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Birth Name: Matthias Matthew Hoffmann Date of birth: June 10, 1964 Place of birth: Frankfurt, Germany Genres: Trance, techno, pop, rock Location: Offenbach, Germany Years active: 1980s – Present Labels: Eye Q Records, Harthouse, Recycle or Die, Logic Records, Wirtzmusik Top part:

Matthias Hoffmann is a German producer and composer. He most notably co-founded the Eye Q record label, one of the first trance labels, in 1990, alongside Sven Väth and Heinz Roth.

Hoffmann was an influential early producer in trance music, contributing to musical projects including Cygnus X, Brainchild, Odyssee Of Noises, Metal Master, and more. Cygnus X, one of Hoffmann’s most influential trance projects, is primarily known for tracks “Superstring,” “The Orange Theme,” “Positron,” “Turn Around,” and “Kinderlied.”

Early life

Hoffmann was born Matthias Matthew Hoffmann on June 10, 1964 in Frankfurt, Germany. Hoffmann’s interest in music began when he started playing guitar at the age of six or seven. His mother had told him to start playing an instrument, and Hoffmann opted for the guitar rather than piano, which his sister was learning at the time. Hoffmann’s earliest musical inputs included classical music that his parents would play at home and church organ music, which he cites as one of the first musical sounds that “amazed” him. Growing up, he also enjoyed rock bands such as Pink Floyd, Gentle Giant, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. When he Hoffmann was 16 years old, he began playing guitar in rock and funk bands and wrote songs and lyrics for those bands, as well. Hoffmann finished school in 1983

Music career

Early touring and session work

After finish school, Hoffmann toured throughout 1984-1987, mostly via shorter-term “weekend tours” from Thursday through Sunday. The primary group he played with during this period was Midnight Fun, which rose out of his earlier band, Big Mama & The Syndicates. Future frequent collaborator Ralf Hildenbeutel was the keyboardist in both of these bands.

Hoffmann also began working as a session guitarist around this time, playing on songs including “Ooops Up” by SNAP!, and for musicians such as Sheila E. and Quincy Jones. Hoffmann also worked as an arranger for German producer Gunther Mende, known for his work with Jennifer Rush.

Early production work and founding Eye Q Records

Hoffmann first met future Eye Q co-founder Sven Väth because Väth was seeking guitar lessons. After their introduction, the two began making music together under the name Mosaic and released their music through Logic Records. Mosaic primarily operated in the Logic Haus studios, where Hoffmann said “all the techno stuff in Frankfurt happened." Hoffmann considers his first “real” release as a producer to be the 1989 second album by Väth’s group, Off, called Ask Yourself.

Heinz Roth, who was working at BMG Publishing at the time, met Hoffmann and Väth through Logic Haus. Roth was the one who proposed the idea to found Eye Q Records. After receiving funding and approval from Warner Records in Hamburg, Hoffmann, Roth, and Väth rented the third floor of the Logic Haus building to use as the studios for the newly founded Eye Q. This operation was upstairs of Michael Munzing and Luca Anzilotti, of SNAP!.

In Eye Q, Hoffmann worked on lots of music behind the scenes, often in collaboration with Ralf Hildenbeutel. Eye Q had two notable sub-labels, Harthouse and Recycle or Die. According to Hoffmann, these labels were created out of a desire to branch out creatively from the commercially-focused Eye Q. Hoffmann described Harthouse as “underground,” free from the “make-a-hit” influence of Warner, and “purely club oriented,” and described Recycle or Die as more “chillout,” “ambient,” “intellectual,” and “arsty.”

Cygnus X

Hoffmann started trance project Cygnus X after spending some time working in an A&R position at Eye Q, per Roth’s request. Hoffmann hated having a “desk job,” so he went back to the studio, claiming he’d be more valuable to Eye Q there.

The very first Cygnus X release was 1993’s “Superstring,” a collaboration between Hoffmann and Hildenbeutel. The song was made largely in response to deadlines imposed by Warner. Although “Superstring” was in collaboration with Hildenbeutel, Cygnus X was primarily Hoffmann’s own project.

“Superstring” ended up being one of Cygnus X’s biggest and most influential songs, but Hoffmann believes it was “not at all” important to his career, because he was not aiming to be a DJ.

During this period, Hoffmann would try out new Cygnus X tracks at Frankfurt club the Omen, because he believed he could judge which tracks succeed and which would not, based on the crowd’s reaction.

