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A recent study conducted by scientists under the umbrella of a Montreal university confirmed what concert-goers and bedroom Audiophiles have known for years; listening to music makes one cream their Dungarees. The two McGill University staffers responsible for the study, concluded that participants listening to familiar pieces of music instinctually released dopamine into the striatum (an area of the brain associated with both prediction and anticipation) in preparation for a song’s climax. Dopamine, of course, is the internal and natural stimulant that’s essentially the driving force behind love amongst humans (including arousal and all the animalistic urges that follow). And while it goes without saying that an exceptionally catchy LCD Soundsystem or Lady Gaga hook will not, in fact, cause male and female knee-jerk ejaculation (if that were the case, the janitorial staff at MSG would’ve had a hell of a cleanup the morning of  April 3rd), one could argue that quality music in an appropriate environment could encourage flirty bliss between two individuals. (Or something like that.)

Austrian DJ Wolfram, at least in a straightforward and fairly accessible fashion, understands this equation, the weight it involuntarily carries, and his ability to harness whatever love inducing power wielded by two turntables and a microphone. To him, it’s a curse just as much as it is a gift.

“I think music needs to evoke emotions and be fun. In the end, it’s all about meeting someone. The girl or boy you like. To go out and meet somebody who’s nice that you can spend more time with.  Me as a DJ, I like to make those moments special.”

He sits in the corner on a couch, cushions depressed with his tattered sneakers tied up and resting heavily on the unadorned coffee table. The Austrian DJs’ hair, a mingling of knots between Katy Perry’s husBrand and pre-Congratulations MGMT, lays disheveled in that stereotypical Austrian way, perfectly unkempt and terribly fashionable with nothing more than an alarm clock prep. In New York for a two week performance and publicity whirlwind from Vienna, the Wolf (as the charming yet jaunty bastard often refers to himself) flips through a take away menu from a sandwich shop near his publicists’ Manhattan office. Boasting a number of multicultural cold-cuts that’d cause the brow of Epcot’s World Showcase to bead with sweat, he ultimately chooses, not The Schwarzwald as was discussed and (of course) expected, but the NYC-conventional Pastrami on Rye. Because, as the 20-something shaggy dog explains, “The Wolf eats anything.”

Plenty of publications and people, both prominent and not (but mos def including close friend and collaborator Andy Butler of Hercules and Love Affair) have labeled Wolfram the disco torchbearer for the 2011 masses. Like if a DJ acted as a stand-in for the famed Farnese Atlas, and in lieu of a celestial sphere, the DJ shouldered a blemished yet shimmering Steve Rubell disco ball bearing fundamental traits of the late aught’s fascination with Pitchfork approved synthesizers, the DJ would be Wolfram. That’s because, despite his admitted reluctance, Wolfram is confidently helming the genre’s 2011 renaissance.

“I don’t want to be the nu disco guy or that nu italo disco guy because there are so many. I’m not afraid of calling it pop because when I listen to some stuff of mine it’s normal pop arrangements. Like four minute songs.”

Wolfram (first name, followed by surname Eckert) grew up in a small no-name village in the lowlands of Austria about four hours by train from Vienna and was raised on a belly bulge of flea market electronica records from the 70s and 80s. Coming courtesy of papa Eckert, a music enthusiast who once made a living sculpting the sexy speakers usually found in the heavily pillowed living rooms of European Jack Horner-types, the DJ’s childhood was characterized by country fresh vinyl with a Sound of Music gloss. That is, rather than dopey chorus numbers, the von Trapp brats were cultured with Kraftwerk vinyl and Jean Michel Jarre synth-pop. Eating sausage, drinking milk (his neighbor was a farmer who’d always supply it fresh), and bobbing his little Wolf head, he developed a taste early on.

After a move to Vienna, Wolfram established himself as a figure in the club world. Producing and performing under the pseudonym Diskokaine (a moniker he’d also use in 2005 when the DJ launched his own label), for years he regularly spun disco and Chicago house, developing a reputation within dedicated enthusiasts of Gen X music. Mostly alone, but often collaborating with other scene notables such as the Netherlands’ Legowelt and the American singer Princess Superstar. Under his real name later on, Wolfram would executive produce the 2007 debut of Swedish singer Sally Shapiro (his Diskokaine label would also release the acclaimed Eurobeat and italo disco record) as well as contributing melodic club ready rubdowns for a few subsurface labels like Germany’s Gomma Records and Crème Organization (Holland).

