Anja Schneider

About

“One of the things I’ve learnt from my career is never to play your own new track on your own radio show,” Anja Schneider says. After two decades immersed in party and club culture — from raver to globe trotting DJ, producer, promoter and label boss — when she talks techno, beats and other pieces, people listen. Not least given she’s also one of Germany’s most experienced and respected electronic music broadcasters. Radio work has also changed. Jumping to another RBB station, Radio Eins, 2021 saw the beginning of her Club Room series, which would eventually move to Apple Music, where she continues to self-publish episodes now numbering well into the hundreds. Not forgetting a stint at Beats Radio, where she curated, produced and hosted the daily peak time Berlin Beats show, broadcast across Germany. And it’s around this point in the story Schneider also launched her Backstage podcast, inviting industry veterans to talk about issues facing the scene, its professionals and participants alike. A precursor to 2024’s serialised documentary, ‘The Story / Love Parade’ , made for 90s90s radio. Of course, all this is now history. And the rest — from remixes and releases on and for the likes of Shall Not Fade, Booka Shade, Knee Deep In Sound, Nicole Moudaber, Timo Maas and Yotto, to regular shifts in some of the most recognisable DJ booths on the Earth. That could be Glasgow’s Sub Club or Frankfurt’s Robert Johnson, Rex in Paris or fabric in London, Ultra Miami or Welcome to the Future, Columbia to California, Indonesia to Ibiza and back to Berlin again, where her PuMp events reflect a continued commitment to both the city and its intimate underground. An evening-to-night rave which began in spring 2024 inside the small but perfectly realised OHM, scaled down and stripped-back little sibling of Tresor, where Schneider’s journey began, it’s just one example of her ongoing dedication to pushing new sounds, fresh talent, and different concepts, applying all she’s learnt from so many years in the thick of things.