Plastik Funk — is an electronic music project founded in Düsseldorf in 2002 by DJs and producers Rafael Ximenez-Carrillo and Mikio Gruschinske. Plastik Funk originally operated as a duo, but since 2018 Rafael Ximenez-Carrillo has continued the project’s live activity under this name. The core of Plastik Funk’s repertoire is house music; at different stages, its sound has also incorporated elements of electro house, future house, bass house and tech house.
The creation of Plastik Funk
Rafael Ximenez-Carrillo was born in Madrid and grew up in Grevenbroich, Germany. Mikio Gruschinske is of German-Japanese descent; he spent part of his childhood in Tokyo, later lived in Berlin and eventually moved to Düsseldorf. Both became involved in DJing while still young. Their early musical interests included hip-hop, while they later turned towards house after discovering the work of Frankie Knuckles and David Morales.
Rafael and Mikio have recalled that they met in Cologne at the Warehouse club, which later became known as Bootshaus. They discovered that they owned many of the same records and shared similar musical tastes, which led them to start performing together. Plastik Funk itself was formed in Düsseldorf, where the musicians gradually began securing their first club bookings under the shared name.
First releases
Plastik Funk’s first EP was Do It Right, released in 2003. Over the following years, the duo developed its club-oriented house sound, released original tracks and worked on remixes. Early entries in the catalogue included San Francisco, No Never, Round and Round, All Thru the Night, Let Me See Your Hands, Rise and other recordings.
Plastik Funk also produced remixes for David Guetta, Robyn, Shaggy and deadmau5. In 2009, the project prepared the mix compilation Sessions Germany for the German division of Ministry of Sound.
The project’s first notable success on national charts came with Everybody Dance Now! 2011. The version of the C+C Music Factory track reached number 58 on the German singles chart and number 67 in Switzerland.
Who and international success
A key stage in Plastik Funk’s career came through a collaboration with German producer Tujamo. In 2012, they released the instrumental track Who on Tiger Records. The track quickly entered DJs’ club sets and received significant support across the international EDM scene.
In 2014, a new version appeared — Dr. Who! featuring British rapper Sneakbo. It brought Plastik Funk its most notable result on the official UK charts: the track reached number 21 on the UK Singles Chart and number nine on the UK Dance Chart.
Who subsequently remained one of the central recordings in the Plastik Funk catalogue. The track has repeatedly been revisited through new versions and remixes; in 2025, an updated version titled WHO (You Know What I'm Waiting For) was released.
Evolution of the sound in the 2010s
Following the success of Who, the Plastik Funk discography continued to expand. During the first half of the decade, the project released Let Me See Ya, Blue Monday, Don't Push Me featuring Grandmaster Melle Mel and other club-oriented tracks.
In 2016, Plastik Funk released Tight, recorded with Strobe & LAZN and featuring Sapele. The same year, the project released Love & Affection on Armada Deep, as well as Here We Go, This Is It and Ever. In 2017, these were followed by Sunrise, Got No Love with Sagan and Damaged Heart.
During this period, the project’s sound became less closely tied to the electro house of the early 2010s. Its productions increasingly incorporated elements of more groove-oriented house, future house and bass house — styles that would later become important parts of Plastik Funk’s DJ sets as well.
Transition from duo to solo format
In 2018, an important change took place in the history of Plastik Funk. Due to back problems, Mikio Gruschinske stopped touring. Rafael Ximenez-Carrillo explained that they remained partners in other joint projects and business ventures, but Rafael became responsible for Plastik Funk’s DJ performances.
In the years that followed, the name Plastik Funk came to be used primarily as Rafael Ximenez-Carrillo’s artist project. Contemporary DJ Mag profiles also present Plastik Funk as the project of Spanish-born, Germany-based DJ and producer Rafael Ximenez-Carrillo.
For this reason, describing Plastik Funk as an active duo in a current biography would be inaccurate.
Raveille, Dare Me and High Enough
Following the line-up change, Rafael continued actively releasing music under the Plastik Funk name.
In 2019, he collaborated with Timmy Trumpet on Raveille. In January 2020, Plastik Funk teamed up with Australian duo NERVO and vocalist Tim Morrison for Dare Me, released through Spinnin' Records.
Another notable collaboration followed in May of the same year: High Enough with Dutch duo Firebeatz, also released on Spinnin' Records.
These tracks clearly illustrate the direction Plastik Funk took after the Who era: heavier bass, short vocal hooks and a combination of house groove with festival-oriented EDM production.
Groove Tonight and FUNK YOU Musik
In 2023, Plastik Funk teamed up with Mr. Belt & Wezol and Tim Morrison for Groove Tonight, released on Future House Music. The track uses elements of Earth, Wind & Fire’s famous Let's Groove, highlighting the project’s characteristic connection between contemporary club music and disco and funk heritage.
That same year, Rafael launched his own label, FUNK YOU Musik. The platform was created both for his own releases and for music by other producers. DJ Mag highlighted the launch of the label as one of the major developments in the new phase of Plastik Funk, while Beatport later identified the artist as the head of FUNK YOU Musik.
Current phase
Between 2024 and 2026, Plastik Funk continued releasing house, bass house and tech house material both through FUNK YOU Musik and other labels. Recordings from this period include Talk About Us, Uh Huh, new versions of Samba de Janeiro, Coming Home, Loco, Stay Low, Money and other releases.
In June 2026, Plastik Funk teamed up with Esox and The Melody Men for Watch Me, released on Catch & Release.
The project also remains active on the live circuit. Plastik Funk has appeared several times on the line-up of Germany’s Parookaville, performed at Nature One in 2025 and played a joint set with Olympe on the Freedom stage at Tomorrowland Belgium in 2026. Plastik Funk was also included in the Ultra Music Festival 2026 programme as a RESISTANCE artist.
Musical style
The history of Plastik Funk spans several generations of club-oriented house music. The project’s early recordings were more closely associated with funky house and electro house, while later releases increasingly incorporated future house, bass house and tech house.
One characteristic has nevertheless remained consistent throughout most of the project’s career: Plastik Funk’s music is designed primarily for the dancefloor, with a pronounced groove, short vocal phrases and a strong bass foundation. Over the years, DJ Mag has described the project’s contemporary sound in terms of house, bass house, future house, disco house and tech house.
