TT: YES, I DID INTERNSHIPS IN BANKS. IT WAS COMPLETELY DIFFER-ENT, AND I DIDN’T ENJOY IT. I FELT LIKE I WAS PRETENDING TO BE SOMEONE I WASN’T. HONESTLY, I PURSUED IT MORE FOR MY PARENTS THAN FOR MYSELF. IT WAS A TOUGH DECISION TO GIVE IT UP, SINCE THEY HAD INVESTED SO MUCH IN MY EDUCATION. BUT I’M GLAD I DID. I CAN’T IMAGINE EVER WORKING IN A BANK AGAIN.

TT: DEFINITELY. I RECENTLY STARTED PAINTING AGAIN, AND I REAL-IZED HOW MUCH I HAD MISSED IT. SOCIAL MEDIA CONSTANTLY BOMBARDS YOU WITH OUTSIDE INPUT, BUT PAINTING CALMS ME DOWN AND HELPS ME CLEAR MY HEAD WHILE RECONNECTING WITH CREATIVITY.

TT: EXACTLY. BACK THEN, I ONLY POSTED THINGS I PERSONALLY LIKED, WITHOUT THINKING MUCH ABOUT IT. LATER IT BECAME MORE PROFESSIONAL.

TT: HONESTLY, YES. MY STYLE CHANGES QUICKLY. LOOKING BACK EVEN SIX MONTHS, I FEEL LIKE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSON. I TRY TO RE-FLECT MY CURRENT STATE AND WHO I AM IN THE MOMENT. I’M GRATEFUL TO HAVE THIS OUTLET TO EXPRESS MYSELF AND EXPERIMENT. THAT’S THE BEAUTY OF SOCIAL MEDIA – YOU CAN BE WHOEVER YOU WANT, WITHOUT LIMITATIONS.

TT: I DO HOLD BACK SOMETIMES. THE LONGER YOU’RE IN THIS SPACE, THE MORE PRESSURE THERE IS – FROM THE OUTSIDE, AND FROM YOURSELF. IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS NONE. I JUST POSTED WHATEVER I WANTED. NOW I PAY AT-TENTION TO ENGAGEMENT AND REACTIONS. STILL, I TRY TO RETURN TO WHY I STARTED: POSTING WHAT I TRULY LIKE.

TT: Consistency. At one point, I forced myself to post every day for engagement, and I underestimated how hard it is to maintain quality long term. I’d go all in for a while, create lots of content, then burn out and need a break. Eventually, I realized balance is more important than intensity. I also underestimated the mental side – the pressure, comparisons, and psychological strain. It’s a rewarding job, but it can be tough mentally.

TT: Support from my friends and family. Without them, I wouldn’t be here today.

TT: Mainly through two things: self-love – accepting yourself and showing up as you are – and kindness toward others. Social media makes it easy to judge anonymously, often with-out realizing the impact. I want to nurture a positive, supportive community, and I’m grateful that my audience reflects that. You never know what someone is going through, so a little understanding and kindness go a long way.

TT: Yes – and I’ve learned to accept it when I’m not doing well. I try to share those moments, too, and the response has been incredibly supportive. At first, I was afraid people might judge me, but they appreciated the honesty and often related to it. That helped me realize it’s important to show vulnerability – that’s real life.

TT: I kept getting comments saying I was always so positive, but I knew that wasn’t true. I felt guilty, like I was pretending. That led to impostor syndrome. I felt like a fraud. Over time, I allowed myself to feel and express negative emotions, both privately and online. Sharing them went hand in hand with accepting them myself.

TT: These days, about half and half. In the beginning, it was all intuition. But the longer you work in this field, the harder it is to rely only on spontaneity. With shoots, campaigns, and events, structure is important to keep things manageable.

TT: My best friend. There were times when I was ready to quit social media and go back to finance. She gave me strength, believed in me, and reminded me of my goals. I’ll always be grateful to her.

