German DJ and Producer Monkey Maffia from the Wighnomy Brothers has died

Monkey Maffia, who together with Robag Wruhme made up the Wighnomy Brothers, has passed away with no cause of death currently known.

News of the death of Sören Bodner, better known as DJ and producer Monkey Maffia, has been confirmed this week. German label Freude Am Tanzen broke the news to the German publication FAZEmag on September 16th. No cause of death is known at this time.

Monkey Maffia was perhaps best known as half of the multifaceted electronic music duo Wighnomy Brothers, alongside Robag Wruhme (real name Gabor Schablitzki). The group was formed in 1997 after the two met in communist East Germany in the late 1980s, and their free-form style immediately struck a chord with a wide range of fans in Germany and beyond. They parted ways in 2009 and Monkey Maffia went on to release solo music on many labels, including Freude Am Tanzen.

Robag Wruhme posted a poem on his Facebook account on September 17th in honor of his friend and former music partner. Roughly translated from German, the poem reads: “Teddy Bear! / We walked. / We laughed. / We got stranded. / We chatted. / We gave up. / We ran. / We were loud. / We danced. / We drove. / We slept. / We argued. / We flew. / We cried. / We fell. / We were quiet. / We talked. / We merged. / We made up. / We listened. / We took chances. / We won. / We lost. / We enjoyed. / We conquered this world. If I knew that the last hug was really supposed to be the last, I would have hugged you longer than ever… / I would have never let you go like that. In all-encompassing love, your roll.”

Not much is known at this time about the circumstances surrounding Sören Bodner’s death. While more details are awaited, the dance music world and beyond will continue to mourn the tragic loss of a truly unique and talented artist.