NEWS

Tributes paid to deep house producer and “huge inspiration” Soulphiction

The electronic music world has been paying tribute to Michel Baumann, who recorded and performed as both Soulphiction and Jackmate, following reports of his death of Monday (May 24).

The Stuttgart-born DJ, producer and Philpot label co-founder had shared on Facebook that he was beginning chemotherapy treatment in hospital early last month.

Baumann’s career spanned over 20 years, with dozens of releases appearing on labels such as Perlon, Local Talk, Playhouse, UMag and Pampa. His sets were legendary for exploring boogie, hip hop, soul and funk, much of which he discovered in his early days working in a record story, prior to delving deeper into house music.

A fundraising campaign has since been set up to support Baumann’s family – you can donate to the campaign here.

Reports of Baumann’s death began circulating on social media yesterday, with tributes ranging from Defected Records to The Blessed Madonna.

“Truly saddened to wake up to hear about the passing of Michel Baumann aka Soulphiction / Jackmate,” Defected’s Twitter account posted. “An underground house legend… R.I.P.”

The Blessed Madonna praised Baumann as “one of the most consistent, inspiring, thoughtful producers in dance music for a great many years,” while Honey Dijon called him “a huge inspiration”.

“So saddened to hear the passing of Michel Baumann, aka SoulPhiction / Jackmate.. a consistently brilliant artist who’s music we played often that always excited and inspired us to push our own work further,” PBR Streetgang wrote on Twitter. “One of the best truly. Sincere condolences to his family & friends.”

See those tributes and more below.