Welcome To Hell

DJ Hell, known to his friends as Helmut Geier, has been involved with music in some shape or form for the last twenty years. Originally influenced by punk, rap and electro, the Munich DJ s first job was as warm up for punk bands that played in the Bavarian capital. When house music came to Europe, Hell was seduced by the repetitive rhythms of Trax and DJ International, and started spinning house music. When he released his first single, the David Byrne/Brian Eno sampling My Definition Of House Music in 1992, his reputation mushroomed, from local DJ to international house artist.

Subsequently, Hell formed the Disko B label, releasing his hard edged debut album, Geteert & Gefedert in 1994. In the mid nineties, and perhaps anticipating the current fascination with electro, Hell set up a second label, International Deejay Gigolos, which has been responsible for tongue in cheek future-retro releases by Kitten & Hacker, Foremost Poets and was also responsible for Zombie Nation s chart conquering Kernkraft 400 .
In 1998, Hell released his second artist album, Munich Machine, a work that assimilated disco, electro old skool house and rap influences from Hell s past, working them into a contemporary context, helped in no small part by his cover versions of Barry Manilow s Copacabana and The Normal s Warm Leatherette .
The legacy of disco, electro and even hi-nrg from Hell s past are also evident on his new mix CD, Fuse Presents Hell. Released in association with Fuse, the Belgian club where he enjoys a residency, the mix weaves early seminal dance music from Donna Summer, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Sparks and classic house, techno and electro from the likes Carl Craig, Speedy J, Maurizio, Todd Terry, Phuture and Foremost Poets into one sleaze ridden pulsating groove.
Staggering in its range of music and truly adventurous in its programming, Fuse is a benchmark mix, up there with Coldcut s Journey By DJs. However, as the smooth talking Hell explains, it s par for the course.
It s not like a new way for me, it s how I always sound when I play in a club, when I produce, when I make albums, he explains. I ve been involved in music for twenty years, so the mix is what I normally play. Sometimes when you play to a bigger crowd of say five thousand people, there s a different kind of atmosphere so you have change things around, but it s important not to always play the same records. A lot of DJs go out and have their two-hour sets figured out beforehand and they can t change what they play. I m not that kind of DJ, I m more versatile. I think if I played this kind of straight set all the time I d get bored. I want to go to a club and not know what to expect. The music needs to surprise and excite me and take me in all directions. It s like making love to a woman, it s not always the same position and rhythm, and that s what I m doing with this compilation. Talk to the ladies, they ll give you the same answer!
So, despite his age Hell is in his late thirties, he retains a passion absent amongst most DJs/producers. When I put it to him that he ll have to hang up his headphones at some stage, Hell talks about Body & Soul resident Francois Kervorkian there are not a lot of DJs like him , who, at the ripe old age of forty eight is still dropping a magical blend of house, soul, disco and funk. If anything, Hell argues, age and experience makes for a more accomplished and rounded DJ, someone who can add their mature touch to a crate of vinyl.
I d like to do another twenty years, Hell says. This music is still so new, it s the first time that DJs have been in the spotlight so there should be no limitations with your age. Why should I stop? I think I ll always be a DJ.
Of course Hell s status as one of Europe s most popular DJs wouldn t have been possible without dedication and an unflinching work rate. It s for the same reason that he chose Fuse in Brussels, nearly two thousand kilometers driving distance from Munich as his residency they have a very high standard of music, and they know exactly how to put on a great night, or why hardly a week passes without one of his labels releasing a record. After years of failing to make any kind of impact in the UK and Ireland, Hell struck gold this summer with Zombie Nation s Kernkraft 400 , an underground techno track that was picked up on by more mainstream trance DJs, ensuring it achieved the number one spot. However, Hell is keen to under play the importance of Kernkraft 400 , insisting that its main benefit was to help the other artists on the Gigolos label.
The Zombie Nation record was an accident, we didn t know it was going to blow up like that, he agrees adding that it helps Gigolos enormously to get more exposure. It means we can do videos and promotion for the other artists on the label, and develop and push the newcomers. In true punk spirit, this allows Hell and his music, artists and label achieve their ultimate goal, independence. We want to be in a position where we can handle everything ourselves, he continues. I m doing this 100% independent. I work every day from a small office to make this happen. We have no big players behind us. At the moment, we re re-releasing material by Tuxedomoon, Miss Kittin & Hacker have got an album on the way, Fischerspooner have also got an album coming out and we ve loads more singles on the way too. There s a lot going on.

Fuse Presents Hell is out now on Music Man.