Tilman

Mainz, Germany

Inside Looking Out

Electronic

Behind the Music

Reading The Outlaw Ocean was a mind-blowing and illuminating experience. I had no knowledge of the stories Ian unveiled through his reporting — how vast and lawless the oceans truly are. As an artist, each part of the book provided brilliant imagery and insight into an unfathomable world. I started writing my music in the middle of reading the chapter, “Jail Without Bars.” I was floored by the shocking tale of David George Mndolwa, and immediately felt inspired. The feelings and ideas weren’t the easiest to translate into music, so I utilized various tones to represent the myriad of emotions associated with the story.

This book is an eye-opener for everyone, and I think this music project has the potential to plant some new seeds of thoughts in its consumers. Ian’s reporting reveals the duality of the ocean — a reality most ashore are unaware of. I want my contributions to The Outlaw Ocean Music Project to accomplish the same.

Tilman
About Tilman

Tilman is a DJ, producer and label owner based in Mainz, Germany. After successfully running the Klamauk label for quite a while, he also takes care of Fine, the label he runs with Johannes Albert, and RTB, together with Rhode & Brown. Tilman is positive in every way, not just in regards to his music, but as well as a person. Coming from a hip-hop background, he made his way through house, soul, disco and funk to get where he is now, displaying a huge variety of sounds and styles. Always a part of the Rhein-Main club scene, Tilman played an essential role in having his own club nights as well as gigs all over Europe, North America and Australia. 

As a child, he enjoyed drum and piano lessons, which helped him a lot to get a good sense of rhythms, melodies and harmonies. In the last years, he started producing music, mostly using his favorite synths, drum machines and samples to release House Music not only on his own imprints, but also on Shall Not Fade, Faces Records and Let’s Play House, to name a few. You can say that 2018 was a positive turning point in his career. After the success of his “Love EP” on Fine and “In My Mind EP” on Faces, word has spread and so he is travelling a lot as a DJ now. He seems to run on more powerful batteries than the rest of us, so take a listen to his adventure through dance music, new and old on many podcast mixes for Ninja Tune, Sloth Boogie or Rinse FM.

Winner of the 2021 Scripps Howard Award for Excellence in Innovation in Journalism

The Journalism behind the Music

All music in this project is based on The Outlaw Ocean, a New York Times Best-Selling book by Ian Urbina that chronicles lawlessness at sea around the world. This reporting touches on a diversity of abuses ranging from illegal and overfishing, arms trafficking at sea, human slavery, gun running, intentional dumping, murder of stowaways, thievery of ships and other topics.

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