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It was nearly two-and-a-half years ago I first heard of Lopazz. Rather, first felt the menace-laden Blood a cappella ("blood like oil/gushing out a well") bolting through my headphones and searing my spine.

It's the only thing I remember about Ivan Smagghe's Fabric 23 mix. Things have come full-circlish: the inspiration for this interview is the most memorable moment of M.A.N.D.Y.'s recent Fabric 38 compilation - Lopazz's stunning 2 Fast 4 U. Title aside (though arguably it's more Prince-reference than txt-spk) it's one of the slickest, sexiest little ditties imaginable. Barely two-and-a-half-minutes long, it'll stick in your head like a burr.

You may also know Lopazz for his hits I Need Ya (as championed by Sven) and Migracion - as reworked by Luciano and Ricardo. Plus he's remixed the likes of Isolee and Chelonis R. Jones, runs the 800achtspur multi-media label, is part of Heidelburg's HD800 collective and released theKook Kook LP on Get Physical last year. But who is the man behind the mixing desk? Time to learn more about the mysterious Lopazz… 

Lopazz is not his real name…
The Latino inflection is a double-bluff though. Born Stefan Eichinger, he's German, lives in Heidelberg and says "it has hundreds of years of culture… why should I go to Berlin?" 

He was a noisy child…
Stefan's first instrument, as a toddler, was a drum kit. He graduated from rattling the windows to learning bass, guitar… and just about anything else he could put his hands on. 

You won't catch him endorsing Ableton…
A professional musician since age 16, Stefan was recruited to score his first TV programme because he was one of the only composers around with a studio full of real instruments and a passion for working in analogue. Since then, he's composed music for over 30 film and television productions. 

Don't bother asking about his "favourites"…
He talks volubly, and knowledgably, about everything from Sonic Youth to the United Nations, but ask him to name a "favourite" anything and he clams up. "Maybe if we were in the studio, and we had a few glasses of red wine, I could think of something," he offers.  

The world is his studio…
His film work has taken him to China, Mongolia, South America, all over Europe… "Where am I going this year? Everywhere." 

If you see him in the club, buy him a drink…
"When I go to nightclubs I don't like to just go, play my records and leave. I like to stay the whole night, go on the dancefloor, talk to people and have a good time."  

But don't even think about flirting…
Stefan is blissfully happy with wife and frequent collaborator (as Deafny Moon) Mariella Landivar-Garcia, an Ecuadorian artist. "Some DJs have a lot of groupies. That's not for me." 

More likely to be…
out walking his dog, or having a meal with friends, than watching movies. "When you're in the studio all day you don't want to put on a DVD at home." 

Bono has nothing on him…
Blood was directly inspired by the invasion of Iraq and Stefan is unabashedly political. He is does charity work for UNICEF, considers protest a thinking person's prerogative and has composed music for UNESCO documentaries.  

He defies catagorisation…
As well as name-checking Thurston Moore he includes AC/DC, Rick Rubin, Elvis, Meat Puppets, James Brown, Snoop Dogg and Keith Richards among his influences. Oh, and he's remixed the Miami Vice theme tune. 

Right now, he's probably in a hot spring with M.A.N.D.Y….
Seriously. Stefan, Philipp and Patrick are spending February in Iceland working on an album together, for release later this year. No word on whether they'll be sampling the local delicacy: raw, piss-cured shark meat. 

Video:

Lopazz - We are - Live @ Watergate, Berlin

For more…
listen to Kook Kook (Get Physical, 2007) and peruse his websites:

www.lopazz.com and www.myspace.com/lopazz.