Jiggler is a Berlin-bred producer whose brand of infectious house music is best described as powerful, emotional and groove-focused.
One half of former Bar 25 favourites Channel X, he's been shaking dancefloors since the spring of 2014 under his Jiggler pseudonym.
His rise to prominence as a solo live act has been largely aided by tracks 'Jiggle With It' and 'Deeper', which surfaced on Stil vor Talent's sub-label Light My Fire.
Jiggler will be in Australia later this year to perform as part of this year's third annual Elements Festival, to be held on the sprawling grounds of Landcruiser Park in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
For listeners not familiar with you and your work, how would you describe the type of house music you make?
I would describe my music as a groove-focused, 4/4 deep house that has a strong focus on emotions. I love taking elements from different genres to combine them in my own way. I like to take all the things I like the most about music and put them together.
How and when did you become interested in producing electronic music?
It's almost 20 years ago when my eye was caught by a live act in the Berlin club Tresor. It changed the way I thought of electronic music a lot, and it inspired me to start making my own music.
What's been keeping you busy so far this year?
After having some successful releases in the last couple of months, one in particular is my ‘Escape’ EP on Oliver Koletzki’s label Stil Vor Talent. It's been gaining some excellent traction in DJ sets worldwide.
I find it a challenge to keep myself on the level between working on music and enjoying life, but in the end it’s good keeping busy.
How are you feeling about coming to Australia for Elements Festival?
I'll be playing for the first time in Queensland, so I'm very excited about it.
Australian festivals can be very intense; the last time I played at a festival in Australia was with my other project called Channel X. We played on the main stage at Subsonic Music Festival in 2011. Australian dancefloors and crowds are really into dancing, having fun and listening to good music and celebrating everything that is positive in life, so I cannot wait to join in the ceremonies.
What do you have planned for your set at Elements Festival?
I never plan my sets; it's like playing a game of cards, you need to wait, see and feel the vibe of the event and connect with what people that are grooving on the dancefloor. Then when it's my time to perform, I will come in with a hand full of aces and lay them down with the plan to make the dancefloor go wild. I also love to be a bit nervous before I play; this really ensures that the feeling is right.
What is something about yourself Australian audiences should know before you get here?
I can imagine people thinking about me as a shy guy in the beginning, but after spending some time together and understanding my sense of humour and taste in music you will see that I’m a real ‘jiggler’. Lol!
Will this be your first time visiting Australia? If so, what are you looking forward to the most?
It's actually the third time visiting Australia and the second as Jiggler. Thanks to the Vision Hound agency and Elements Festival, I am honoured to be invited to play music at Elements Festival, and it will also coincide with other gigs in Australia. I will be performing in Victoria at the Chi Wow Wah Town gathering (early November) and also gigs in Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland.
This will be a extended tour over three weekends, so I really I hope to see a bit more of the beautiful nature and catch up with familiar faces that I meet on previous tours.
Why call yourself Jiggler? Is there a hidden meaning to the name?
It's actually a word creation coming from 'to jiggle'. There is no silence when things are getting jiggled.
The craziest thing that's ever happened during your live shows?
There are many crazy things that can happen, but one I still remember was at a gig in Hamburg a long while ago.
Everything went well. And suddenly, in the middle of my set I got an error [message] on one of the CD players. No button worked anymore. All it [usually] needs in those moments is to turn off and back on. But the [CD player] with the error was still playing the music from a [USB] stick which was connected to the other player.
I realised this can only be fixed when I stop the music completely, which is the worst option as well. I was lucky enough to play with a Pioneer mixer and thought, maybe I can overlay the silence with something like a reverb tail. So I faded everything out except a long, massive reverb.
I restarted the device, selected the next song and came back in slowly during fading the reverb out. The crowd screamed and they obviously thought it was a special mixing skill.
How do like to chill and relax when you're on tour?
I love to read a book when I'm on the way to a gig. It's a perfect way to calm down the mind and be fully prepared to rock the dancefloor. I'm also working on musical ideas for tracks during travelling; for these moments, I have my mini portable studio beside me.