At the age of 14, Ata lived next door to a GI. He could hear the bass coming from the JBL-speakers through the thin living room walls from the adjoining
flat, so at some point he asked the neighbour about the music and thus became acquainted with music by Zapp. Next came Kraftwerk (who still touch his
soul), DAF, Visage, Police, Midnight Star.. George Clinton, P-Funk... . Ata was born in 1968 in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, as the son of Irene Macias
and Athanassios Kontogianis. It was here that he was blessed with his vision of proselytising the city of money and poverty with the spirit of House Music. The cinemas were screening "Beat Street" and Ata bought himself his first 12" by Grand Master Flash, "It's nasty". There was an American salesperson at his favourite record store, "Marions Schallplattenboutique" who - besides training to be an opera singer at Frankfurt's opera house - seduced Ata into listening to House which marked the beginning of his big passion for Chicago House in the mid 80's. The decision to work in a record shop seemed the most obvious thing to do next, at Boy Records working with Siggi Zahn and Achim Szepanski where he also met Heiko M/S/O. It was not long before he wanted to do something of his own. Apart from his vocational training as an interior decorator, he started DJing at with Jörg Henze at Delirium. Records and design. And from then on everything took off really quickly. Together with Heiko, Ata set up his first music label ongaku. When Jörn and Roman - still known as Acid Jesus back then - handed them a tape of unusual music, it became obvious this necessitated a new label. Since their studio was called "Klangfabrik" they simply named it Klang. They soon fortified the armada's crew with Jörn and Roman, and so playhouse was born. "Suprised" stemmed from this time as if as a striking metaphor of their vision. Every young man should visit Hamburg at least once in his life. Ata's stay there in the mid 90's inspired him to take home the idea of "Männer ohne Nerven" to the Main, a tongue in cheek one-man-one-record-player-one-microphone event: Spinning records and having to announce them to give it that "handmade" touch. It was party time in a red-light-district bar near Frankfurt's central station together with Jonny Love and Heiko. The only one whom it made a little nervous was the landlord. The first official resident house club came into being in the "Box" every Saturday. Yet Ata's actual rise to fame dates back to a different project. Every Thursday for five and a half years, he transformed the "wildpitchclub" into something like a living room for fans and connoisseurs of House Music. Since creating a living legend is boring, Ata drew a little closer to the aim of his mission: The Robert Johnson, which opened one and a half years ago, features minimal interior decorating, flexible modules, white walls, special people, swinging House sounds, and with captain Ata at the helm now sails the high seas. Ahoi.