Though he grew up in a home where music was very important, Max Herre was first exposed to hip-hop in school, and was instantly hooked. Initially he listened solely to American rappers, but after hearing fellow Germans Advanced Chemistry he decided that he too could rap in his native tongue. In 1996 Herre joined up with Don Philippe and DJ Friction and formed Freundeskreis, who released Quadratur des Kreises in 1997 and Esperanto in 1999. When the group decided to go on hiatus Herre began trying his hand at producing, first working on his wife (who he had met when auditioning singers for "Mit Dir," from Esperanto) Joy Denalane's solo debut, Mamani. In 2004 he released his own debut, titled Max Herre, a mixture of funk, hip-hop, and rock, and shortly after he and Denalane helped to found Nesola Records, a label which then issued her second album -- once again produced by Herre -- Born & Raised in 2006, while the rapper got ready to perform with Freundeskreis in time for their ten-year anniversary. ~ Marisa Brown