TRICKSKI are the two Djs / producers Yannick Labbé and Daniel “Störte“ Becker – both kids from the 80s and both musically active for many years. They started off djing at small parties in their hometown areas close to the black forrest, somewhere in the south-western part of Germany, and soon met at Rainer Trübys legendary Root Down parties in Freiburg – the epi-center of NuJazz by that time. Both moved to Berlin around the year 2000 and decided to unite under the name of Trickski during a Holiday stay in Denmark in 2004.
Until this date, the guys were collecting experiences separately from each other: Yannicks productions have been getting props right from the start with his first single Hotbox on Cabinet (originally released in 2003, re-released by Trickskis own Label Member of the Trick in January 2007), while Daniel “Störte“ Beckers first steps into the spotlight of ‚professional’ electronic music have been running an underground club in Berlin called „Helsinki“ and the task of compiling a rare and very tasty late 80s/early 90s trackselection for the second installment of the I like it series on the famous German label Compost Records (this selection has then been integrated to the Trickski masterplan by the time it was released).
I like it Vol.2 features the exclusive track „Hormony“ by Trickski (which also opened the Black Label 12“ series on Compost Records back in 2005), a track that is somewhat the projects founding moment: it is the first production crediting Daniel „Störte“ Becker and Yannick Labbé together on one slice of vinyl. „Hormony“ gave the musicality of NuJazz the balls of rave. That was Trickski’s idea.
The second production under the name of Trickski was the 12inch „Sweat“ on Sonar Kollektiv (2005). The titletrack on the A-side is a real afro-tech stomper featuring the heavyweight of NZ-hiphop, King Kapisi, on vocals. This track has brought the very first licensing to the boys and, oh boy, what a licensing that was: „Sweat“ had been picked by the one and only Mr Carl Craig for his Fabric – mix compilation (Fabric # 25) in 2006. The 12“s b-side, the „tech-hop“ Killer „Sunshine fu*k“ was the secret weapon of the 2005 WMC in Miami (says Swedish Über-DJ Mad Mats). The 12“ was highly acclaimed by such diverse artists as Laurent Garnier, Peter Kruder, Jazzanova, Tiefschwarz, DJ T, Black Strobe, Damian Lazarus, Martin Solveig and many more.
After collecting more and more experiences in international nightlife through numerous gigs and in the field of production (especially remixes) from 2005 to 2006, the tricksters decided to go one step further: They kicked off their own imprint on Sonar Kollektiv ‚Member of the Trick’ in 2006. This series was intended to promote music that one would hear in a regular trickski clubnight. It could be slow, could be fast, house or techno, country or western... even both! No matter as long as the music would touch them, fit and be fun, fun, fun!
Thanks to the trust that the SK executives have in the two fellows, Trickski have been entitled to take care of the A&R task and to create the corporate look of the series without restrictions from what is known to be Sonar Kollektiv taste. Neon is the new understatement...
Artists from all over the world have been enrolled to participate in this project. As A&Rs, Yannick & Daniel are very proud of members from the US of A, Austria, England, Finnland, Germany and, lately, France and the Balkan.
The series turned out to be quite successful ab initio, especially with MOTT #2 that included an officially approved coverversion of Carl Craigs hit „At Les“ from 1997. Since then, illustrous djs like Carl Craig himself, Jeff Mills, Tim Sweeney, Claude Monnet, DJ Hell, DJ T, most of the post-acid jazz posse, and many more can be counted as being supporters of the series. Salesnumbers increased during the year 2006 and a good bunch of MOTT licensings have been arranged. In 2007, the MOTT A&Rs have been very proud to announce the licensing of MOTT # 3 (‚The Locust’) & 4 (‚the Flying Squirrel) by one of the most successful house music labels in the world: Defected Records.