Jacob Groening belongs to the big deep and tech-house sphere.

With influences from many styles of electronic music, he enriches his sets with a “little something different”.

On the one hand he consistently and thoughtfully builds his sets, but then he alters them as he responds to the mood of the audience. A challenge that Jacob happily takes on.

His gigs and mixes on SoundCloud have made him an in-demand DJ with regular live performances at several night clubs in Hamburg and Berlin.

What is it about the music you produce that identifies it as Jacob Groening?

Most important for me is that it sounds good to my ears and I hope that people like what I like, but I do whatever I like anyway 🙂

For me it is important that it does not sound too artificial. I like the mix between organic and electronic sounds. That is why i always record some live instruments and use natural athmospheric sounds in the background. In the beginning, I did this as well because I am not so much into synthesizers.

How has performing regularly in popular underground locations in Berlin had an effect on the music you produce?

If parties last 2 or 3 days without a break, people hear music different when they didn’t sleep for more than 24 hours. These are good moments to make experiments.

Sometimes this resulted in good ideas as well for productions. Playing regularly at parties in Berlin and Hamburg gives me an idea of how people feel on the dancefloor. I think it is difficult to feel the dancefloor if you can’t try out your stuff for an audience and get feedback for your music. This plays an important role.

What aspect of your passion for music would surprise us?

Not sure if it surprises you but music is with me everywhere I am. Listening to radio, concerts, nature, a conversation in a movie, nearly everything inspires me.

For example, I recorded the ambiance of the playground where I was with my little nephews. You can hear it in the Kemal track. I always get new ideas by that. If I wouldn’t get new ideas it would result in me stopping to making music. Actually I really like slow music, it is more inspiring to me than music you hear in most clubs.

Lying on a beach on Hawaii – which track would you put on first?

 I listen a lot to the music I make. This is a process to get new ideas or find mistakes, but in this case, I would probably choose anything from “Devendra Banhart”.