Cream

In less than three years the producer and DJ known as Wolfgang Gartner has gone from strength to strength, with eight #1 tracks on Beatport (including the site’s best-selling track of 2009) and remixes for A-list artists (Black Eyed Peas, Timbaland, Britney Spears), all lauded by peers such as David Guetta, Tïesto, and Pete Tong.

Like another famous Wolfgang, Gartner started his artistic experiments at a very young age. He began producing electronic music at age 11 by syncing a drum machine to a keyboard via MIDI, and taught himself to DJ at age 12 with a 4-track tape recorder and 2 tape decks. At 13, he started playing basement parties and a year later, he graduated to turntables, spinning in nightclubs by the age of 16.

As a consequence of his well-trained ear, he was particularly attuned to harmony, eschewing the classic rookie mistake of mixing tracks in incompatible keys. “I never wanted to compromise the integrity of the music,” he recalls.

That commitment to the integrity of the music continues to this day. Gartner is meticulous in his approach to crafting new tracks in the studio, contemplating how they’ll sound in different venues and new ways to pitch curveballs at the dance music cognoscenti—without using gratuitous gimmicks. Whereas many producers start with a rhythm track, Gartner is more likely to begin with a melody and a concept, and experiment… and experiment and experiment… until the pieces begin to click. “Music doesn’t just come out of thin air,” he admits. “Inspiration is a natural process.” And it can’t be forced.

As he moves forward, Gartner doesn’t want to just advance his art form—he also wants to put a fresh twist on Top 40 fare. “I definitely want to work with pop and rap artists as a producer.” So long as his identity and integrity remain intact: “I want to make what I like making, and if a rapper can rap on it, then great.” With numerous new projects in the pipeline, he still appreciates the distinction between world domination and overexposure. “I’m definitely about quality over quantity,” he concludes. With Wolfgang Gartner, only one thing is certain: his next move is always a surprise.