The Time Bandit: Roman Flügel

“Maybe there’s more niches today,” he suggests. “When it was purely vinyl, it was perhaps just d’n’b, techno, house and ambient.” Asked how he prepares his sets – so far, the pre-drink vibes of this boat party one is substantially different to last night’s wander through the suburbs of house and disco – Roman goes back to time as a component once again for his answer. “I think that’s part of my history. When I started to play, DJs played eight hours. We didn’t [again, the shrug and amused laugh] tell a story or any of that, but we did at least start at one point and develop something into something else.”

In many ways, Roman’s all-encompassing sets, even ones like this on a two-hour boat party, are the sharp edge of that. “I was also quite diverse. That’s why I had so many aliases – labels didn’t like you playing different styles. If you’re a techno DJ then people know you for that, and you’ll be booked for that. That doesn’t suit someone who wants to play to consistently different crowds.

Today’s crowds are different. “It’s harder when you start out today. You have such a weight of history and comparison in front of you. And gentrification means you’ll probably have to move all the time. I’ve been in Frankfurt my whole career.”

It’s sunset on the boat party. There’s an opiate calm on deck despite the growing wind and choppier waters. Electronic music. Tribes, genres, cliques, clans, fashion movements, haters and low-key prejudices. Are we in flux? Roman Flügel manages to be both wise sage and amused teenager in his expression. “When you’re younger you’re determined to only expose yourself to certain things. You become deliberately nerdy, and hate the things you’re not in line with. I used to storm out of parties if the DJ played tunes I recognised, in an order I didn’t approve of! It was just as over the top then as it is now.

“At the end of the day,” he concludes, “everyone in music just needs the same thing: a little patience.” The Croatian captain nudges the sound tech. It’s getting dark. Last three tracks. Roman Flügel switches back onto the decks with 14 minutes until docking, a few weeks until his new album his released and all the time in the world.

‘All The Right Noises’ by Roman Flügel is out on Dial on October 28