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INTERVIEW WITH ANDRÉ PAHL

Dear André, from the many sets on Soundcloud, you strike me as a person whose life must be filled with music from morning to night. So perhaps the shortest question with the longest answer is – which musical periods did you experience before becoming a DJ?

Dear Pepi, first of all big thanks for inviting me for this interview and to play at your bar, I’m so much looking forward to coming over to Prague next weekend! Well, the path I took had some amusing turns. The first records I remember buying (I must have been 12 or 13) was the single “A Question of Time” by Depeche Mode and also Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round”, which came out around that time. I guess I would continued with synth-pop for quite a while and I recall really liking the darker relentless mechanical vibe of the DM track (an element that echoes in the music I’m drawn to nowadays). But then a new guy came into our classroom and he had Metallica’s “Ride the Lightning” under his arm. When I asked what it was, he said “You can have it for a week” and that sealed the fate – the next few years I listened to nothing but metal, mostly Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and the local heroes from the nearby towns of Essen and Bochum: Sodom and Kreator. There’s a great (and rather cute) documentary about the latter called “Thrash Altenessen”, it’s on Youtube with subs. When I turned 15, I also started playing the bass in a lousy punk band with two classmates called “Simply Dead” (’cause we didn’t like “Simply Red”).

After that followed a weird period where I took the wrong musical exit and ended up listening to nerdy guitar virtuosos from LA’s GIT Institute, hippie cheese like Manu Chao and other horrible stuff. No idea why that happened.. Things changed for the better when I moved in 1999 to Amsterdam to study at Rietveld art school. Most of the parties took place in squatted warehouses and were usually dominated by drum ’n’ bass. Some of my teachers were deeply involved in music and opened my eyes to new things, like Goodwill (Will Holder) with his Xerox collective, who played insane electro sets. And the lectures by Experimental Jetset were great, focusing on DIY culture, post-punk, new wave, fanzines, and introduced me to the concept of “listening session”. I remember playing repeatedly Dopplereffekt’s “Gesamtkunstwerk” and the early Adult records “Nausea” and “Anxiety Always”. After witnessing T-Raumschmiere viciously demolishing his gear during a live-set and gyrating amidst the wreckage like a frenzied monkey on a psychedelic spree, I was pretty impressed, and he and his label’s releases like “Das Bierbeben” were also on heavy rotation. By chance, I stumbled upon a gig by a band that totally blew me away, called “The Faint” (check “Agenda Suicide Live at The Brothers Lounge” on Youtube). They performed an explosive fusion of synth/wave/punk/electronic and I started digging for more in that direction. It was at one of their following concerts where I met the band members of “Thom Revolver”, with whom I played synthesizer until I left Amsterdam. We had a bit of a similar sound, but leaning more towards New Romantic.

2005 I moved to Mexico City for an animation job, but on arrival the artist I was working with (Carlos Amorales) asked me to be part of the record label “Nuevos Ricos” that he just founded with his best friend, Silverio. This became the perfect vehicle to explore the music scene of that metropolis, and added an eclectic potpourri of all kinds of genres to my playlists: Surf, lo-fi cumbias, post-rock, or simply unclassifiable (epic) nonsense.

What was the moment that made you start DJing? Was there a person or party that inspired you to start?

There were two moments: One was around 2007 in Mexico when we went to a venue in a small town to talk about an upcoming gig by two artists from the label. The owners were very proud to show me – the “güero” (blondie) – their collection of tequilas, and after two hours my friend and I were so drunk that he said as a joke “Btw, André is a great DJ, you should book him as well!”. They shockingly said “yes”, and I was in too much of a silly mood to clarify that I’d never ever played before and thought it could be fun. But well.. The event took place, I learned how to use Traktor before, but then got politely kicked off the booth within half an hour and got replaced by the local DJ. But then I continued to play here and there at friends’ birthday parties and a few times in art galleries, but not much more.

