UPDATE: Pampa Records has organized a fundraiser for Michel (Soulphiction / Jackmate) and family on GoFundMe.

Devastated to learn this morning that Michel Baumann, known in some circles as Soulphiction, Jackmate and around the world as a marvelous producer and DJ has passed away.

Baumann wrote on April 1 that he was “in hospital in chemo and off for awhile.”

Baumann was born in Stuttgart, Germany and started in the music industry in the late 1980s as a hip hop DJ at local shows. He first discovered the Chicago and Detroit house and techno that would guide his career while working at a local record store in the early 1990s. His first releases dropped in 1996 on the Frankfurt-based STIR15 Recordings (“Hot Wax” and “Hot Wax Vol 2” under his alias Jackmate) followed by Recall/The Jacker on the Poker Flat.

5 Mag’s Lauren Krieger profiled Baumann a year ago, at the time of the release of his 24/7 Love Affair album on Local Talk. “Coming from a ’90s hip hop background,” he told Lauren, “I developed a certain sound quite early, partly down to the equipment I use and the way I mix down tracks. As both a DJ and producer; I like warm, fat and funky sounds.”

Baumann was releasing new music up to the end, concentrated on the 18437 Records label founded by Tooli of Local Talk. In fact What What is due in stores on vinyl in June, and is reviewed in the latest issue of 5 Mag.

His incredibly influential label, Philpot, was inspired by the birth name of Larry Levan. “I’m a true believer in the importance of not losing touch with the roots of a genre, and the history of house influences huge parts of my DJ sets opposed to playing my own tracks.”

We wish our best to Michel’s family and close friends.

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