JAKI presents Roman Flügel & Aroma Pitch

Es gilt die 2G++ Regelung: Vollständig immunisiert + tagesaktueller Test (auch für Geboosterte).

Described as a non-conformist by the press, and likened to-a chameleon by fellow musical peer and Running Back label owner Gerd Janson, Flügel's approach to music is hard to pin-down – a fact he takes great pleasure in. “I enjoy the surprise”, Flügel says about his DJing, “that’s why it’s difficult to describe what I do”. As a DJ rooted in the broad tradition of house and techno, his sets vary between location, crowd and time; change being his only constant. He is a DJ, live performer, producer, remixer and label owner. A chameleon with a broad pallete of colours, if you will.

Discussing the contemporary electronic music scene in Germany without mentioning Flügel's contribution would be near impossible. In 1993, alongside production cohort Jörn Wuttke (with whom Flügel collaborated with on many projects, having hit records as Alter Ego, Holy Garage and more), he established the labels Ongaku, Klang Elektronik as well as Playhouse, a now legendary imprint that released iconic records by Isolée, Ricardo Villalobos and LoSoul. It essentially set a new cultural marker for European house and techno.

As a DJ, Flügel is someone that honours the music. When playing, each record is given time to properly breathe, so its form and character can bleed onto the dancefloor, before giving a deep and progressive mix into the next record. There’s no gimmicks in his sets, just a great understanding of music and the time, patience and dexterity to blend the tracks into a smooth, free-flowing and inspired narrative. Flügel doesn’t just take you on journeys, he is the cartographer, mapping out the entire musical landscape, before sharing with you the broader world he inhabits.

Flügel's backstory and entrance into the world of electronic music culture has now become one of folklore. Having grown up in Darmstadt, just outside of Frankfurt, it was his brother who opened the musical gates, having bought him a DM/STREETSOUNDS’ Chicago Trax compilation for Christmas in ‘87. This was the catalyst that look the boy from Darmstadt into the world of vibrant, melodic, electronic sounds. Eventually he moved on to Frankfurt, enrolling in a Musicology course, and spending a lot of time engaging with the city’s nightlife community. He went from being the adoring fan at Sven Väth’s Omen Club as a teenager to a regular fixture at the likes of Berghain, Amnesia, fabric and Robert Johnson. It was for the latter that Flügel recorded one of the scene's better known mix CDs - Live at Robert Johnson Vol.5. In 2017, he also went on to contribute to the iconic fabric mix series. Abstract and tense but warm and inviting, fabric95 exemplifies the work of a true eclectic applying his learned musical history into action.