Bio
This artist, born in the city of Bad Nauheim in Hessen, which is close to Frankfurt, regards Farley Jack Master Funk's 1986 release 'Love can't turn around' as one of the most important influences in his early career. 'I wanted to make my future audience as happy as this house track made me. I wanted to play this energy and to pass it on to others' remembers Heiko. It was at this point, that it became clear to him that he would become either a DJ, or a musician. He decided to become both.
It started in Hessen
On leaving school, he started an apprenticeship. By day, he worked as an Industry Wholesaler. By night, he mixed countless tapes for friends. These tapes soon became highly desirable Collectors Items and the cost of a genuine Laux tape rocketed.
In the mid 80's, he began his career as a producer with a Casio Keyboard. The presets and patterns were edited and the resulting sounds were passed, via his brother, to the only club in town 'The Soccer Club.' At the end of the 80's the young Laux was a frequent guest in the new club 'Omen' in Frankfurt. 'Omen has been the most influential club for me and from 1989 onwards, I was there several times a month'.
Meanwhile, 35 kilometers away in Bad Nauheim, the studio in his parents' house was filling up with more and more machines and had become a central meeting place for like minded musicians. When his brother opened up a pub, Heiko seized the opportunity to move the studio. Although the space moved, the idea: 'to find a new way and an own sound in this new musical movement', remained. Anthony Rother, Johannes Heil, Patrick Lindsey – who became the first league of the Kanzleramt artists - were regular guests in what was soon to become the legendary pub 'Kanzleramt'. While honing his DJ skills, Heiko discovered his love for the work of Jeff Mills and the idea to develop a label. In 1994 the label he founded was named Kanzleramt.
Numerous publications followed and Heiko became known as 'The Hessen Techno Tiger'. Soon, Sven Väth from Omen, the club that was so hot it had guttering mounted for the sweat, signed Laux. It was here that Heiko played his first live gig. He remembers 'my set was to be one hour long. But, I was so excited that after just 30 minutes I was through and for the rest of the evening I had to improvise.'
In 1996, Heiko met a young producer named Christian Morgenstern. He was so impressed with his sound that he released Morgenstern's debut album on the Kanzleramt label. It was around this time when Heiko was offered the prime time slot as resident DJ, at Omen. His reputation as a 'Concrete Techno DJ' was growing. More personal success came in 1998, when he released his own debut album 'Liquidism' on Kanzleramt.
Berlin
At the end of 1999 Kanzleramt moved to Kreuzberg, in Germany's Capital city of Berlin. Despite a long phase of becoming established, Heiko was able to replicate his previous success. The so called 'Next Generation' comprised: DJ Slip, Alexander Kowalski and Diego.
Almost simultaneously, alongside his move to Berlin, Heiko released his next album 'Sense Fiction'. To add a further component to his DJ sound, he began working with 3 decks. 'I got the idea with the 3 turntables after seeing Marco Carola in the Palazzo. Eventually, it worked and I managed to keep the three stable. Then, my sound got much deeper.'
After the Europe-wide, 7-year anniversary 'Fully Fledged' tour, Heiko devoted his time to producing the album 'Ornaments', which became one of the most important milestones of his personal development. By the beginning of 2003, Heiko was ready to explore a new musical openness. The collaboration with his studio neighbour Teo Schulte, a Berlin-based Jazz musician and Producer, accelerated this development and the 'Offshore Funk' project was successfully released.
Germany
