Philipp Jung, the German DJ and producer behind the electronic duo M.A.N.D.Y. and the influential Get Physical label, has died. The British DJ Damian Lazarus, a onetime Get Physical signee, shared the news on May 20, giving his age as 55. Jung’s personal Facebook page and his labels’ Instagrams have since posted their own tributes. No cause of death was given.
Jung worked as an A&R in the 1990s before teaming up with childhood friend Patrick Bodmer to form M.A.N.D.Y. and Get Physical in the early 2000s. They and the label’s other founders—DJ T., and Booka Shade’s Arno Kammermeier and Walter Merziger—set out to form close relationships with a roster of artists whose “song-oriented dance music,” as they put it, equally suited living rooms and clubs. DJ Mag named it the label of the year in 2005.
In an interview with Fifteen Questions, Jung reflected, “Not to romanticise it too much, but there was this energy you can’t really explain when a bunch of nerds and friends put their heads together just to create something.” Key releases such as M.A.N.D.Y. and Booka Shade’s remix of Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman” and Samim’s accordion-laden “Heater” were crossover hits, while the label burrowed into a nexus between minimal and tech-house that quietly reverberated throughout the decade.
As well as continuing to help steer Get Physical and sister label Kindisch, Jung launched the Metaphysical label in 2020 and kept releasing his own music, including a compilation of his remixes this March. He said in his recent interviews that he had moved from Berlin to the mountains in Costa Rica and was expecting a child. “I still believe music is the highest form of art because it never reveals its final secret,” he said in the Fifteen Questions interview. “You never fully understand why something moves you so deeply—why it makes you laugh or cry. So I’ll keep doing it and patiently wait for those moments to appear again.”
Remembering Jung on Instagram, his associated labels wrote, “With Philipp, we lose a truly special person whose warmth, care, and passion will never be forgotten. As co-founder of Get Physical, he not only built a label, but also created a place for creativity and community. Through his dedication, openness, and unwavering belief in creative freedom, he inspired people and created spaces where music could bring people together.”
Pitchfork has emailed representatives for Jung and Get Physical for more information.
