Tim Engelhardt returns to Poker Flat Recordings to build on his already impressive reputation. Engelhardt, one of Cologne’s youngest and brightest electronic music stars on the rise is responsible for numerous dancefloor bombs over the last years.

Here, he drops two slinky, crafted pieces of melodic house destined for the crates of countless respected DJs and dance music aficionados. ‘First Contact’ combines beautiful synth lines with a shuffling, infectious groove and a maturity way beyond his years. ‘Light The Fire’ incorporates magical melodic chimes reminiscent of Four Tet or Floating Points, with a thick sub bass and Detroit style pads that add up to a highly affecting track – a real triumph. We had the chance to chat with the young producer. Enjoy !

WWD: Welcome to When We Dip Tim, how has the new decade been treating you so far? 

Pretty well, I started the new decade with gigs in Istanbul, Athens, Berlin, Barcelona, Stockholm, Cape Town, Toronto, New York and Dresden as well as a few days spent in the studio finishing my upcoming album.

WWD: You said that your dad listened to a lot of prog rock when you were growing up… do you think that ultimately ended up influencing the progressive nature of a lot of your own music? 

I’ve always been into progressive one way or the other because of that early exposure to it… so I think yeah, that’s mainly the reason why my music is inspired by that so much.

WWD: You’ve already been involved in the music industry for some time now… how do you think getting started at such a young age has affected your outlook, and how you see your career progressing? 

Of course it’s slightly different for oneself to experience this all when you’re 21 vs when you’re 40.  Usually, in the past 4 years wherever I went I received praise for doing all this at such a young age and getting started to early – which made me intimated most of the times. Over time I got more comfortable appreciating that, it’s just an inner feeling my career is only at the start right now and I only told parts of the story so far, so there’s an urge to build on the reputation I built and develop my musical work further.

WWD; You’re one of a small percentage of electronic producers that make ‘club’ music, but don’t really DJ. Why is that? Do you think that will ever change? 

It will most likely, I played a couple of hybrid sets recently so I might eventually transition to DJ too at some point. That being said, in the studio environment, I am always looking for new ways to express myself in potential collaborations or partnerships that don’t necessarily take place in a dancefloor environment too.

WWD: What does your live set up consist of? Are you always adding new bits of kit to enhance or alter the experience? 

Currently I’m running Ableton + Ableton Push, DJ TechTools Midi Fighter, Elektron Model:Samples, Strymon Volante and a Roli Blocks, but I’m constantly replacing pieces or adding something to make each show feel and sound unique.

WWD: Tell us about your new EP First Contact… the title seems to suggest something extra-terrestrial, is that where the inspiration came from?  

The inspiration came mainly from records that I used to when I first discovered this kind of music, think Matthew Jonson, Extrawelt or Dominik Eulberg.

WWD: You already have a long history with Poker Flat…what keeps you coming back to the label? 

Poker Flat has a firm place in dance music, it’s been an important label for two decades which I respect a lot and they in turn respect my way of creating music which you can feel in every way of this collaboration.

It’s a fruitful partnership where working together nowadays is very easy and straight-forward.

WWD: Do you have a particular favourite record from the last two decades of Poker Flat? 

Indeed there’s a couple of them which I still cherish, for example James What – „It Feels Wrong“, Johannes Brecht – „What’s About“, not to forget older classics like Trentemoeller’s „Moan“ or the Luciano remix of Argy’s „Love Dose“.

WWD: What else do you have planned over the coming months that we should look out for? 

My new album is releasing this summer, I also have a couple more EP’s that will hit the shelves as well as one or two selected remixes. There’ll be lots of music this year.

WWD: Finally, what’s the best record you heard this year that we should all go right off and listen to? 

My personal favorite from 2020 is Enter Exit from Daniel Avery & Alessandro Cortini. Listen on headphones!

WWD: Thanks Tim!

You can stream or buy his new EP HERE