There is that nickname given to him in his table tennis club. So when he gets his first modest DJ job at 17, after 3 years of ambitious practising, the guy calls himself ‘Manian’, today a household name to virtually everybody in the dance scene. While he starts out playing "all kinds of stuff", he today is most famous for his fascinating DJing style in the hands-up/electro genres. Few people know as well as Manuel Reuter aka Manian how to keep a crowd energized for 90 minutes straight, his fans particularly admiring his beatmatching skills and the sheer number of songs he can play in a set.
Just watch the video of his smash hit to be released this week and you’ll know that that guy isn’t simply uttering empty promises when he says: ‘Welcome to the Club!’ If DJ Manian welcomes you to the place he knows best, you can absolutely rely on a great experience, on a unique night, at least on a piece of music produced to highest international standards.
Of course, to get there meant hard work.
His hard-working attitude already manifests itself in his teenage years. In order to pay for turntables and vinyls as a pupil of a strictly Catholic grammar school, he turns his passion for sports into a part-time job as a table tennis coach, training countless youth teams. He no longer coaches a table tennis club. Today, he sponsors his local club.
In 2000, Manuel starts studying public economics at the University of Bonn, even though at that point he already cares much more for DJing and producing. Still, he passes his intermediate exam as one of the best of his grade.
Two years later, he shocks his family by permanently leaving university. He has met two people who will change his whole life. One of them is Sven Petersen, who becomes his mentor for quite some time. The other is Yann Peifer aka ‘Yanou,’ who has been his partner ever since.
In their hometown Bonn, Sven meets Manuel by chance, and after 10 minutes he knows that there is a big techno producer talent standing in front of him. He invites him to work at Yanou’s studio for three months a sort of apprenticeship. Manuel still is there, 6 years later, now in their common studios in Cologne with quite some successes in the meantime!
In 2004, Manuel meets a childhood acquaintance in a studio Natalie Horler.
The Bonn girl with a British mother starts a new Yann & Manuel project, and soon the first single is released: ‘Miracle’. The rest is ‘Cascada’ history. ‘Every Time We Touch’ becomes a world dance hit the iTunes US dance charts register five different mixes of that one song in the Top Ten at the same time one week! At Monaco, the royal family sees two German receiving the World Music Award for it in 2007. In the UK, AATW are very happy with their new signing. Two subsequent Top 5 Cascada albums, ‘What Hurts The Most’ becoming another single hit all over Europe. Small wonder everybody’s looking forward to the 3rd album, to be released in 2009.
In 2007, Yann and Manuel develop another project, R.I.O, focussing on a blend of Electro, Reggae and Ibiza feeling. This summer, the whole continental Europe club scene celebrates "Shine On", having "R.I.O." top almost every dance chart between Stockholm, Warsaw, Paris and Lissabon.
Manian can look back on an endless number of club track releases and remixes, often for famous colleagues such as Moby, P Diddy, Sugababes, DJ Tiësto, Sash!, Michael Gray, Scooter, September and many, many more.
Some of these remixes are well known under the name of Spencer & Hill, a House project founded with his close friend Manuel Schleis, also his partner at producing the world-renowned "Vengeance-Series" of audio sample CDs, indispensable working tools for many a professional club tunes producer or home recorder.
In October 2005, Manuel and Yann found their own label, Zooland Records, which by now also encompasses two sublabels, ZooGroove for House/Electro releases and ZooDigital for digital-only releases. Today, they're the home of many internationally successful artists like Cascada, R.I.O., Rob Mayth, Master Blaster and so on, with All Around The World at Blackburn/UK being their most important international partner.
Of course some people might envy Manuel Reuter for his success, creativity and exceptional skills, but he always has invested virtually all of his time into work, didn't shy away from 16-20 hour days and even today refuses to rest on his laurels. Very rarely is his mind not engrossed in music-related activities but that's the only way to stay successful in this business, Manian says.
Manuel and the brilliant minds he works with are sure to come up with further amazing projects in the future, so keep in touch!
DJ JEan: "Wow, you just made my day. Around Your Feet is indeed a really really fat and swinging Electro House track!! I will spin it in my radio show DJ Jean @ work on Slam FM."
