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THE DJ HANGOUT / THE EXPERIMENTAL CLUB ARCHIVE

Objekt

The Berlin Producer Who Refused to Follow the Grid

Check out the Objekt events here ↓Techno · Experimental Electronic

TJ Hertz built a reputation for intricate club records, then used two PAN albums and the Kapsela label to push his sound into unexpected territory.

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3 MIN READ · 567 WORDSORIGINAL REPORTING · THE DJ HANGOUT
ARTISTTJ Hertz
ALBUMSFlatland · Cocoon Crush
LABELKapsela
ROOTSBerlin club culture

CHAPTER 01

Dance music is allowed to sound unfamiliar

Some electronic records are designed to give a DJ an obvious tool: a kick drum, a bass line and a predictable place to mix. Objekt builds from a different premise. Recording under that name, Berlin-based producer TJ Hertz takes familiar ideas from techno, electro, UK bass and breakbeat, then changes their shapes until the listener has to pay attention again. His best-known work can feel both intensely physical and difficult to categorize.

His early club records emerged in a Berlin scene where listening deeply to unusual electronic music was not a separate activity from going dancing. White-label releases under the Objekt name, the Cactus and Porcupine twelve-inch on Hessle Audio, and a split record with Dopplereffekt on Leisure System all appeared before or around the period of his first album. The records established a producer who knew the grammar of club music well enough to rearrange it.

CHAPTER 02

Flatland makes a case for the album

In 2014 PAN released Flatland, Objekt’s debut full-length album. The record was written between 2012 and 2014, following his singles and club work. The label described its music as a challenge to the conventions of techno and electro: drums twist unexpectedly, sounds emerge from unlikely corners, and the tracks do not always resolve in the reassuring way a dance-floor audience expects.

The value of this approach becomes clearer across a complete album. A club DJ might seek one especially effective transition, but an album can develop a mood through several connected pieces. Flatland created that larger world without abandoning rhythmic power. It also showed that technical precision does not have to produce sterile music; it can make strange ideas feel convincing.

CHAPTER 03

Cocoon Crush turns inward

Four years later, PAN issued Cocoon Crush, released on November 9, 2018. The album was written between 2014 and 2018 in Berlin and while traveling. Compared with the heavily synthetic palette of Flatland, it drew more strongly on organic recordings and textured sounds. Pieces such as Dazzle Anew, 35 and Nervous Silk were built around intricate details and moods that changed with repeated listening.

The album’s own release notes describe an artistic move away from the functional expectations of club music. Its production is still meticulous, but that detail supports an emotional range including isolation, tension and moments of joy. This makes Objekt a useful subject for listeners who think an electronic producer must choose between serious sound design and a direct feeling.

CHAPTER 04

Kapsela brings the club experiments back into focus

In October 2024, Objekt launched Kapsela with a tenth-anniversary edition of Ganzfeld, originally released in 2014. The new edition included versions by Djrum, Piezo and Ulla, each interpreting the material differently. The original track had arrived at a relatively fast 147 BPM, making it a striking club experiment at the time. Bringing it back with new perspectives emphasized how musical contexts can change around a record.

That same month he released Chicken Garaage, a two-track project inspired by UK garage and early dubstep. The release notes describe a faster, more spontaneous production process, while Worm Dance drew heavily on field recordings made outside Berlin. After two carefully designed albums, the return to compact club records showed a creative identity still open to surprise. For emerging producers, the lesson is to learn the rules thoroughly without allowing them to decide every result.

THE REPORTING BEHIND THE STORY

Verified releases, artist accounts, interviews and dated event records. Artist-reported history is identified in the article when older accounts disagree.

  1. Objekt — Flatland artist and PAN release notes ↗Debut album, composition years and earlier releases
  2. Objekt — Cocoon Crush artist and PAN release notes ↗2018 album, recording context and sound design
  3. Objekt — Ganzfeld on Kapsela ↗2024 label launch, original track and remixes
  4. Objekt — Chicken Garaage ↗2024 track histories and recording approach

Until an authentic image is approved for republication, this profile uses original name artwork rather than a fabricated artist portrait.

BACKGROUND

Germany

SOUND

Techno · Experimental Electronic

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