Not many people know about this, but one of my favourite places in the world is the French Riviera. I’m not really a beach person — I never was — but the calm and eternal day-off atmosphere that I experience when I’m there always make me go back. The initial attraction came from growing up with movies set in the Cote d’Azur— specially To Catch a Thief and An Affair To Remember. I never saw it through the luxurious eyes, I always thought it would be a simple, down to earth place – apart from the majestic hotels in the shores of Cannes, Nice and Monte-Carlo. The very first time I went to France, I couldn’t wait to leave Paris and go south. I wasn’t too interested in the city of lights for some reason. I went to straight to Toulon, then to Marseille and to Nice. A couple of years later and I was there again. Then, more than a decade after my first visit, I proposed to my girlfriend rght between the French and Italian Riviera, returning from a day in Monaco.

I was in my early twenties and I got this shirt from some sort of Salvation Army store. I was with my friends Marina and Bettina and we got a few things. I’ve always loved random t-shirts but this one is special. It’s incredibly mysterious! It’s quite probably American but no there’s not any info [...]

A piano concerto? An oboe obbligato? Glockenspiel glissando? No it’s just the finest episode of early sixties classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon Top Cat, named The Violin Player. It’s an amazing one, beginning to end, with loads of references close to my heart, like record shopping (and pre-ordering), German wordplays and strange fictional names. Benny starts playing [...]

Underberg is a German bitter that supposedly helps you digest food better. I wouldn’t know really, as I have it as a drink. An aperitif, to be precise. My father used to have it. His father as well. My uncles, my cousins. Underberg is an institution in the von Runte family. Its excellent motto — semper idem [...]

There are three acts that shaped my beginnings at music production and behaviour towards the music industry. One of them is Renegade Soundwave. If you don’t know them, think of unique dub basslines, really cool deadpan style vocals and funky beats. Add really great sampling to that, and fantastic obscure yet nonchalant references and you’ll get an idea of how [...]

For years I’ve been saying that Good Neighbor Sam is my all-time favourite movie. I think this kind of assessment is usually silly and diminishes my love for cinema and I my personal history with it. But you know what? Good Neighbor Sam is my favourite movie. It has everything! It kickstarts with an amazing quirky theme [...]