Techno’s biggest names ‘rock the vote’ [2002]…

With Germany set to go to the polls today, it’s worth looking back to the country’s federal elections of 2002, when some of the country’s biggest names in techno joined forces to encourage young people to vote.

DJs and producers such as 2Raumwohnung, Ellen Allien, Frank Lorber, Michael Meyer, Paul van Dyk, Ricardo Villalobos, Sven Väth, Timo Maas and Westbam all put their name to an open letter, ‘Disko Deutschland geht wählen!’ (Disco Germany goes to the polls!), which was shared en masse via email and online messageboard, as well as being printed in magazines such as Spex and Groove.

As the letter stated at the time, “Each of us loves our individuality, and our freedom. Each of us is, more or less, choosy. Why can I get into a club, while others can’t? Why do I prefer releases on from labels X or Y, but not Z? […] But when it comes to the future of our country, we suddenly close our eyes and are completely disorientated. That cannot be right, in our view…”

So, did it work? The election saw Gerhard Schröder’s SPD party retain a narrow majority, despite losing 47 seats…