#Michel Baumann, German Producer Known as Jackmate and Soulphiction, Dies at 52

Michel Baumann, the German DJ and producer who released an array of electronic music under his Jackmate and Soulphiction aliases, has died of cancer, his longtime friend and collaborator Nik Reiff confirms to Pitchfork. Baumann had said in April that he was in hospital undergoing chemotherapy; Reiff confirms that the cause of death was cancer. He was 52 years old.

In 1985, Baumann began composing music on his first synthesizer. A few years later he obtained a sampler, and began emulating the Chicago house music that came in to the Stuttgart record store where he worked. In 2000, He founded the Stuttgart dance label Philpot, named for Larry Levan’s original surname, where he and Blacktrane producer Tobias Ettle would release records for the next two decades. As his Jackmate alias gained steam in techno circles, Baumann began to release diverse club tracks as Soulphiction, foregrounding his influences from soul, jazz, and hip-hop. He also played with Reiff and Benjamin Lieten (aka Phlegmatic) in Manmadescience, which released a single album, One, in 2007.

Initially renowned as a maestro of minimal techno, Baumann released on various labels including DJ Koze’s Pampa, the German label Perlon, and Steve Bug’s Poker Flat, which put out Soulphiction’s 24​/​7 Love Affair in 2019. The following year, he helped to launch a new label, 18437, reviving his Jackmate moniker with the deep house EP Modulation Nightdrive. The label would put out his last release before his death, Soulphiction’s What What EP, in March this year.