Marcus Worgull
What the latest with the release of his second EP “Texel” under the Berlin label Innervision, Marcus Worgull has established himself in the upper class of House music. Clubs like the “Fabric” in London, “Weekend Club” in Berlin, “Robert Johnson” in Offenbach, “Cocoon” in Frankfurt or 11 in Amsterdam book him, hence spurring the many requests he receives from abroad. DJs like Laurent Garnier and some of the Detroit heroes play and appreciate his tracks. He has already accomplished remixes for Voom:Voom, Karma, Lars Bartkuhn (Needs), and Gerald Mitchell (Los Hermanos/UR); and he is currently working on remixes for Eva Be, a Sun-Ra project and a mix-CD.
Even though Worgull meanwhile works predominantly with straight 4/4-Beats, his productions and DJ-sets have musical depth which reveal his diverse black music background. Worgull’s musical development began in the late 80’s in his hometown Wuppertal, Germany. He found a record store there full of unordinary vinyl discs from diverse musical directions and trends: Rare Soul- and Jazzgrooves as well as the hottest shit in hip-hop and house. 15-year-old Worgull was a prime customer – and spent most of his pocket money there. The store, named “Groove Attack”, moved to Cologne later and is today run by Marcus Worgull. The only other place to hear such music during that time, was the one club in Wuppertal:”Beatbox” . DJs like Gilles Peterson or Norman Jay had their first German Gigs there. Little Worgull snuck into the club and experienced, for the first time, how a good DJ can take the crowd on a journey into different worlds of music. Worgull’s enthusiams for black music was born – and so was the decision to become a DJ himself. The first challenge occurred Thursday evenings in the “U-club” in Wuppertal where he soon became the resident DJ. For two and a half years Worgull’s house music allured people to the club and ensured a full-house. He learned how to arrange sets dynamically and how to get the crowd sweating.
Further gigs followed in other Wuppertal clubs such as the “45rpm”, but also in “planet” in Bochum, “Studio 672” in Cologne or “Unique” in Düsseldorf, where he played for several years in the “Rosebud Lounge”. He there made contacts with other DJs and Producers which are, today, not only still his sparring partners but also his friends. Some examples include Dixon, who would later organize the Innervisions label, or Kristian von Âme. In early 2000, Worgull started producing the first of his own tracks. In 2001, his 12″ single, “Ole” (named after Worgull’s son), was released by Spectrum Works, the label of Karma member Lars Vegas, with whom Worgull had been a DJ-team for several years now. This 12″ got some attention and helped Worgull get his first bookings outside of Germany, e.g. in “Plastic People” in London.
For quite some time, his sound was heavily influenced by broken beats. Eventually, Worgull has changed his focuses to intelligent, soulful but danceable house – at the edge of being techno. Influenced by the majestic house of the “Prescription” label or classical Detroit-Techno, he developed his own style. Besides running a record store, landing national and international gigs, remix assignments and of course raising his son Ole, Worgull produces new tracks which will be released soon on Innervisions.
