AXEL COON
- biography -

Nowadays Axel Coon continues his DJ and producer career. His DJ style, same as the style of most of his singles, is more into hard dance, hard trance or progressive trance, hardstyle and jumpstyle.

Marching forward – no regrets!

Like so many other people I had always dreamed about being able to turn my hobby into my job.

It all started with one of my brother's crazy ideas; one day he showed up in my room with two turntables and a sparkling in his eyes and proudly announced, "I am going to be a DJ!" Of course we had to overcome a number of obstacles when we started out. We sometimes had to attach coins to the spindle so that it would not bounce all over our cherished records during the mixing. Time and time again we found ourselves longing for Technics's legendary 12mk2 but unfortunately we didn’t have enough dough. So we made do with our rather modest equipment and practiced using a few hip hop records. Our first attempts weren't all that bad. Among the people we knew there were many who simply could not get enough of our stuff. We had to supply them with new sounds all the time – a request to which we loved to comply. We continued like that for quite some time until I set foot into the legendary Opera House Club one night. You need to know that I did not exactly dig techno music when I started out; but within an hour I was mesmerized by the cool beats, and I was practically infected with the techno virus.

It was then and there that I knew there was no going back for me.

We were very consistent, and banned our entire collection of hip hop records, replenishing our stock only with techno and trance music. I was fascinated by the magic of these very important early days. Mixing this new kind of music proved to be a big challenge for my brother and me at first. It wasn’t exactly easy to combine everything with one another and then to harness the beats so that you could smoothly put them on tape.

We were known as the "Resident DJs" and toured the clubs. Home was where we were: The Alice Dee Club in Bremen, the Palladium or Cave in Hamburg, to name but a few. We quickly made a name for ourselves and we were on the road almost every weekend. Like so many others at the time I used to read the different techno magazines. One day I read an ad for a synthesizer with the peculiar sounding name "Raven". This was a multi-task gadget for beginners the ad said. Not much later I had this very "Raven" in my apartment and started producing the first pieces.

We wanted to integrate our new work into our set in the Pleasure Dome, a well-known early club. Among the guests that night was also Jens Thele, who at the time was the manager of Scooter and A&R. He listened very carefully to my "act" and explained to us that this track had a chance to be included in the next Trance Nation sampler. He gave me his business card and asked me to produce a fatter version of the song. Quite the task for somebody who didn't even have his own recording studio and who still had to finish his civil service. But fate was smiling down at me, and in a hamburger joint I found some flyers of a recording studio.

To make a long story short: two weeks later I found myself in Jens Thele's office with my first fat piece. I was exhilarated when he told me that my track would really be added to Trance Nationa. Jens showed us around the Scooter studio and I met Rick J. Jordan from Scooter. Our conversation was highly interesting and after half an hour he asked me if I wanted to do an internship as a studio assistant for Scooter. What kind of question was that...? Are you kidding me...? YES!!! And that is how I became an intern for Europe's most successful techno band. Unbelievable...

It was a very exciting, intensive, and educating time for me. I was able to use a small studio where I managed to produce my first titles. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Rick, who was one of the very few from the techno community to readily supply me with knowledge about music production. The first year with Scooter simply flew by, and at one point I had a few pieces that H.P. (Scooter's lead singer) liked a lot. It was even going to be the first stanza of our first common production (How Much Is The Fish?). Then, on New Year's Eve '98, Rick was unable to participate in a concert in Bremen, Germany, and the guys had the crazy idea that I was to stand in for him. While I never really wanted to be on stage myself, I was very curious and agreed. Of course, at that point I had no idea what these guys had up their sleeves. Another four months later Ferris left the band and the rest of them quickly agreed that they needed a successor. I had no clue about all of this until that crucial moment one night at the Kontor, where Rick asked me...

Barely another month passed by, and I was an official band member, participating in the video shoot for How Much Is The Fish?. It was the first song with this new formation. The following album jumped from 0 to 4 in the charts. What can I say? Four more years with the band were to follow. We hung out 24/7, almost every day. Of course, during that time you learn a lot about yourself and the business. I had countless impressions and experiences, and there were about as many good ones as bad ones... just like it is in any other part of life.

When we were beginning to plan the 2002 tour, I again and again thought about leaving the band. On the one hand that was due to the differences we had with one another – a normal development after such a long and intensive time. On the other hand I was longing to try something new. When we had several arguments during our tour I finally made a decision. During the last days of our tour I became sick and had to spend a few days in a hospital in Munich. After I was released I went on vacation with my girlfriend. A change of scenery and the quietness were exactly what I needed, and I finally found the time to get my thoughts in order. It was during that vacation that I made the final decision. I left the band... and at the same time wondered what was going to be next for me.

I immediately tackled my work again and produced a new single with (Pulle) Pulsedriver. I have also started working as a DJ again. That has taught me how much I really missed that during the last few years. I am currently working on a few new projects with a number of producers, and that is a hell of a lot of fun. Among others, I am working with Ferris, my predecessor at Scooter. Seems as if developments are coming full circle. I'll see what the future holds. There is so much we want to do.

Like I said: "forward ever - backward never!"

FORMER MEMBERS
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biography

- go to the discography section -
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AXEL COON REPLACED FERRIS BUELLER IN 1998

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