TT: Recently, I’ve found the courage to be authentic – to not fear judgment. It makes life so much more peaceful.

TT: My dream has always been to create my own brand. Right now it feels impossible, but one day I’d love to build something that’s truly mine and can inspire others. When people tell me I’ve encouraged them – like when I cut my hair short – it makes me feel like what I do has meaning.

TT: Sometimes, yes. It can feel superficial. That’s why I try to bring in personality, honesty, and positivity – so it’s not just about appearances, but about something deeper.

LEN FAKI: I’M WHAT MY OLD FOOTBALL COACH USED TO CALL AN “OT- TOMAN SWABIAN.” NOT TURKISH, BUT AN OTTOMAN SWABIAN — THAT WAS HIS ROUGH WAY OF SAYING: YOU’RE ONE OF US. I FIRST DISCOVERED THE CLUSCENE IN STUTTGART, BUT BACK THEN, THE AUTHORITIES AND THE POLICE KEPT CLUBS UNDER CONSTANT PRESSURE. THERE WERE ENDLESS DRUG CONTROLS. AT THE SAME TIME, THE WHOLE EASY LISTENING AND LOUNGE BAR THING STARTED –STANDING OUTSIDE WITH A COCKTAIL TO BACKGROUND BEATS. THAT WASN’T FOR ME. AT SOME POINT, I KNEW IT’S TIME TO LEAVE. SO, SHORTLY AFTER THE MILLENNIUM, I MOVED TO BERLIN.

LF: THERE HAS TO BE AN INNER FORCE, A PASSION THAT DRIVES YOU. THAT’S HOW IT WAS FOR ME. I COME FROM AN IMMIGRANT FAMILY, THE FIRST GENERATION TO GROW UP IN GERMANY. THERE WASN’T MUCH SUPPORT FOR THE PATH I CHOSE; PEOPLE AROUND ME SIMPLY DIDN’T UNDERSTAND IT. EVERYTHING I’VE ACHIEVED, I’VE BUILT THROUGH MY OWN WILLPOWER. I COULDN’T ACCEPT THE IDEA OF FINISHING AN APPRENTICESHIP, GETTING A STABLE JOB, GETTING MARRIED, BUYING A CAR – THAT WASN’T MY LIFE. INSTEAD, THERE WAS THIS POWERFUL FORCE IN MY HEART AND GUT THAT JUST WOULDN’T LET GO.

LF: YES, THERE WAS. WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER, A FRIEND SAID TO ME, “COME WITH ME TONIGHT –THERE’S SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING WITH ACID AND TECHNO.” I WAS LIKE, WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO BE?
I WENT ALONG WITH HIM TO A CLUB AND IT WAS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. LIKE SEEING A PERSON FOR THE FIRST TIME AND JUST BEING COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY. THE ENERGY IN THE ROOM WAS OVERWHELMING – THAT SENSE OF TOGETHERNESS. YOU COULD FEEL THAT NATIONALITY OR BACKGROUND DIDN’T MATTER. NOBODY CARED. IT WAS ALL ABOUT FEELING THE MUSIC. I
SOAKED IT ALL IN THAT NIGHT AND IT COMPLETELY CAPTIVATED ME. AND AFTER THAT, I JUST KNEW: THIS IS MY THING.

LF: I ACTUALLY DO. IT TOOK ME A LONG TIME TO GET TO WHERE I AM TODAY, AND THERE WERE DEFINITELY MOMENTS WHEN I ALMOST GAVE UP – WHEN I’D GIVEN EVERYTHING BUT COULD STILL ONLY AFFORD POTATOES WITH KETCHUP. BUT I STAYED THE COURSE. AND EVENTUALLY, I REACHED THE GOALS I’D SET FOR MYSELF. SO, YES – I BELIEVE THINGS CAN WORK OUT IF YOU HAVE FAITH IN YOURSELF AND IN WHAT YOU’RE DOING.

