"Look, the people of Chemnitz are coming"

DJ Ron

When hip-hop culture was booming in Germany almost 20 years ago, Ron Schindler was "in the thick of it instead of just being there". The now 38-year-old is a multi-talent. He has been active as a national and later international DJ for almost twenty years and is a radio presenter at the Chemnitz station Radio T with his programme Uptowns Finest.Formerly: producer of the very successful Chemnitz hip-hop duo Tefla and Jaleel, managing director of a notable label, Phlatline Records, in East Germany and co-organiser in the early years of the then largest hip-hop festival in Europe, the Splash at the Rabenstein reservoir.

You've just come from Splash, which until 2006 was based in Chemnitz at the Rabenstein reservoir. The festival has since moved to Ferropolis near Gräfenhainichen. But the connection between Splash and Chemnitz is still in people's minds: Do people still talk to you about the Splash Festival at gigs outside Chemnitz?
Ron Schindler: Sure, people still talk to me about it. In the past, when I took on some tasks for the festival myself, the connection was naturally a bit closer. But it's nice to see how it has grown again and become more and more professional.

You were also instrumental in Chemnitz being talked about as the hip-hop capital at the time.
It turned out that all hip-hop people made a pilgrimage to Chemnitz once a year for the Splash weekend and people talked about it as a hip-hop stronghold.

In hindsight, would you say that the move to Ferropolis wasn't a bad solution?
Definitely. The site with its infrastructure is great and ideally suited for festivals. For all those who are sad that the festival has gone: with the Kosmonaut Festival, which is organised with a lot of love and commitment, something will follow. And it benefits from the experience of the Splash since 1999. The people, whether organisers or the city, know how to put on a festival and what needs to be considered. The Splash and the city first had to learn this in the early years.

In 1999 at the first OpenAir Splash (editor's note. The first one took place in 1998 at the Kraftwerk on Zwickauer Straße), looking ahead to 10,000 people and thinking back to the hard work, you spoke of a goosebump moment. Has this moment ever happened again in your career?
Yes, there was. With different things. With certain acts, for example. It happened to me last year. A Tribe Called Quest (editor's note: an American hip-hop group), one of my childhood heroes that I used to listen to up and down, played. When their music came through the speakers, I had goosebumps.

How many shows do you play a year?
About 100 a year. Of course, 95 per cent of the gigs are in Germany, but you also have a few gigs abroad from time to time: whether in Shanghai, Moscow or London.

Do your sets vary between Shanghai, Moscow, London and Chemnitz? Do you prepare yourself?
A gig is an interaction between the audience and me. Through certain songs I try to find out what people want to hear and which songs are the most popular or get people dancing. I try to read the audience and take them on a musical journey. I only really prepare myself in rare cases. It always depends on the club. Whether you're playing in a chic, trendy club or in a club that's not meant to be derogatory. There's more RnB in one and you can't win anything with it in the other. Instead, you play hard hip-hop tracks.

Which do you prefer?
I like the cool hip-hop club now. Where you have a knowledgeable audience who also know the new tracks. I don't just like to play old stuff, but also a lot of new stuff. And you realise when people are really into the music. Ten years ago, I would probably have favoured the fancy RnB club. We were often in Moscow. That had its own charm, as an outsider in the DJ booth, watching the oligarchs' sons and daughters. How the most expensive drinks are carried around the club. That was interesting.

A regular DJ at many clubs in Germany, at festivals in front of thousands of people and this year for the first time at Rock am Kopp, where he played the warm-up for the artist Denyo. "Despite the fact that I live in Chemnitz, it's my first Rock am Kopp and I'm excited to see how many people will turn up." DJ Ron knows all about the crowds he plays in front of. At the end of the 90s, he was on tour a lot as a producer and DJ with Tefla & Jaleel.

Is the taste in music similar in the different countries?
Thanks to the internet, people have the same chance to listen to what they want. Fifteen years ago it wasn't so blatant. I might have played in Russia and Slovenia at the end of the 90s. Then you realised that the music was a bit behind. But that's no longer the case.

In 2005, with the end of Tefla and Jaleel's careers, Ron also decided to shift his focus away from producing and concentrate entirely on his DJ work. A decision he still doesn't regret today. "I had to decide what I wanted to do for a living. It wasn't producing, it was DJing. I wanted to concentrate on that. Producing was more for the fame, when others incorporated the beats into their tracks."

