„The kernel, the soul - let us go further and say the substance, the bulk, the actual and valuable material of all human utterances is plagiarism. For substantially all ideas are secondhand.“ (Jonatham Lethem, from „The Ecstasy Of Influence“, Harpers Magazine 2007)

Wolfgang Hagedorn has chosen to take on a challenge within quite a narrow frame: take the letters of the alphabet and rummage through your record collection to find matching names of singers, songwriters, producers or bands beginning with each letter. Then select tiny little bits from these different musical pieces and put them together again to form something new, i.e. your own musical work. The Latin script alphabet comprises 26 letters, thus making 26 composing tasks for the artist. The result is 26 fragmented, grooving and exquisitely shimmering recordings, all of which can now be found on the album "Splitterpop - A - Z". When Hagedorn began working on his tracks some 15 years ago, he couldn’t possibly imagine the dimension this venture would take on. Over the span of time an ever-evolving project emerged beyond comparisons that could easily be advanced or revisited at any given point. "I tend to look at the raw versions of the single sample clusters as little building sites - I revisit the sites from time to time and listen to them again, after a while I just know how they will sound in the end.”

„Splitterpop“ is a sample-only composition - more than 300 of them altogether, none of them longer than 5 seconds, combined into the album's 26 single tracks. While shifting, overlaying, re-combining and alienating them in his pieces, the Cologne-based musician has worked on the individual snippets to the extent that they can hardly be recognized as part of their musical origin. In doing so, Hagedorn has no particular intention to reveal his own personal tastes, favourite songs or styles (an almost impossible mission anyhow, given his wide range of musical taste and interests). "It's more about the sound I've sampled and how to play with it afterwards." he says. Thus, a snare beat, a vocal shred and a guitar strum come together; originating out of the most diverse contexts and eras of the pop universe. The artist depraves music of time and space, whilst at the same time giving it a freedom to find a new melody or beat.

When he starts mixing up the elementary particles in his sound lab, Wolfgang Hagedorn seems a bit like a chemist in the mood for experimentation - to the point until there comes a bang or flow out of it, indicating a dramaturgy for his tracks. This creative puzzle work is done in private in his Cologne home studio. "Nerdish by Nature" is probably what describes best DJ, record collector and musician Wolfgang Hagedorn, whose basic concept underlying all of his productions is the classical idea of open-source culture, which has been in practical use since the early days of Blues. "Songs and tracks emerged because musicians reacted to other songs. As for me, this is the integral spirit of pop music. Nothing evolves out of nothing - it will always be a reaction on something that had already existed before." For Wolfgang Hagedorn sampling is the most interesting way to actively continue on this path.

Hagedorn's interest in the concept of collages goes back to the time when he first discovered hip-hop, especially De La Soul's „Three Feet High and Rising“(1989). As a member of the Laptop duo Computerjockeys, he implemented his notion of sample-based music on two long players, the
debut album „Computerjockeys“ (1999) and „Plankton“ (2001). The single „Ping Pong“ became a club hit in the heyday of the late 90s electronic music scene. „My Golden Boy“ came to be the title track of the same named Japanese animation series on German MTV. Since 2007 Hagedorn continued to spin out his musical concept in a wider band-based context. The songs of his two band projects Electric Beatniks and Klauen are an on-the-fly citing of punk, noise, electro and beat - and as such close allies to all of his other works.

Although the Beatniks and Klauen are not sampled on „Splitterpop“, Wolfgang Hagedorn’s panoply ranges from the "background music" of Erik Satie to soul and pop hits, to hip hop and electronic tracks and to indie, punk and rock 'n’ roll songs. As a whole - and this remains the secret of the musician - it sounds as if coming from the same mold. Now, after 15 years, he has eventually put an end to his tinkering. "At some point you have to call it quits, otherwise there's always another good idea to improve each track. And this would be the moment when I’d start all over again,
telling myself: No, it would be better if...”