Feature: Kaufmann (DE) [Interview + Premiere]

The enigmatic realm of Kaufmann thrives frommidnight to sunrise. Rooted in the esoteric realms of dark minimal and hypnotic techno, converged with the otherworldly weight of psychedelia and rave. Kaufmann's alchemical approach to music production and uncompromising devotion to cutting-edge techno has been the driving force behind her signing with Stil Vor Talent, SensoSounds and Alula Tunes, with her affiliations crossing over the families of Dazed State, Subios Records, Rebellion der Träumer and Einmusika. A reigning figure on the German club circuit, Kaufmann also features annually on the mainstages of her home country’s revered Fusion Festival, while frequently ensnaring audiences on international expeditions.

Hi Kaufmann, thanks for talking to us today. How has the start of the year been for you?

Hey! It's been a great start to the year for me! My recipe to success is to treat myself to some time off in February and escape cold Berlin. This year is no exception, which is why I'm still very relaxed.

Let’s look back on 2024, what gig of yours stood out the most and why?

For me the summer season is always really special, because there are tons of festivals with amazing stages, great crowds and where the vibes are just through the roof. The highlight is normally Fusion Festival - a place that I loved to go to before I started my official journey as a musician and that has had a huge impact on me. Standing on stage there always reminds me of how everything started.

Other highlights were my trips to Australia and India last year. In both cases I had the best hosts that were showing me the best possible time. I still can't believe sometimes that this is my job.

Now let’s look at tracks, what is a track or tracks which came out last year that impressed you the most and why?

“Teufelsfisch” by Marc Romboy and Oliver Huntemann. The two have been releasing absolute bangers for decades and have been shaping the genre ever since. To produce such consistently great tracks over such a long period of time is simply impressive.

What is a song/track you’ve never stopped listening to since childhood? And why has it stuck with you this long?

Remember Me - Blue Boy

I really connected to the beautiful but somehow sorrowful voice when I was only 12 or 13. Back then I was walking down the empty beach in Denmark and being melodramatic, singing the song out loud during a family vacation. Actually I haven’t had any problems at all at this time. But somehow it just spoke to me. It combines such a cool 70’s vibe with bedroom production in the late 90s and it still doesn't get old for me.

How did growing up in Germany affect your music taste and direction into becoming a DJ and producer?

My cool Berlin cousins (I'm originally a kid from the countryside) certainly played a role, who told me about their rave experiences in the early 2000s and took me to Watergate for the first time when I was a bit too young to be there (which was amazing). This is why I always knew there had to be a bit more to it than bigroom countryside discotheques. So the step into the Techno scene wasn't that far away. Rock, Metal as well as Psytrance are also huge in Germany and I could easily get a taste of a large variety of scenes here and gather inspiration until I realised what I liked the most.

But that didn't lead me to think that I would make music myself or make a living from it. In Germany, the ‘Live your dream’ or ‘You can do anything you want’ narrative is not particularly widespread. It's more about ‘The most important thing is that your pension is secured’ and

‘Do something decent first’. So I stuck with that and didn’t have a big dream for a long time. So on the one hand, Germany is a pool for an extremely diverse musical landscape and home to one of a kind cultural hotspots like Berlin or Hamburg but on the other hand it is characterised by a rather conservative understanding of a professional career.

Who from Germany inspired you the most early on and why were they inspirational for you?

Solomun, Doctor Dru, Hosh, Magdalena, Monte, Deichkind, Das Moloch

The golden age of Hamburg-House is where it all started for me. These names and their sound really define a time for me that changed my life. Listen to their tracks from the early 2010s and you’ll understand. There are many more influences but that would maybe lead too far.

For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you?

As I didn't set a goal for myself at the beginning, I can't say that I had a defined phase of learning or emulating at the start. It all came step by step and very slowly. I would come home after weekends full of inspiration and playfully try things out, both in terms of producing and DJing, because I wanted to somehow preserve and keep control of the moments and emotions I had experienced. But I certainly wouldn't have started if I hadn't had friends who were more technically advanced and showed me the basics of DJing and music production. Shout out to them!

You routinely sport Pennywise, System of a Down and other band t- shirts, so I’m curious about the music you listen to outside of the electronic realm, tell us a bit about that and if you’re familiar enough with Pennywise’s catalog what would be your favorite album?

