Niconé, the versatile musician and likeable style-icon: unshaven and latently bleary-eyed, of course, but elegant and – thankfully – modest at the same time.AlexanderGerlach has become synonymous with a certain playful touch and light-heartedattitude that flows through his music and goes hand in hand with a laidback naturaltenor. Originally founded in 2007 as a collaborative music- meets-fashion projecttogether with Helena Kapidzic, Niconé has since left his mark on the illustriousnightlife of Berlin and beyond.Rightfully refusing to be tied to one particular sound, Niconé moves fleet-footedlybetween summery anthems, tight deep house and leftfield pop-not-pop, while all ofhis output is united by the fact that there’s always a twist – Niconé is anything butboring, in other words. While tracks such as ‘Una Rosa’ (2008) and the Bar 25 hymn‘Nur mal kurz’ (2009) led to well-deserved underground fame early on, the last yearshave proven particularly fruitful. In 2011, Niconé teamed up with his good friend andpartner in crime Sascha Braemer to record their hugely successful ‘Romantic Thrills’album, released on Stil vor Talent. Showcasing a wide spectrum, rather than a rigiddefinition of house, the album was all killer, no filler, with standouts like ‘Caje feat.(Album Edit)’ becoming inescapable floor movers.The past year saw ‘Why’, released on OFF Recordings and remixed by Monte,Niconé & Gunjah’s ‘Paez, Luv and Harmonium’ on Acid Pauli’s ‘Get Lost V’ forCrosstown Rebels, as well as two follow-up EPs on Stil vor Talent in collaborationwith Sascha Braemer. Testament to Niconé’s special relationship with the infamousBar 25, moreover, comes in the form of the soundtrack of ‘Tage Ausserhalb der Zeit’,the film documenting the Spree venue’s heyday. Naturally, one finds ‘T hänk You’ on it.Added to this, Niconé founded another platform to realise his musical vision,launching the Dantze label in 2006 together with Philip Bader. T he duo later onbecame a trio as Sascha Braemer came on board – the more, the merrier. With amission to capture the essence of long nights and longer after-hours on record,Dantze relies on a solid core group of artists, as a family- like atmosphere is close toits heart. If a track fits their standards, they release it. To impressive results: 2012witnessed diverse EPs by the likes of Dirty Döring, Nico Stojan, Gunjah, NU orRampue, often with one or all of the label heads on remix duties. The kind of housemusic propagated by Dantze is best described as playful, different – not too unlikeNiconé himself, then.While Berlin has long been home to the Dantze parties, held at hotspots Watergate,Kater Holzig or Sisyphos, Niconé has recently been gracing the decks of Social Clubin Paris, Fusion Festival and Hive in Zürich.Among others, Timewarp Mannheim andRave Autonomica in Munich are confirmed for this year. But whether it’s within thecontext of an intimate club or the more exposed festival stages, Niconé remains trueto his ethos: take it easy!