Luzerner Zeitung 1998
BY CHARLES P. SCHUM
THE PARTY PIONEER
In the mid-eighties, Zurich native Oliver Stumm started out, first legally, then illegally. This made trendy party waves all the way to all major Swiss cities. Today, the House-Music DJ star lives in New York, has his own label, is his own producer, has his first hit, and is coming to Lucerne.
Oliver Stumm is undisputedly the star of the Swiss party scene. Nevertheless, he slips almost inconspicuously into our meeting. “It’s beautiful here in Lucerne,” are his first words. Postcard-perfect weather, indeed. And Oliver really still seems to be able to enjoy something like that. Other party gurus in today’s dance boom rush back and forth with cell phones and briefcases in thick luxury cars between tax-haven residential domiciles and urban business appointments. Not so Stumm, who once set all the party stones rolling.
New Beginning in New York
“That is exactly what does not interest me, and why I moved to New York to start all over again from scratch,” he counters the astonishment. A likeable guy, uncomplicated, straightforward, and without airs. He doesn’t need the latter anyway—he is what others merely pretend to seem. He is even rather modest: “If anyone in my family is a star, then it is my father.” Pardon the gap in information, but who is that? “ A globally recognized and highly decorated authority as an environmental scientist,” explains son Oliver. “He didn’t even want to accept every honorary doctorate anymore, whereas I still gladly take every interview appointment.”
H₂O as a Homage to the Father?
Speaking of water: Does the naming of his own label “Liquid Groove,” founded in New York, and the pseudonym “H₂O” explain itself as a sort of homage to his father? “As a subconscious idea, that could be true,” says Stumm, “but I was primarily looking for terms that are internationally pronounceable.”
He has a direct relationship with music, having taken music lessons since childhood. He eventually played in youth orchestras and later performed on various occasions, learning to capture and excite an audience.
Against Organized Nightlife
Oliver became enthusiastic about electronic club music during his studies, which started as a side hobby. He later found success at an early stage through various legal and illegal nightlife events. “At some of the night clubs, I would hear terrible music. What this DJ can do, I can do better, I thought to myself and started playing,” tells the DJ about his first house music parties. “But that didn’t last long either, as they tried to make me follow cartellized, organized patterns.”
From 1985 onwards, together with friends he organized his own house parties in ever-changing venues, without letting the economic office restrict him. The first parties took place in the barracks, in the Mühle Tiefenbrunnen, in the Rote Fabrik, and in the Steinfels-Fabrik—locations that are legendary today. And above all, they had the party scene in Switzerland looking quite neat and tidy. “This social, colorful crowd had a lot of fun making bets on how long it would take until the police arrived,” chuckles Stumm.
Through the now partially legalized party scene, Oliver also faced political interference, which wasn’t quite as fun. Knowing that he could completely fill the room behind the backs of ordinary party operators, he also started getting targeted by competitors who filed complaints against him. Stumm undertook intensive research into gastro-scene laws, exposing absurdities that led him to several hearings before the district office. The rest is a yet-unfinished chapter of Zurich history. Still, it paid off: the main decision-makers in the city council agreed that the hospitality industry needed to be completely liberalized.
The First Own Album
With new recording equipment, he set up his first studio in New York. As an operator, Oliver Stumm initially worked primarily for others. The breakthrough came for Oliver Stumm as H₂O in 1995 with the single Take Me Higher, released on his newly founded independent label Liquid Groove. The track became an international club hit and climbed the charts in England. Further singles followed with commercial success. “You Can Run…” (Liquid Groove/Sony) was his first album.
H₂O IN LUZERN
H₂O is performing tomorrow, Saturday, at the “Park & Dance” party event in the Luzern Cola-Fabrik from 10 PM onwards. In a roughly two-hour show-block, Oliver Stumm will showcase his new album You Can Run… with his singer and break dancers.