Markus Guentner Added by Paul Bergenh., 2 August 2004

he was just five years old when he got a radio with an included cassette tape recorder as a present from his parents. there was no friday where the little markus didn't record 'die schlager der woche' (the hits of the week) from the b3 - bayrischer rundfunk (bavarian broadcast). his love to the music increased all the time, the reason why his parents bought him his first own recordplayer … and his first album of his collection came from madonna.

at the age of 13 his interest in electronic music grew slowly. only one year later two direct-drive-turntables and a mixer were part of his nurser. so his parents had to (were forced to) deal with loud techno-sound very early. the first maxi out of this kind (lfo vs. fuse, 'loop') was played till the cables glowed.

a short time later (at the age of 15!) markus and his superior skills appeared in public (regensburg). the first steps were 'club schimmerlos' (sudhaus), later 'fuerstenhof', 'club neue heimat' (known as suite15 today) and 'filmbuehne'.

at that time it stood firm, that it makes no sense to sit behind the school-desk for years, because for his skills there is no teacher or course of studies. markus guenter cannot read any sheet music and doesn't need to be able to do that. he has extremly good ears and a very distinctive sense for harmonies and sounds, which are edited at home with his computer.

in the meantime markus guentner (22) can look back at two own albums (kompakt and ware) and seven 12'. in addition his tracks are part of numerous compilations. even universal records and efa berlin could be glad about the newcomer markus guentner, who has already shown that he has nothing to do with insignificant today-top-tomorrow-flops.

today he rarely stands behind the turntables in regensburg (mostly in his resident-club 'suite 15', (da place to be every friday in r-town), because popular clubs like the 'tresor' in berlin, the ultraschall in munich, or other clubs from cologne to geneva know to appreciate the capability of markus guentner. sven vaeth has made out the qualities of markus long ago, too. on his compilation 'sound of the second season' a hidden track from guentner is available. at his latest visit to regensburg both went out for having a dinner together.

but response is not only coming from germany, but also from usa, china and canada. in canada, where he is also a member of a successful mix-compilation, the specialized press calls him 'the inventor of the pop-ambient'.

quite recently he has signed a record contract at wea. his newest release is a remake of the classic 'such a shame' from talk talk. who now really believes that 'the real mg' is producing sell-out, is unfortunately wide of the mark, because this guy is everything else than commercial.