Yes I’m a metalhead as well - thank you dad! I love going to metal concerts whenever there’s time for it. I recently saw some big names like Korn or Slipknot and one of the best concerts I ever went to was the Meshuggah show last year in Berlin. Many might see it as a stark contrast to Techno but in my opinion those genres share loads of similarities energywise.
Rock and Metal therefore are a great inspiration for me and my style. If you have a closer look you will find little metal easter eggs here and there in and around my tracks and sets.

My favorite Pennywise album is “Unknown Road” because it’s blue.

You’ve been releasing music as Kaufmann for about five years now and you’ve achieved significant success in that short amount of time. When you look back on your releases, what would be some pivotal ones to the success you’ve achieved today?

I could say the first one I was ever brave enough to send out which was ‘Whale of Styx’. I could say ‘Black Horsey,’ through which I met my crew and now close friends from Dazed State. I could say ‘Twee’ because this is how I got to meet Oliver Koletzki, who released it and then helped me releasing the ‘Self Control’ remix - which got me a lot of attention, even from the big names like Adam Beyer or Joris Voorn. Maybe it's ‘Unravel Me’ on Oliver Huntemann's Senso Sounds because it's my most clicked track on Spotify. Or I could say it's ‘Tautology’ or ‘Status Check’ which barely anyone knows, but they helped me get to the point where the productions are now (and they're still bangers in my opinion lol) - choose your fighter.

As mentioned, you’ve accomplished a lot across your career with releases via Senso Sounds, Spectrum (NL) and Stil Vor Talent highlighting your discography. What goals do you have going forward?

There are some highlights coming up, which tick some boxes on my bucket list. Let’s see where it takes me and stay tuned.

How important would say networking is in making it as an artist in 2025? And what role (if any) has it played in your own success?

I think networking is a core component of this profession. However, I believe that the first mistake is planning to network. A lot of things come naturally when you spend time in the places you really like, go to the parties where you like the music, stay a little longer and then automatically start talking to people who are similar to you and therefore might like what you do, or vice versa. It doesn't have to be primarily about anything music related. As in every field, sympathy and humanity are key components of any collaboration, next to the product, the art, the service or whatever itself. That's why networking is essential, I believe. On the other hand, I wish that musicians who have a hard time being around people would be seen more. To achieve this, promoters would sometimes have to be a bit more diligent and look for good music rather than just following a social media presence or the loudest person in the room.

You have a new single ‘Have You Turned Off The Oven’ out now via Stil Vor Talent, tell us a bit about the release and what sort of vibe you were going for on the track.

It’s difficult to explain what vibe I was going for, typically my work process consists of a lot of “happy accidents” (shout out Bob Ross), rather than a clear vision from the get go. It all started with a bass line inspired by a Portishead record and then I gradually tried to add energy and trippiness to turn the soundscape surrounding it into a track I enjoy playing in my own sets.

Let our readers inside your studio for a moment, what is your current setup and what studio tools are featured heavily in your recent productions and more specifically on ‘Have You Turned Off The Oven’?

I work completely in the box with Ableton and some third-party plugins. I also draw inspiration from platforms like Splice every now and then to get ideas for sound design and see what presets are up for grabs. There’s no secret sauce in there, really - just the occasional ‘happy accident.’

For ‘Have You Turned Off The Oven’, I focused heavily on layering different bass and kick sounds to really nail that 4-to-the-floor impact. The basslines came from Arturia Pigments and Ableton’s Operator, while the one-shots were a mix of Serum, Diva, and some samples. Another key element was fine-tuning the automation for the lead stab, making sure it had just the right character and movement.

Interesting track title btw, is there a story behind it?

There is a very sexy female voice whispering ‘Yes’ twice during the track. The first version of the track was almost ready when I was hanging out with a friend brainstorming what I could call it. We thought it would be funny if the ‘Yes’ was the answer to a question asked in the title. That's how we came up with ‘Have You Turned Off The Oven’ - a very important question sometimes if you’d ask me. We laughed our asses off, and what was supposed to be just a funny working title ended up to be sent to Stil vor Talent. I have to smile every time she lasciviously says ‘yes’ to the question of whether the oven is really turned off.

How much play has the track gotten in your sets and where do you generally program it?

