Malbetrieb

Malbetrieb, in real life better known as Niels Schilder, is a busy man. Not only is he a DJ and a producer. He also is one of the key members of the Klopfgeist crew. A true workaholic blessed with some amazing 'on the fly' producing skills, which made him to become one of the most talented and wanted artists of Klopfgeist.

Cutting his first tapes at the age of ten, and organizing his first party at the age of fourteen – ‘We were too young to visit the regular house events, so what do you do? You start your own!’ –Niels grew out to be one of the most promising and innovative artists from Friesland; a province in the north of Holland, which proves to be a fertile ground for techno, minimal and tech-house producers. Andreas Bergmann, Olene Kadar, Conforce and Delta Funktionen, they all started out in Friesland.

Bored by playing other peoples tracks Niels decides to put his DJ career on hold, after leaving the scene for a couple of years Niels returns in 2002 but this time he also starts producing his own material. A Korg MS20, a grating and murmuring Siel Synt and Fasttracker is all he uses to lift his career as a producer. A young and growing label from Leeuwarden starts to show some interests in his productions. Schilder signs at Klopfgeist and soon turns his DJ name into Malbetrieb, which is German for painter and also a variation on his last name in Dutch.

In his role as A&R Manager at Klopfgeist, Niels also uses his keen eye for finding young and gifted producers. He seems to have a good nose for scouting new and young artists. With names like Rik Woldring, Bar27, Julian Neumann (GER), Freak Strano, Syrinx, Immer, Jelle Kuipers, Hyde Park and Ferdj (IT), he enriched the Klopfgeist Family with some more than just fine and promising talents.

In 2009 his first vinyl release at Klopfgeist (a remix for Andreas Bergmann's biggest hit so far, named the 'Big Hangover') launches his career as a successful producer. With his productions Malbetrieb earns a lot of critical acclaim and people become very eager to see him return at the DJ-booth. Eventually, in 2009 he does return at the DJ-booth. As a resident for Klopgeist he soon spins the records uncountable times at Doozo, Leeuwarden, but with his live set during the Klopfgeist labelnight (feb. 2010) at Club MIKZ in Berlin, he really impresses the crowd. At 6 A.M. in the morning the club still goes wild at the deep and groovy sounds of Malbetrieb. In October he repeats the success,this time at Club Boudoir at Naples, Italy.

Inspired at a young age by acts such as The Orb, Alan Parsons Project and The Synthesizer Greatest serie, his sound is best to be described as warm, deep, electronic yet emotional but raw. Ranging from ambient to techno, back to oldschool house.

At the moment Malbetrieb prepares himself for his debut performance together with Klopfgeist companion Rik Woldring at the leading techno festival of Holland: Awakenings Festival.