DJ Tjizza and Shaque are the visionary founders behind the launch of Tanzform, an innovative brand that seamlessly blends streetwear with the essence of club culture. This summer heralds the arrival of Tanzform, a project born out of a deep understanding of the transformative power of dance and the unique social alchemy that occurs on the dance floor. The name “Tanzform,” inspired by the German word for dancing, “tanzen,” captures both the physical act of dancing and the personal metamorphosis that clubgoers experience when immersed in music and movement.
In an era where digital interactions increasingly overshadow real-world connections, Tanzform serves as a reminder of the profound, often life-changing moments that unfold in shared spaces of sound and rhythm. On the dance floor, people from diverse backgrounds come together, sharing their stories and co-creating a rich, dynamic cultural mosaic. Tanzform embodies this spirit by offering a curated selection of clothing and vinyl that caters to the discerning tastes of DJs, ravers, and record collectors, all while promoting a message of inclusivity and self-expression.
Guided by the ethos “Dance More, Judge Less: Tanzform Yourself,” the brand transcends the traditional boundaries of fashion and music, aspiring to foster a more open and accepting community. We spoke with DJ Tjizza and Shaque to uncover the inspiration behind Tanzform, their aspirations for the brand, and their vision for its impact on the clubbing scene and beyond. Join us as we explore how Tanzform aims to elevate club culture, creating an inclusive space where individuality thrives and meaningful connections are made on the dance floor.
People are like vinyl records, sometimes it takes an extra listen to connect with them.
Torture the Artist: Hello guys, tell us something about your day.
DJ Tjizza & Shaque: Hi! Well, today we had a few meetings. We met with Julia Linz who helps us with the artwork of an upcoming record, we also had an update from our contact in Bangladesh for the clothing and we spoke with Milan from Record Industry for a new vinyl project with glitter artwork. Actually every day is very different and that makes it fun, especially when we meet with artists or have an active day for a photo or video shoot.
Torture the Artist: The Tanzform-site has been evolving for some time. How did this project come to terms?
DJ Tjizza & Shaque: It actually evolved out of our Mood Waves project. We have received a lot of support which gave us motivation, but also received a lot of good music that we couldn’t always release due to time-line issues for example. Also style-wise the music did not always fit with Mood Waves, even though we loved the tunes. Hence, we thought about starting a fresh project with more freedom. Something that would enable us to collaborate with others, in regards to music and fashion, but most importantly sharing a message of the positive impact of clubbing on society.
Torture the Artist: What is the message you want to convey and how does it impact our society?
DJ Tjizza & Shaque: Well, our name carries the message, it’s a combination of the German word for dancing (Tanzen) and the transformation you undergo while clubbing. You learn about society by encountering different (sub)cultures and people from all walks of life on the dance floor, each contributing with their own story and energy to make the party—and our world—a unique place.
Therefore our slogan is Dance More, Judge Less: Tanzform yourself. We encourage connection through dialogue or while busting some moves on the dance floor. We hope that people wearing Tanzform clothing share the message that they like clubbing and are open to connect with anyone without judgement. We aim for a society in which people judge each other less and appreciate that difference actually brings beauty.
We actually want to highlight that clubbing itself has an impact on society.
Torture the Artist: In times where transitions between subcultures and also the main-culture/pop-culture have become fluent, you decided to found Tanzform. Do we need more safe-spaces or places where subcultures can develop or grow again and – based upon your personal experience – what can Tanzform do to become one of these places?
DJ Tjizza & Shaque: We try bringing the values from a subculture that we experienced, to a wider audience. So maybe we try to make a beautiful sub-culture more prominent because we actually want to highlight that clubbing itself has an impact on society, because it connects subcultures with each other and makes everyone understand that we all long for the same no matter how we look or express ourselves.
However, we realize it takes time to learn to understand each other, patience is essential. Don’t expect a first time raver to understand your bubble instantly. People are like vinyl records, sometimes it takes an extra listen to connect with them. The more people dance, the more they will meet people from other bubbles/sub cultures and understand our society.
For our music subculture we help by bringing sub-culture artifacts to life, we bring like-minded artists together, support them and transfer ideas into actual projects. We will bring new music and clothing with a message.
Torture the Artist: What do you hope Tanzform can be in the future, for you, for the scene?
DJ Tjizza & Shaque: We hope we can spread the message of ‘engaging dialogue’ on the dancefloor to a broader audience outside the scene. To teach people why dancing can be essential for social development, and not only for entertainment.
In a more tangible sense, we want to become a brand that supports and invests in projects of upcoming & established artists. It could become a platform on which you can find not only fashion and records, but maybe even other visual artforms connected to dance music and the positive impact it has on you as a person/society, such as painting, photographs, sculptures, etc.
We could also focus on a music career and just make tunes and dig records all day, which is cool but with this project we feel we can give something to our scene.
Torture the Artist: What’s everyone’s task at Tanzform and who supports you, permanent or from time to time?
DJ Tjizza & Shaque: We try to include a lot of friends and artists around us, because we firmly believe that only together we can create something special. We see us as initiators and maybe a driving force to execute creative projects like records, clothing & merch. We currently collaborate with a team of various creative people. For example Elliot Sindall who helped with our artistic direction, Zac Bidwell & Cecilia Borjeson both help with our text and branding. And we work with graphic artists like Julia Linz, Alexia van Moorsel or Pablo (from Pablo Permanent tattoos). But also DJs like Anthea, Velasco or Giammarco Orsini bring their thoughts and ideas to the table.
Torture the Artist: Tanzform and all its sub-categories, e.g. vinyl, fashion etc. is based upon the idea to collaborate with other artists. First of all, is Tanzform “open“ for everybody or are the artists you work with going to work from within your (friend)circle? Secondly, what does an artist have to have so you decide to work with him/her?
DJ Tjizza & Shaque: We are open to work with anyone, but we rate the energy of the people who want to work with us. Meaning, we want people who are dedicated to their craft, that can be a passionate young talent or a committed artist. We divide our time and energy to make projects happen and often deal with the more boring side of the creative industry, execution. But we feel this way we can send a message and be supportive.
Torture the Artist: When working with others, do the artists you have artistic freedom to come up with whatever is on their mind or do you narrow down the field in which one shall be creative?
DJ Tjizza & Shaque: We love to create a dialogue. When people have a clear artistic idea and the concept resonates with us, we will go for it. But the best projects come from discussing it. It sometimes gives the artist & us new angles. A simple example is when we make a record we love to ask for a short creative track, that can be ambient or anything. Just to give a small artistic and personal touch to the vinyl. Just four dance tracks on a record is too straight forward for us.
Torture the Artist: How do you build an identity when you mainly focus on collaborative works or do you understand Tanzform more like a platform, literally maybe a place with a roof to unite or give artists the opportunity to release/ publish their artistic works?
DJ Tjizza & Shaque: In every collaboration we bring our input, so we think our identity will shine through. We are a platform for artists to release and publish the work, but we are not a distribution so we don’t take all work blindly. We want the art to align with the values we stand for.
Torture the Artist: With all these projects in the making or having to work on them, how do you still manage to keep your personal career going and find time to produce and play gigs?
DJ Tjizza & Shaque: It’s hard, the project takes all of our time at the moment. But we chose it. We could also focus on a music career and just make tunes and dig records all day, which is cool but with this project we feel we can give something to our scene. We work together with a lot of friends and artists and at the same time try to make a difference by pushing a message.
Visit the Tanzform online store here.
Words by Holger Breuer
Torture the Artist 