It is no secret that I am good friends with Hade, one of Cologne’s most promising producer/DJ dudes. But almost nobody knows that over the last months he’s put out two well-received dance bangers as Theo Walbeck – yet. Here’s the full Walbeck story.
It all started late in 2016 when Mad Mats from Stockholm’s Local Talk label presented a new sublabel for simple but highly effective club tools on one-sided heavy vinyl 12”es. The first release: “Freek Tool” by new name Theo Walbeck – a no-holds-barred affair of big 909 drums and a vocal sample that was altogether … well, simple but highly effective!
In its promo stage, the record garnered lots of praise from the likes of Laurent Garnier who wrote “Excellent track … raw as hell! Will play a lot! Thanks a million times!” And then Disclosure played it at their last NYE party in New York City to a room full of raised hands. Rumor has it the “Freek Tool” even became one of their favorite tunes of 2016.
By now this first Tune record is pretty much sold out everywhere – and the second one is already available and in hot demand as well: “Someone 2Night” follows in the same vein of pumping drums and a familiar vocal sample given a new spin for sheer peak-time dominance. Again, the initial promo feedback from some big names was overwhelming: Jimpster wrote “Top-notch jacking biz and a worthy follow up to Freek Tool”, Roy Davis Jr. raved “Banger! Full support!” and Axel Boman stated “Super fresh!”. And it is!
Since I do hang around with Hade quite a bit, I could finally talk him into spilling the beans on the whole affair – which was no easy feat, as he is way too modest to brag about anything he does. But here we are, Walbeck on Walbeck in three questions and answers:
Why the pseudonym?
Local Talk wanted an alias, since the Tune sublabel was intended for one-sided peak time tools. There will be more pseudonyms for records by other well-known producers on the label in the future.
Why Theo Walbeck, what’s in the name?
The first name is my father’s actual first name. He is a musician as well and had a big role in my musical evolution, right from playing me Deep Purple and Genesis records in my youth. And Walbeck is Germany’s asparagus capital, right next to the Dutch border – it’s where I grew up!
After these two 12es for Tune, what’s next for Theo Walbeck – and for Hade?
I haven’t decided yet. Maybe I’ll keep the Walbeck moniker for tools in the future, since I do not only want to make my mark as a house producer. As for Hade, which has been my nickname and producer name for ages now: I am working on my first solo album and some collaborations with friends such as Hodini or my long-time production partner DWFL.
So the future looks bright for this extraordinary producer and DJ (and I’m not only saying this because he’s the godfather of my son) – with the Walbeck tunes and releases such as the much acclaimed Hade Edits on Razor’n’Tape and his contribution to the latest EP by Hodini now available, 2017 already looks like it’s gonna be a good year for this man!
Just don’t call him the Walbeck – he’s been here for years!