Fabian Winkels aka Fabe is a name that is well known to many and not just in his hometown of Mannheim. Alongside a clutch of artists and their associated labels, they have consistently reinvented their sound to propel themselves into the lineups of the best parties around. Fabe has certainly emerged as one of the finest exponents of this renowned musical city. To date, Fabe has already carved out an impressive story that has taken him far and wide. This has resulted in him being part of the Cocoon setup, launching his own buy-on-sight imprint in Salty Nuts, and delivering show stopping performances around the world. With his exciting new live setup currently being rolled out we catch up with Fabian to find out the full story of his career to date and what is in his future.
As always we find Fabian in an upbeat mood and fresh from his hugely successful party at this year’s OFF Week where he debuted his brand spanking new dawless live set. Not wishing to miss a thing from his story Fabian explains how he got his start in music, “In the early 2000s, I was a hip-hop kid. My friends and I were already producing rap music back then, and MC’ing was my passion for years—I took it as seriously as I take beat-making today. But hip-hop was always about competition and battles, which made life pretty stressful. Then I attended my first rave and instantly felt a completely different energy. The vibe was crazy friendly compared to the rap scene in Mannheim. I fell in love with that atmosphere. Initially, it wasn’t even the music that hooked me; it was the sense of community. The music appreciation came naturally over time.”
With Fabe and his cohorts having impressively storied careers, conversation soon turned to BE9, the artist / label collective that he was an integral part of. With so many moving parts to this machine the story of where this platform is now is just as interesting, “The BE9 era was definitely the most intense and formative period of my life. It allowed many of us to grow both as individuals and as artists. We discovered our identities by crossing boundaries and doing things differently. Being part of a collective of over 20 people was inspiring but also challenging. Over time, some of us pursued different paths—family, job opportunities—while a few continued with music or art. Ben Balance and Dominik now run an art gallery and record label in Berlin. Benni travels the world with Sven Väth and is head of booking at Cocoon. I’m also based in Berlin now, still doing what I did in Mannheim but in a more focused way. I remain on good terms with all the old BE9 members and cherish our time together. It was an unforgettable chapter, but life moves on.”
Being attuned to producing using hardware from an early point in his life, Fabian’s moment with electronic music came from perhaps not the most obvious of sources but would lead to being a formative point in his career. Fabian explains where he caught the producer bug from, “I started with Ableton after seeing Paul Kalkbrenner use it in “Berlin Calling.” My good friend Diego Krause introduced me to making beats with Ableton, which I’ll never forget. With Diego, I took my first steps in house music production while I was in Berlin for a year doing community service, a requirement in Germany at the time. However, my interest in hardware began much earlier. In 2000, we were producing hip-hop using an MPC 2000 XL and an Akai DPS16 track recorder. Since then, my passion for hardware has grown, and now I test and learn new instruments almost weekly, especially hardware samplers.”
Fabian goes on to explain how his use of hardware in production has evolved since that initial stage, “I’ve always been interested in playing my own music in my DJ sets and have been exploring ways to perform without a DAW for years. I prefer a compact setup, even in the studio, and limit myself to boost creativity. The KO-ll sampler by Teenage Engineering, combined with their field system, changed everything for me. It allowed me to set up a compact, DAW-less system in any club within minutes. Despite its limitations, like only 64 MB of audio data and limited polyphony, it has a unique character that I love. Creating a live set with the same energy as a DJ set is challenging but rewarding, as it pushes me to craft something unique.”