LF: OH, I’M VERY DRIVEN. ESPECIALLY IN MY 20S AND 30S –NOTHING MATTERED TO ME EXCEPT MUSIC AND THE POSSIBILITIES IT OPENED.

LF: EXACTLY. IF YOU ASK THE YOUNGER GENERATION TODAY, YOU MIGHT GET A DIFFERENT ANSWER. I DON’T MEAN TO POINT FINGERS, BUT IN MY  GENERATION, SUCCESS WASN’T THE PRIMARY MOTIVATION. YOU JUST WANTED TO BE PART OF IT – TO PLAY, TO SHARE YOUR MUSIC, TO HAVE A COMMUNITY. I WAS JUST HAPPY WITH EVERY CLUB GIG I GOT. I DIDN’T CARE WHERE I PLAYED. I ALWAYS GAVE 100 PERCENT, JUST WANTED TO ENJOY IT AND SHARE THAT ENERGY. OF COURSE, YOU DEVELOP GOALS, AND EVENTUALLY YOU BECOME MORE SELECTIVE. BUT THE INTENTION TO BE FAMOUS IN MY GENERATION CAME MUCH LATER – IF AT ALL.

LF: YES. I’VE ALWAYS DONE WHAT INTERESTED ME, WHAT I FELT CONNECTED TO. EVEN WITH MY LABEL – SUPPORTING YOUNG ARTISTS, GIVING THEM A PLATFORM. WHY? BECAUSE WHEN I STARTED, I HAD ALMOST NO CONNECTIONS. BACK THEN, WE STILL HAD FAX MACHINES! IT WAS A HIERARCHICAL WORLD. YOU COULDN’T JUST DM SOMEONE ON INSTAGRAM. IT TOOK REAL WORK AND TIME TO GET NOTICED. THAT EXPERIENCE STUCK WITH ME, AND NOW I WANT TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE WHO TRULY WANT IT, WHO HAVE THAT SPARK, WHO WORK HARD, WHO LOVE WHAT THEY DO.

LF: I’M NO FORTUNE TELLER. I’VE MADE MY SHARE OF MISJUDGMENTS, TOO. SOMETIMES, IT TAKES TIME TO REALLY UNDERSTAND PEOPLE. AT FIRST, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC — THEN YOU GET TO KNOW THE PERSON BEHIND IT. OVER TIME, YOU DEVELOP A BETTER SENSE FOR THAT.

LF: THERE’S NO FORMULA. YOU NEED PASSION, ABOVE ALL. AND AGAIN — IT’S ABOUT WHY YOU DO IT. IF YOU CAN ENJOY WHAT YOU DO EVEN WITHOUT FAME, THEN YOU’RE ALREADY MILES AHEAD OF SOMEONE WHO’S JUST CHASING RECOGNITION.

LF: ABSOLUTELY. YOU CAN LOSE YOURSELF VERY QUICKLY. YOU NEED PLACES AND PEOPLE THAT GROUND YOU AND GIVE YOU STRENGTH. FOR ME, THAT’S HIKING IN THE MOUNTAINS IN SUMMER. THAT’S WHAT BRINGS ME BACK DOWN.

LF: EXACTLY. IN DJ CULTURE, IT WAS NEVER ABOUT WHO YOU WERE. YOU DIDN’T SHOW YOUR FACE. THE IDEA WAS TO LET THE MUSIC SPEAK FOR ITSELF.

LF: YES, THAT SHIFT STARTED A WHILE AGO. I’VE NOTICED IT, TOO, ESPECIALLY IN THE PAST FEW YEARS, POST-PANDEMIC. THE SCALE HAS DOUBLED. WE’RE AT POP-STAR LEVEL NOW. BUT THAT’S NOT MY WORLD AND I DON’T WANT IT TO BE.

LF: EXACTLY. I’M NOT A POP STAR. NEITHER MY PERSONALITY NOR MY MUSIC LENDS ITSELF TO THAT. SURE, IT’S FUN TO PLAY FOR HUGE CROWDS SOMETIMES, AND I HOPE THAT CONTINUES IN SOME FORM. BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT KEEPS ME GOING.

