Beloved Berlin DJ Carsten Klemann has died aged 41

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  • The former Watergate resident and Panorama Bar regular passed away earlier this week.
  • Beloved Berlin DJ Carsten Klemann has died aged 41 image
  • Beloved Berlin DJ Carsten Klemann has died aged 41. Tributes have been pouring in for Klemann, who died earlier this week from unknown causes. Born in Berlin in 1980, he cut his teeth playing hip-hop and other sounds as part of the DJ collective 61 Rocker, which curated a floor at '90s drum & bass party Hard:Edged. In 2002, the team behind Hard:Edged opened a club in Kreuzberg called Watergate and signed Klemann as a resident. From there, he became a key node in Berlin's burgeoning minimal house scene, playing regularly at clubs like Cookies, WMF and both iterations of Panorama Bar, first at the original OstGut venue and, later, at Berghain. Klemann also cofounded My My, the Berlin-based DJ/production trio of Klemann, Lee Jones and Nick Höppner. The group split their duties, with Klemann and Höppner DJing while Höppner and Jones made the music. That said, Klemann was vital in shaping their sound through feedback, and he connected them, via his job at Basic Channel's Dubplates & Mastering facility, to Playhouse, the label that released their early EPs and only album. He also helped programme their monthly residency at Watergate. "Getting to know you has been one of the most meaningful encounters of my life," Höppner posted on Instagram. "You will be missed!" "Goodbye friend, colleague, brother," Jones shared via Facebook. "I'll never forget our time together. You were a giant of a man. May your spirit echo throughout the universe and beyond, forever." Klemann's birth name only appeared once on a track, 2008's "CC01 (Detroit)," which was produced alongside Dial cofounder Carsten Jost. It came out on a Dial compilation called You Are My Mate. Listen to "CC01 (Detroit)" and check out a selection of Klemann's old photos and flyers via Padlet.
    Read some tributes to Klemann.
    Photo: Christian Brox
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