DJ and Producer Monkey Maffia of the Wighnomy Brothers has Died

No cause of death is known for Monkey Maffia aka Sören Bodner, whose involvement in electronic music dates back to the ’80s.

Sören Bodner, a German DJ and producer who performed under the stage name Monkey Maffia and alongside Robag Wruhme under the Wighnomy Brothers project, has passed away.

FAZEmag first shared the news after receiving confirmation from Freude Am Tanzen, a label affiliated with Bodner. No cause of death is known to the general public at the time of writing.

Robag Wruhme (real name Gabor Schablitzki) dedicated a tribute poem to Bodner in a September 17 Facebook post. It reads, “”Oh, little bear! / We walked. / We laughed. / We got stranded. / We sniffed. / We threw 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 risks. / We won. / We lost. / We enjoyed. / We conquered this world.”

Bodner and Schablitzki met in the ’80s in communist East Germany — and despite the region’s strict guidelines around Western media at the time, the two shared an interest in hip-hop, breakdancing, and early electronic music. The fall of the Berlin Wall at the end of the decade marked a renaissance of sorts for electronic music in the nation. The two artists formed Wighnomy Brothers in 1997, landing a residency at Kassablanca Jena in Central Germany soon afterward.

Wighnomy Brothers’ blend of melodic and minimal techno is perhaps best encapsulated in early singles like “Killerteppich” and “Wurz + Bosse,” which respectively released in 2023 and 2024. Labels like Ghostly International, Kompakt, and BPitch Control had given a home to their music over the years.

We here at EDM Identity express our sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of Sören Bodner during what can only be a difficult time.