Kölsch
Liveact //

Kölsch

Well known for his productions Rune Reilly Kolsch has sold millions of records all over the world under his many different monikers and production work includes some of the biggest artist in the world. But something has always been missing.

Being a true techno head, paying homage to his underground roots is very important to him. So he started the slightly mysterious Tattoorecs with his brother Johannes Torpe, and together they are enjoying great success with their blend of romantic techno with strong influences from the heydays of Detroit and Chicago.

With the label’s unique release concept of no titles, only tattoos, the label quickly gathered support from the biggest minimal DJs across the globe; Sven Väth, Richie Hawtin, Magda, Tiefschwarz and Ricardo Villalobos all support these weird and experimental releases. Ink & Needle are the only act signed to the label.

A true playground for Rune with a focus on challenging the limit of what will work on a dance floor. And also an outlet for his more emotional side with a strong urge to reflect on his childhood and explore the Fantasy world he lived in during his young years as a kid of serious hippie parents.

A similar thing can be said about the Avocado label that he runs with longtime hero and friend Jerome Sydenham.

All releases under the Kolsch moniker are personal experiences from Runes childhood. For instance the track ‘Loreley’ stems from the legend of the sirens on the Rhein River where Rune spent all summers with his grandparents. Kolsch is definitely a labour of love and all releases have a strong emotional bond between them.

A funny little story will have us know that Kompakt’s Michael Meyer once came across one of Rune’s Ink & Needle releases. Not only liking what he heard, he also paid attention to Rune’s last name Kolsch, which Cologne based Kompakt off course immediately recognized as the dialect spoken in and around Cologne. The result was a phone call to Rune with a request for a track to the label. This marked the birth of the Kolsch moniker, releasing exclusively on the German label.

Half Danish, half Irish and half German. Is that a mind boggler for you? Relax dear music lover, it gets even more complicated.

Let's (try to) outline the activities of Rune Reilly Kolsch's over the last 15 years. This will include numerous aliases, hundreds of releases and more labels involved than one could care to count. We’ll give it a try just the same…

Late 80’s; Taking off from the kinda old skool hip hop as you would like to remember it - from under the Brooklyn Bridge with classic Adidas outfits, freestyle flows on street corners, block parties and all the trimmings - Rune soon got fed up with blunt blazing lazy rappers that never showed up on time in the studio.

With his natural flair for making music that makes people move the shift to house music seemed obvious, and Rune soon grew deep roots in the inspiring Chicago and Detroit scenes.

In 2005 Rune founded Arti Farti Records and released the single "Together" under the Artificial Funk moniker together with his brother. The single sold 200.000 copies in the UK. A couple of releases in, Arti Farti Records were a grand success with support from the likes of Laurent Garnier, Pete Tong, Roger Sanchez and Josh Wink.

A few years earlier however, in 2003, Rune had decided to slip in a little dance floor banger called 'Calabria'. It was an instant Ibiza favorite. 5 years later Rune released a new version of the track. This “Seemingly indestructible track”, as hailed by The New York Times immediately went on to demolish charts, radios and dance floors across the planet from the US to Ibiza and Shanghai.

'Calabria 2007' by Rune RK feat. Natasja (RIP) (Ultra Records) reached the #1 spot on Billboard’s Hot US Dance Airplay chart, gathered a collective 50 million hits in the early Youtube days and sold 5 million singles worldwide. Now Rune Reilly Kolsch was playing any club and party worth mentioning around the globe; Berghain (Berlin), Nikki Beach (Miami), Love Parade (Berlin), Sensation Denmark, The End (London), Canadian Wonderland and Amnesia and El Divino in music mecca Ibiza, where ‘Calabria’ arguably was one of the biggest tracks for several seasons running.

His own monthly intimate Club Smile parties at world renowned VEGA Natklub in hometown Copenhagen still stayed close to his heart as did his bimonthly parties at legendary Culture box.

As one could expect, Rune’s worldwide stardom soon spawned production requests from the likes of Shakira and Flo-Rida and collaborations with prominent people like Pittbull and Lil Jon, Mims, Lumidee, Beenie Man, Nicky Minaj and Greg Nice (Nice & Smooth). Production request from Toni Braxton got turned down.

Rune Reilly Kolsch has received 2 BMI Awards, 1 Danish Music Award (Grammy) and 9 Danish DeeJay Awards, 5 of them being in the Best DeeJay category – in the home country of friends like Trentemøller and Martinez.

Whether it be selling 4 million singles of worldwide club classic 'Calabria', being one of Shakira's favorite producers or having industry leaders in the dance community going ape shit over Rune’s # 1 spot on the 2011 Miami Buzz Chart as Rune RK feat. Kelly Rowland "Free Fall" (WL), Rune Reilly Kolsch's producer skills are now more in demand than ever.

Small talk trivia will have you know that Lady Gaga once warmed up for Rune RK in Detroit, he’s by far the best international selling Danish artist for several years running and Rune once brought a wheelbarrow to an award show to collect his awards in.

Delusions of grandness…? Not a chance. “We were just trying to get as much press as possible,” laughs Rune. “It worked. No seriously, I work very hard and try to keep a very humble approach to the whole thing. The fact that people across the globe respond to my music and my DJing is a daily mindblower.”