Is it Ame wonder?

Every year, a few records define electronic music’s zeitgeist. In 2005, M.A.N.D.Y vs Booka Shade’s ‘Body Language’ united the underground and the mainstream and enjoyed the dubious honour of being named ‘Ibiza’s best track’ at a questionable awards ceremony. However, standing next to this shimmering paean to breathless continental techno/house innovation was another Germanic wunder – ‘Rej’ by Ame.

The work of two unassuming DJ/producers, Kristian Beyer and Frank Wiedemann, like ‘Body Language’, the devil lay not in the detail but in its simplicity: a basic, understated backing track provided the blank canvas for the most haunting arpeggio melody since Isolee’s 1999 classic, ‘Beau Mot Plage’ (more about that later).
Like the Get Physical release, ‘Rej’ – named after a greeting in karate and pronounced ‘Ray’, not ‘Reg’ as most people have it – shifted 20,000 copies on vinyl and introduced Ame to house music’s global stage, something that came as a surprise to Beyer and Wiedemann.
“When we recorded it, we thought that it could be a big underground hit but that’s about it,” Kristian says.
“We never dreamed that house, trance and techno DJs would play it, this would have been a crazy notion. We’re big fans of US house, but our music never got recognised in the States, until we released ‘Rej’. It got played five times at the Shelter in New York one night, so they were making up for all the other stuff we released that they didn’t play,” he laughs.
Unfortunately, just as soon as Ame were beginning to enjoy the success, people started to remark on the similarities between ‘Rej’ and ‘Beau Mot Plage’. Kristian is quick to deny that Ame borrowed too generously from the Isolee track.
“It’s funny that you mention Isolee, because there’s a funny story about ‘Rej’,” he explains. “We knew Rajko Mueller, the guy behind Isolee, for years: he used to live with a very good friend of mine in Frankfurt. I’ve been a fan of his work, even since his first releases, so he was always a big inspiration for us.
“Myself and Frank were working on a track for a few weeks and thought it was shit, but then we recognised this little arpeggio melody in the background, and we focused on this element and the track evolved from there,” Kristian recalls.
“‘Beau Mot Plage’ was more out there and we wanted to make something with a dance floor appeal. We didn’t aim to copy Isolee, but to make an homage to his work, and he liked ‘Rej’. There’s nothing new in music these days, all the harmonies and melodies have already been used. I’m sure if you look back 20 years you could find other songs or tracks that inspired some of the other big dance releases.”
Given their underground house credentials, do Ame feel like they have sold out by releasing on Defected – or are they tempted to cash in on their success and rush out another big tune?
“To be honest, I’m not scared of the mainstream, but I don’t think we’ll ever intentionally make a big tune because we don’t want to rely on music making to survive,” Kristian believes.
“Frank is a graphic designer and I make most of my money from DJing and my record store. Who knows, maybe we’ll do something under a different name – after all, everyone has their price!”
One thing that Beyer and Wiedemann certainly won’t do anytime soon is move from their base in Karlsruhe, in Germany’s deep south, to Berlin and start making minimal techno, like every other producer.
While ‘Rej’ consists of a few simple components and, like the Get Physical output, has been misleadingly given the ‘m’ tag, Kristian is quick to distance Ame’s work from clicky ‘drug music’.
“Go to a minimal night and if you’re there for more than one hour without taking any drugs or drinking, you’ll be bored to death,” he says.