DJ DSL

DJ DSL is a hip-hop DJ from Vienna, Austria currently residing in Hamburg, Germany. In recent years his main focus shifted to producing numerous remixes for various artists rather than releasing his own music. DJ DSL's take on hip hop might as well be one of the few profound and lasting Europe ever had. On account of this he should have been a global player ever since, but he is an essentialist by choice and heart. while the herd changed taste and direction every friday night, DJ DSL over the years remained a reliable bullshit-detector. Nothing is more misleading than the full version of his nom du guerre, DSL, originally Stefan Biedermann, had picked some 15 years ago in typical old school tongue-in-cheek fashion: D. for DJ (that makes two in the end), S. for Super and L. for "Leiwand", a viennese slang-term for something beyond excellence. In fact, he is a man of straightforward understatement, full of dry wit and humor, who easily will give you a damn good expertise on why it´s better to hang out in your favourite coffeehouse, rather than pursueing a popstar-lifestyle. Accordingly his vita can't be filed under "career". After starting in the mid-eigthies with lonesome turntable hometraining, winning local dmc-dj-competitions and a short stint with his brother's trashdisco chartrocket 'Edelweiss', he joined 'The Moreaus' a freaky outfit of hopeless idealists alongside Peter Kruder, Dub Club's Sugar B and Uptight's Rodney Hunter. After recording an album Austria definitely wasn't ready for, the bubble went bang and DJ DSL back to his old coffeehouse routines. He had to be pushed and pulled back on the scene. An era of legendary DJ-sessions supported by the mc-ing of Sugar B under the monicker 'Swound Sound System' followed. A truely impressive tribute to the low-key-great-fun-hardly-making-any-money side of things. When DJ DSL was voted "Best DJ" by influential german mag Spex in 1995, he again quit the business. He never liked that much attention. Hadn't the beat-addict come back this fine album wouldn't be around. DJ DSL even managed to transfer his unique mix-style into production. As an avid member of the "Mark the 45 King" school of break-buddhism, he gives seriality and repetition in hip hop a new meaning. Tunes, that have house-track lenghth, loops that rotate like gyros, breaks, that break themselves. Rich musicality never overruling the idea of hip hop: a deep fertilization of the groove. In Austria, a fabric called 'Loden' is made by the peasants of the alps since the middle age, yet it´s a high tech product. Wool cloth is fulled, mangled and compressed tediously by hand to achieve a felt-like fibre structure in order to be light and breathable as well as warm and waterproof. Ready to be worn under rain and snow, in winter and summer. Just like DJ DSL's garments; durable for life. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.