Techno DJs all over the world are reportedly learning to speak German before learning to beatmatch in an attempt to further their career.
According to sources, non German speaking techno DJs now face a huge language barrier in the pursuit of their desired career as it is now widely considered impossible to succeed in the industry without relocating to Berlin.
Berlin based duo Tale Of Us claim they “never would have made it as DJs” had they not of invested hundreds of hours learning to speak German as children.
“It was probably the most important thing I’ve done in my career to date,” claimed Tale of Us member Matteo Milleri, originally born in New York. “I moved to Milan when I was a kid and the first thing I did was enroll in German classes.”
“That German class was actually where we met,” added fellow member Karm. “We both moved to Milan at around the same time, I was actually born in Toronto, and we were both learning German before we could even speak Italian, that’s just the way it is in the techno game, you really have to start young.”
“We didn’t even get decks for about ten years after we started to learn German,” continued Karm. “I got one for my fifteenth birthday, Mateo did the same, then, that Christmas, we asked our parents if they’d pool together and buy us a mixer between us and the rest is history or, as they say in Germany, ‘Geschichte und der Rest ist’.”
Sources in Berlin have confirmed that people who arrive to play gigs without an acceptable level of German will be refused entry to the respective club, pointed and laughed at, called “Guetta, Guetta bed wetta” and ridiculed in the street.
Per Berger, artist liaison for Berlin’s Watergate nightclub also spoke to Wunderground, “It’s simple, if you want to be a techno DJ you need to play in Berlin and you don’t get to play a gig in Berlin if you don’t speak German, it’s a major nine nine, almost as bad as showing up without a black t-shirt on.”
