Fiedel, longtime resident Berghain DJ, to release new mix on Ostgut Ton

Picturing the early beginnings of a veteran DJ conjures
the classic image of turntables and crates full of vinyl. But
Michael Fiedler – better known as Fiedel, Berghain’s longtime
resident DJ – began on tapes.  


“I come from eastern Germany, and there was hardly vinyl
available, no turntables…I started recording tapes on the radio,
and then I played tapes with two tape decks… I had long, long
lists with a counter.”


Over the course of Fiedel’s influential, decades-long career,
much has changed in Berlin’s dance scene. Techno has risen to
international prominence, tapes and vinyl have been largely
replaced by digital media, and Berghain has gained a more
mainstream audience. Nonetheless, Fiedel insists some things
haven’t changed: “When you go to South Korea, to France, or
wherever, it’s nice to see that the young people half my age have
the same spirit that there was in the clubs in Berlin back then…a
kind of open-mindedness, and the urge to dance.”

Produced by Marlene Melchior