From Elaste to Compost — Michael Reinboth's Musical Method

In the early 1980s, while Germany was still finding its cultural footing, Michael Reinboth launched Elaste magazine, capturing a transformative era when neon replaced disco balls and electronic beats defied conventional speed limits. He carried record crates to clubs at age twenty, playing everything from New Wave to proto-disco at his first gigs in Hannover. This musical range became his trademark, eventually leading him to Munich, where he introduced garage house to Bavaria and established his legendary Into Somethin' club night—what The Face would later call "one of the best club nights in Europe."

Three decades after founding Compost Records in 1993, Reinboth remains stubbornly independent, choosing artistic integrity over commercial pressure. This conversation took place by email.

Lawrence Peryer: Before Compost Records, you published Elaste magazine in the early ‘80s. What cultural void were you trying to fill with this publication?

Michael Reinboth: I published the Elaste magazine from 1980 to 1986, and what a turbulent time that was! In the cultural history of mankind, there are only a few such short phases—we are talking about six years—in which such diverse phenomena changed the world simultaneously in such a virulent way. Perhaps not to change it, but at least to influence it sustainably.

This was a radical change of zeitgeist that cannot be traced back to two or three major events, but rather one that took place in several subcultures. This shift was sometimes backed by rapid technical developments, which initially made their way into society underground and later became openly and widely adopted. One result of this was MTV—the New Wave and the "New Romantics" and their styling. Flat, pointed shoes replaced platform shoes, tight, narrow, preferably black, instead of colorful bell-bottoms; there were neon tubes instead of disco balls and Russian constructivism instead of the hippy-esque Roger Dean aesthetic, dark HR Giger biomechanoid gloom instead of colorful bellows typography and graffiti instead of the Neue Prächtigkeit school and photorealism.

Movies like Bladerunner (Ridley Scott), Subway (Luc Besson), the films of John Carpenter, Scarface (Brian De Palma), Brazil (Terry Gilliam), Terminator (James Cameron), Christiane F (Uli Edel), The Elephant Man, Dune, Blue Velvet (all David Lynch), Paris Texas (Wim Wenders), and Jim Jarmusch. What fun the odorama was, newly introduced by John Waters in Polyester, featuring drag queen Divine, in which cinema-goers could use a scratch-and-sniff card to smell what was happening in some scenes.

This, along with a few more, marked the beginning of blockbuster cinema and the simultaneous introduction of home entertainment via VHS video. At this point, I can't resist the comparison to recent films and must say: the last twenty-five years have not been that influential.

Hip hop and graffiti were making waves worldwide, on turntables and grey facades. The stars of the street found their way into the galleries (such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Futura 2000, Keith Haring), and a German pastry chef and cinema usher became a singing star in New York (Klaus Nomi). With her worldwide hit "O Superman," Laurie Anderson, an artist from the visual arts and theatre and performance scene, added an important nuance to Warhol's fifteen minutes: "...you can come as you are, but you have to pay when you go."

Performances became hip, in nightclubs or on music stages. In the clubs, there was no longer a range of beats-per-minute speed, from 92 BPM to 150 BPM (Devo); everything was not only allowed, but even desired. From Italy, not only Italo-Disco, but also the Cosmic Sound. And danceable world music was stocked in record stores. All this happened between 1980 and 1985.

House and techno also originated during this time. Larry Levan and Arthur Russell were the main pioneers.

The legendary Simmons drums came onto the map, used by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (OMD), for example, and were in every electronic band's studio and especially on stage after 1980. The first drum sequencers, such as the Roland CR78 and its successor, the Roland TR-808, which were used by John Foxx, OMD, Gary Numan, Soft Cell, Human League, and dozens of others, were also very important.

The first digital synthesizer with sampling technology was the Fairlight CMI.

It was also very important to be cool. Fad Gadget, Alan Vega, DAF, Devo, and hundreds of others decided to go for cool (often dressed in black) with the "colder" form of electronic music and new wave, avoiding any flower power gestures.

Then, Camcorders became available to the general public at the beginning of the ‘80s.

New fanzines or cult magazines were available: Spex, I-D, The Face, Elaste. Furniture was also getting a new design (Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Design), as was fashion; record covers were becoming grey or monochrome, jewelry was now available with sharp points or neon.

