Saturday night, half-past twelve: on the streets and in the bars young (and not so young) London is celebrating their weekly 48 hours of freedom by drinking, snogging, dancing, losing wallets, voices and inhibitions. Arranging to meet anyone – especially a DJ – this time of night involves optimism bordering on stupidity. Surprisingly, Tiefschwarz – aka Alexander and Sebastian Schwarz – are exactly where they say they'll be – relaxed but sober amidst the cloying velvet of their hotel lobby.



Basti (the younger of the brothers) is fair-haired, wearing a leather bomber jacket zipped to the throat; Ali, in a blue and black lumberjack shirt and boldly striped socks, is dark, handsome, alert. This is another, typical (one assumes) Saturday night for the pair: PR hanging out on the sofa, friends gathered in a corner drinking, a club just down the road waiting for them to come and work their magic. It's a life they've shared for a decade as Tiefschwarz but, as Basti points out, "we've been doing this for 18 years." Ever since Basti, a drummer, moved back from music school in Berlin to help his big brother put on parties in their hometown of Stuttgart. Between them, the duo ran On-U and Red Dog from '90-'97, at which point they became Tiefschwarz.

In the intervening years they've released two artist albums, a host of fine mix CDs (including Issst, Misch Masch and Timewarp), dozens of records and remixes, and touched down in virtually every corner of the globe where there is a power source, a pair of decks and people who love to party. To mark their 10 years in the business they're releasing Blackmusik, a two CD tour de force of intelligent, emotional, hypnotic, unexpected tunes. And are, once again, racking up the air miles visiting their far-flung fans.  For all that, they have managed to become famous without being celebrities. Though they protest they do "lots" of interviews their biographies are sketchy and they certainly don't come with a ready-made reputation. They are willing, articulate, often funny, very quotable conversationalists. Here, in their own words, is the 10-point guide to what makes the self-confessed "techno hippies" tick.


1 "We are not robots"
From Cain and Abel to Liam and Noel the history of brothers working together is fraught with almighty bust-ups. Yet, after a decade of close interaction, Ali and Basti have no discernible scars. Maybe it's because they are the only children in their family and have spent a lifetime relying on each other for company and entertainment. Or maybe they've just learned to work it out. "Sure we have arguments," Basti beams.

"We are not robots," Ali chips in. But he puts the spats down to useful creative tension. "Otherwise we'd be too slick."

2 "Beam me up, Scotty!"
Neither of them hesitates when asked what would most improve the quality of their life. "Beam me up Scott!" Ali blurts. He can't remember the word for "teleportation device" in English (a rare lapse) but he sighs wistfully at the idea of being able to flash around the world, rather than slogging through airports. "If you could press a button and be in Canada, that would be amazing," he says. Tonight, Ali's wife is with him, perched on a chair a few metres away, laughing with a little cluster of friends. "She's lucky. Usually she gets to stay home."

3 "In 10 years we've played every shithole in Germany"
Tiefschwarz are accustomed to plush hotels, champagne on demand (Ali's preference) and a suitable level of adoration, but it hasn't always been like that. "In the last 10 years we've played every shithole in Germany," Ali sighs. "And most of the ones in England ! " Basti grins.

One particular night stands out, Ali says. A booking agency ("I won't say who") hired them for a gig in the middle of no-where. "There were three people when we turned up, so we just got drunk. When we went back to the hotel there was no one in the reception so we decided to climb up the roof. We had to break into our own room," he recalls, shaking his head. Safely inside, the pair drank the mini-bar dry and decided to flee back to civilisation. "We drove home pissed. We could have been killed."

4 "The nightlife is amazing"
Tiefschwarz arrived in Berlin from Stuttgart in 2003 and have thoroughly embraced life in their adopted city. Apart from their family, they say, they haven't missed Stuttgart "for a minute."

"Now, there's a DJ on every corner. The nightlife is amazing. You can go to a bar and see Richie Hawtin playing at 8am – and he'll play for 15 hours," Basti says.
What sets Berlin apart from other club-crazy towns is the atmosphere, Ali says. "It's very chilled out. It's more relaxed than you can imagine. New York has no underground and London is too expensive, but in Berlin everything is good for artists." Basti declares.  "Berlin is the best city in the world right now,"

5 "The best thing is when you open the door the crowd is behind"
Schlepping around the world, week in and week out, can be boring, rigorous work. So what makes it all worthwhile?

"Drinking," Basti quips. "A good party equals drinking, a bad party is not drinking." (For the record, despite frequent fond references to drinking Basti sips ice water through the interview.) "It's when you open the door the crowd is behind – you know what I mean? When everything works it is such an amazing energy," says Ali.

6 "Where do you go after Madonna ?"
They've remixed everyone from Depeche Mode, to Spektrum (who they say, admiringly, "know how to party") to their heroes Masters At Work, but they consider the Queen of Pop their defining moment. Not least because she personally approved their work. This they know because Madge turned down their vocal version flat. "We were impressed she actually listened to everything. We're upset she didn't like one of our mixes? No. She's turned down James Holden five times," Ali says, cheerfully.  The question is, what next? "We want to work with smaller artists now, go more underground. Where do you go after Madonna ?" Basti asks, rhetorically...

7 "We wanted to show the private moments"
Despite being best known for their electro-fuelled techno, the Schwarz brothers wanted to do something a bit different to celebrate their 10th anniversary. "We didn't want to do another great techno mix – but to go deeper and show a wider horizon, to show a very personal side of the story," Ali says. Among the tracks with special meaning is Ralphi Rosario's Una Cosa de Amour – "he played at Red Dog a couple times and he was such a great guy to hang out with."

According to Basti there was an early tug-of-war about what direction to go but, "we made it happen very quickly." With a little help from their friends, including Radio Slave, Samim, Shonky and Ruede Hagelstein – all of whom remixed tracks for the compilation.

8 "I was in punk bands when I was 12"
Their hip parents played them Dylan and the Stones, and the pair never really imagined a life without music. Basti started drumming when he was seven, and by 12 was rocking out with local punk bands. "Our parents loved music and nightlife. They weren't musicians, it was more about having a good time. Basti was in bands, I was in it for the girls," Ali chuckles.

9 "It's the only way to survive"
Berlin may be the new home of the 24 hour party people, but the pair aren't kidding when they call themselves hippies. "They've just opened the biggest organic market in Berlin, I like it there," Basti says dreamily. Ali, it transpires, is a keen cook who likes "healthy organic food." Venture the comment that there is something ironic about the juxtaposition of full-bore hedonism and granola munching and Ali looks over sharply. "It's not ironic, it's the only way to survive."

10 "The Pet Shop Boys are so cool"
Cheeringly, despite their long years in the business Tiefschwarz are still, fundamentally, music fans. Ali was speaks admiringly of Marianne Faithfull ("I saw her on a plane but we didn't speak," he says, shaking his head to indicate a degree of bashfulness). While Basti is counting down the hours until he gets back to Berlin. "I'm going to see the Pet Shop Boys play in a really small venue, only 800 people. And I think we're going for drinks afterwards." Are the Pet Shop Boys as cool as they seem? He nods. "They are so cool."  

As might well be said of Tiefschwarz themselves. Who – if being talented, smart, not-overly serious, and quietly charming is any succour to success – can look forward to at least another decade of high grade music and mischief.