Matthias Tanzmann's Moon Harbour Celebrates 25 Years

Estimated reading time: 2 min

Leipzig Label's Quarter-Century Milestone Compilation

Matthias Tanzmann and André Quaas co-founded Moon Harbour in Leipzig in 2000 without long-term ambitions. "We just wanted to release our own music," Tanzmann recalls. "Running the label for 25 years wasn't something we could envision." The imprint has since issued more than 100 vinyl releases and over 200 digital tracks, establishing itself as a central node in European tech-house through its CircoLoco residency presence and festival showcases at Sónar, ADE, and WMC Miami.

'25 Years of Moon Harbour' assembles eight new tracks rather than archive material. (Original source) Tanzmann selected contributors spanning the label's history: Luna City Express and Mathias Kaden represent the early roster, while Cinthie, wAFF, Defex, and Stefano Noferini anchor recent chapters. Tanzmann himself appears twice—on 'Hypno Funk' with Kaden and 'Good Time' with Steve Bug—framing the compilation as an active curatorial statement rather than retrospective survey.

Eight New Tracks Bridge Legacy and Current Roster

The anniversary package draws from both ends of the roster timeline. Steve Bug, whose work with Tanzmann dates back to Moon Harbour's first decade, contributes 'Good Time,' while Cinthie—a more recent addition—represents the label's expanding stylistic bandwidth. (Label Focus: Moon Harbour - Mixmag.net) Mathias Kaden, another Leipzig-era associate, reunites with Tanzmann on 'Hypno Funk,' threading continuity through the tracklist. Defex and wAFF supply contemporary club architecture, bridging the label's foundational deep-house ethos with the percussive minimalism that has defined its last five years. Stefano Noferini rounds out the selection, his inclusion signaling Moon Harbour's sustained engagement with Italy's tech-house lineage. Tanzmann framed the curation as a deliberate balance of "rhythmic, melodic, and emotional angles," avoiding retrospective nostalgia in favor of present-tense output that charts the imprint's ongoing trajectory rather than memorializing its past.

How Moon Harbour Survived Two Decades of Tech-House

Tech-house's velocity favours neither longevity nor consistent aesthetic identity. Labels rise with a sound, saturate, and vanish when the floor moves on. Moon Harbour's two-and-a-half-decade arc defies that churn. (Matthias Tanzmann | Gray Area) Where peers chased momentum or sold equity, Tanzmann and Quaas kept a stable structure, anchoring releases around a core group while rotating satellite contributors. The label's early output emerged from Leipzig's Distillery club scene and Tanzmann's Gamat 3000 project, rooting the catalogue in German deep-house minimalism before the tech-house boom. That local identity scaled internationally via residencies and festival showcases—Ibiza, Miami, Barcelona—without abandoning the original circle. Artists who debuted in 2001 remain active; newer signings inherit rather than replace. (Matthias Tanzmann - Official Website)

Sources

• Original source
• Label Focus: Moon Harbour - Mixmag.net (2016-02-16)
• Matthias Tanzmann | Gray Area (2022-01-25)
• Matthias Tanzmann - Official Website
• About - Moon Harbour Recordings (2018-12-04)
• Matthias Tanzmann – Artists - Insomniac

How we reported this

We reviewed the original coverage from EGNews and cross-checked key details against the sources above. If something is unclear or changes after publication, we’ll update this post.

About the author

Tom Rander — is a journalist and electronic music specialist who has spent years documenting the intersection of club culture and technical innovation. With a background rooted in both the booth and the press room, Tom founded Rander.io to provide a more rigorous, expertise-driven alternative to mainstream music blogs.