Lauer

German producer Phillip Lauer, who also records under the alias Lauer, has built a reputation for electronic dance music that fuses classic deep house textures with '80s synth pop and Italo-disco elements. His first 12" singles appeared in 2000, followed by the full-length debut Phillips in 2012. He formed the neo-disco and house duo Tuff City Kids alongside Gerd Janson, and the pair gained notice for their extensive output as remixers. Lauer and Janson further joined Mark Barrott on the Balearic project Talamanca System. While operating his own Brontosaurus imprint, Lauer issued the solo albums Borndom in 2015 and Cyclone Days in 2022, both centered on melodic, club-oriented material. The left-field collaboration Black Spuma, shared with frequent partner Fabrizio Mammarella, delivered its first album, No No No, in 2023.

Born in Frankfurt, Lauer began exploring electronic production during his teenage years. Early work under the Plenty Ammo name surfaced on cassette-only releases for In Between and Real Soon, accompanied by performances at the Robert Johnson club. Additional tracks later emerged on Separe Recordings and Punkt Music. He also produced remixes and recorded as the duo Arto Mwambe with CB Funk. In 2006 he launched Brontosaurus, and six years later Phillips appeared on Running Back. The follow-up Borndom, issued in 2015 on Permanent Vacation, carried a moody, synth-driven atmosphere and included vocal contributions from Jasnau and Ela. Together with Running Back founder Gerd Janson, Lauer issued multiple singles and remixes as Tuff City Kids before unveiling the 2016 debut album Adoldesscent on Permanent Vacation. The self-titled Talamanca System album, a downtempo effort uniting Lauer, Janson, and Mark Barrott, came out on International Feel in 2017. Lauer returned to Running Back with the 2018 album Power. Answers 2 Trouble arrived on Permanent Vacation in 2021, featuring guest spots from Fabrizio Mammarella, Dena, and Jasnau. Two tracks on the 2022 album Cyclone Days again paired him with vocalist Dena. The solo EPs Otto Zero and Harmony Unit surfaced in 2023, alongside Based on Boss, Vol. 1 with Johannes Albert. Black Spuma, another Mammarella partnership, marked its full-length entry with No No No.