Roman Flügel on Happiness is Happening

A man of many monikers, Roman Flügel seems increasingly content in one guise as he prepares to release a second album through Hamburg’s Dial label

Feature by Ronan Martin | 05 Aug 2014

“I just try, not to be different, but to open the next door and take a look at other things I haven’t focused on before.”

In discussing the transition from his last album to this year’s follow-up, Happiness is Happening, Roman Flügel could just as easily be describing his entire journey in electronic music. Over the past two decades, the Frankfurt-based producer has waltzed confidently through many a musical doorway, during a career primarily defined by his ability to continually evolve and remain varied in his output. His extensive back catalogue, comprising releases from a plethora of production monikers and collaborations, has seen Flügel dabble in early 90s acid (Warp 69), deep and sensuous house music (Roman IV/Soylent Green), upfront techno (Tracks on Delivery) and just about every other electronic variant you care to think of.

Of course, many will have first encountered the prolific German through his two massive hits of 2004. His tech house screecher Geht’s Noch? was played to death that year, and for many a year after – as was Rocker, the rasping dancefloor-wrecker he released as Alter Ego in partnership with long-time collaborator Jörn Elling Wuttke. As enjoyable as these triumphs were for Flügel, they were “also a kind of a burden sometimes,” he admits. “I mean success, or a big tune, is great. I would never complain about it. But, on the other hand, people are waiting on the same thing to happen all over again, which I can totally understand, but I’ve never worked like that.

“Sometimes it’s a lot easier to have different monikers – you put out certain styles with different monikers. Some people will buy this project, but they don’t buy another because they don’t like it. But nowadays I try to focus on [releasing] everything I do under my own name. I say ‘that’s it. That’s part of me; part of my work’ and I try to present it that way. It’s a question of artistic freedom, finally. I try to keep that, somehow.”

True enough, in recent years Flügel has carved out more of a solid identity, though his output is still pleasingly varied, if a little more narrowly focused than in his formative days. The dawn of the millennium saw him strike up what has now become a particularly fruitful relationship with Hamburg-based label Dial, founded, amongst others, by Carsten Jost and Peter Kersten (aka Lawrence). Having released an early remix for the label, Flügel put out his first EP for the outlet in 2010, the sombre but beautiful How to Spread Lies – a record that typifies the kind of depth and emotion Dial has in abundance. Often described as postminimal in style, the outfit has always managed to steer a steady and distinct course, avoiding the voguish carbon copy formulas which destroyed the antecedent minimal movement.

“I was looking for a new platform,” says Flügel of his decision to commit more material to the label. “Since I’ve known the Dial guys for a long time, and I really like what they do, it was easy for me to ask them to continue the work. I also like that they are taking care of the sleeves, the artwork and all of that. It’s quite a classic way to run a label, I think – it’s all about vinyl and [presenting] a nice product at the end. It’s not only about putting out some files on Beatport.”

The relationship with Dial was firmly enshrined in 2011 when Flügel released Fatty Folders – his first album under his own name – garnering much critical support. Reviewers noted his ability to both work to the label’s established style but also to subvert it and broaden the scope where necessary, bringing some elements of his trademark robust sound to an outlet very much known for subtlety and introspection.

There is a similar range in intensity in Happiness is Happening, set for release on Dial next month. Flügel again displays his ability to produce lush, atmospheric compositions – signalling his intent with hazy opening track Connecting the Ghost and providing similar moments of serenity with the likes of Occult Levitation and All That Matters. Yet, as befits a producer with such a wide-ranging pedigree, there are also flashes of unrestrained panache as in Friendship Song (which Gerd Janson rightly identifies as an almost Depeche Mode-style machine pop instrumental). Then there’s the punchy old-school vibe of Parade, in which ascending bleeps plot a course through swirling synths and melodic phrases that recall the crispest electro of Afrika Bambaataa.

The ease with which Flügel shifts perspective on the album displays a long-standing fascination with electronic music of all kinds. “Even as a child, listening to early Kraftwerk tracks on the radio, I was totally interested from the first experience,” he explains. “So I got into this kind of music – I got into a little bit of disco here and there in the early 80s, even though I was not able to go to discos because I was too young. Then there was new wave and things like the Belgian EBM stuff and I really enjoyed that – all these electronic sounds. This, combined with the more funky stuff I was playing as a drummer, shaped my style of work.”

Having learned classical piano from an early age, Flügel values patience and the importance of a trained ear in approaching his work. “It was quite important to learn how to be focused on something; to stay with something and to work on things because it usually takes quite some time to learn classical music. For me it was good training for everything I would do afterwards. It’s not about harmonies or anything, or the ability to play super-perfect solos when it comes to electronic music, but when you learn an instrument, you learn how to listen and I think that’s very important and always helpful.”

Flügel is as much a product of his surroundings as of his musical background, though, and he emphasises the impact of growing up around the electronic scene in his native Frankfurt – which he is quick to point out was at the cutting edge some time before Berlin became the “magnet” it is today. He has long been associated with the famous Robert Johnson club in his hometown and favours the spirit of experimentation and freedom that is afforded to performers there. “I think we have a vital scene in almost every bigger city in Germany,” he adds, pointing to the Smallville label and Dial in Hamburg as well as Kompakt in Cologne as evidence of Germany’s rich heritage.

His optimism about the contemporary electronic scene extends beyond geographical boundaries. When asked how he views the artistic playing field he finds himself on, over twenty years after he started out, Flügel’s enthusiasm is clear. “There are lots of young people working on things that are new and unique,” he affirms. “There are certain styles and trends I would never have thought of. When you think of footwork or something – it’s suddenly there and you think ‘that’s actually quite interesting’; I would never have thought of a style like this.”

Yet, he is rightly wary of the often fleeting hype that is cast upon so many emerging forms of music – “some of them are there for a couple of months and then they are off again; no one is interested in them anymore.” It is perhaps for this reason that Flügel’s own output in recent years has mostly retained a remarkably personal feel and seems largely untroubled by passing trends. As with his current label, Dial, Flügel seems happy making his own sense of a multitude of electronic influences and, on the evidence of both Fatty Folders and this year’s follow-up, his approach often yields outstanding results. “I’m trying to slow down; just take a step back and not try to jump on certain trends, but do my own stuff,” he concludes.

“If I look 20 years back to when techno and house started, I would never have thought of something being so global and so strong for such a long time. It’s great for me to still be into the game and to be able to produce and release music. I’m really happy about that.”

Roman Flügel’s Happiness is Happening will be released on 1 Sep via Dial http://www.soundcloud.com/roman-fluegel