Ghost Dubs interview & preview – “There was never a plan B”

Plus a first listen to ‘Chemical’ from the LP on The Bug’s Pressure label

Ghost Dubs – whose debut album Damaged is about to emerge on The Bug’s Pressure label – may be a new name, but the artist behind it has already gained plaudits for his dub-influenced experiemental music as Michael Fiedler and Jah Schulz. This album acknowledges the sonic blueprint drafted by the famous Berlin dub techno label Chain Reaction (and its successor Rythmn & Sound, as we discover), but its hollowed out, spectral grooves and monstrous, shuddering sub-bass movements have a character all of their own.

We asked Stuttgart-based Fieldler to answer a few questions for us, and he not only obliged admirably, he and The Bug also let us exclusively preview its opening track ‘Chemical’. What gents….

Hi and thanks for your time….  First of all, can you tell us where you are right now, and what kind of day you’re having…  Been anywhere already or going anywhere interesting later?

It’s Friday July 18, 8:20 in the morning, I’m sitting in my little garden with tea and cereal. I start my day slowly. Most of the time I can do that.

I’m spending the rest of the morning in the studio doing various things.

This afternoon I have to go out of the house again… I’m recording my monthly podcast with my colleague Benny Ulmer. “KLANGGEMISCH” has been around for three years. It’s about dub and sound system culture in Germany. (in German, on Youtube)

Tell us about your earliest musical memories – parents, siblings, school, teenage years, embarrassing early bands etc..

I grew up in the East German provinces, actually without any musical background, but had the desire to be a musician from a very early age. Since the first time I saw a guy on TV with a synthesizer.  I can’t remember ever wanting to be anything else.

A very important film in my childhood was a film called Beat Street. One of the very winey music films that was shown in the GDR. It was a big hype in the GDR. The film had a huge influence on me. The music, the DJ style…

Later strong influences were early techno, UK hardcore, jungle, ambient, DJ music, but I also listened to a lot of pop, especially that which was also produced electronically.

Yes, I was at school, hahaha… but I don’t really have good memories of it. Somehow I got it over with.

In 1994 I moved to Stuttgart and here I finally had access to music, clubs and instruments.

Was there a ‘moment of truth’ when your current musical path suddenly became clear to you, or was it more a matter of steady evolution?

I recently realised that I’m living exactly the way I imagined when I was younger. I make strange music, I make records and I play concerts. That’s what I love. It was a long road, and not easy either… but there was never a plan B.

Give us a quick precis of your musical activities/releases up to this point, for the uninitiated…

The first album was released in 1999… since then I have had around 50, maybe 60 releases with different bands/projects.

A few very important milestones were, for example:

LesSix (an experimental duo with Günter Rolle, who unfortunately passed away in 2020)

Annagemina (an electronic ArtPop duo with Anna Illenberger. We have released some really great albums, they are some of my favorite productions. She now continues to work solo as KITZ)

The best known is probably Jah Schulz. Under this name I produce more classic sound system dub. I release a lot of records and play a lot of live dub shows.

As Michael Fiedler I release the very experimental electronic stuff. Weird and noisy.  The album One_Ten was released in 2022, which was possibly a small signpost in the direction of GHOST DUBS, albeit less dubby. By the way, like the GHOST DUBS album, it was already mastered by Stefan Betke (Pole).

I also make music for theatre and film and I am co-owner of the INFINITE DENSITY record label. Dub 7” vinyls come out every now and then.

You’ve released albums under different names before – how does Ghost Dubs vary from them, and why did you choose that particular name for the project?

 I chose a new name because it’s a new sound.

GHOST DUBS plays in the same sound cosmos as some of my other stuff, but I still go a few steps further with GD. It’s a new playing field.  It’s more minimalist, some things a little disturbing and much more experimental than my dub releases with JAH SCHULZ. I think I would have offended some of my dubheads.

 It’s sometimes very refreshing to start something new… it feels good. And I am sure that it will also drive the other projects in the long term.

Likewise, what is the significance of the name Damaged?

The name Damaged has a special meaning for me as it reflects my artistic approach. Kevin from Pressure suggested the title and I immediately thought it fit. Although I can’t pinpoint the exact reason, I think the name fits well with the intentionally broken and imperfect sounds in my tracks. I allow for mistakes and elements that others would laboriously remove, and make these “damaged” sounds an essential part of my music.

The publicity material for the album mentions the work of Chain Reaction Records – what is it about their output that made it central to your musical thinking, even so long after their demise…

In fact, I would draw less comparisons to Chain Reaction… much more their later Rhythm & Sound influenced me, and still does. There are a few similarities, parallels… but I still follow my own path, which is rather chaotic. Strong musical influences in the creation also come from Scientist and Tubby, Mad Professor and On-U, but also Merzbow and FreeJazz.

But because of the influence of the old masters, I try not to think “retro”.

What would King Tubby do today, with access to current technology? In my imagination he would create the craziest FutureDub shit. … but, maybe not.

How did the hook up with The Bug’s label happen?

I released the two LPs “Dub over Science” parts 1 & 2 on the Erfurt based label Basscomesaveme in 2020 and 2023. They were created and released as Jah Schulz, but they don’t really fit into the Jah Schulz sound world.  They are more like by-products of experimental shenanigans in the studio.

Anyway, he got his hands on these two albums. He showed them on Instagram… we started writing, and at some point he asked me if I would do something for PRESSURE. Everything was super strange for me, I’ve been following him for many, many years. And then something like that. I’m telling you, it’s not that easy to cope with.

A story like from a music fairy tale book.

And what’s next for Ghost Dubs?  Anything live/DJ/release/remix-wise in the pipeline we should know about?

-I’m currently working on my Ghost Dubs live set. This is a priority right now. I’m a live electronic musician through and through. I definitely want to play the material live. But it is not transmitted one-to-one on stage. It’s more of a live remix of my tracks. Every gig is different. Simply playing the tracks like a DJ would bore me.

-Ghost Dubs productions are not planned at the moment. But there are a few sketches, ideas. This has to be very casual/intuitive, otherwise it will be shit.

-I like doing remixes because it’s more technical, less emotional than with your own piece. It’s fun every now and then.

-I have a few releases with Jah Schulz in the next few months.

To pre-order your double vinyl copy of Damaged, expected out on August 16, click here