Session Victim

Session Victim is a German DJ and production duo formed by Hauke Freer and Matthias Reiling. The pair first connected in Lüneburg, where they began DJing together in 1997, laying the groundwork for a partnership that would later develop into a studio project associated with deep house and related club styles.

In 2001, Freer and Reiling left Lüneburg and relocated to different cities, with Freer moving to Berlin and Reiling to Hamburg. Their paths remained linked through music, but their day-to-day scenes diverged. In Hamburg, Reiling became involved in the city’s metal community as a member of Tutribes. Freer, based in Berlin, moved into label work and management, and later set up the label Retreat with Quarion. These parallel experiences, one rooted in band culture and the other in dance-music infrastructure, informed the duo’s eventual return to a shared project.

The first release credited to Session Victim appeared in 2008. From that point, the duo built a catalogue that sits within a broad spectrum of dance music, including deep house, balearic, nu disco, future garage, and float house. Their work has circulated through a range of independent labels, reflecting an approach that moves between club functionality and more melodic, atmospheric material without being tied to a single imprint.

A key step in the duo’s label history came in 2012, when they signed with Jimpster’s Delusions of Grandeur. The association placed Session Victim within a roster known for house music that balances classic influences with contemporary production. In 2020, they signed with Night Time Stories, extending their label affiliations into a different curatorial context while continuing to release as a duo. Alongside these signings, Session Victim’s releases have also appeared on labels such as Rhythm Section International, Friends Of Friends, and Slick Venom, situating them across adjacent corners of modern dance music.