[Sous Music]

“One of the things I’ve learnt from my career is never to play your own new track on your own radio show,” Anja Schneider says. After two decades immersed in party and club culture — from raver to globe trotting DJ, producer, promoter and label boss — when she talks techno, beats and other pieces, people listen. Not least given she’s also one of Germany’s most experienced and respected electronic music broadcasters.

Before all that, though, there was one night in Tresor around 1993. A time long before DJs became rock stars, when dancers trusted venues absolutely, Schneider can’t tell us who was playing — “that wasn’t really important” — but the ear-to-ear-smile she wears when recounting the experience says everything about how much it meant to her. A young girl from a small town outside Cologne was soon relocating to Berlin with the sole intention of diving headfirst into a rapidly developing techno scene.

A time when the city living its “poor but sexy” best life, connections were quickly made and friendships formed through late night adventures across an urban landscape littered with empty spaces and opportunities. Meanwhile, early dance radio shows were pivotal in shaping tastes, from random programmes on stations for the British armed forces stationed in Germany after reunification, to cornerstones of the local electronic music community on then-pirate Kiss FM, like Paul Van Dyk and Ellen Allien. Schneider cites both as influential, and by 1994 she’d joined their ranks and begun producing special features.

It’s here she created Love Radio, eventually taking the programme to Radio Berlin Brandenburg’s (RBB) Radio Fritz, having already made the jump from broadcast to events, from early editions as part of the Love Parade to the 50-artists-play-50-hours format it became known for. By which time Schneider had been promoted to Program Manager at the station, in recognition of her insightful journalism and talent as a tastemaker at the forefront of what was happening in the city at the time. A role that would be cemented at the turn of the millennium with the launch of the seminal show Dance Under The Blue Moon, which continued through to 2017.

“There had been many electronic music radio before that, but I ran this for almost 20 years and it became very important to Berlin’s underground. This was before the internet, before there were so many tourists, so we had the same number of clubs but half as many people to fill them. Dance Under The Blue Moon was relied on to get people into venues, let them know what was going on that weekend,” Schneider recalls. “Every Saturday I had a guest. At the time, I wasn’t as aware of how useful and big this was, but I still have people telling me they grew up with and were guided by the show.”

As on-air momentum grew in tandem with the popularity of more minimal, heads-down forms of techno and house Schneider was becoming known for pushing, which would go on to be dominant sounds later that decade. She was also taking her first foray into club DJing, her first step a “disastrous” debut played inside a tunnel at Potsdamer Platz. Immediately following headliner Paul Kalkbrenner, frustration spurred on determination to improve and hone her craft at a time when females were often asked to prove themselves far more technically than their male counterparts. Gaining recognition as an artist and selector, after so long as a journalist and broadcaster, was also another challenge she was intent on overcoming.

Suffice to say, Schneider quickly rose through the ranks and DJ booths, first in her adopted hometown and then internationally, while productions began through celebrated institution PIAS, home to her inaugural release Tonite, followed by Creaky Thoughts. Soon, her name was synonymous with another project, too. Established in 2005 with close friend Ralf Kollmann, Mobilee reflected the emergence of a deep and drummy tech form steeped in musicality, which would increasingly come to define many of Berlin’s most renowned dance floors as the noughties rolled on.

In 2017, the desire for a more hands-on approach to A&R and label management led Schneider to leave the imprint she co-founded, by which time its catalogue was filled with celebrated work, often platforming music makers before they went on to become household names. For example, Solomun, Pan-Pot, and Maya Jane Coles, to name but three. Schneider’s own contributions also helped establish its go-to status, not least the landmark 2008 LP Beyond The Valley: 10 tracks that reflected the moods and atmospheres she had turned heads for creating through regular sets at Watergate, Berlin, annual rooftop parties at Sonar Barcelona, and a now-legendary closing party following the 2006 Love Parade — the last edition of the street party in the city it was born in.

Partly named after her grandmother, and as an acronym for “so us,” Schneider next turned her attention to Sous Music. Initially a place for her own studio output, it has since blossomed into a home for talent from across the world, reflecting the globalised nature of dance music and our increased ability to collaborate remotely. Beginning with her second LP, 2017’s So Me, the expertly curated nature of the label — run more like a passion project than business per se — has made it a hugely respected outlet, and one Schneider retains full creative control over, putting her back in the selector’s chair.

Radio work has also changed. Jumping to another RBB station, Radio Eins, 2021 saw the beginning of her Club Room series, which would eventually move to Apple Music, where she continues to self-publish episodes now numbering well into the hundreds. Not forgetting a stint at Beats Radio, where she curated, produced and hosted the daily peak time Berlin Beats show, broadcast across Germany. And it’s around this point in the story Schneider also launched her Backstage podcast, inviting industry veterans to talk about issues facing the scene, its professionals and participants alike. A precursor to 2024’s serialised documentary, The Story / Love Parade, made for 90s90s radio.

Of course, all this is now history. And the rest — from remixes and releases on and for the likes of Shall Not Fade, Booka Shade, Knee Deep In Sound, Nicole Moudaber, Timo Maas and Yotto, to regular shifts in some of the most recognisable DJ booths on the Earth. That could be Glasgow’s Sub Club or Frankfurt’s Robert Johnson, Rex in Paris or fabric in London, Ultra Miami or Welcome to the Future, Columbia to California, Indonesia to Ibiza and back to Berlin again, where her PuMp events reflect a continued commitment to both the city and its intimate underground. An evening-to-night rave which began in spring 2024 inside the small but perfectly realised OHM, scaled down and stripped-back little sibling of Tresor, where Schneider’s journey began, it’s just one example of her ongoing dedication to pushing new sounds, fresh talent, and different concepts, applying all she’s learnt from so many years in the thick of things.