Sven Väth

Sven Vath grew up listening to a range of music that varied between disco, various types of electronica, and Barry White. In his younger years he was the front man for the dance-pop group OFF, whose "Electric Salsa" hit the #1 slot all over Europe. When the '90s hit, Sven became interested in trance and started three groundbreaking labels, Hearthouse Records, Eye Q, and Recycle or Die. In 1993, Sven released his debut album, An Accident in Paradise. It was immediately hailed as a pioneering masterpiece in its connections of techno and trace.

His second album, The Harlequin, The Robot and The Ballet Dancer(1994) was a conceptual piece that found little commercial purchase, especially in America. Vath, then went underground. He severed ties with all three of his labels and concentrated on DJing. In 1998 Sven broke back onto the scene with his new relaxed and textured album, Fusion. It was a new sound for Vath, but proved to be every bit as groundbreaking as his early works.

Sven Vath and his three Hearthouse record labels are recognized in Germany and the world-over as being a driving influence in the early trance movement. Sven's music should be listened to with the idea that he is pushing the boundaries. There is often little familiarity to cling to on his albums. Often they are conceptual and perhaps even a little over indulgent, but always with the purpose of experimenting with a combination of trace, house and techno, usually resulting in an ambient minimalist sound. His later works tend to be more funky, melodic and dark, and include casual backbeats, and classical instruments. Sven continues to move the medium in different directions.