For my taste, the track needs a warmed-up crowd. It works best when the audience has already adjusted to the flow of the set and I have the feeling that I'm on the same vibe as the audience. The track always works well at this point because the bassline has a nice drive and the synth stabs have something hypnotic about them. I've played the track in almost every set over the last year and I always try to find that exact moment.

This is your third release on Stil Vor Talent now, a label which has become one of your primary homes. What is it about the label that makes it a comfortable spot for your music?

I think the Stil vor Talent crew and particularly label boss Oliver Koletzki are always really open to new ideas. When Oli likes something, you immediately notice an almost childlike joy about it. The label's musical direction doesn't seem at all rigid and if they like something or see a vision in it, they’re very supportive. What's important is the music, the person behind it and the vision that leads to success in the end. That's what I like the most about Stil Vor Talent.

Shifting to DJing for a moment, you’ve performed at some massive events such as Fusion Festival and have an upcoming appearance at Boom Festival later this year, so please tell us your approach to DJing and how you go about programming your sets.

I have a pretty simple inner compass, that follows the question: What would I like to hear, if I were on the dancefloor. I try to test a lot of tracks during my gigs and have a distilled selection when the festival season approaches. I always try to take my audience on a journey through a variety of genres and soundscapes, with calmer and more energetic parts. My favorite state is when I have a huge selection of exciting tracks that I have a lot of confidence in (and still like to listen to). Then I can just be creative, vibe with the audience and allow myself not to overthink.

What is it about DJing, compared to producing your own music, that makes it interesting for you?

Making music but not seeing the impact it has on people would be less than half the fun for me. I couldn't imagine just being in the studio. I've never cried after a studio session out of cheerful emotions, but I've cried after a gig more than once - of course also because I've felt how the work in the studio pays off. To me it's all connected with one another.

Can you tell me a bit about how your work as a DJ has influenced your view of music, your way of listening to tracks and perhaps also, your work as a producer?

If a track is just right, I can immediately envision it on a dancefloor. When that happens in my head, I know it's a good track or I am on the right path in the studio. The closer the music is to the genres I'm playing, the more I analyse it. I used to listen to Techno sets while doing sports or cleaning. That's no longer possible because I would constantly interrupt what I’m doing if I heard something that caught my attention and then everything would take forever.

How important is it for you to have gigs to be able to test your own unreleased music?

I always test each track live until I am satisfied with the reaction of the crowd, the length of the individual parts and the overall arrangement of the track. This road testing process often takes several months. During Corona, I once handed in a track without having heard it once in front of an audience. That felt very strange.

Current Top five tracks in your sets?
Salvation - Liquid Soul YKSI - Bart Skils (out soon)
Shores of The Subconscious - Zen Mechanics,
Egorythmia 333 - Aji Mon Nair, Olegovich
And sorry, still can’t get over Slums from Dimi Mechero

If you are not DJing, producing or socializing at clubs, where do we find you? And doing what?
Therapy - processing everything.

If you could set up an event with a line-up of five artists of your choice, who would you book and what set times would you ascribe to the artists?

Weska 23-01
A.N.I. 01-04
Zen Mechanics 04-07
Ash Roy 07-10
Solomun b2b Magdalena 10-End

If there's someone out there who would pay for this, lemme know!

If you were not a DJ/Producer what do you think you’d be doing with your life? (Something not music related)

I would either be part of a team that distributes public money to small local journalistic projects in Berlin or take care of the fans and customers of a Bundesliga football club.

What’s something people do not know about you?

I really wanted to be a cashier as a child because I liked the beeping and the red lasers so much. Maybe my first fascination for electronic noises accompanied by a light show.

What TV series have you been enjoying recently and what are some of your all time favourites?

I’m a big sucker for (german) reality TV. I’m watching it all, it really is my happy place. Of course I also watch other stuff like BoJack Horseman and Grace & Frankie. Watching the problems of two old, rich women is surprisingly relaxing. I rewatched it about 5 times.

What can we look forward to from you across the rest of 2025? Any releases or gigs you are looking forward to?

You’ve already mentioned the Boom Festival, which is really a dream coming true for me. Also there are plenty of international gigs in places I haven't been to yet, which I always look forward to. Musically there are some more highlights in the making that I can't disclose just yet, so stay tuned!