Marius Lauber – or Roosevelt, as he calls himself – is the latest signing to left-field electronic label Greco-Roman. And with super-chill, melodic sounds like this, who can blame the Greco-Roman boys for snatching this kid up, or Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs for getting him to open for them? We premiere his latest track Soleil.

Why the name Roosevelt? Are you a big fan of the US president?

I am slightly interested in American history and I like the connotation that the name implies. Besides that, I like the soft sound of it and the fact that it doesn’t sound like a rock band.

When did you first start making music?

When I was seven I got my first piano lessons, stopped them 2 years later for playing football, and started playing drums and guitar when I was 14.

You live in Cologne – what’s the music scene like? What do you like about living there?

It’s quite small, which is great. There are no barriers between different genres. You can see that Kompakt, the biggest electronic Label in Cologne, also started to release more pop albums. I’m friends with both techno/house and indie people, which I find more productive than being in a small genre-related group.

What’s your debut EP sounding like?

A bit less shimmering, a bit more direct.

What was the record that made you want to be a DJ?

I never really wanted to get a DJ, it’s more about having fun by playing the records that you like really loud!

Would you ever produce songs for a big pop star, ala Diplo?

Oh yes.

Soleil is out now on iTunes. www.facebook.com/iamroosevelt

Words: Zing Tsjeng