We (from Elaste) still didn't know where all this was going. But it was all exciting, energetic, empathetic-enthusiastic, diverse, and cool. So much new in such a short time! Until Madonna and Prince finally took over...

So it was a must, a feel, an intuition, and a need to contribute something to this cultural kind of revolution (void).

Lawrence: You've described Munich as "more soulful and definitely more Balearic" than other German cities. How did Munich's position as "the Weißwurstgrenze" (white sausage border) of the Cosmic scene shape what became the Compost sound?

Michael: This cosmic sound was coming from two, maximum three clubs in northern Italy, at the end of the ‘70s and early ‘80s. It definitely influenced me. It brought the whole world’s music styles, like African, jazz, Brazil, and Caribbean, onto the floor. I started DJ’ing in 1980 and played these tunes, mixed with New Wave, old-school Hip Hop, Garage, and more.

Ten years later, after further experiences of fusing styles in DJ sets and the daily practice of music journalism, I was inevitably led, in 1990, to my club night called Into Somethin’ and, in 1993, to Compost Records, with its first release in early 1994.

Lawrence: Your first DJ gig was in 1980. What music were you playing then that set you apart?

Michael: I lugged my own Curver boxes full of records to the club, featuring new wave, a little post-punk, proto-disco, garage, EBM (like Clock DVA), as well as old-school hip hop, Talking Heads, Devo, The Residents, and all that stuff. To be honest, if you grew up with such a variety, you get bored if you listen to a two-hour minimal techno or house set nowadays. Much respect for DJ mixing, but I prefer the full-spectrum variety of a DJ set.

Lawrence: You named your label Compost because it "denotes a catalyst for constitution and reactions." How has this philosophy of transformation guided your A&R decisions over three decades?

Michael: Compost is a fertilizer and has two hyper-modern syllables: "com" and "post.” My aim was, and still is, to fertilize musical tools (simply minimal tracks) with a certain vibe, style, or unforeseen, surprising element. Doesn't matter if it's new wave meets jazz or Brazilian meets techno, as long as it works or feels like a hybrid, it could be on Compost.

Lawrence: You've said Compost "takes the best things from the past and keeps them alive in modern times and the future," while avoiding the retro. How do you maintain this balance?

Michael: Compost was never acid jazz, which sounded deliberately retro, often with a Seventies-like feel. Intentionally, we try(ied) to work mainly with club music producers, who use computers, drum machines, etc., which helps keep/kept the sound fresh, future-jazzy, and modern. The retro aspect shall be experienced in the minds of the producers—learning, listening, and sampling from old music, but bringing it up to date.

Lawrence: In interviews, you've mentioned being "more music lover than businessman." How has this perspective affected your label's trajectory?

Michael: Oh yes, I never changed my A&R handling or orientation. I don't sign projects that may become a financial challenge or require a certain investment. In the last thirty years, we could have signed popular acts who became more successful rather than our artists on Compost, but then you may lose credibility, the vibe, perhaps your own acts, if you have to focus on the successful ones.

You can call it conservative or careful, but if you are so open-minded music-wise, you can't resist releasing the next newcomer 12" or side project, instead of the third album by famous XY.

Lawrence: The early Compost releases found more acclaim internationally before gaining recognition in Germany. Why were Germans initially hesitant about supporting their electronic music scene?

Michael: Germany was always a bit shy to lift up their own cultural ‘products’ or cultural influence. It has something to do with World War II. This changed somewhat with the football championships in the 2000s; suddenly, it was common, especially among the younger generation, to wave the German flag, and Germany began to show that it was proud of something.

Furthermore, the UK music press was more influential worldwide and open-minded, whereas the German press was conservative and predominantly rock-pop oriented. The influential DJs for our music, such as Gilles Peterson, Norman Jay, James Lavelle, Benji B, UFO, Kyoto Jazz Massive, and the Ubiquity staff and artists, were based in the UK, Japan, and the US.

Our drum & bass stuff by Fauna Flash or other Compost artists was only played by nearly all the luminaries in the UK, not in Germany. Look back at Kraftwerk, they became more famous through the adoption and veneration of the Black underground community in the States.

