While we work on our year-end highlights, we wanted to hear directly from artists about how 2025 has been for them and what they’re looking forward to in 2026.
Discover their answers in our Questionnaire, alongside their Best of 2025 tracks, albums, and mixes. Following Carlos Nimmens, Fernando Lagreca, Beico, Brunetto, and AFFKT, apaull, Afterlife, and Vexillary, the next artist is Chris Maico Schmidt.
Best of 2025 – Artist Questionnaire by Chris Maico Schmidt
– What’s one thing you learned about yourself as an artist this year?
The feeling of “missing out,” which used to be so present in my life, no longer affects me at all – and I actually see that as a real gain.
-How has your creative process evolved over the past year?
As a DJ and producer, I increasingly make use of the new technical possibilities offered by programs like Ableton or Traktor – for example, stem separation.
For social media, I’m relying more and more on AI tools such as Gemini, GPT, Perplexity, Runway, Veo, and similar platforms. Especially for text and video production, they are an enormous help.
-Who or what inspired your work the most in 2025?
The label “Cod3 QR” by Laurent Garnier and Oliver Way is a great source of inspiration for me.
-What’s something you accomplished this year that the “you from last year” wouldn’t believe?
I am proud that my radio station, “Evosonic Radio,” still exists.
-Is there something you hoped to accomplish in 2025 but didn’t, and are now aiming for in 2026?
My third solo album, as well as a release on the “Cod3 QR” label.
– What’s one goal -big or small – you’re setting for yourself as an artist in 2026?
In the future, I want to be even more active on social media and invite more well-known artists to my show – to talk with them about the “good old days” and finally meet them in person.
And: to reach the Top Ten with sophisticated music productions, legally.
– What are you most excited to explore creatively in 2026?
Writing better prompts to generate even better videos. Spend more money on promotion.
– Is there a new medium, project, or direction you’re planning to dive into next year?
I want to become more experimental and take my music productions to the next level. My goal is to produce as creatively and boldly as I did in the 1990s – for example, as MikeroBenics – but to bring that approach into the present.
An Evosonic Float at Rave The Planet 2026.
Your Message for Fans & Music Lovers
I will not stop maintaining the highest standards of ambition and quality in my music—as both a DJ and producer, as well as in my role as program director at Evosonic Radio. Support this station: beevosonic
Listen to my radio show “MikeLike” on Evosonic Radio. Every Sunday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. (CET)! LIVE oder auf Soundcloud / Hearthis
Top 5 Albums of 2025 by Chris Maico Schmidt
Voltaire – Echoes – Cod3 QR
Andrey Sirotkin – Annual Report – Vyrii records
Morgen Wurde – Von Jetzt An – Frosti
Maceo Plex – ’93 – Lone Romantic
Drea Perlon – Accapella Sessions – Aeya Records
Find all accapellas of DREA PERLON´s latest track on this album to fall in love with her unique voice!
Laurent Garnier – 33 Tours Et Puis Sen Vont – Cod3 QR
I know the album is from 2023. But I only discovered it in 2025. That’s why it belongs here.
Top 20 – Best of 2025 Tracks Mix & Description
1. V.A. – Peter Pan a Homage Zweig Edit – Coccus
One of many beautiful remixes of my classic from 1993 (Cybordelics-Peter Pan-Harthouse).
2. 1zimmerapartment – Safe & Sound – Headfire International
1zimmerapartment is Patrizia Battistella and Chris Maico Schmidt. A shared love, a passion. Or: Two fools, one thought.
3. Stogov/Alexey Zhurba/Flauschig – The Dream Of Life (Original Mix) – Lisztomania
4. Music P & Marque Aurel – The Fingerflick (Extended Mix) – Mellow Daze
5. Frasseck & Freitag – Waste What Is Left – Traum
This track is one of over 50 on a compilation (Tour de Traum)! It was pure chance that I discovered it.
6. Bedouin – Better Than This (Dorian Craft & Baron Remix) – Human By Default Diese Vocals, die Melodie .. Ohrwurm.
7. N.O.Y – Dust In My Veins (Extended Mix) – Glasgow Underground
8. Butch – Glory Night – Running Back I believe it is the best production of 2025.
9. Chris Maico Schmidt – The Joy (Original Mix) – Broque
One of my better productions, unfortunately, Beatport categorized it as Techno (Peak Time / Driving)!!!!!!!!!!! That’s it then.
10. 1zimmerapartment – Eternelle (Hardvalley Remix) – BluFin Records
11. Mile Diskovic – Carpe Diem (Chris Maico Schmidt Remix) – Dicular Records
12. Eric Costa & Piem – Meua Opera (Original Mix) – 8Bit
13. Mathias Kaden – Piano Bomb! (Avision NYC Groove Mix) – UNCAGE
14. Michael Reinboth – Morbus Mütze (Curable Piano Version) – Compost
15. Costello – Oasis Noir – COD3 QR
16. Luke Blunton – Mirror State (Nickon Faith Remix) – Laib Und Seele Records
17. DCLVIII OFC – Countdown – COD3 QR
18. Squal G – Your Fault – COD3 QR
19. Works Of Intent – Erase It – COD3 QR
20. Kaiser Souzai – Vapour Space (Original Mix) – International DeeJay Gigolo Records
Powerful remix/edit, big name, big label, and yet nobody knows this track. It’s sad that productions like this get lost among all the unnecessary releases.
BONUS:
21. Noah Levin, Chris Maico Schmidt – Dirty Bird – BluFin Records
I couldn’t include the production with my son in this mix. However, it’s one of the top productions of 2025.
About Chris Maico Schmidt:
Chronicler and Architect of Electronic Culture
Chris Maico Schmidt, also known as Mike S., is one of the defining figures of the German techno scene. Since the early 1980s, he has accompanied and shaped the development of electronic music in Germany. His career led him from his beginnings as a DJ and record collector through projects like Cybordelics and Mikerobenics to international success, making him a pioneer in music production and label management.
A particular milestone was the release of “Adventures of Dama” on the legendary Harthouse label, founded by Sven Väth. The track was an instant success, reaching number 2, and the follow-up single “Fairy Tales” even reached number 1 on the UK Underground Dance Charts.
With the founding of Evosonic Radio in 1997, Schmidt set further standards: as the world’s first radio station broadcasting electronic music around the clock, Evosonic shaped an entire generation. In January 2000, Chris Maico Schmidt received the German Dance Award in the “Best Medium” category for his work with Evosonic.
Even after the first era of Evosonic, Schmidt remained loyal to the scene. In 2010, he successfully relaunched Evosonic Radio as an internet radio station, which is still running today and reaches an international audience. To ensure independence and a sense of community, Evosonic was organized as a non-profit association.
By founding his own label, Evosonic Records, he created a new home for his music. The first release was his solo LP “Two Point Zero.” At that time, he also decided to drop his long-standing and wellknown pseudonym “Mike S.” and to release music under his real name, Chris Maico Schmidt. His reasoning was disarmingly simple: “because that’s my name.” In parallel, Schmidt remains active as a music producer, regularly releasing new tracks and remixes on renowned labels such as BluFin, Harthouse Berlin, and Valhall Records, often in collaboration with his son, Noah Levin. Another project is the duo “1zimmerapartment,” which he founded with his partner, Patrizia Battistella. Together, they have released an exciting blend of club-oriented productions and spoken-word vocals.
In an era where music genres are becoming increasingly fragmented, Schmidt is also using his pseudonym “Mike S.” again—for the harder sounds, while Chris Maico Schmidt represents the more delicate, refined productions.
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