Maas appeal

Germany's Timo Maas — an internationally in-demand DJ and one-half of an acclaimed production team — has been no stranger to the phone since the biggest German press agency, as well as dance news sites such as Sonicnet, announced that Maas was among those tapped to remix the new Madonna single "Don't Tell Me," a mix Maas and Martin Buttrich, his constant production partner, finished three weeks ago in anticipation of the work-disrupting fervor.
All this media attention would explain why, on the phone from Germany, Maas occasionally needs to talk to someone on his end. While respected in the German dance scene, before the announcement of the Madonna remix Maas says his life at home was relatively quiet compared to the clamor he's made in Britain. But in the past few weeks Maas has done at least 25 interviews for major German media, so it's no wonder he's a little harried. Or, in his words, "I'm nearly freaking out, but it's OK. It's a part of the job."
Maas is no stranger to the job. He DJed his first gig at the age of 13 for a friend's birthday party in 1982. A child of the '80s, Maas proudly proclaims, he grew up, "in his teeny time," with Kraftwerk, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, M.A.R.R.S.; everything from early industrial to songs on the pop charts are among Maas' influences.
"It's surely harder now [to be a DJ] because when I started DJing the DJ was still the entertainer. You entertained the people and your profession was to keep them on the dancefloor and entertain them and get them to drink as much as possible. I tried to build up a special vibe but the time wasn't right. But since the '90s, I'm spinning [only] all kinds of techno."
Well, techno in the broad sense of electronically-produced music. A Timo Maas production can range from trance to breaks to tech-house, or, in some cases, all three or more at once. Maas theorizes that one of the reasons a Timo Maas production is so successful is because he and Buttrich "give a shit for style, so we mix different styles into something new that no one can name. And I think I do a similar thing as a DJ as well — lots of records from different styles together as one thing and it works. The tracks we're doing as Timo Maas — we've got a couple other monikers as well — but the ones for Timo Maas we always try to produce them for the floors and the clubs. I'm in a very, very lucky position that I work with one of the possible best producers in the world, so the sound of a Timo Maas production is absolutely amazing; it's much louder than any other record; there's always a fantastic drive, so I'm a fan of my own shit as well."
At this point, Maas (the DJ) is in the fortunate position of having earliest access to the latest hot tracks, those made by Timo Maas (the producer). But that doesn't stop every other DJ in the world from playing Maas/Buttrich tracks as well. From Dave Ralph to Deep Dish, every mix-CD recently released has either a Timo Mass track or remix. Well respected American trance DJ Christopher Lawrence declared it Timo's year in the most recent issue of URB. Dave Ralph — Maas' labelmate at Kinetic and a DJ at this year's Berlin Love Parade (documented on Ralph's recent mix-commerative CD, which includes Maas' remix of Green Velvet's "Flash") — had this to say about Maas' appeal: "Timo rocks. Simple."
It can also be said simply that Maas' self-coined "percussive wet funk" is the sound currently rocking dance floors. And nowhere is the sound better captured than on Maas' own 2-CD set, Music for the Maases, a mixed compilation of only Maas-produced or Maas-remixed tracks.
Music for the Maases opens with the Timo Maas remix of Azzido Da Bass' "Dooms Night," originally a "cheesy German trance song," Maas says, released almost a year-and-a-half ago. However, the Maas remix — with it's relentless 4/4 beat, immensely wide, yawning bass and sizzling whooping-cough synth sounding like a rotating speaker in your head — has even inspired esteemed British dance music critic Simon Reynolds to declare the popular single the crossover anthem of the year and a sure-fire enduring classic.
Following "Dooms Night," Music for the Maases features a remix of "Sunburn" by the British band Muse, which Maas and Buttrich have tweaked into a Big Beat monster with distorted vocals and a bassline that threatens to take over the entire track until it's held in check by sirens. Next, "Better Make Room" by Mad Dog (Maas under another name) offers yet another style — intricately programmed drum 'n' bass, but demure enough to attract fans just becoming comfortable with 2-step garage (a slower, more house-oriented breakbeat genre).
This is the kind of range Maas manages to produce in the studio and demonstrate in his DJ sets, blending genres to make a sound he correctly calls "funky, groovy, a bit tribalistic and ass shaking, very, very ass shaking." It's also very, very much in demand right now, even on American shores where Maas' sounds — which he and Buttrich have been producing for five years — have only recently started washing up.
"I just follow the things people want from me on the American market," says Maas. "The people asked for my records, which is why we did the Music for the Maases compilation."
What America, and Madonna, wants from Maas right now is that tight Timo sound. And that sound, like the way his DJ and production careers meet-- Maas' ability to try a track out on audiences then go back and tweak it — has come full circle.
"I'm a kind of Madonna fan impressed with her work since her first single and now it comes all together that I have a hand on some of her production, or remixes. It's fantastic."
Timo Maas spins at the Riviera, Wed., Dec. 6. Tickets are $15 for the 18-and-up event. For more information call 770-455-1091 or 404-607-7277.