Thomas Fehlmann

A veteran of the German underground since the late '70s, Thomas Fehlmann has played a key role in post-punk, techno and experimental ambient music. The Swiss-born musician first achieved acclaim as a member of the Neue Deutsche Welle band Palais Schaumburg; in 1988 he founded the label Teutonic Beats, creating a platform for emerging techno talents like Jorg Burger, Wolfgang Voigt and Westbam. In the early '90s he helped cement links between Berlin and Detroit via his project 3MB, with Juan Atkins and Basic Channel's Moritz von Oswald, and as the decade progressed his lush, aquatic fusions of dub, breakbeats and synthesizer music helped keep ambient music from fading into the wallpaper. An occasional partner of the Orb's Alex Paterson, Fehlmann is also a member of the Kompakt label's extended family and is a cofounder, alongside his frequent collaborator Gudrun Gut, of the Ocean Club, a weekly radio show.