What’s On previews the latest Plus Minus Sessions at Level 41, Media One Hotel, Dubai Media City featuring German DJ Stimming from Solomun’s Diynamic.

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It’s almost a decade since a young German producer named Stimming hooked up with his local Hamburg label, Diynamic. That label, of course, was and is run by Solomun, who nowadays is a big room, Pacha-headlining house star that introduces newbie dance fans to more cultured underground house. Back in 2006, though, when they first hooked up, Diynamic itself was a staunchly underground label that emerged with its own genuinely unique sound. 

Often referred to as fairground house, it was music that was couched in tech-house but came riddled with trilling melody, stuffed with colour and really made people feel good as well as dance all night long. Frankly, it was the first ray of light after the dark, abstract years of minimal and everyone was grateful for its arrival.

“It’s true that Diynamic became something pretty impressive,” Stimming beams of the label’s growth. “But we worked hard for that and it naturally developed into this. It’s not all big hype with no solid foundations.”

The third part of this now globally recognised brotherhood is fellow Hamburg DJ and producer, H.O.S.H., and together these three have evolved and grown to become international stars who host their own Diynamic parties all around the world – from Miami’s Winter Music Conference to the Amsterdam Dance Event. This past summer all three also headlined the popular Diynamic Outdoor events in Ibiza, and have set sail and DJed aboard various ships all summer long. In these years the three have grown ever closer andoften tour together, and yet still there remains some key differences between them.

Stimming, first name Martin, has always demonstrated a sophisticated yet accessible sound that’s way beyond his years and as such, is rather regarded as the production godfather of the Diynamic stable. There is little he can’t do with sound and that has been evidenced by his diverse and devilishly detailed discography. His breakthrough hit came in 2008 with Una Pena, a swirling, spiritual tech-house number that is riddled with synthetic and synthesised sounds that really jump out of the speakers. The track’s clean, glistening percussion, expertly buried vocal chants and richness of texture sure did stand it apart, and from there he has never looked back.

Just a year later came the man’s debut LP, Reflections, which again showcased his ability to lay down sophisticated yet accessible sounds that managed to make your hips swing at the same time as firing every synapse in your brain. Liquorice, the follow-up full length in 2011, was a wholly different affair inspired by the break up of a relationship and produced whilst the man slept on his studio floor. It was experimental, littered with field recordings and was almost anally retentive in its precision engineering.

“In the end it’s all about interesting music,” says Stimming of using field recordings. “Real sounds are more interesting, or they sound interesting much more easily than strictly digital, computer generated sounds. I would say it was my laziness in programming that brought me to working in this way, and with Liquorice I kind of sneaked around the normal bassdrum/clap or snare combination. I only tried to express the feelings I had during this time, without thinking of what will happen with it or who’s gonna buy it.”

That said, he was mindful of the fact the LP challenged listeners, and that’s reflected in the title. “I called it Liquorice because I simply love real liquorice sweets, and I’ve realised that it’s something someone loves or hates. There’s not much middle ground, and like the album, there are probably 50 per cent who like it and the others don’t.”

More recently, as well as releasing another full length last year, Stimming has been pushing himself again: he’s been designing sounds for a brand new 4D sound system for a special Amsterdam Dance Event show. “Music is a universal language, and the 4D sound system has a strong sense of expression,” he said before the show. “In general, I want to make people feel – hopefully good feelings, positive, constructive ones, even if the sounds are sad on the surface. How the audience transforms sound internally is different for everyone though, but maybe not too different.”

Expect to feel plenty good when Stimming plays live in Dubai for the first time ever this coming weekend.

October 23
Plus Minus Sessions, Level 41, Media One Hotel, Dubai Media City, Dubai; 9pm to 3am; Dhs120 Metro: Nakheel. facebook.com/blitzproductionsuae

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