Joining us at the Philips space during the Nexus Lounge, Miami edition, we spoke with Wolfgang Gartner about his unreleased album, recent singles, and favorite festival experience.
Initially known by his real name, Joseph Youngman, Wolfgang Gartner created his stage name to try out some new styles anonymously. He worked that way for the best part of a decade before revealing his identity in 2008.
Both during that time and since, his music has crossed a number of house subgenres, including progressive and electro house. He’s also been released on some of the world’s most famous and iconic labels, including Ministry of Sound UK, Ultra, Armada, and Spinnin’, just to name a few. That being said, in recent years, his productivity has slowed, at least in musical output.
After his last major project—the album Home Plate—was released in 2016, Gartner spent all of COVID working on another full-length album. Unfortunately, he says we’re not likely to see it soon as he feels the current music scene has already evolved past the project he was working on.
“What happens in this day and age is that when you take three years to make an album, by year three, it sounds like it’s ten years old because the pace at which sounds evolve now is exponentially faster than it was ten years ago.”
Nonetheless, he noted that some of the music from the album was ultimately released as two singles: a drum and bass track named “Automatic” and a collaboration with Scrufizzer named “Level Up.”
Throughout his career, Gartner has performed at many festivals, but when asked about his favorite, one stood out above the others.
Described by Gartner as a ‘hippy festival,’ Sasquatch—which takes place at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington—draws together musicians from all kinds of genres, including but certainly not limited to EDM and DJs.
“I always had the best gigs at those types of festivals and I’ve thought a lot about why. There’s a lot of possible reasons why. People are just more open minded there. They’re more fun and, for whatever reason, they seem to enjoy the music more… People are just very open and up for anything.”
Dig in deeper with Wolfgang Gartner, his inspirations, his favorite ice cream flavors, and his most embarrassing high school moment. Why not check out the full, exclusive Nexus Radio interview? You can also follow his social media on Instagram for all the latest about their upcoming releases/concerts.
