A Real Man

A Real Man is a visceral experience. Released in 2002 on Flesh, it was born during my residency at Berlin’s legendary KitKat Club and occasional sets at Insomnia. This track was my attempt to dive deep into the primal – the animistic – and capture what I envisioned as the sound of Adam’s first orgasm. It’s raw, unapologetic, and deliberately provocative, making it one of the most controversial pieces of my career. At its core, A Real Man was an experiment: could a single sample – the scream of a man at the height of ecstasy – carry the weight of an entire composition? That scream became the soul of the track, cutting through the hypnotic grooves and pushing boundaries in a way that few tracks dared to do at the time.

The Making of A Real Man

The production process reflected the chaos of its concept. I used a single, haunting sample – a man’s primal scream – layering it over tribal, progressive beats. The intention wasn’t just to shock but to evoke catharsis. The sound was overwhelming, reverberating through club spaces like an emotional shockwave. Mark Reeder, my longtime collaborator and mentor, embraced the concept with enthusiasm, and his encouragement gave me the confidence to push this idea to its limits. But the track’s provocative nature wasn’t without consequences. While it became an underground hit among fans of Wet & Hard, it alienated mainstream radio stations. DJs who played it on the air often faced backlash, and the track was quickly blacklisted from many playlists. But to me, this was validation. Art, at its best, should challenge and disrupt.

The B-Side: Jan Kessler’s Remix

The release also featured a remix by Jan Kessler, who added his signature percussive elements to the track, creating a dynamic and energetic counterpart to the original. Jan and I had already worked together on Young People, and his ability to reinterpret and enhance my ideas made him the perfect choice for this project.

Art or Self-Sabotage?

A Real Man became a defining moment in my career – a track that symbolized rebellion and the price of artistic integrity. I was fully aware that releasing such a polarizing piece might be seen as “shooting myself in the foot,” but that’s the nature of true art. It’s meant to provoke, to ignite conversations, and to make people uncomfortable.

Quote from my Memoir:“

With A Real Man, I wanted to create the obscene. Adam’s scream, raw and unfiltered, was an aural middle finger to conformity.”