It's noticeable that Chemnitz is a good place for DJ culture: DJ Shusta, DJ Maxxx, DJ Little T, DJ Tereza, DJ Jaleel and you, just to name a few.
Absolutely. I find that amazing too. I can only talk about the hip hop DJ scene in Germany, but Chemnitz is well represented there. Compared to other or much larger cities, there are a disproportionately large number of them who enjoy a certain national reputation.

Are there still venues in Chemnitz where DJs can play?
There still are, but there are fewer of them. At least as far as my taste in music is concerned. I miss the kind of "Cube Club" that used to be on the Straße der Nationen, next to the old post office building. And that's a great pity.

You are at home in Chemnitz, why, when you move all over Germany/Europe. You wanted to move away in 2007, not within Germany but abroad. What convinced you to stay here?
I made that statement shortly after my trip to Asia. Apart from Berlin, other cities in Germany have never appealed to me. The capital was always on the table: to move there or not. But in the end, you're just one of many. Here you have a regional connection. Our work, whether it was the Splash Festival, the work with Phlatline, Tefla and Jaleel, yourself as a DJ, was always associated with Chemnitz. That also created an identification with the city and in the hip hop scene it was always just: "Look, the Chemnitzers are coming" and everyone had a picture in mind and knew who was meant. That wouldn't work in Berlin: "Look, the Berliners are coming". And everyone wonders who. In the capital, you're one in a thousand.

In the Tefla & Jaleel videos, you showed a lot of local patriotism. Some videos, such as "Helden weinen nicht" (Heroes don't cry) or "Hör auf deine Stimme" (Listen to your voice), were shot in Chemnitz.
Hip hop is also about authenticity. And we made sure, especially at the end, that the videos were set in Chemnitz and that people we know appeared there. It was and still is the city of Tefla & Jaleel. Why should you look for another one unless it fits thematically?

Would what you've created here also work in another city?
I just don't know. There are a few factors that play a role. When I look at the friendships you've made, I almost don't think so.

Why did you move from Lichtenwalde to Chemnitz?
I always have a picture in front of my eyes. A class photo from 1993: everyone in the class was a metalhead and you were a hip-hopper. And then there's the class photo from 2003: everyone was a hip-hopper and only one was a metalhead. I went to school in 1993 (laughs). Somewhere you were an outsider. So I was drawn to the area where there was hip hop. I wanted to be a part of it and meet other people who had similar views and interests. So I cycled from Lichtenwalde to the AJZ Talschock for parties, jams and DJ workshops. I thought it was so cool that I went there regularly.

If you were to play a set about Chemnitz now. What would that be like?
You'd probably have to do it quietly so that nobody complains (laughs). That's stupidly my first association. Thinking about it more carefully, the set would probably be versatile and colourful, because the influences in Chemnitz are like that.

There's a song about the city on the first Tefla and Jaleel record "Interview". "Tefla & Jaleel feat. Youdon - "Chemnitz". "That was more of an anthem to Chemnitz," says Ron Schindler. Somehow fitting for his home town. "If I only lived here now and wasn't constantly travelling, then maybe I'd be drawn somewhere else after all. Because you ask yourself the question: Do you have all the opportunities you'd like here? Or do you not move to the supposedly more attractive city? Chemnitz is ideal for me. It has several facets: it can be a big city, but also a provincial town that gives you peace and quiet. You have everything here: girlfriend, family, friends and it's your home, where you know almost every corner."

What would you show friends from out of town in the city?
The classic is the Karl Marx head. And then I was always proud of Kaßberg, my neighbourhood at the time. I thought it was a great place to live because of its youthfulness and nice cafés. And it was easy to brag about the "largest contiguous art nouveau neighbourhood in Europe". I now live in Rottluff, but not much should have changed in Kaßberg.

Our standard question at the end: Do you have to encourage the people of Chemnitz?
Yes, I agree with that. Although I don't want to take myself out of the equation, I sometimes need courage too (laughs). I love my city. It's like a relationship where you know your partner's habits and you get worn down by small, marginal things that are completely unnecessary or not important at the time. For example, the youth culture, which in my view is not comparable to that of the past. But apparently the need for certain things is not there and therefore it probably doesn't need an offer. Chemnitz residents have an understatement mentality, which I personally find very likeable, but which doesn't always allow you to march to the front.