"Pole Position: Berlin's Ace Records Cutter Sets Woofers a Flutter," from Jockey Slut (June/July 1998)
By Jonas Stone

Who?
Pole. Berlin based producer Stefan Betke. Used to rap in German avant-garde hip hop outfit but now works at Maurizio's Dub Plates and Mastering cutting top tunes.

Cool job alert!
Oh, yes but not without side effects. Listens to minutiae changes in musical frequencies all day long. Has not gone mad yet but does laugh rather a lot. Actually constantly.

Sounds like?
Jump starting a bass bin on a cold February morning. A crack, a fizzle, deep bass and then geiger counter madness like an atomic fart in an echo chamber. "Between the music you have this energy like wind. For me it was good to learn how to make a good bass sound." More tea vicar?

How?
Cheapskates Sun Electric gave him a broken filter effects unit for Chrimbo.

"The rhythms I make I can't program. I switch on the machine and it's like a random generator. Before I had control over my instruments and now I have no control. It's a chaos engine. I can't put it in a direction I have to use it as it is."

Why?
"I had the desire to destroy what I had done before. The possibilities with synthesizers are endless and piano playing is so boring."

What next?
Live gubbins with a lap top, trouser rumbling bass and speaker windy pops.