Lawrence: Carl Craig quickly agreed to remix Beanfield's "Tides," saying, "The tune is awesome, I must do a remix of this." What was it like collaborating with Detroit artists during that era?

Michael: Well, we listened to and revered almost all good Detroit artists from the beginning—for example, "Galaxy II Galaxy" was a massive hit at my club night, Into Somethin'. I met Mad Mike for the first time in the late ‘90s at MIDEM in Cannes, where he came to our Compost showcase. I was a bit astonished that he showed up, and during our brief conversation, he mentioned that he had come mainly because of us and liked our music.

At the same time, we'd done two US tours with Rainer Trüby, Fauna Flash, and Trüby Trio. Carl Craig organized our events in Detroit, and the who's who producers were there. We were touched, we didn't expect that.

We've released two Moodymann remixes on Compost because we knew each other from that event, and a bit later on, we shared the same floor at the same hotel for a few years in Miami at Winter Music Conference (WMC). Since then, and whenever he's in our neighborhood, we'll meet up.

Lawrence: You've described yourself as a "mental chameleon." How do you maintain openness to new sounds while keeping a recognizable label identity?

Michael: Good question, not so easy to answer. If you were growing up in your early youth with the ‘70s sound, then the Elaste new wave years, hip hop, garage, Native Tongue, acid house, techno, house, trip hop, drum & bass, disco edit revival and being a soul and jazz addict, a DJ too, then you have so much music in your blood, plus each revival is an amplifier, too. You can't avoid or resist being open-minded.

Not as clever or cool as David Bowie, and not being a recording artist myself, but I’ve taken some of his transformations to heart. If you ever want to define the Compost sound or identity, then I would say: impossible (!) or one of the best ‘hybrid’ (bundled, crossed, mixed) labels in Europe.

Lawrence: You're working on a book about the history of Elaste magazine. What aspects of that era do you most want to document?

Michael: The book will be called Elaste — Greatest Hits, has 550 pages, and alongside the award-winning graphic design, it features exclusive photos by the likes of Ellen von Unwerth, Sheila Rock, Claus Wickrath, Eamonn McCabe, Marc LeBon, Jean-Jacques Castres, and Martin Brading. The book also features exclusive period interviews with Andy Warhol, Kraftwerk, Pedro Almodóvar, Dieter Meier (Yello), Mick Jagger, Charles Wilp, Bob Wilson, Boy George, Bill Wyman, John Lydon, Duran Duran, DAF, and more. And we’ve featured some very famous German writers and authors, as well as a few foreign ones, in Elaste magazine, including Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Maxim Biller, Diedrich Diederichsen, Jon Savage, Patrick Moxey, and Thomas Meinecke. Last but not least, the book includes new forewords, the making of, and an epilogue by me about the period in question.

Lawrence: Your label recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. What achievements from the last five years are you most proud of?

Michael: The first release came in early 1994. A bit proud of that it survived for so long, because many labels that accompanied us in the first 15-20 years no longer exist. And we didn't do a bad job: there are a few artists who have been on Compost since the beginning. Additionally, our compilation series, such as Future Sounds Of Jazz, Glücklich, and Future Sounds Of Kraut, have become classics.

Lawrence: What current musical trends do you find exciting, and which ones leave you cold?

Michael: Well, I don't see any groundbreaking trends like there were drum & bass, new wave, and techno back then. Even rare groove, acid jazz, and the third disco revival were infusions. Minimal left me cold.

What I like is that the ‘80s sound is back in a big and dominant way, with promising new talents who are digging deeper into that sound. In any case, it is more skillful than it was a few years ago with the first Eighties revival. What I also recognize, with a smile and goodwill, is that the Nineties underground house sound is making a comeback.

Lawrence: You've said, "I feel young, gifted, foolish, music-hungry, and still unsuccessful." What would success look like to you at this point in your career?

Michael: I can't complain about the respect I get for my A&R work. We don't have a global hit or an act that sells millions, but that's not the most important thing to me. I've always wanted to make more of my own music, but I don't have the time to do it well. However, that would still be a goal, and ultimately, my success.

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