When reading the comments under Georg Levin’s songs and videos you immediately sense a certain longing for new output. There is always someone wishing for a comeback of the producer and songwriter. For good reason: after all, Georg didn’t release any music under his name for over 10 years. This is almost surprising as he has been an integral part of Berlin’s music scene since the beginning of the 2000s and had significant impact reaching far beyond the local musical landscape in the course of the decade.

Georg grew up near Hamburg, Germany, playing keys and saxophone in local bands. Despite his ambitions to become a songwriter/producer he didn’t feel ready at the time so he studied communications at Goldsmiths College in London, had different jobs at film production companies and at MTV. He finally becomes serious with music after meeting DJ Dixon who co-produces his first single ‘When I’m With You’ and the house classic ‘(I got) Somebody New’ in 2002. Several remixes and collaborations with artists like Masters At Work, Jazzanova, Âme, Robert Owens, Felix Buxton from Basement Jaxx or Peter Kruder from Kruder & Dorfmeister follow as well as the LPs ‘Can’t Hold Back’ (2003 Sonar Kollektiv), ‘Take It Personal’ (2007 Four Music) under his and Dixon’s ‘Wahoo’ moniker and ‘Everything Must Change’ (2010 BBE).

It gets quiet around Georg Levin in the following years. Still playing the occasional gig or festival around Europe with his live band, he focusses on his music production company. In 2020 he finally released the singles ‘Echoes’ and ‘Fall into a dream’ that quickly reach millions of streams and which give an indication to where he now continues with ‘It Was Fun For A While’.

You can find Georg’s music filed under Electro, Soul, Pop or House at the record shop. His music has been described as ‘Blue Eyed Soul’, ‘Future Soul’ or even ‘Yacht Rock’. But in the end of the day, his music is not about recreating the past .

When listening to ‘It Was Fun For A While’, you hear references to the early 80s – a time of upheaval where RnB, Disco and New Wave had a brief episode together – but instead of entering the time machine back to that era, both music and lyrics play with a rather abstract nostalgia. An attempt to capture a fleeting but intense feeling, a longing to an unlived past, a fading memory that made it to the here and now. It is, after all, a modern song.

With an infectious groove, elegantly crafted production plus Georg’s smooth vocals supported by Simonne Jones and Amely, ‘It Was Fun For A While’ is that kind of song that you want to hear in the car, at home and on the dance floor.

Check out the Remixes by Tim Paris (already playlisted by Tim Sweeney for Apple Music.) Amberoom (aka Manuel Tur, Ramin Nouyan & Adrian Hoffmann) & Eitan Reiter.

GEORG LEVIN – IT WAS FUN FOR A WHILE EP – RELEASE DATE: 8^TH JULY – BUY / LISTEN HERE

For those of our readers that are new to your name please introduce yourself..

Hi, I’m Georg Levin, producer/songwriter/singer based in Berlin. I have released 3 albums and several singles on various labels in the 00s and took a long break until recently.

Tell us where you are based, and where exactly are you today?

I’m based in Berlin & I am in Berlin right now.

Which words best define the music that you make today?

I always have trouble describing my own music. A record label once told me to call it ‘Alternative Soul‘

What would you say is your most ‘notable’ release to date?

My best known song is ‘(I got) Somebody New’, my second single that is 20 years old this year.

What would you say is one of your tracks that didn’t get the reaction it deserved?

Almost all tracks from my collaboration album ‘Take it personal’ with Dixon under our name ‘Wahoo’. We went pretty much through all kinds of genres and featured lots of different lead singers on this one. Not very consistent & apart from one or two singles it was barely recognized. However, I listened to it again recently & was surprised that it still sounds quite fresh.

Who are the artists that inspired you from yesterday?

The Beatles, Earth, Wind & Fire, Prince, Trevor Horn, Kate Bush, Marvin Gaye, Roxy Music, Talking Heads, War, Bill Evans, Chic, Soft Cell, Quincy Jones, Wendy Carlos, Burt Bacharach, Henry Mancini, Richard Strauss and about a ton more.

Who is making great music now that you are impressed by?

Kendrick Lamar, Tyler the Creator, D’Angelo, Danger Mouse, Mark Ronson, Tame Impala, Caribou, Floating Points, Inflo, Jamie XX, Mura Masa, Disclosure and lots more.

If someone wanted to get to know more about Georg Levin, what album would you recommend they listen to?

This EP 🙂

Talk us through the EP a little

„It was fun for a while“ is a song that I wrote a while ago & I was very careful not to mess it up so it took a long time to produce it. The reason I was so careful is that it’s a kind of song that would be hard (for me) to revisit or to make a similar song again. Musically it’s a personal memory of me as a kid in the early 80s stuck in a snowstorm on the Autobahn near Munich with my family. Outside was just darkness, snow and car lights & inside the warm car we were listening to Grace Jones, Roxy Music & Soft Cell from my older brother’s tapes. It was kind of gloomy but also fascinating.

I am lucky to have 3 great interpretations of the song by Amberoom, Tim Paris & Eitan Reiter who all captured the spirit of the song & took it into different directions.

This release is for lovers of ….

Night drives

What makes you happy Georg?

Pretty average things: My kids. Summer breeze. Nature. Cute dogs. Good wine. When a song gets a life of its own & gets heard.

Tell us something that we would never read about you?

Georg Levin wins this year’s tournament in his local tennis club

What do you have in the pipeline for the rest of 2022?

Another EP…

GEORG LEVIN – IT WAS FUN FOR A WHILE EP – RELEASE DATE: 8^TH JULY – BUY / LISTEN HERE