Cygnus X released another one of their most successful tracks, “The Orange Theme,” in November 1994 under Eye Q Records. The music borrowed from Henry Purcell's classical composition, "Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary,” which Hoffmann first heard in the main theme of Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. The song title “The Orange Theme” references the film. Hoffmann was not aware of the song's connection to Purcell until he read about it in an article about “The Orange Theme,” years after its release.

Hoffmann claims to have made “The Orange Theme” in just 3 hours, a speed typical for his process making trance tracks at that time.

To create Cygnus X tracks such as “Superstring” and “The Orange Theme,” Hoffmann used gear from companies Juno, Roland, and Atari, as well as Oberheim keyboards and an Akai S1000 digital sampler.

Hoffmann stated in 2020 that Cygnus X’s 1995 album, Hypermetrical, mixed by Hildenbeutel, was his favorite work of his entire electronic music career.

Post-Eye Q: Schallbau to present

In 1997, Eye Q met its end, partially due to differences in its founders' goals. Väth wanted to pursue his DJ career more seriously, Roth wanted to move to London to continue working in the music business, and Hoffmann wanted to remain at home in Germany.

Soon after the end of Eye Q, Hoffmann founded production company Schallbau with Ralf Hildenbeutel and Steffen Britzke, also known as Stevie B-Zet. At this point, Hoffmann had grown tired of trance music and thought techno had become “boring.” Therefore, Schallbau went in a new stylistic direction, producing pop music with mostly German lyrics.

While Hoffmann considered his time with Schallbau a great success, he grew tired of it and Schallbau ended in 2008.

In 2008, Hoffmann began producing and writing for German rock group Wirtz, on his own label, Wirtzmusik. Hoffmann aimed to see how far the group would get without promotion and just based on the strength of their lyrics and music alone.

Around 2020, partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hoffmann moved on from working with Wirtz. As of November 2023, he is not working on any significant musical projects.

Personal life

Hoffmann prefers not to be in the spotlight, which accounts for why he has done so few interviews throughout his career.

Discography

Note: Hoffmann has had roles in countless musical projects under multiple names and has had his work remixed many times. This discography is an attempt to catalog his credits under the name “Matthias Hoffman,” as well as with his significant projects Cygnus X and Schallbau. For the sake of clarity, non-significant remixes of Hoffmann’s work are not included here.

As "Matthias Hoffmann"

• Rammstein – Dicke Titten (Universal Music Group, 2022)
• Gregor Meyle – Medley Erste Staffel (Embassy Of Music, Meylemusic, 2017)
• Wirtz – Ich Bleibe Hier (Wirtzmusik, 2017)
• Max Mutzke – Everybody Hurts (Polydor, 2017)
• Giorgio Adamo – Revolver (Matthias Hoffmann Remix) (Catamount Records, 2017)
• Wirtz – Auf Die Plätze Fertig Los! (Wirtzmusik, 2016)
• Christina Stürmer – Seite An Seite (Polydor, 2016)
• Wirtz – Sehnsucht (Sony Music, 2016)
• Giorgio Adamo – Revolver (Matthias Hoffmann Remix) (Catamount Records, 2016)
• Marco P – Incredible (Matthias Hoffmann Remix) (Tech Factory Recordings, 2015)
• Hartmut Engler – Overkill (XN-Tertainment, Talpa Germany, 2015)
• Scooter – Age Of Love (Club Tools, 2013)
• Adoro – Dein Lied (We Love Music, Polydor, Universal Music Group, Adoro Musik, 2011)
• Thomas Godoj – Winterkinder (Columbia, Sony Music, 2009)
• Deadmau5 – Clockwork (Songbird, 2008)
• ATB – Trilogy (Kontor Records, 2007)
• Atomic Pulse – Fire Dance (Atomic Pulse Remix) (Yellow Sunshine Explosion, 2006)
• Scooter – Push The Beat For This Jam (The Second Chapter) (Sheffield Tunes, 2002)
• Ayla – Nirwana (Unsubmissive Records, 2000)
• Laith Al-Deen – Bilder Von Dir (Radio Edit) (Epic, 2000)
• Resident Aliens – Symmetry 2000 (Club Mix) (DMD, 1999)
• Scooter – Back To The Heavyweight Jam (Club Tools, Edel, Loop Dance Constructions, 1999)
• Kee Mo – Madness (Bionic Beat Recordings, 1999)
• Vega – Seh' Die Vögel Ziehen (Epic, 1999)
• Scooter – No Fate (Club Tools, Loop Dance Constructions, Edel, 1998)
• Kee Mo – Spectrum (Fuel Records, 1998)
• Scooter – No Fate (Club Tools, Loop Dance Constructions, 1997)
• Vernon – Wonderer (Instrumental Mix) (Eye Q Records, 1996)
• Brainchild – Synfonica (Javelin, 1996)
• Die Puppets – Drei In Einem Boot (Bella Musica, 1995)
• Wagnerama Feat. Mike Kilian – Stand Up For Your Children (MCA Records, 1994)
• Mosaic – Mosaic V (Headbanging Mix) (K-Tel, 1993)
• Metal Master – Vol. 1 (Harthouse, 1992)
• Off – La Casa Latina (Ariola, 1990)
• Off – Ask Yourself (Ariola, 1990)
• Off – Move Your Body (Ariola, 1990)
• Various – Supermax (Max Music, 1990)
• The Fate, Big Savod & The Deep Manko, Kampanella Is Dead, B. Crown – The Fate (Zong, 1990)
• Various – Celebrating The Eggman: A Tribute To John Lennon (Zong, 1990)
• Alexis – Alexis (CBS, 1990)
• Off – Hip Hop Reggae (Ariola, 1989)
• Off – Off (Ariola, 1989)
• New Soul – To Be With You (Logic Records, 1989)
• Off – Everybody Shake (ZYX Records, 1988)

