Deetron

Deetron is the performance name of Sam Geiser, a DJ and producer from Bern, Switzerland, born in 1978. He grows up with music through his father, who is a jazz musician, and first develops a strong interest in hip hop before moving into electronic music. His early influences include Gang Starr, A Tribe Called Quest, Prince Paul, Todd Terry, Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson.

DJ work and early development

He starts DJing hip hop in 1992 after buying two turntables and a mixer. The DJ culture around hip hop leads him towards electronic music, and he begins playing in clubs across Switzerland. He becomes a resident at Club Trax at Rohstofflager in Zürich, where he earns notice for three-deck mixing and for sets that combine techno, house and Detroit classics. He makes his first studio experiments with a sampler in 1994 and then builds his own studio.

Releases and collaborations

In 1997, after being introduced to Stefan Riesen of Phont Music, he releases his first record as Soul Mate on that label. In 1999 he travels to Japan to DJ and records the Double Exposure Vol. 1 EP with DJ Shufflemaster in Tokyo, again for Phont Music. In 2000 he releases the well-known Alien Entertainment EP on In-tec Records. That record gains support from DJs including Jay Denham, Claude Young, Jeff Mills and Laurent Garnier and attracts international attention.

In 2001 he releases Dolls for a Diva on Music Man, beginning a close relationship with the Belgian label. Further EPs follow on Rotation, Black Nation/Sector 616, Cosmic, Ongaku and Phont Music, including Vertigo EP, Dancing Manual EP, Lorraine EP and Cut Back EP. He also records under the name Karakter for Steve Bicknell’s Cosmic label. As a remixer, he works for Samuel L. Session, Ben Sims, Damon Wild, Steve Bicknell, K-Alexy Shelby, Orlando Voorn, Paul Mac, Gary Martin, Vince Watson and Mark Broom.

International profile

His DJ sets take him to clubs and tours in the Netherlands, Belgium, England, Germany and Austria, as well as Australia, Singapore, Japan, China, the Czech Republic, Poland, Macedonia, Spain, Croatia, France and other countries. He also travels to Australia for a promotional DJ tour in 2001. In 2002 Music Man releases his debut mix compilation, which helps expand his international booking schedule. He also works with Samuel L. Session on a release for SLS.

Style

Deetron’s work sits across techno, house, tech house, deep house and Detroit-influenced electronic music, with a background rooted in hip hop DJing and club mixing.