Name: Michael Reinboth
Nationality: German
Occupation: Label founder at Compost, magazine founder and party organiser at Elaste, DJ, co-producer at Beanfield
Current release: Michael Reinboth is currently in the process of preparing a major book about the history of Elaste. While that project is projected for early 2024, you can, in the meantime, have a look at the new  Elaste Magazine Instagram site where Michael and his creative parner Thomas Elsner “post a lot of photos from back in the Elaste days.” Also, check Thomas's Insta site for more photos.



Tell me a bit about what Munich was like for you when growing up, please, and how the city and its clubs and artists shaped your taste.

Well, Munich, in comparison with Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, and Hamburg, is slightly more soulful and definitely more balearic. People say Munich’s flair is tending more to a Vienna, Zurich vibe, and less towards any other major German city.

Giorgio Moroder's disco imperium was founded in Munich. My college friend, producer, studio engineer Jan Krause of Beanfield owns the original first drum machine prototype of the Linn drum which Roger Linn developed for Moroder himself. We used exactly this prototype drum machine for some early Beanfield tracks.



A few other Munich based labels like Disko B, Permanent Vacation, Gomma, Toy Tonics, DJ Hell (Gigolo) and others were influenced by this machine disco sound. Soul, Disco, and Rare Groove were always a backbone in Munich.



[Read our DJ Hell interview]

In the early 80s the clubs Tanzlokal Größenwahn, P1, Why Not and Klappe were the hotspots with a colorful mixture of new wave, punks, gays, rastas, poppers, disco-cats, new romantics, Neue Deutsche Wellle in one club - no boundaries – freestyle. Freddy Mercury was living in Munich for a few years.

Also – to underpin the balearic sound – Munich was and still is the Northernmost city of Cosmic, the musical trend invented in the north of Italy, just 4 hours by car from Munich. The cosmic scene referred to Munich as the Weißwurstgrenze – a border defined by the famous white Bavarian veal sausage.



Also underground techno was huge here with amazing acid house raves starting at the end of the 80s. The Ultraschall club was one of the pioneering club in Germany. In the 90s it was about future jazz and soulful house … A lot of techno DJs grown up in Munich like DJ Hell, Monika Kruse, Woody, Rok (later co-founder of Hardwax in Berlin). It is worth mentioning that Kraut bands like Embryo are from Munich as well and this kind of music was big here, too.



I love Munich, because it is more open, relaxed and sunshiny than Berlin (techno rules), Cologne (techno), Frankfurt (techno), Hamburg (hip hop). Admittedly, Munich also has a bit of a posh image and it is an expensive city. But to be honest, you’ll find snobs, wankers, or poppers in Amsterdam, The Hague, London, Frankfurt, everywhere.

I disregard them, but if I get in contact I follow the wordly wisdom: don't judge a book by its cover.

Munich Interview Image by Marco Verch // https://www.flickr.com/photos/160866001@N07/48210379542 // https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/