950 Episodes Deep, The Data Transmission Podcast Welcomes Steve Bug…
Some things in dance music come and go. Others quietly keep the culture moving.
This week, the Data Transmission Podcast hits episode 950, a milestone that puts it among the longest-running dance music podcasts still active today. The series first launched back in 2008 with Busy P, the Ed Banger boss and former Daft Punk manager, delivering the opening mix that set the tone for what would become a long-running archive of club music culture.
What started as a simple idea, to invite great DJs to record mixes for people who love digging music, has grown into a weekly fixture for selectors around the world. Nearly two decades later, the catalogue reads like a cross-section of dance music history.
Early episodes featured names like Carl Cox, Sasha, Kerri Chandler, Paul Woolford, Groove Armada, Moby, and DJ Zinc, alongside emerging artists just starting to break through at the time. That mix of legends, underground heroes and future stars has always been the point. No hype cycles. Just DJs who know how to build a set.
Over the years, the podcast has hosted everyone from house pioneers and techno stalwarts to bass music innovators and new-generation selectors. And it has done the same thing every week since day one, handing the decks to people who know what they are doing.
Episode 950 feels like a fitting moment to welcome a guest who represents that same long-game mentality.
Steve Bug steps up for episode 950
Few artists carry the kind of history Steve Bug does.
The German DJ, producer and label founder has spent nearly three decades shaping the deeper end of house and techno. Starting out in Germany’s early 90s acid and techno explosion, Bug quickly built a reputation for groove-led sets and meticulous production.
His label Poker Flat Recordings, launched in the late 90s, became one of the defining imprints for European house music, helping push a stripped-back, elegant sound that sat somewhere between Chicago warmth and Berlin minimalism.
Alongside Poker Flat he has also launched labels like Dessous, Audiomatique and Sublease, while releasing music on imprints including Hot Creations, Nu Groove, Bedrock, Cocoon and Defected.
And through it all, Bug has remained what Resident Advisor once called a “gentleman of techno”, a DJ whose consistency and deep understanding of the groove keeps him firmly in the conversation year after year
Steve Bug takes the controls for Data Transmission Podcast 950.
Sum up this podcast in 10 words…
Deep grooves and rhythms, tracks I am playing right now.
What’s your personal favourite track on it?
A track I recently rediscovered — Spirit Catcher – Sedona (Andre Lodemann Remix) — especially after adding the acapella of John Tejada’s Sweat (On The Walls). Such a great match.
What’s the special ingredient in this mix?
Sweat (On The Walls). 😉
Tell us about your new EP?
It’s a collaboration with Ammo Avenue, who I met five years ago at a gig in Ecuador. Since we both really connected over our production styles, we decided to team up and combine them for a driving, techy EP that works great on dancefloors big and small. The main track features vocals by Mikey V.
What have you got coming up?
There’s a collaboration with the Pornbugs coming out on Bondage Music, a solo EP on Nu Groove, and a collaboration with Josh Wink on Laurent Garnier’s Cod3 QR.
And finally, do you have a special message for our readers?
Support the artists you like — it keeps the scene alive
Tracklist
Marco Weber – Dance With Me (feat Dirty Den)- Whyostro White
Damn Swindle – x DJ Pierre & Simon Doty (Come Together) – King Street Sounds
Josh Butler – Sweet Spot – Factory 93 Records
Mathias Kaden – Getting Closer – Rekids
Dave Aju , Rodney – We Still Dancin (EG Dub MIx) – Elbow Grease
Defex, Maniac – Zaxndi feat Maniac (Kollektiv Turmstrasse Remix) – Poker Flat
Steve Bug, Ammo Avenue – Stop The Music – Poker Flat
Mihai Popoviciu – The Shake – Sublease Music
Radio Slave ft Kameelah Waheed – All Rize (DJ MIx Remix) – Rekids
Adam Ten & Mita Game – The Queen (303 Remake) – Crosstwon rebels
Gystere, Cotonete – O Ceu Preto (Dj Deep & Romain Remix) – Heavenly Sweetness
Huxley – Day Tripper – He She They Records
Spirit Catcher – Sedona (Andre Lodemann Remix) – Systematic vs John Tejada – Sweat On The Walls (Acapella) – Defected
Shahrokh Dini – Owl Flight (Delano Smith Remix) – Compost
Deltech – Enerji – Poker Flat
Butch – Formula E – Life And Death
John Hobbs, Odille Lima – Hypnotic Energy – Sucio