The Daisy Dans Records co-founder Manuel Bayer speaks with Music is 4 Lovers to reflect on his journey into the scene, launching the label and discusses his most recent release ‘Rocket’ which is out now and available via Spotify.

Hello Manuel, thank you for speaking with us today! Please, introduce yourself and tell our readers about you.

Hello, I am also very pleased. My name is Manuel Bayer, 32 years old and I was born in Freiburg. I started DJ-ing in my teenage years and was especially interested in electronic music. At the age of 22 I moved to Frankfurt am Main and did an apprenticeship as an event manager. A big part of my job was to organize parties at the legendary CocoonClub. Through the new contacts I had gotten through my job, among other things, I was able to perform myself in various Frankfurt clubs and also founded my own radio show Wohnzimmer FFM. In 2018 I moved from Frankfurt to Berlin and founded my own label Daisy Dans Records. With this move, I turned my hobby into my profession. I finally knew, at the age of 29 – after I had already done many things professionally, what I wanted to do. With full power, I’ve been working on establishing myself and my label ever since. In January 2020, I signed my first, international booking contract with Omega Artists. Since June 2020, I now live in Freiburg again to ground myself. I have built an external studio here where I will produce some more top tracks.

How did you first begin in the music industry, and how is the scene in Germany, it has always had a very special connection with electronic music.

I went to my first electro parties when I was 15 years old. Since then, I was so hooked on music that I bought my first turntables (Technics SL-1200MK2). After a short time I was already playing at smaller parties in my hometown. When I moved to Frankfurt and later to Berlin, new musical doors opened for me and since then I have played in various clubs. Especially the music at CocoonClub inspired me to produce my own music and eventually go my own way. Germany has a great electro scene and there are now many really good electro clubs. What I like about the scene besides the music is that everyone is always nice to each other and there are hardly any arguments in the clubs. It’s great to perform in Germany, but I want to be known beyond that and play on the stages of this world. I love and live electronic music for more than half of my life and have been to many festivals like Tommorowland, Time-Warp, Nature One, Streetparade or Sonne Mond Sterne. It’s more than time for me to play my own sound and sets at these festivals.

You are the label founder of Daisy Dans Records, what has been the key to starting the imprint and what challenges have you faced.

I’ve been producing music for a few years now and over time I’ve developed my own style of music – DaisyTech, a mixture of techno and tech house. Since my music can’t be pigeonholed, I quickly realized that it would be difficult to find a suitable label. So I simply founded my own label. The name is a combination of the words “Daisy” and the Danish word “Dans” (dance). My great aunt loved daisies. They bloom all year round and that’s exactly what I want for my sound. In the last few years I have faced many challenges. The whole bureaucratic effort alone, for example to get a label code, was enormous. Immediately after founding the label, I started looking for suitable people to accompany me on my way. That was not so easy, because many only want to be part of the fun stuff, but do little for it. In order to not only have good people in my team, but also to get professional partners, I had to do a lot of research and wrote countless emails, because nothing comes from nothing. In the meantime, I am fortunately quite well positioned. My team is not big yet, but I have my own great graphic designer (Julia) and my marketing manager (Jonathan) who can take a lot off my plate. With digdis I have found a good distributor who distributes our music worldwide and I have also found a good partner in my booking agency Omega Artist, which has its headquarters in the Netherlands. In the next months and years I would like to grow the label further. It is important to me to give young, fresh artists the chance to release through my label.

The latest record to drop on it is ‘Rocket’, what was the process behind producing the track. It has some great melodic elements – please tell us more details!
https://soundcloud.com/clubmoodvibes/premiere-manuel-bayer-rocket-original-mix-daisy-dans-records-1

The story behind the track is the awakening of the world. After a long, hard time, people can now breathe a sigh of relief and start again with new strength. People want to go out again, experience something and have fun. I want to pick up the dance people with my track and take them on a journey through the galaxy. All the problems of the past are forgotten in weightlessness and hardly visible from space. The rocket takes us to a new, better time, where we can celebrate life exuberantly again. The name “Rocket” is also related to the sound. The drill slowly comes to the fore from minute 1:10 and this continues through the rest of the track. The melodic elements are typical of my DaisyTech sound. I like to combine rhythmic beats with a melody that stays in your ear. It’s important to me that my sound sounds positive and fun.Are you musically trained, or all self-taught?

I had piano lessons when I was young, which still helps me produce. I play all the beats and melodies myself. DJ-ing and producing itself I taught myself and I’m still learning every day. I always want to evolve to become better and better.

Please share with us one track you would play to ‘save the dancefloor’!

Currently, I would definitely play my track “Rocket”, because it goes forward. Due to the driving sound and the incoming melody, you can dance to it very well. The track will definitely go down well.

What artist would you most like to perform alongside at an event, and what festivals do you most aspire to be performing at?

I would love to perform together with Carl Cox, because he has been a great role model for me since my youth. He’s always in a good mood and is likeable. What I like about him is that you can tell how much he loves music. We are very similar in that respect. We can simply make people very happy with what we do. When it comes to the festival I would like to play at, I don’t have to think long: definitely Tommorowland. I was there myself and for me it was my best festival. Everything fits: the location, the organization and of course the music.

Do you find symmetry in the progress of Daisy Dans Records as a label and your own development as an artist?

It’s not always easy to run a label and produce music at the same time. Often I’m so busy with business that it’s hard for me to be creative. When I produce, I really need a lot of time to fully concentrate on a musical project. Sometimes that can take a few weeks. During that time, of course, the business side sometimes falls to the back burner. I’m glad that I have a collaborator in Jonathan who takes a lot of tasks off my hands. So I can devote myself more to the music. In any case, it is important to me that everything I do is professional. I don’t do anything half-heartedly, but always everything with 100% of my energy.

Thank you for speaking with us, it was a pleasure. Do you have any final words for our readers?

Thank you very much. It was also a great pleasure for me. I hope we can celebrate together again soon. Preferably to my DaisyTech sound, of course. In any case, I’m already in the starting blocks and ready to show myself to the world. I am sure you will hear a lot more from me.