Zaradi svoje ekstravagantne podobe in uzivaskega zivljenjskega sloga je slavo prvic okusil s pop skupino Off. Potem je tako imenovanemu mainstream glasbenemu dogajanju obrnil hrbet in se zacel zanimati za amersiko underground plesno sceno. Odprl je se danes delujoci klub Omen, v katerem se je rodil "frankfurtski zvok", pojem za energijsko mesanico techna, trancea in hard housea. Ustanovil je zalozbi Harthouse in Eye-Q, ki sta bili veliko let vodilni v nemskem zaloznistvu elektronske glasbe. Po stevilnih izdanih ploscah in uspesnih albumih (Accident In Paradise, Harlequin, The Robot and The Ballet Dancer) se je leta 1997 razsel z drugimi poslovnimi partnerji zalozbe. Ko so kritiki in kolegi ze napovedali zaton njegovega znamenitega imena, se je klubski umetnik spet v velikem zamahu vrnil naslednje leto s pogodbo o sodelovanju z multinacionalko Virgin, ter s svojim tretjim albumom Fusion. Lani je pri Virgin sledila plosca Six In The Mix, na kateri je izdal sest remiksov z albuma Fusion in druge predelave, ki so jih zagotovili znani in uspesni svetovni producenti ter Svenovi dobri prijatelji (Claude Young, Steve Bug, Sensorama, Chris Liebing, Richard Bartz, idr.).
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In the early 80ies, young sven learned the dj trade the old way in the two hippest frankfurt clubs, the vogue and the dorian gray. during this phase of nightlife - which seems almost reactionary compared to now his subversive potential started to show. his open narcissism and the urge to dress up in disguise soon made him one of frankfurt's most bizarre birds of paradise from the middle of the 80ies on, as a dj, he began to move away from the mainstream. he started to develop his own style which was partly influenced by the new romantic movement, where he had his roots, and wave. but soon imports from the us dance underground an early american house music became more and more important for him. the world-wide success of the project off and the charts single electric salsa which he had produced together with his producers of the time michael münzing an dluca anzelotti (later snap) in 1986, even turned sven into a real pop star of the teenie press for a while. He was the ideal of the exploding music an d club scene in the entire rhein-main area. there was hardly a dj who didn't worship him and hardly any dance project that wasn't influenced by him. electronic body music (EBM) washed over germany in 1987, followed by acid house wave in 1988. sven väth was always the very first one to take in the new music and transfer it to the dancefloor in his own way. the old vogue which he re-opened together with his partners münzing and martinsohn under the promising name of omen, was his platform. the omen turned out to be one of the most important chapters of german club history it still is, in spite of never-ending rumors about the place closing down. in 1989, sven cancelled his off-image and together with matthias hoffmann and steffen britzke aka stevie b zet he started the project mosaic. as mosaic, the trio released a number of successive club hits and remixes until the end of 1990. and again, sven was the first to be there when techno swept over germany in the summer of 1990. in the course of the rapid development of the dj and event culture during the years of 1990 and 1991, he spread the news about the new music thoughout the country. soon he belonged to the very few who were booked to dj abroad.
between summer 1991 and spring 1992, he started two labels together with matthias hoffmann and his manager heinz roth. the sound became the pillar of sven väth's future dj style and the notorious sound of frankfurt. eye q's first release shaped the typical frankfurt trance sound whereas harthouse, intended to discover and support newcomers, was svens's ground to try out the harder, more minimalistic techno variations. at the end of 1992, sven väth met up with ralf hildenbeutel, who from then on would never move from his side behind the mixing tables. together with ralf, he produced the first album under his own name, accident in paradise. the first single release, l'esperanza, charted in 1993. as a consequence, eye q and harthouse got their first major deal. at the end of 1993, the second album called the harlequin, the robot and the ballet-dancer was released. it was svens's very own combination of techno, trance and house influences with classical elements. touch themes of harlequin-robot -ballet-dancer, the pertinent remix album with interpretations by underworld, spedy j., david holmes and hardfloor among others, was released one year later. in the same year, an album of väth's side project astral pilot, electro acupuncture, where he and sevie b zet lives out their harder club sides, appeared on harthouse. 1995 turned out to be the year of major personal changes for sven. the first lasting relationship with a woman made him quiet down a bit after all these long years of sex, drugs & techno. he changed his look and began to prepare his costly and ambitious event project turned into a financial disaster which forced sven to freeze the project for the time being. personally, though, sven jumped the next hurdle. together with stevie b zet, he produced the soundtrack of the thriller the cold finger which opened in may throughout german movie theatre's. in 1997 the changes climaxed. at the beginning of the year sven separated from his business partners and the two labels. both labels, eye q and harthouse, had to close down after a hasty move to berlin. sven, on his own, moved to a new frankfurt office and started the first german booking agency which is considered one of the most important in the country by now. these past incidents had no negative effects whatsoever on sven's career as dj. he is more successful than ever at the turntables and his booking send him round the globe. after a four month studio period with his partner ralf hildenbeutel, the third album fusion, to be released on his new label virgin records, is due in march 1998. in order to be actually be able to understand sven's musical development, one has to take a close look at his personal developments. on fusion, he processes not only various incidents and experiences of the past two years but also tries to capture the musical and social zeitgeist. complete fusion does not only happen musically, says sven, being afraid of contiguity, of contact is out! that's exactly why this album is much more down to earth than the harlequin, the robot and the ballet-dancer which was a typical conceptual album. fusion completes the circle back to the dancefloor. i really wanted to produce some true dj food again, explains sven väth, the new album is heavier on the beats and much more clubby than the last one. Ralf hildenbeutel and i went to work more spontaneously and we let ourselves be swept from track to track. a good sample of the album's diversity is the first release, fusion/scorpio's movement which will appear in january 1998. the album's title track fusion is as the name already says a sound concoction of various influences. trip hop, electro an big beat are poured together, spiced up with some soundtrack music and other orchestral elements. scorpio's movement is a rather gloomy, mysterious techno track. here, sven for the first time consequently creates the sounds he has promoted as a dj for years. looking at all these various elements, it is not all self-evident that the new album is indeed again a typical and distinct sven väth piece of work. if you listen closely, you will realize that on a number of tracks he has the translated consciously or unconsciously - the sound of frankfurt into the sounds of the late 90ies. he can't escape himself. the moods created are something like old acquaintances which is good. isn't there anything more valuable to any artist than being recognized in any he does?! so, on fusion, too, driving beats and spherical sounds are arranged in the typical väth wild pitch style to create the desired atmospheres. the touch of worldmusic that one hears in a lot of what sven väth and ralf hildenbeutel have written stems from certain influences as e.g. grom musicians such as joe mubare or peter gabriel. many times the tracks remind of soundtracks or they could very well be used as such. they are not really tracks but songs that tell stories. it's part of sven väth's nature that these songs tend to be a bit bombastic at times it's as if trevor horn had been there looking over svens's and ralf's shoulders.