About this site

A blog by Defrostatica Records founder DJ Booga, featuring interviews with DJs and artists, as well as the occasional note on music, culture, and technology.

Photo: Thomas Reichel

Hi, I'm Robert Handrow, also known as DJ Booga. I started out as a jungle and drum and bass DJ, producing remixes for local bands. In 1999, I released my only 12" record, Defrostatica, under the name Square7. Some of my tracks ended up on various compilations by local labels and projects.

I've been involved in the Leipzig drum and bass scene since the mid-90s and loved sharing news about it. From 2000 to 2003, I created and maintained a website called breaks.org, which featured local artists and information about jungle nights out in my hometown. From 2003 to 2013, I ran a loose community blog featuring many local drum and bass promoters, DJs, authors and artists from Leipzig called It's Yours!.

Around 2012 I was really into footwork music from Chicago when it started to cross-pollinate with jungle from the UK because they were both around the same speed, at 160 beats per minute. In 2015, I started the label Defrostatica that specialises in footwork jungle tekno music. In 2023, I founded the music publishing service Edition Aiax for selected Defrostatica artists.

flyer M-Beat at Conne Island, Leipzig · poster Kemistry & Storm at Conne Island, Leipzig · artwork of Defrostatica 12" by Blackred · poster DJ Marky & Stamina MC at Tangobar, Leipzig · Storm at Conne Island, Leipzig 2003 · my dj buddy Windy and me preparing a rave in the fields near Leipzig ca. 2000 · Kiat at Noch Besser Leben, Leipzig 2017

While being a DJ I started to do interviews with guest DJs and DJ/producers who played in Leipzig. On my blog you find conversations with artists, producers, and DJs who have influenced me.

In my infrequent posts, I explore how music, culture and technology are interconnected. I try to understand the effects of this on the independent music ecosystem: fans and supporters, DJs, artists, producers, promoters, journalists, and label owners.

Let's connect

Subscribe to the free membership of the blog to receive all posts via email and to be able to comment on posts. If you have already subscribed sign in here. Follow the blog anonymously via RSS. You can reach me by email [email protected].

In my blogroll you'll find people & publishers relevant to my interests.

To follow me on Fediverse, like Mastodon, search for @[email protected] on your platform. If you click on the link you'll see the latest notes too. Usually I crosspost to Bluesky.

I love buying music on Bandcamp. Some of my recorded mix sets are on Soundcloud. On Crucial Tracks I recently started to post a daily a good track. I'm on Letterboxd, it's a great place to discover new movies.