LF: AT PEAK TIMES, ABOUT 130 SHOWS A YEAR — AROUND THREE A WEEK.

LF: THAT’S THE HARDEST PART OF THE JOB – AND WHAT MAKES SOME PEOPLE EVENTUALLY BURN OUT. BUT I’M GLAD I PUSHED THOSE LIMITS FOR A
WHILE. YOU’RE FULL OF ENERGY, HAVING FUN, TESTING YOURSELF. BUT AT SOME POINT, YOU REALIZE: OKAY, STOP — THIS IS TOO MUCH.

EVERY SINGLE ONE WITH THE SAME ENTHUSIASM. ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE IS LYING. YOU’RE HUMAN – YOU ARRIVE TIRED, SOMETIMES, WITH ONLY THREE HOURS OF SLEEP. SURE, THE CROWD GIVES YOU ENERGY
BACK, BUT SOMETIMES IT’S JUST WORK, NOT ALWAYS PURE FULFILLMENT. IN THE PAST, YOU HAD MORE TIME TO GROW INTO IT, TO MATURE. TODAY, YOUNG ARTISTS ARE PUSHED TOO FAST AT THEIR OWN EXPENSE. MANAGERS AND BOOKERS SHOULD PROTECT THEM MORE.

LF: OF COURSE. YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO FALL. I’VE FALLEN MANY TIMES AND ALWAYS LEARNED FROM IT. THAT’S IMPORTANT. FALL, BUT GET BACK UP.
AND PAY ATTENTION TO WHERE YOU TRIPPED, SO YOU DON’T FALL AGAIN IN THE SAME PLACE.

LF: DEFINITELY. OVERCOMING PAIN OR RESISTANCE HAS ALWAYS HELPED ME – IT’S LIKE TRAINING. WHEN YOU PUSH PAST THE PAIN THRESHOLD, YOU REACH NEW GROUND. FOR ME, NOTHING HAPPENED OVERNIGHT. THERE WAS NO ROCKET START. IT TOOK YEARS TO REACH ANY KIND OF STATUS. OF COURSE THERE WERE MILESTONES THAT GAVE ME MOMENTUM, BUT THAT SLOW GROWTH HELPED ME BUILD REAL CONSISTENCY.
MY STRENGTH IS PATIENCE, ALSO IN PRODUCTION. ESPECIALLY DURING THE PANDEMIC, I REALIZED HOW MUCH WE GET STUCK IN A HAMSTER WHEEL. SHOW AFTER SHOW, WITHOUT CREATIVE EVOLUTION.

LF: YOU HAVE TO GIVE YOUR SOUL TIME TO EVOLVE. MUSIC CAN’T BE SEPARATED FROM WHAT’S INSIDE YOU. THAT’S WHY, AFTER THE PANDEMIC, I STARTED PLAYING FAR FEWER SHOWS. I REALIZED I ALSO LOVE SPENDING TIME IN THE STUDIO – EXPERIMENTING, REDISCOVERING THE PLAYFUL SIDE OF CREATING. I TRY TO FIND BALANCE NOW, LEAVING GAPS IN MY SCHEDULE – A FEW WEEKENDS WITH NO BOOKINGS.

LF: ON A PERSONAL LEVEL, THAT I’VE KEPT MY LOVE FOR WHAT I DO. THAT MUSIC STILL EXCITES ME AFTER ALL THESE YEARS. I NEVER EXPECTED THAT.

LF: IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A NEW GENERATION OF TECHNO – THOUGH WE DIDN’T KNOW IT THEN. ANDRÉ GALLUZZI AND MARCEL DETTMANN WERE THERE, TOO. OVER 20 YEARS LATER, THAT MOMENT HAS DEFINITELY SHAPED THE GLOBAL SCENE.
BERGHAIN WAS A VISIONARY SPACE — THE RIGHT CLUB, IN THE RIGHT CITY, AT THE RIGHT TIME.

