ending the “recording“ when it felt right—on the right ending beat—to be able to record the next matching song ‘on beat,’ creating a flowing, harmonic mixtape. The main lesson that’s stayed with me is: trust your ear, not the waveform. Today, I still rely on how something feels before I let it go—whether it’s in a live set or a final master. YOU ONCE SPOKE OUT ABOUT THE VALUE OF AUTHENTIC TALENT OVER SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS. WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH TO SOCIAL MEDIA, HOW DO YOU FEEL IT IMPACTS OR BENEFITS YOUR MUSIC CAREER AND DO YOU THINK FOLLOWERS LINK TO MORE BOOKINGS? Social media is a tool—nothing more, nothing less. It can help you build a connection with your audience, and yes, sometimes very few promoters use it as a metric, but for me, it’s always been about the music and the energy I bring to a club. Personally, I’d rather have 100 true fans who actually come to the gigs and buy the records than 100,000 who just doubletap. Authenticity always has a longer shelf life than algorithms. That’s something I stand by.
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