Mathis Mootz | |
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The Panacea deejaying in 2006.
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Background information | |
Also known as | Panacea The Panacea m2 (Squaremeter) Bad Street Boy Kate Mosh Rich Kid |
Born | August 19, 1976 |
Origin | Wetzlar, Germany |
Genres |
Drum & Bass Techstep Ambient Darkcore Darkstep Digital hardcore Breakcore |
Occupation(s) | Producer, remixer, DJ |
Years active | 1996–present |
Labels |
Position Chrome Ant-Zen Offkey |
Website | http://www.kriegimklub.de/ |
Mathis Mootz is a prolific German electronic musician and DJ. Mootz is best known as The Panacea (until 2005, simply as Panacea), his drum and bass stage name and main musical project, and as m2 (pronounced "Squaremeter"), his dark ambient side project and alter-ego.
Born August 18, 1976 in Wetzlar, Germany, Mootz served an apprenticeship in classical music and was a member of the boy's choir of Windsbach. After studying music engineering at the SAE Institute, Mootz worked with the experimental hip hop/illbient label Chrome, an offshoot of Force Inc Music Works. Over the course of several drum and bass albums and many singles, and as A&R manager for Chrome, later renamed Position Chrome, Panacea became known for pushing the bounds of the drum and bass genre into industrial and hardcore territory, and for energetic DJ sets which fused these genres in a live setting. With his side project m2, he explored a more minimal side of electronic music, first in the realm of clicks 'n' cuts, and later in the dark ambient territory pioneered by the likes of Lustmord. Mootz lives and produces in Sommerhausen, a countryside town near Würzburg.
Mootz experimented with hip hop/illbient in the mid-1990s, an offshoot of Force Inc Music Works. Under the name Panacea, he released a string of dark drum and bass singles on the label in 1996, followed by the LPs Low Profile Darkness in 1997 and Twisted Designz in 1998, which pushed the tech step format established by the UK's Ed Rush and Optical into harsh industrial/digital hardcore territory. Mootz took over Chrome's A&R, and the label was renamed Position Chrome soon after (the label is now under ownership by Mootz), evolving into one of the first and most notable German drum and bass labels.