Knee Deep Biographie

Of course, their success started in Hamburg, Germany's undisputable house
stronghold. Basti, who started his success as remixer and producer under
the name of TBA and, together with DJ Daniel Klein (currently running
flamingo discos), already formed another successful project under the name
of Kiez Kidz, got to know his partner Toddie in the club life of Hamburg.
Already their first production (Aug 1998)- a remix of the D'Influence Track
"Rock With You" - was able to gather overwhelming reviews. both realized
instantly how much they could learn from eachother and what could reached
together. Numerous remixes followed. At first they had work with rather
unknown domestic artists but soon the big cats cued in for getting their
tracks in the club with that soulful, pumpin kneedeep sound (david morales,
bob Sinclair, brandy, jamiroquai, everything but the girl ...). Best known
remix to date probably still is afro medusa´s "pasilda" which was THE tune
of summer 2000 and was copied at least a hundred times. Later that year
kneedeep won the german dance award "best remixer" defeating names like
timo maas. Soulful and thrusting grooves are their trademark, both in
producing and behind the decks. Never too sophisticated or stuffed with
loops, but more decent, that's the way the Knee Deep grooves are pleasing.
Skillfully, they manage to combine Soul, Funk, and Latin and their beat
into a sound that's downright charming and unobtrusive in the way it
creates movement on the dance floor. Slowly, without much claptrap or drum
rolls they build both their DJ sets and their productions - spontaneously
spiking them with little details, bringing them to the climax, thus
impressing their individual seal. It's not even single tracks or hits that
inspire, but the mixture of record selection and the DJ's interaction with
the audience that make a Knee Deep set or production work on the dance
floor. their own productions for the label R.O.I. quickly found a major
label partner in Universal, which is quite unusual for german house
producers and emphasizes the mixture of quality and countrywide acceptance.
Unfortunately one of their biggest clubhits never made it into a proper
commercial realese - Nassau roules, a funky interpretation of a late 70ies
rare groove, never passed the sample clearance. Although it was voted best
house record (year 2002 charts DJ MAG) the rights owners didn´t see the
commercial possibilities of this track. During their Australian dj tour in
December 2001 basti and toddi met simon grey, a talented jazzkeyboarder and
songwriter in Melbourne. After getting to know his abilities during a
studio session they decided to invite him and his bassplayer gavin pearce
for an extended recording session to germany. The following stay in January
2002 was so successful that all three of them decided to turn this into a
closer business/musicpartnership which ended in simons relocation to
germany in august 2002. among the first projects there were big names like
jamiroquai (which liked their mixes that much that he asked them to do 3
(!) in a row), everything but the girl and bootsy Collins. In 2003 basti
and toddie successfully founded their own label kneedeep recordings, a new
imprint for soulful and inspiring house music. During this time, when
almost the whole germany club and producer scene followed that popular
electro hype, kneedeep reclaimed their soulful roots. Besides their highly
respected houseactivities several rnb, hip hop and even dancehall/reggae
projects were started with artists from around the globe. The near future
looks bright for basti and Toddie. Knee Deep have already taken the next
steps toward an international producer career. This success hasn't been a
lucky shot, tho. Within the last two years they worked their way to the top
with their productions and remixes under their producer's and DJ's name
KNEE DEEP. In addition, Toddie and basti are in great demand behind the
decks of the most renowned house clubs, not only in their hometown Hamburg,
but also in australia, London, Ibiza and Miami, just to mention a few
waypoints.