Tiefschwarz

Under the name Tiefschwarz, brothers Alexander “Ali” and Sebastian “Basti” Schwarz have developed, since the mid-1990s, a career rooted between Stuttgart—where the duo formed in 1996—and Berlin, where they later settled. Emerging from the German club scene, they expanded their DJ activity into production from 1997, initially on the Continuemusics label and then with the track “Music” for Wave Music in 1999, before releasing their debut album RAL9005 in 2001 on Four Music, later reissued by Classic Recordings. Tiefschwarz refined an aesthetic combining deep house, vocal house and electro-tinged elements—an orientation made more pronounced on Eat Books (2005)—while also developing a more minimal and tech-house side across a series of maxi-singles released notably on International DeeJay Gigolo Records. Highly active as remixers, Ali and Basti Schwarz have reworked tracks by Madonna, Missy Elliott and Depeche Mode as well as artists from the European house and electro scenes, and they founded their own imprint, Souvenir Recordings, which issued the compilation 10 Years Of Blackmusik in 2007. Their contribution to the Fabric mix series in 2006 and regular tours across Europe, the United States and Australia established Tiefschwarz on the club circuit, where their sound swings between deep house, rougher electronic textures and dancefloor-oriented atmospheres.