Hunee is an incredible DJ with a proper attitude to life and music, open, expansive and switched on. Very welcome conversation fodder for TP, a catch up was in order and runs below.

Hey, how are you? What has your 2025 been like so far?

Hello, I am good! Writing these answers in the plane from Brussels back to Berlin. (After receiving your third reminder for the interview - sorry!) I just played my third gig after a 5 month break, which I spent welcoming my second child. It’s been great to spend a lot of time with my family, leaving me re-charged for an extended stretch of gigs over the Summer. From a creative standpoint, it helps to step away from the non-stop touring routine from time to time. It re-calibrates my musical sensitivity and lets me return to the decks with a sharpened focus.

I think you just relocated to Amsterdam? What prompted the move? How does it contrast with Berlin?

I actually relocated back to Berlin (for the 4th time) in early 2024. I’ve spent the last 10 years moving cities/countries every few years, because of my restless and nomadic nature. It feels good to be back, I somehow made my peace with this city. I still find that Berlin has an inclusive quality that I can relax into and just be. In Kreuzberg, where I live, everyone is technically a minority, so there is no normative dominance from any demographic - it’s very “live and let live“. So I live and let live.

It’s been a minute since Hunch Music, any plans for a follow up? What are you working on at the moment? How do you balance the production and DJ lives?

I have informally retired from music production after the release of my album “Hunch Music“ 10 years ago. For a while I thought I was just taking a break from production to focus on djing, but the production never really came back. So not much balance to find between producing and djing.

What’s happening with ‘Lifetones’ at the moment?

Not much, tbh. It’s one of the things I keep wanting to get back to, but just don’t find the time. Lifetones came to life during the pandemic, and it was a very personal way for me to connect with music and musiclovers during this isolated time. In my mind different ideas keep attaching themselves to the name, but we’ll see in what shape and form it all materializes.

On the DJing side, 'Hunchin All Night' is strong as ever and seems to give you the opportunity to really stretch out. To the uninitiated, how would describe those nights, and do you think they’ve evolved over the years?

These all nighters let me connect with dancers in the most intimate, honest and explorative ways. I love the kinds of people that come out to these nights - diverse, sensitive and energetically aligned! I am a „journey DJ“ by nature, so I embrace these longer time frames where the music can breath and the magic of the small hours can unfold. I have always been into so many different kinds of music and the references are ever present: DJhistory, deephousepage, Japanese and American record stores, falling in love on the dancefloor, losing your keys (and yourself) in the club, from heartfelt Soul and Boogie to JazzDance and Detroit Techno, from Disco to Afro to Zouklove to Acid, from Chicago to New York, from The Loft to the Box, from Baia degli Angeli to Soju Bar, from Dekmantel to Panorama Bar, from stretches of locked-in Electronics to percussion work-outs and Italian folk songs, sparse and dense, airy and romantic, trippy and deep, uplifting and heads down down down, darkness and light, always. I also love all the different parts of the night: the warm and friendly beginning where strangers come into the room and bit by bit become one dance floor. And who knows, at the end of the night they might come out as lovers and friends. Such is the night.

How are you discovering new music these days? What was the last tune you heard that made you stop in your tracks?

A lot of my music discovery is through friend’s recommendations, Bandcamping, Youtube channeling and trusted record store mail-outs. When I was still living in Amsterdam, a weekly Rush Hour store visit was how I kept up with new releases. But now, being back in Berlin with toddler and baby, a lot of music research has moved online. Plus I have accumulated such an immense amount of music in physical and digital form that I do more and more „in-house“ digging. There were trips to Japan or the US where I would bring home an extra suitcase full of records - some of those are still sitting around somewhere un-touched… Last tune? This upcoming Joe Claussell remix of 'Save Your Soul' from Arp Frique & The Perpetual Singers!

I read that since becoming a dad you’ve made the decision to take regular breaks from playing. I guess that also means you’re more selective in where you play, what does a gig need to offer for you to say yes?

For the longest time, there was no free weekend on my calendar. I love what I do and being music obsessed means I found it impossible to say no to a gig offer (hello burn-out!). The forced break of the pandemic has actually completely reset my relationship with touring. I have found taking breaks really essential to being able to do the whole „dj life“ in a sustainable way. I actually discuss that a lot with my agent. I am grateful to be able to work with really capable people at my agency, and we apply a holistic approach towards the kind of gigs I play over the course of the year. I have set up certain rules for myself.

For example, not leaving Europe more than once a year (since these tours usually require 2 weekends and I don’t want to be away from my family for too long), which often ends up meaning: I go to Japan once a year. So I stick to Europe for my djing, and here, I have a lot of returning / annual gigs at a variety of clubs and festivals that are set for each year. I always prioritize relationships and loyalty, cause there is beauty in growing together with clubs and promoters and people over many years.

Anything else on the agenda for 2025 we should know about? Despite a lot of talk around the changes in club culture, I have a feeling we can still slow down on the dancefloor and trust our ears to find truth in the music. We shall be surprised.

Hunee is playing at Wild Wood on the Main Stage with Luke Una's E-Soul Cultura Takeover this June