ATB — 9 pm (Till I Come). You don’t know what this track is really about

How do you record the hit of your life? The answer is: accidentally. One day, either in 1997 or in 1998, 24-year-old Andre Tanneberger invited his girlfriend to come to his studio before going to the cinema to show off his set-up. While the lady of his heart was examining the incomprehensible equipment of her boyfriend, Andre extracted different sounds from numerous synthesisers. On a Roland JD-990, he showed her a preset of a meowing guitar, the distinctive sound of which is achieved with a thumbwheel, which smoothly changes the pitch. Running his fingers over the keyboards, Andre played part of a future track. The musician was excited. He quickly wrote a draft and saved it under the name 9 pm. It was 9 o’clock and time to go to the cinema.