LF: YES, A CERTAIN BOND REMAINS FROM THAT SHARED EXPERIENCE. BACK THEN, THERE WAS MORE EXCHANGE, ESPECIALLY AMONG ARTISTS ON THE SAME LABEL. THAT CREATED A COMMUNITY. TODAY, EVERYONE WANTS THEIR OWN LABEL, THEIR OWN BRAND, TOTAL CONTROL.

LF: IT CAN BE. BUT WHEN YOU PLAY, YOU FEEL A DEEP SENSE OF CONNECTION. YOU STOP EXISTING AS A SINGLE PERSON BEHIND THE DECKS. YOU BECOME PART OF SOMETHING LARGER. THAT’S THE FEELING I SEEK – WHEN PEOPLE MERGE INTO ONE ENERGY. FOR A FEW HOURS, THE WORLD’S PROBLEMS DISAPPEAR. THEY COME BACK, OF COURSE, BUT PEOPLE LEAVE RECHARGED. I REALLY BELIEVE THOSE SHARED MOMENTS CAN CHANGE SOMETHING.

LF: YES — SOMETIMES YOU CAN FEEL THE ELECTRICITY THE MOMENT YOU ENTER THE ROOM. BUT OFTEN, IT’S THE UNEXPECTED. YOU PLAY A TRACK NO ONE KNOWS, TENSION IS BUILDING UP AND SUDDENLY, THE WHOLE CROWD ERUPTS. THAT’S WHEN YOU KNOW YOU’VE CREATED MAGIC.

LF: EXACTLY. YOU COULD FEED 50 TRACKS INTO AN AI, TELL IT TO CREATE A SET – AND IT WOULD. BUT IT’S THE HUMAN ELEMENT – SENSING THE CROWD, CHOOSING IN THE MOMENT – THAT CREATES THOSE IRREPLACEABLE EXPERIENCES. AI WILL BE PART OF THE PROCESS, SURE, BUT EMOTION IS HUMAN.

Baran Kok: Yeah, of course.

BK: A big one, for sure. I still remember when “So wie du bist” by MoTrip came out, that era really shaped me a lot. That was around 2015 or so. I remember my cousin showed it to me, and we would always argue about who’s better – Celo & Abdi or MoTrip – like, really dumb comparisons. They’re just super straight, you know? I basically grew up with that. But at some point, when I discovered female rap, mostly American female rap, not even German at first (I don’t think there was that much of it back then) that really took over. Especially Nicki Minaj, actually.

So I kind of followed it from a distance, but I was like, whatever. And then at some point, I was just like, no, fuck you.

BK: I always wanted to make music anyway, but it just wasn’t really possible you know with Kurdish family, immigrant family, and it was always like: you have to work, you have to become a doctor, a lawyer. My dad would always say, whenever he saw an artist: “Oh, that’s just an artist”. And I also had this image of artists like they live somewhere random, they’re dirty, they don’t shower, they don’t make money. That’s how I used to see it too, until I realized that you can actually make money from music. And I was always online, like since I was twelve. Always on social media. And that’s where I started seeing people post their stuff…

BK: Exactly, you see so much more that way. And I was like, oh my God, maybe it’s not that stupid after all.

BK: Yes, that’s right, my name is actually Baran Kok. I did think for a while that maybe I should come up with another name, but then I thought, if your last name is Kok, you have to use it. It would be stupid not to. Then I moved to Berlin and I thought, you just have to do it. If you don’t, someone else will. Get your act together, make connections, find some random studio. I had always written down a lot of ideas, but I never had any links to studios, producers, anything, and making music is insanely expensive. But then I asked the rapper Souly, and he said, “Yeah, of course, I’ll help you.” And that’s how we made Traurige Hure.

BK: Yes, for sure, and that’s really good.