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A DIY spirit, in-the-moment energy and a low boredom threshold – all have been crucial to Digitalism’s practice since they built their first track in a studio inside a WWII bunker in Hamburg, 19 years ago. That cut was an edit of “Seven Nation Army”, made because the White Stripes’ original, chosen for its raw energy, just didn’t work in their DJ sets. When the duo released it later as a limited edition, it sold out instantly. Ever since, Jens Moelle and Ismail Tüfekçi have been demonstrating their knack for capturing the temper of our times.
From 2005’s thrillingly dirty, “Idealistic” EP, where giant, super-compressed synth riffs first countered Moelle’s plaintive vocals, and Idealism, the duo’s dramatic debut album of two years later, which put their name up in electro-house lights, to 2023’s tribute to their roots with the “Back To Haus” EP, Digitalism have always kept moving. The two first met in Hamburg record store Underground Solution, a house and techno specialist, when Tüfekçi was 19, Moelle 17.
As a counter-cultural hub frequented by international DJs, which provided the occasional chance to step behind the counter and play records and boasted a big couch, it was a perfect place to hang out. They connected after discovering they were both fans of what Moelle describes as “music that no one else knew” and as such, had taped the same Friday-night dance-chart show off a local radio station. Encouraged by the shop’s owner, they started DJing together, then moved on to making edits so they could play tunes that other DJs didn’t have. That DIY energy has driven them ever since.