After allowing radio stations to wear his nerves over too many years, Joe Landen in
summer 2008 decided to set up his own station. This resulted in
DIRTY MIND MUSIC – a free Internet radio station dedicated solely to the best of electronic music, or more precisely: to
house music.
Joe runs the Internet radio as
an ambitious hobby project, supported by many friends, DJs and artist managements. His regular occupation actually is that of designer. But his taste in music is now spreading across the entire globe at an incredible pace with the aid of
Internet radio provider "live356". "I have a broadcasting package with webspace at a really fair price, which I am able to feed with audio content from my laptop at home," Joe explains. "Live365 takes care of the technology and the community, I arrange the radio programme".
And he does so with success: Listeners give DIRTY MIND MUSIC a score of
9 from 10 points. After only 3 months, the radio was already ranked 5th amongst 115 house stations on live365. After 11 months, it
reached position no 2 of meanwhile 121 stations, making DIRTY MIND MUSIC
one of the top newcomers on live365. And all without any budget for advertising.
The radio starts to get attention in the music biz: in january 2010 the exclusive mix from DJ Martial White becomes
featured mix on mixcloud. From march to october 2010 DIRTY MIND MUSIC is
the only featured station in the house sector of the live365 website.
And where are the roots of this success? Well, of course in
the music selection. "There are many radio stations and house music stations, but I have not once come across one that plays
only the best house music on a consistent basis. Of course they all claim to do so, but seriously, if you have a listen to a house station, the first song might be quite good, but the quality deteriorates with the second or third at the latest, it becomes too commercial, too uncool or even leaves the house genre entirely.
We play the full range of house: vocal, uplifting, progressive, minimal etc. And only songs at a
high artistic level, not simply boom boom." That appeals to people,
not only the in-scene crowd, but also listeners whose taste is "ordinary" music and perhaps for the first time learn what house music really is – and that it definitely does not include Scooter.
Joe has been part of the electronic-music scene
since the early 90s and has been able to establish many contacts over the years of which he now benefits. "Many DJs, record labels and artist managements supply me with the latest music productions and above all with DJ mixes. Every week we have a new
“Dirty Mind Mix” in our programme, by
well-known artists such as Nic Fanciulli, Moguai, Thomas Schumacher, Seamus Haji, Miss Nine, D.O.N.S., Michael Gray, Funkstar de Luxe or by
newcomers whom we want to give an opportunity to present their sound to an international audience perhaps for the first time. That's why you will even hear DJs like Roy Malakian from Lebanon on our radio station. Most of the contacts with newcomers I get on parties or via
social media."
And where does Joe get his
musical inspiration? "I visit a lot of parties, so
I know exactly what's going on, what's a success and where the trends are heading." Further huge sources of inspiration are Ibiza, the Miami Winter Music Conference or the Amsterdam Dance Event. And these days, of course, the Internet. "I remember some years ago I still had to trek to the record store and laboriously search for the latest vinyls and then spent expensive money buying the entire record that only included one good song." These days, of course, you buy individual songs on download portals, here they are easy to find and the sales rankings indicate what's particularly appealing to the crowds. Moreover, famous DJs publish their current top 10 here. These days you also find an increasing number of brand new DJ mixes on the Internet, by famous artists, including the so-called "tracklist", a list of the songs played. "
All these are the sources from which I then select the absolutely best, not driven by any commercial interests. And I don't forget the roots of the music either and also play one or the other
classic".
And of course an
uncommon website is a must:
dirtymindmusic.com not only allows you to switch on the radio, but also offers background information. The online landscape with the
funny characters has a special charm, and what's best is:
the more listener records are established, the more elements and creatures are added. "Therefore the website is in a growth process just like my radio station."
And what keeps him on going? “
House music is constantly changing, it is a very exciting field! The music gives me so much strength and always cheers me up! It's absolutely fantastic to get
nice feedback for what you do from listeners around the globe. And it also combines with design, another big part of me. I live in the right time to afford such a project and to reach the whole world, I see it as a privilege to be able to express myself this way”.
Joe is German. At the age of 6 he started to record own funny shows on a tape deck. His favourite band that time is
Depeche Mode, the synthy & sample heroes of the 80s. When he was a teenager he published an humorous newspaper at school called “The Miami News”. After getting a video camera he founded the
“CTV” video crew with friends. They were a regional success and built up a huge fan base with their comedy, Youtube unfortunately did not yet exist. When he was 18 he discovered his
love for electronic music and started to
collect party flyers. He established an international network of flyer collectors.
For his communication design studies he moved to Stuttgart and began to deejay, produce, and organise parties. He became well-known with his final year project called
"The Flyer Phenomenon" (
www.flyerz.de), a website which is all about the subject matter of flyers. As a graphic and webdesigner he set up the
TWINPIX design studio (
www.twinpix.de), which has a number of customers from the nightlife scene. In 2006 he was offered the opportunity to spend six months in
Amsterdam, fell in love with the city and shortly afterwards emigrated.
Joe founded DIRTY MIND MUSIC as a side-project and worked as a webdesigner in an advertising agency. 2009 he got to know his big Finnish love
Ulla at the legendary Voltt festival. From now on Ulla takes care about the radio
social networks and is scouting for new tracks and mixes. In summer 2010 the two decided to move from A to B, from Amsterdam to
Berlin.
Looking at DIRTY MIND MUSIC it becomes evident that to Joe house music is a
passion. His mission:
"We just want to be the best house radio on this planet".
