There couldn't be many more fitting places in Berlin to meet up with Stefan Betke, better known as Pole, than the pleasant waterside surroundings of Kreuzberg's "Club der Visionäre". Built on wooden boards and pontoons on the river Spree, it's a location that radiates an air of relaxed tranquility, while minimalistic techno grooves, selected by Daniel Bell and Pole's partner and spouse Barbara Preisinger, remind you that you are still deep inside the beating heart of the German techno culture that is Berlin.

The interview's backdrop seems a valid metaphor for Pole's music, which oscillates between warm, analogue layers of bass-heavy dub and live instrumentation on one hand and poignant cutting-edge sound design on the other. "Nature is indeed a major source of inspiration for me", admits Pole, who is incidentally just about to embark on a field recording trip to the countryside. "Having a studio in the mountains would be nice, preferably somewhere in the Alps", he adds, "but for now we just hit the countryside by car whenever we can."