Kai Tracid

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Kai Tracid (2002)

Kai Tracid , real name Kai Franz , also known under the pseudonym Kai Mac Donald , (born January 17, 1972 in Frankfurt am Main ) is a German music producer and DJ . His productions range between trance and acid music , from which his artist name is derived, which is a mixture of both names.

Musical development

Beginnings

Tracid started working as a DJ in the late 1980s. He initially played hip-hop , but friends soon brought him into contact with the then still young techno movement. A little later he sold his DJ equipment and began his first steps as a music producer.

His first publications appeared in 1995 under the pseudonyms Acut Genius , Formic Acid , Mac Acid and WOW. In the same year he founded the A * S * Y * S project with Frank Ellrich . In addition, he made remixes for well-known Eurodance projects such as La Bouche , Culture Beat and No Mercy .

successes

The first record under the name Kai Tracid was called “So Simple” and was released in 1996. However, he only recorded his first commercial success the following year with the single “Your Own Reality”, which made it to number 22 in the German single charts . As part of its success, Tracid also resumed his DJ work. In 1998 the singles "Dance For Eternity" and "Liquid Skies" were released, which were as successful as "Your Own Reality". In the same year Tracid was nominated for the VIVA Comet . He also founded the record label Tracid Traxxx that served in the following years as a musical home for its numerous projects and quickly became a style-defining Hard Trance - Label developed. Tracid's first album "Skywalker 1999" was released in 1999.

He celebrated his greatest successes in the following years with singles like "Too Many Times" and "Life Is Too Short" (both 2001). The latter is based on the melody of "Flight on the Lucky Dragon" by Klaus Doldinger , which appeared on the soundtrack of the film The Neverending Story . "Life Is Too Short" was Tracid's first top 10 hit in the German single charts.

In 2002 his second album "Trance & Acid" was released. At the end of the year the single "4 Just 1 Day" was released, followed in 2003 by the album "Contemplate (The Reason You Exist)". In contrast to the single, the album could not build on earlier successes.

Tracid now devoted himself to other projects such as the Tracid Traxxx sub-label “Acid Files”, on which he published acid productions together with Rob Acid , Mijk van Dijk and Ramon Zenker and then withdrew from the public.

today

In December 2006 he announced a musical change and another album with the title "Immortal - Studioworx 2003-2006", stepped out of the A * S * Y * S project and initially closed his Tracid Traxxx label, a short time later as a minimal techno label. Two singles followed, but they largely went unnoticed by the general public.

The announced album has not been released to this day, which, according to Tracid, is due to a lack of innovations in the field of dance music and a private lifestyle.

The Tracid Traxxx label has meanwhile been dissolved. The music rights were completely assigned to the respective artists.

In 2011, Kai Tracid's live sets could be seen at Nature One and the Global Gathering Festival in Poland.

In 2013 he announced in an interview a restart of the label in the old style. Corresponding plans are already in place.

Trivia

  • Tracid made a guest appearance in the feature film Hey DJ in 2003 .
  • Kai Tracid performed at the Q-Dance event Qlimax from 2001 to 2003 .

Overview of Tracid's projects

In addition to the publications under the name Kai Tracid, Tracid has also produced under numerous other synonyms and has worked with artists such as ATB (as Farrago ), Thomas P. Heckmann (as Arrakis ) and Frank Ellrich (as A * S * Y * S ). He was also part of the Der Verfall project and until 2004 produced Warmduscher's publications .

Pseudonyms

  • Acut Genius
  • Aeon FX
  • Christian Phoenix
  • Computer controlled
  • Formic acid
  • K
  • Kenji Ogura
  • Mac Acid
  • Mac Music
  • TBA
  • Tek
  • Tyrone TB
  • WOW

Projects with other musicians

  • 24 Hours (with Torben Schmidt)
  • A * S * Y * S (with Frank Ellrich )
  • Arrakis (with Thomas P. Heckmann)
  • Angel of Death (with Christian Schek)
  • The Decay (with Alex Butcher & Alexander Abraham)
  • Farrago (with ATB )
  • Flux (with Thomas Pogadl)
  • Phase 2 Face (with Andreas Paul)
  • Proto-Type (with Torben Schmidt)
  • Target (with Michael Kohlbecker)
  • United Deejays For Central America (with numerous other producers)
  • Wizards of Sonic (with Daniel Etzel, Frank Schlingloff & Marc Kamradt)
  • Yoda (with Sunbeam)
  • Warm Shower (Thilo)

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH
1999 Skywalker 1999 DE34 (6 weeks)
DE 		- -
First published: January 1999
2002 Trance & Acid DE16 (6 weeks)
DE 		- CH78 (4 weeks)
CH
First published: February 2002
2003 Contemplate DE41 (3 weeks)
DE 		- -
First published: March 2003

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH
1997 Your Own Reality
Skywalker 1999 		DE22 (13 weeks)
DE 		- -
First published: December 1997
1998 Dance For Eternity
Skywalker 1999 		DE26 (9 weeks)
DE 		- -
First published: June 1998
Liquid Skies
Skywalker 1999 		DE31 (9 weeks)
DE 		- -
First published: December 1998
1999 Destiny's Path
Trance & Acid 		DE29 (8 weeks)
DE 		- CH75 (2 weeks)
CH
First published: November 1999
2000 Deep intoxication
Trance & Acid 		DE41 (7 weeks)
DE 		- CH77 (3 weeks)
CH
First published: July 2000
2001 Too Many Times
Trance & Acid 		DE24 (11 weeks)
DE 		- CH73 (5 weeks)
CH
First published: August 2001
Life Is Too Short
Trance & Acid 		DE9 (10 weeks)
DE 		AT32 (11 weeks)
AT 		CH49 (9 weeks)
CH
First published: November 2001
2002 Trance & Acid
Trance & Acid 		DE37 (8 weeks)
DE 		- -
First published: May 2002
2003 4 Just 1 Day
Contemplate 		DE12 (8 weeks)
DE 		AT38 (6 weeks)
AT 		-
First published: January 2003
2004 Conscious DE44 (9 weeks)
DE 		- -
First published: March 2004
2020 DT64 - - -
First published: February 2020
Freedom Of Expression - - -
First published: May 2020

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/artist/Kai+Tracid Kai Tracid on discogs.com
  2. ↑ http://www.lastfm.de/music/Kai+Tracid
  3. ↑ a b Interview with Kai Tracid on www.partyfans.com , December 11, 2004
  4. ↑ Official announcement on the website of Kai Tracid (accessed on July 10, 2009)
  5. ↑ Tracid Traxxx Releases , accessed June 3, 2010
  6. ^ [1] Kai Tracid Interview, Luminosity Beach Festival 2011
  7. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hpih9X5EdNM ( Memento from December 7, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Interview with Kai Tracid @ Technoclub Frankfurt September 11, 2010
  8. ^ [2] Nature One 2013 :: sunshine live meets ... Kai Tracid
  9. ↑ a b Chart sources: DE AT CH
personal data
SURNAME Tracid, Kai
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Franz, Kai (real name); Mac Donald, Kai (stage name); Acut Genius (stage name); Aeon FX (artist name); Christian Phoenix (stage name); Computer Controlled (artist name); Formic Acid (stage name); K (stage name); Kenji Ogura (stage name); Mac Acid (stage name); Mac Music (artist name); TBA (stage name); Tek (stage name); Tyrone TB (stage name); WOW (artist name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German DJ and music producer
DATE OF BIRTH 17th January 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main , Hessen , Federal Republic of Germany