If there was one Berlin-based label on everyone’s lips over the last twelve months, it was definitely the minimal-techno stable Mobilee, whose proprietor is Anja Schneider. I spoke to the multi-tasking Berlinette on a sizzling sunny day as we sat by the pool on the rooftop of the Diagonal Hotel in Barcelona during her infamous off-Sonar (and not-so-secret-any-more) parties.

Dazed Digital: It is interesting that several of Berlin's most successful techno labels - such as BPitch Control - are run by women.
Anja Schneider: I had a conversation with Ellen [Allien] about this, and I think it’s a typical girls‘ thing. Girls like to network, they like to have their friends around them. Ellen and I are quite similar in this, we like to have our friends around. It’s our family.

DD: Will Mobilee branch out into fashion or design, like some other labels have done recently?
AS: Music is my passion, so we will stick to making music. Even though we sell nice Beyond the Valley T-shirts [promoting her new album], they are really nice [laughs]. I’m not a fashion designer really.

DD: How would you describe the sound of Mobilee?
AS: It’s varied. Young artists usually want to sound just like their idols. I like artists to have their original style. Right now, everyone at Mobilee has it.

DD: Do you do the A&R for Mobilee?
AS: Yes, of course.

DD: Do you listen to all the demos that get sent to the label?
AS: I’m really sorry I didn’t answer to all of you, but I really take my time. It will probably take the next five years.

DD: What’s the first thing that catches your attention?
AS: It takes me about 20 seconds to know if I like something or not. I  love to dance so there has to be something that makes me dance.

DD: With Beyond the Valley, did you intend to make a dance album?
AS: Most dance artists want to do something different for their albums, something not necessarily dancefloor-oriented. With Beyond the Valley, I wanted to do a dancefloor album as a reflection of my last year. I played out a lot.

DD: The track Fish at Night is different in this respect. Downbeat and dreamlike with uncanny lyrics about the snake coming into the brain...
AS: I wrote this song just after I‘d met my new boyfriend. So it’s really something personal - you’re the first person I told this actually.

DD: Are you still doing your radio show?
AS: Every Saturday. I will tell you a secret, I pre-record every show, because I’m always away DJing somewhere. I love doing radio, it’s a wonderful thing, you can play records and tell people something about them.

DD: Could you describe your transition from a radio to a club DJ?
AS: When I started with my show, I received a lot of requests to play in a club, in the beginning I didn’t want to do this but I gave in eventually.

DD: Does Berlin influence the label and the music as such?
AS: Berlin is a good place to live, lot of artists live there because it’s quite cheap and you don’t have to have three jobs to survive. We have a lot of respect in the city.

DD: So there’s no competition between all the labels and artists?
AS: No. We are all friends regardless of what sort of music we make. Berlin has a varied mix of artists including Paul van Dyk, Ricardo Villalobos, DJ Hell, Richie Hawtin.

DD: What was your best experience in the last year?
AS: Travelling through Mexico with my boyfriend in a little Clio. 5000 km in 30 days. And a lot of snakes.

Anja Shneider’s album Beyond the Valley is out now on Mobilee records.