Jichael Mackson - Munich Ping Pong

The mysterious Münchner Jichael Mackson aka Boris Steffen gives Pulse an insight into his attitudes towards life, the private joke behind his name, and where blow job's come into his releases. 

You hail from the land of Munich, the cities motto is ‘München mag Dich’ (Munich likes you) - what do you like most about Munich? Munich is a city with a really good life quality. Maybe it´s a bit too expensive here, but really nice.

What is the motto you live your life by, and why? Live your life as best as possible and enjoy every day as it could be your last one .Sure it´s not always possible, but it´s a good purpose...

Why did you decide to call yourself Jichael Mackson (ping of kop)? Hmmm.. I think this must have happened accidentally or come out as a result of one of those random nights where you run with a joke for longer than you thought it would last. I get asked this question really often to be honest all I can say is don’t take someone’s name too seriously. It´s just music and entertainment.

If you had to showcase your work to someone who had never heard it before, what three tracks/remixes would you pick to best explain yourself? It definitely depends on the person I have to show, like if it´s somebody who loves hip-hop, it becomes a pretty hard task anyway. If it’s someone who’s basically into house and techno, from the released stuff I would select the three Tracks from last record ‘Bob´s Your Uncle’; Gedoens, GTI and Venga lo que Venga, they show a good spectrum of my work.

You've had releases out on Stock 5, Ilian Tape, Musique Risquee, Pastamusik and Liebe Detail Ltd, what labels were most inspirational to you when you began your musical education? I think the labels that influenced me in a positive way were ones like Playhouse, Soma, Basic Channel, Kompakt and lots of others. But regardless of which labels inspired me before, I’d like to think that my idea of music if different. I don’t have any particular labels in mind when I make a record, I just produce it and see what happens.

You're playing at Get Down Good at Basing House in London this weekend, what key ingredients do you need for a good night out? It’s pretty simple to be honest; good people, a place with a good atmosphere , a good sound system is helpful and a couple of drinks don’t do any harm.

How badly do you think Germany's music scene will be affected if the GEMA laws are allowed to be passed?  A good question. First I have to say, that I really hope, that everything stays like it is and the plans of the GEMA will failure, I think that would be the best for everybody, collectively. The new law will probably not have any positive effects on me personally, to any of my colleagues or to anybody else in the electronic music scene. I mean there’s a chance that they will push their ideas through and that nobody will get on the streets to demonstrate to avoid this shit happening. If the changes are made and some clubs are forced to shut it could be that techno or the electronic scene goes back to where it came from, to small, illegal underground clubs. Another option could be that someone starts a new association to control music. Competition is always good for the market. The thing is, without an intimate knowledge of exactly what they’re planning, I can´t really say anything more on the issue. I think that’s what’s worrying people at the moment, a lack of clear information.

Some of your releases have eye catching titles like 'The Blowjob' and 'Fluff In The Bellybutton' and 'A Snake In Da System', how far do the titles reflect the tracks would you say? Not at all! I think the tracks should be what you focus on, I guess it makes a project more eye-catching to give an interesting name.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Healthy, surrounded by good friends and family and still having fun with music. 

Jichael Mackson plays this Friday 3rd of August alongside Sei-A at Get Down Good at Basing House. 

Listen to Jichael Mackson on Pulse Radio.