The BAMBI 2024 in the “Our Earth” category will be awarded tonight to one of the most successful extreme mountaineers of our time: Reinhold Messner.
For 43 years he has been turning nights into days with his techno beats, making people sweat in front of his mixing desk all over the world: Sven Väth is one of Germany's most successful DJs, and as one of the genre's most popular representatives, he has played a key role in turning techno into a cult. Four decades after the social movement he started with his art, Sven Väth will receive the BAMBI 2024 in the category "Culture" tonight.
Sven Väth is the pioneer of the techno sound who, by founding a series of music labels and clubs, ensured the rapid spread and further development of the sound he created. It is as if Väth has turned up the speed dial of life reaching only 10 so far, to 11. The undisputed father of techno turned the club sound into a culture, carried it out into the world and gave it a future by consistently promoting young talent.
BAMBI Jury
From Dance Club to Techno Club
Sven Väth was born in 1964 in Offenbach am Main, Germany. He began his career as a DJ at the age of 17 in his parents' dance club, the Queens Pub. Soon he was playing in various clubs in Frankfurt, including the nationally renowned "Dorian Gray" below Frankfurt Airport.
The release of his track "Electrica Salsa" as part of the music project OFF (Organisation for Fun) in 1986 was his first success in the international charts. Väth toured as a DJ and worked in Ibiza, where he later became the resident DJ at the Amnesia club for over 20 years. Sven Väth changed the sound on the island with the COCOON party series, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.
In Frankfurt, he became a club promoter himself and, together with partners, opened 'Omen', now regarded as the birthplace of techno in Hesse. In the early 1990s, the now 60-year-old founded the music labels Eye Q Records, Harthouse and Recycle or Die. At the end of the 1990s, Väth signed a contract with the Virgin label and launched the "Cocoon Clubbing" series, with which he toured Europe. In 2004, he opened the "Cocoon Club" in Frankfurt, which was characterised by a sound system specially tailored to techno. With the label "Cocoon Recordings" Väth creates a platform for young DJs and producers.
Väth is an advocate of music released on vinyl, because it sounds better than anything else. He has released more than a dozen albums and nearly 40 singles and EPs. In 2015, he was awarded the Goethe Medal of the City of Frankfurt for his services to electronic music. In 2024, the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the German federal states and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media decide to elevate Berlin's techno culture to the status of a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage.
Germany’s Biggest Media Award Returns
Since 1948, BAMBI has honoured individuals who have made a significant impact in Germany, achieved outstanding accomplishments, and serve as role models for the German public. This year, the award will be presented in up to twelve categories. BAMBI’s media partner is Prime Video, and the event will be streamed live at prime time from Bavaria Film Studios on November 7, 2024.
Official BAMBI Partners 2024
For the second consecutive year, BAMBI will be held in Munich, sponsored by the Bavarian State Chancellery. The event is supported by numerous partners, including major companies and brands. Streaming service Prime Video will broadcast the award ceremony live as a new media partner. Other official BAMBI partners this year are Aigner, Chauffeur Service Blacklane, Chopard, Elasten Trinkkollagen, HolidayCheck, IhreApotheken.de, Marc Cain, Real Techniques, Schwarzkopf, Dr. Barbara Sturm and Yacht-Magazin. Additional partners include Augustiner, Canonita, Champagne Laurent-Perrier, Degussa, Depot, Edeka, Masi, mey and Staatl. Fachingen.
