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Thomas runs his own imprint Spielzeug Schallplatten among many other projects. Together with producer Stephan Bodzin and the singer Caitlin Devlin he forms the project Elektrochemie, who have been highly successful releasing their tracks on the prolific German dance music label Get Physical.

Before his set at Chew the Fat!, we hooked up with Thomas in Berlin and talked to him about the German stereotype of minimal schminimal, Breakbeat back in the days and which records he will pack into his bag for the 14th of December.Thomas, please introduce yourself to the Chew the Fat!-party crowd!

My name is Thomas Schumacher and I have been producing music and Djing under this very unique family name for quite some time now. I started back in 1989 in my hometown of Bremen, which is in North Germany, and had my first release in 1992. I live in Berlin nowadays and continue making music as Thomas Schumacher on my own label Spielzeug Schallplatten and as Elektrochemie together with the singer Caitlin Devlin on Get Physical.

You have released underground hit-singles like "Kickschool 79" or "Brut Royal", which have nothing to do with minimal music, but seem more closely related to Breakbeat. How come?>>>

Maybe it has something to do with the fact, that when I started to be a producer it was seen as perfectly normal to crossover between techno, house and breakbeat.

And still nowadays I consider myself as someone who produces music that spans over different genres. So in that way, I'm definitely not a minimalist. I like to experiment with different styles.

We can imagine a lot of people are scared of boring minimal dance music. Maybe you can take their fear away and tell us a little bit about your definition of minimal music and what you think of it.>>>

Well, minimal has become somewhat the mainstream of techno. I think the word is a little overstretched, but for me it means mainly two things.

Firstly, I think it's a good thing that people have moved away from the attitude that existed in techno around 2000. People simply thought that the concept of making the music more bassy, faster and with more sounds would not appeal to so many people anymore. And they were right.

I think a lot of producers have set the standard now by producing very clear and aesthetic sound designs in their tracks and I also think there is move towards more housy grooves, too at the moment. That's the positive effect of minimal.

The other effect of the whole minimal hype is the creation of a new scene. There are quite a number of people - especially in Berlin - who are concentrating on making super reduced electro and techno. But to be quite honest, I am not really interested in this kind of stuff at all!

You are mainly a techno and house DJ and have been booked by Paul "Trouble" Arnold to Chew the Fat!, self-proclaiming itself as the Worlds longest running breaks night. Are you afraid of people throwing plastic cups at you for not playing the latest Nuskool-Breaks-Stomper?>>>

First of all, I am really looking forward to playing at The End in London, as it's one of the top clubs in London. I am also very interested to see how my set will go down at Chew the Fat! But there is something different to it as well. I play out every weekend around the world and it's really great fun - I love it. But sometimes you get into a bit of a habit with your music, so Chew the Fat! at the End will be a great opportunity for me to look through my records and pack some real gems into my box for that night. Maybe I can dig up some old breakbeat classics, who knows?

So what kind of set can people expect from you on the 14th of December?>>>

It will definitely be a mixture. I often use my own productions as pillars that I can build a set around, so I'll definitely be playing some of those. But at the same time, I am not DJ who plays 90% of his own material. I buy about 40 records a week and there is always so much interesting stuff in there. So I am really looking forward to playing an eclectic set. One thing I won't pack for sure are boring minimal tracks!