There has been much talk in certain circles regarding playing “truly live”, whether this is using a laptop to sync various pieces of kit or to play stems of tracks, the conversation is wide and varied. Fabian is not so much a purist, but the concept of using only gear to reproduce his tracks live is more appealing, “I don’t believe it has to be DAW-less for everyone, but for me, touching buttons and tweaking knobs is more satisfying than staring at a screen. I’m even considering stopping computer use altogether and just recording my jams to a multitrack recorder like the Teenage Engineering TP-7.” By his own admission, Fabe uses hardware but reduces this as much as required, “Even with today’s advanced DAW capabilities, I still think in basic terms. It’s about creating the perfect loop or groove, maybe a 4-8 bar loop, and then building the track by tweaking envelopes, muting, and bringing back drums. I prefer minimal layers in my tracks and create excitement through subtle FX progression. I leave room for the track to tell its story differently depending on the moment, the sound system, and the venue. Music that works in various situations appeals to me more than tracks tailored for one specific moment.”
If you have been following Fabe’s journey with his live setup you will know that this was all building up to his Salty Nuts showcase at Les Enfants Brillants during OFF Week. As well as inviting Cristi Cons, Laurne Lo Sung, Alec Falconer, and Neke, Fabe would be introducing his live set to the world. Where better to do this than Barcelona during one of the most exciting times in the world clubbing calendar, ”My first live set at Les Enfants in Barcelona was one of the most special moments of my career. It felt unreal to finally showcase what I had been working on in the studio for months. Hearing those sequences on a fat sound system for the first time, having never recorded them to my computer, was incredible. Both the audience and I were experiencing the music for the first time. I plan to keep my live sets exclusive, creating new material and replacing tracks once they’re released. The first performance was a huge success, and I’m grateful for everyone who came to support me. Their excitement fuels my drive to take my live performances to the next level.”
Staying on the topic of his setup and knowing full well his appetite for pushing himself as an artist Fabian explains his development plans, “I’m considering adding the new Digitakt II by Elektron as a fourth deck. Currently, I use three KO-lls with nine projects each and mix them like a DJ set using the TX-6 mixer. The OP-1 Field handles manually triggered FX and vocal layers. I love Elektron sequencers’ workflow, and with the Digitakt now being stereo, it could be a great addition for longer samples. But for now, gaining more routine and familiarity with live performances is my focus, keeping things compact and efficient.”
With an arsenal full of fresh ideas, Fabe is also giving his supportive producer fans the chance to look under the hood of his productions by way of his own sample pack “Bouncy Nuts”. He has taken a different approach to the standard route of many sample packs, so as well as crisp one shots and loops, he explains why his pack differs from the rest, “ “Bouncy Nuts” is designed to offer kits of sounds that are perfectly balanced to create dynamic mixes easily. Unlike many sample packs where sounds are normalized, leading to flat dynamics, “Bouncy Nuts” emphasizes the importance of varying volume velocities and envelope settings. I want to help producers achieve the smoothness often missing in modern productions.” Fabe explains more about how the samples were recorded and processed using his wealth of gear, “All samples were recorded through my analog console, the SSL Big Six, and processed through my SP-1200 and Elektron Analog Heat + FX. This analog conversion makes a significant difference, allowing drums to pop without needing much EQ. “Bouncy Nuts Vol. 1” is out now, with more volumes to follow.”
Fabe is a prolific producer, so the chance to present his next work as part of our Free Download series was tantalising and we can’t wait to share it with you. We get to the knitty gritty on the track itself, “ “Different Approach” was one of the first tracks I recorded through my SSL Big Six. I had a blast routing all my stems from the MPC to the console’s channels. Summing the tracks through the SSL master bus compressor made a huge difference. I produced the whole track live inside the MPC, and it became a regular in my sets, highly requested after my set at Sunwaves in May.”
With the main Salty Nuts imprint being a sure shot for many, Fabe gives us the lowdown on what to expect from the next few releases, “Exciting releases from some of my favorite artists are on the way. Boss Priester recently released his “Trixy EP” on vinyl, which is one of my favorite records on the label. The next release will be from Harry Wills of Phonetraxx, another producer I admire. I don’t want to give too much away, but there are many outstanding releases in the pipeline.”
You can download Fabe – Different Approach for FREE via our Soundcloud page.
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