Reboot | 005 Podcast

Coloursound

Germany’s Frank Heinrich aka Reboot is known to lay down tracks that are so visceral they’re positively orgasmic. His approach to performance and production is based around what he calls ‘complex polyrhythmic architecture’ – not forgetting a musical heritage that spans house, techno, world music and jazz. With proven releases on such labels as Below, Cadenza and Cocoon, an explosive live show and a DJ career that’s more versatile than many imagine, Reboot has earned every inch of his reputation as a speaker-freaker. In fact, he now spearheads what others are calling the new sound of Frankfurt, alongside friends like Chris Tietjen, Robert Dietz and Markus Fix. Aachen-born Frank moved to the Frankfurt-Offenbach area when he was just six years old. Here, he received a classical music education and picked up a range of instruments. These ranged from the melodica and accordion to organs and keyboards. However, a lifelong love affair with electronic music commenced and flourished after he first made contact through radio. Aged 13, he began DJing and by 14 he was producing his own tracks using kit that he’d bought with pocket money. Officially, he was too young to go clubbing but that didn’t stop him. After all, it was the early-90s and the techno radiating from this region was more than the talk of the town. Later, a friend smuggled him into Sven Väth’s seminal Omen club and boom – his electronic ambition was cemented. He also, as they say, ‘forgot to go home’… In 1992 Frank and Marco Delle Donne formed Delle & Heinrich: a longstanding production and performance partnership that was never about going pro but more about having fun. Together they explored the scene and had a couple of releases (on Combi Int. and i220) before finally parting in 2006. During this period Frank also continued to work solo, experimenting with warmer sounds outside the increasingly tough techno of the clubs. To this end, he would also play in lounges and bars, mixing all kinds of music, whether he was simply DJing or jamming live, fusing his knowledge into a compelling show that went way beyond a laptop/midi controller. Naturally, such intrinsic ‘world’ flavours as African and Latin rhythms continue to infuse his sound to this day. Seemingly hard-wired for success from the get-go, Frank’s Reboot moniker came to life in 2005. This was the perfect platform for his DJing, evolving live shows and productions that he wrote, engineered – the whole shebang – using traditional analogue machines as well as a laptop. In 2007, the hypnotic, melodic ‘Charlotte’, his first production as Reboot, was released by his friends at Below. It shone a light on his skills and saw his profile soar like never before. He then realised another ambition when he made his debut on Cadenza with ‘Be Tougher’, a much darker offspring that Luciano adopted on his Fabric 41 mix. Another massive hit for Reboot was the mind-warp of ‘Vandong’, which blew up as part of his Sidekick EP. All the time, Frank carried on pushing the possibilities of DJing and live performance as Reboot. And thus his barrage of booty-shaking beats spread rapidly around the globe, from Robert-Johnson and Cocoon Club in Germany, to Womb in Japan, D-Edge in Brazil and Fabric in the UK. Using mostly his own material, he also locked a groove on Cocoon’s 2008 Disco Invaders mix compilation, alongside compadres Johnny D and Chris Tietjen. Frank continues his sensory assault into 2009 with an abundance of productions and live/DJ sets. He has furthermore joined Luciano’s dynamic Æther project, which is like a Cadenza live electronic band, complete with visuals. So enjoy the ride, because the Reboot recipe for a good time is (and always has been) about melding the cerebral with the visceral to detonate our gut reactions to dance, to connect and to get in-sync.