But now it’s 2011 and by mixing up the Euro/italo disco and prescription-only synth medicine, Wolfram has crafted a debut album (due April 19th with artwork of baby Wolfie and Momma above) that’s successfully cut up and truncated the most appealing fragments of 30 odd historical years of electronic acts such as Kraftwerk and about a decade of 90’s Euro dance. And onstead of producing the kind of monumental club hits long enough for three buckets of glitter to be gaily dumped out then swept up in a manner similar to the dog who vindictively shits in his cage before being forced to sit in it, Wolfram’s self-titled debut shortens their duration a bit. Sifting through three minute crescendo concepts, he’s simply made an album full of delightful, short and synth-heavy pop songs.

“People will always use synthesizers,” Wolfram explains in a thick and proper E.S.L. accent. “Because synthetic electronic sounds and the whole Euro sound is good to produce a hit. It’s simple and catchy and to the point.” With r’s birthed in the back of his throat and an Austrian way of pronunciation that features vowels sometimes long and sometimes short (but everything honey thick and forceful) he continues. “So nowadays lots of American stuff is totally Euro. Like “My Love” by Justin Timberlake, which is a great song, but you can hear that his synthesizers are totally Euro with a beat that is more like hip hop. Also that Lady Gag “Poker Face” is all inspired by that same sort of thing.’

His awareness of this upward trend has resulted in a newly acquired membership to the iconic Munich-based Permanent Vacation family and an upcoming debut that’s chiseled down to the melodic core and as sturdy as a marble statue is dense. (Which the DJ likes simply because saying “Wolfram is on Permanent Vacation” never gets old.) When asked to describe the album’s sound Wolfram delivers something for the harminious laymen. “I’d say it’s music found between that of Karftwerk and Pet Shop Boys. That’s how I’d describe it for people who don’t know Jean-Michel Jarre, who don’t know about nu disco outfits like DFA-related stuff or the genre of italo in the first place.”

He’s got some pretty big names guesting on the record too. (In fact the album’s entire vocal catalog is lifted from friends both large and small.) Paul Parker, Haddaway (the soul singer of 90’s #1 hit “What is Love”), recent DFA buzzmaking duo Holy Ghost!, and the aforementioned Hercules & Love Affair all make appearances.

“For this album I’ve used up all my famous friends who can sing, so the next album will probably have to be all instrumental,” he says laughing. “But yesterday on a German blog somebody was talking about me being the next interesting act of 2011 and then there was one comment from a journalist saying, ‘Yeah, I really like this guy and the album is really good too. Hopefully he doesn’t have the problem of having too many famous friends and having such a good haircut, and looking too good, blah blah blah.’ But then the original blogger responded, ‘No, the album is actually really good and even all the featured acts would be happy to use these songs on their own albums.‘ And that of course made me happy.”

One close friend he didn’t utilize however, one that is perhaps bigger than the entire lot rolled together, is Richard Melville Hall. Otherwise known as the bald Dalai lama of electronic dance music. Otherwise known as mofo Moby. The two became close buddies after Wolfram was asked by the chrome-domed rave icon to remix a track a few years back.

“So we became friends and he really has helped me out a lot,” Wolfram says. “Like always, when I come here to DJ, normally they’ll fly you over and pay for only two nights, but last time I wanted to stay longer and Moby was like, ‘Hey, you can stay an my place.’ So I’ve stayed at Moby’s maybe like three times. He’s a really good person and I’m pretty sure he was the same person he was before. He’s actually really kind’ve big, like ‘Go’ was like the first huge rave anthem, but the good thing about him is, it doesn’t matter if he’s on the fucking beach or Heat with Al Pacino’s soundtrack, then he wrote all the music. It’s not like if Britney Spears was on it. Moby’s the producer, he’s the writer. If there are vocals on it, then he sings them. Maybe once Gwen Stefani, I don’t know. But I really admire him for that.”

Later that evening as Wolfram concludes his early morning set at Le Bain, the profligate NYC club that sits atop the Standard Hotel like an STD falcon keeping a watchful eye on New York’s meatpacking district eighteen floors below, the small yet dominant dance floor is active. There’s still plush leather movables lining the walls with bottle service dorks absolutely pounding Absolute, but for every head tilt conducted to a beat of E.D.M. bass, another night patron is completely losing their shit and utterly rapt in the moment.

“I read something about ‘Fireworks’ on the internet,” Wolfram recites earlier while talking about his record’s lead single (as you can infer, he reads all his press). “It said, ‘Once in the ear, always in the heart.’ I think this is nice, to combine ear and heart. Because it’s not all about the sound, it’s about the emotions. It’s about what happens in the heart.”

*While this interview took place last month, Wolfram is already back in NYC and celebrating his album release this Saturday, April 9th. More details here.

-Adam Himebauch