Make You Sweat

Very few house orientated labels have been fortunate enough to enjoy the relatively rapid success of Get Physical Music. The label was formed by European house heavyweights Booka Shade, M.A.N.D.Y. and DJ T in 2002 and less than three years later it was DJ Mag’s label of the year. In addition to the Berlin-based label’s steadily increasing popularity with clubbers and critics alike, it is currently one of the top selling labels across all categories on Beatport. They aren’t doing too badly on iTunes either, with Get Physical releases featuring regularly in the dance music charts. The label is mostly recognised for its distinctive electro-house and techno sound that has hesitantly branched out over the years. The Body Language mix series and Full Body Workout compilations have catapulted the label into the forefront of international electronic music and remain their most popular offerings to date.

The story behind the birth of Get Physical is one of several pioneering artists who understood that independence was the only way to achieve full control over their craft. Two of the labels’ founding acts, Booka Shade and M.A.N.D.Y., forged a close working relationship over the space of a decade and collaborated on various tracks for different labels. It was during one of these projects that Booka Shade’s Walter Merziger, Arno Kammermeier and Peter Hayo convinced production duo M.A.N.D.Y. it was time to create their own platform for releasing music instead of doing it for other people’s financial gain. They wanted full artistic control over what they produced and knew that this would only be possible if they ventured out on their own.

Thomas Koch a.k.a. DJ T was the remaining piece of the puzzle. Koch was invited to join the venture due to his relationship with M.A.N.D.Y.’s Patrick Bodmer and Philipp Jung. The pair had made several appearances at Monza, Koch’s clubbing Mecca in Frankfurt and found that they shared similar ideals in terms of the music they wanted to make and the cultural impact it should have.

Koch is the renaissance man of the Get Physical outfit. He opened Mecca with Patrick Dechent over a decade ago and it still remains one of Europe’s premiere clubbing institutions to this day. In addition to being a prolific nightclub owner, he was also a highly successful promoter, producer and journalist. Koch is the man responsible for starting Groove Magazine in 1989, a publication that is widely considered the definitive voice on German house and techno. With such a gifted entrepreneur on board, there was no way Get Physical could possibly fail.

Over the course of seven years, Get Physical has signed over 20 artists and released over 30 albums, not to mention a slew of mix CDs and EPs. The most successful track in the label’s brief history is M.A.N.D.Y. and Booka Shade’s hit Body Language. The collaborative work was named Ibiza Track of the Season in 2005 and has since been licensed to over a hundred compilations worldwide. There are very few electro-house artists that can boast of such an achievement.

Each of the label’s founders has enjoyed considerable commercial and critical success over the years. DJ T’s Boogie Playground (2005) was praised by critics as a masterclass in funk and house, whereas M.A.N.D.Y.’s second anniversary mix CD is widely considered to define house music in 2004.

However, it is Booka Shade that truly carries the torch for the label. The production trio’s seminal 2006 release, Movement, is still a frequent feature in house, electro and techno DJs sets and critics lavished praise upon the album like it was a self-conscious girl they were trying to date. Pitchfork described Movement as “state of the art grooves that are equally appealing on a crowded, sweaty dance floor and through the close intimacy of headphones.” Now if that isn’t sucking up, I don’t know what is. It is also a well known fact that Booka Shade is the ghost production team behind many of Get Physical’s most popular, and let’s face it, better releases.

Get Physical has been steadily branching out since it began in 2002 but despite its decision to move away from minimal and groove focused house, the label still retains all of its significance within club culture. Modeselektor’s recent Body Language Vol. 8 is a notable departure from M.A.N.D.Y.’s hugely successful mixes by the same name but it shows the label’s ongoing commitment to one ideal: Make the people move.