Westbam

Born in Münster in 1965, Maximilian Lenz began in the German punk scene before turning, in the early 1980s, to DJing and electronic music under the name WestBam, a stage name referencing Westfalia and Afrika Bambaataa. Based in Berlin from 1984, WestBam helped shape the emergence of German techno by developing an approach that links electro, hip‑hop, rave and club culture. With his long-time collaborator Klaus Jankuhn he released his first tracks in the mid-1980s and later founded the label Low Spirit, an important institution in the German rave scene. His albums The Cabinet (1989), Bam Bam Bam (1994), Do You Believe in the Westworld (2005), Götterstrasse (2013), The Risky Sets!!! (2019) and Famous Last Songs Vol. 1 (2021) mark a trajectory characterised by varied formats across techno, electro, spoken word and intersections with pop and rock. WestBam also played a central role in the history of major electronic gatherings in Germany with Mayday, launched in 1991, and with projects such as Members of Mayday and The Love Committee. Still active on club and festival stages, WestBam remains closely tied to Berlin’s history and to the evolution of European rave culture.