August 23, 2002

DJ ATB hopes overseas success splashes here

By SCOTT CRONICK

Andre Tanneberger, aka ATB, doesn't try to understand Americans. He doesn't try to understand why the people that live here haven't overly embraced dance music. He doesn't try to understand why dance music seems to be extremely popular everywhere else except the United States.

That's because Tanneberger understands one thing: When he comes to DJ in the United States, he has more fun here than anywhere. And that's what matters to him.

The German DJ isn't just another guy who spins records and edits other people's music. ATB is a songwriter first and a DJ second. He understands that dance songs are still songs, and that songs need melody. And his latest album "Dedicated" certainly has a lot of that.

So while Moby seems to be the only dance artist to break the mainstream, ATB is happy to be popular in Europe and let success be measured differently in the U.S.

"It's really hard to break this market," he says in a phone interview from Los Angeles. "You can always hope you can catch on here, but you can't expect it. Maybe it'll happen, maybe it won't. When I come here, I don't care if I'm in a big theater or a small club.

"Would it be nice to have success here? Sure, but I don't need it. For me, when I come here for two or three weeks, it's for me. It's personal because I think the people you reach here are so extremely into the music. It's a nice feeling to play here. That's why I'm back again. There's so much energy here. I love it. The people are into it and very thankful. In Europe, it's much more subdued because it's normal for them to have a big dance show. That happens every weekend for them. There's thousands of clubs. Here, the big shows are less common. It's more fun to play in the United States than anywhere else."