A Bug's Life

In a hundred years’ time, when the history of electronic music is a recognised third-level degree course, Steve Bug will feature prominently in the German module. Bug, real name Stefan Bruegesch, takes his DJ moniker from the Volkswagen Beetle, but there’s nothing sluggish about his work.

A major influence on German minimalists like Basic Channel and Maurizio, Bug currently divides his time between producing his own pared down, sexy tunes and running the Poker Flat label which embraces electro, ghetto tech and new school versions of Chicago and acid house.
Indeed, as many of its peers falter, the imprint is currently going from strength to strength: Poker Flat has reached the fifty mark with the re-release of ‘Loverboy’, Bug’s first record for the label, and he is also about to put out a new mix, Bugnology.
Ranging in styles from the offbeat rhythms of Patrick Chardronnel and Justin Maxwell’s tracks to Matthias Tanzmann’s bleepy acid house, Bugnology effortlessly reveals a new variation on the techno-house sound at every turn. Mixed using Ableton Live, the technology has enabled Bug to take the best bits from each track and use them fleetingly throughout the mix.
“The idea was to do an arrangement where I could take the best parts from each track and get a good flow going,” Steve explains. “I use Final Scratch when I play out, but the mix is 100% representative of what I play in a club.”
For Bug, becoming a DJ was an unlikely move: a dedicated clubber in the late 80s and early 90s, he says that he enjoyed clubland’s hedonism. Then, after a season of partying in Ibiza in 1991, he decided to make radical changes to his lifestyle.
“I thought that I should change something in my life, and decided to do something and to take it seriously. I was always passionate about music, so a year later, I started DJing.”
It’s a doctrine that Bug still adheres to: eschewing the coke-snorting, groupie-shagging stereotype, he has been chemical-free for over ten years and, unlike other big names like Hawtin or Villalobos, wouldn’t be seen at one of the after parties that the European minimal scene thrives on.
“I like to have other interests outside music,” he says. “I like playing sports and I go running. Some people call me boring because I’m not into going to after parties all the time, but I partied my ass off for about five years before I started DJing and eventually, I got bored with it. I need to have fresh air and sunlight and experience another side to my life.”
Steve adds that he enjoys living a simple existence and doesn’t crave gadgets, luxury items or a flash car.
“I’m not materialistic, I don’t have or want a lot of possessions,” he explains. “I live in a flat surrounded by thousands of records. Sometimes, it seems like I’m being superficial, but that’s just to deal with day to day living: once I’m on my own, I think a lot and I’m quite a deep person.”
Unsurprisingly, this way of life has impacted greatly on Bug’s own work: he is loath to use the term minimal, but still cites records like Rob Hood’s ‘Minimal Nation’ and early Chicago house as playing a pivotal role in influencing his work.
“People call house music minimal nowadays, but modern tracks have a lot more going on in them than older tracks,” he believes. ““When I started off, I didn’t have a lot of equipment, so the tracks were basic but even now, although I have a big studio, I make sparse music. It has a lot to do with the way I live my life.
Given the recent slump in sales of dance music, there are many people who would disagree with Bug’s assertion that DJ sets are in the ascendant over rock gigs, but it seems that Poker Flat is in a healthier position than most dance imprints, selling up to 10,000 copies per release. Bug attributes the label’s success down a strict A&R policy, as well as a return a grass roots approach.
“People are doing it for the love of the music again, and that attitude is working for many styles. The minimal community is connected to other communities around the world making electro, acid or Chicago-influenced house. There’s no hype about electronic music, the clubs have got smaller and the crowds are a real mixture of posers, druggies and train spotters. Things are exciting again.”

Bugnology is out now on Poker Flat