Cygnus X

(All releases under Eye Q Records.)

• Hypermetrical (1995) (Album):
  • "Kinderlied (part 1)"
  • "Kinderlied (part 2)"
  • "Hypermetrical"
  • "Deliberation"
  • "Turn Around"
  • "Synchronism"
  • "The Orange Theme"
  • "Indakasa"
• "Hypermetrical" (1995)
• "Synchronism" (1995)
• "Turn Around" (1995)
• "Kinderlied" (1995)
• "The Orange Theme" (1994)
• "Positron" (1993)
• "Superstring" (1993)

Schallbau

• Steve Eagle – Sketches In Spring (Schallbau Mix) (Self-released, 2009)
• Da Pump – Wish You Would (Avex Tune, 2006)
• Sandra – Maria Magdalena (Virgin Music, EMI, 2006)
• Yvonne Catterfeld – Leben Lassen (Hansa, 2005)
• Simon Collins – Mirror (Lightyears, 2005)
• Yvonne Catterfeld – Farben Meiner Welt (Hansa, BMG Berlin Musik, 2004)
• Laith Al-Deen – Höher (Columbia, 2004)
• Laith Al-Deen – Für Alle (Columbia, Musicline.de, 2004)
• Laith Al-Deen featuring Zoe – Meilenweit (Columbia, 2004)
• Laith Al-Deen – Alles An Dir (Columbia, 2003)
• Yvonne Catterfeld – Niemand Sonst (RCA, BMG Berlin Musik, 2003)
• Laith Al-Deen – Traurig (Columbia, 2003)
• Yvonne Catterfeld – Wahre Helden (RCA, BMG Berlin Musik, 2003)
• Tom Albrecht – 360° (Polydor, Universal, 2003)
• Laith Al-Deen – Dein Lied (Epic, 2002)
• Laith Al-Deen – Jetzt, Hier, Immer (Columbia, 2002)
• Catterfeld – Niemand Sonst (Hansa, 2002)
• Laith Al-Deen – Melomanie (Columbia, 2002)
• Schallbau – People Are Making History (Flying Rhino Freestyle, 2001)
• Lath al-Deen – Es tut mir leid (In Motion Records, 2001)
• Laith al-Deen – Ich Will Nur Wissen ... (Epic, 2001)
• Simon Collins – All Of Who You Are (WEA, 2000)
• Simon Collins – Money Maker (WEA, 2000)
• Laith Al-Deen – Bilder Von Dir (Epic, 2000)
• Simon Collins – Shine Through (WEA, 2000)
• Laith Al-Deen – Kleine Helden (Epic, 2000)
• Cosmic Baby – Sketches In Spring (Schallbau Remix) (Intercord, 1999)
• Simon Collins – Pride (WEA, 1999)
• OOMPH! – Das Weisse Licht (Fütter Mich-Remix) (Virgin, 1999)
• Bandaloop – Extraordinary (Schallbau-Mix) (Columbia, 1999)
• Daff-o-dil – Insanity (Schallbau's Jumper Mix) (Virgin, 1999)
• Vega – Vega (Epic, 1999)
• Schallbau – Schallbau's Point Zero Vol. 1 (Logic Records, 1998)
• Rooster vs. Silver vs. Lamont Humphrey – I Like The Sun (Schallbau Mix) (Logic Records, 1998)
• Trickbaby – Indie-Yarn (Logic Records, BMG, 1998)
• Strawpeople – Taller Than God (Columbia, 1997)