When I moved to Berlin in 2009, I didn’t pursue it at first, but after a year I ended up at a party with a DJ called “Emil Doesn’t Drive”. He played such an incredible selection of everything I loved, but also added a lot of obscure disco and Italo tracks, and I was immediately hooked. He became one of my best friends (sadly he moved back to Bulgaria). I learned a lot from him, just watching him build up and release tension and take the audience on his journey through the night. And at some point he said “Why don’t you buy records, André?” – Done.

While I started out collecting and playing disco, I quickly shifted to more trippy and psychedelic music. Around 2012 I was jogging in a forest near Berlin and it was extremely foggy and getting dark. As I ran, Wolfgang Bock’s “Cycles” came through my headphones. The track, combined with the eerie scenery, created a surreal and almost transcendent experience, as cheesy at this sounds – I felt as if I was just floating into another dimension. This moment was so impactful that it inspired me to create my first mix on Soundcloud, titled “Safari to Tatooine Desert”, and it set the tone for everything that followed.

How long have you been living in Berlin? Does this city still have its charm? You have traveled almost all over the world, is there a destination where you would like to live, or are you happy in Berlin?

It seems unreal, but it’s been 15 years. I’m really happy here, so I’m not in any hurry to move. But I’m also aware of the changes. We’ll see if the city gets eaten up by the capitalism and shitty big corporations and rich kids, or if it finds some kinda balance. Fingers crossed.

But it’s still great to see that always new places are popping up with a fresh and interesting programming, like for example 90mil now – and as much as you can curse Berlin, every time I come back after a longer travel I can still see how special it is and how many good things it has that other cities lack. But who knows what the next episode will be… I’m pretty sure that at some point we’ll live with a bunch of good pals in nature and have mini pigs and baby goats jumping around us. Also, I would always live in Mexico again, it’s just very far and the downside was that I lost track of many close friends. So to everyone reading this: Please send me your favourite spots to live, I’d love to check them out 🐾

I consider you part of the very specific DJ scene. You mix together songs and genres like few others. For you personally, who would you say is your DJ hero, the person whose DJ sets make you say: “Damn, that’s so good!”?

Too many to mention honestly.. I feel truly blessed to be in a bubble surrounded by such talented people and friends, and perhaps the best thing about Berlin is that they visit and play here frequently. First of all I have to say a big thank you to the Camp Cosmic family and all the artist. It’s been so inspiring for me to listen to everyone’s sets and also to play (and learn) there each year since 2013.

Then the mentioned Emil is definitely my hero and was together with my brother SpaceLex (aka Alexander Arpeggio) very influential at that time. Traxx’s sets and his style of layering are something else. My dear friend Alicia Carrera never ceases to amaze me with her selections. Sets by Vladimir Ivkovic, Philipp Otterbach, Loma Doom, OKO Dj, Oscar der Winzige… And Pilotwings as DJs are the funniest/silliest in the world! Low Bat’s b2b with Clyde Arcalis at “Yellow Light of Death” festival was just killer!

And there’s a mix series of Elina Tapio and Hannah Pezzack. It’s called “Scrying the Landscape” and to be honest it’s so good that I definitely had this “Damnnn!” moment when I discovered it. It just has every ingredient that I love, and it’s so well executed: spoken word, psychedelic and trippy storytelling, incredible selection and flow. And for both of them it was just the beginning of their musical endeavours, which I found really impressive.

Are there times when you seek out music from a certain period and country (or continent)? Is there any such phase right now? Where do you think your research will go in the coming years?

So far, I haven’t actively sought out music from a specific region, but it would be interesting to do so. I’m just back from Belgrade, where my friends introduced me to some incredible music from Albania. I often search for combinations of genres, discographies and side-projects of artists and labels that I like, or just let chance and chaos lead me.

Currently, I’m in a phase where I want to take it easy with traveling and DJing for the next few months, focusing instead on creating mixes and reorganizing a bit. I find myself more drawn to to a listening environment than to a club at the moment, so my plan is to explore that extensively.

Plans for the coming years? Only the mirror ball holds the answers…

Where do you look for music? Do you enjoy browsing the internet as much as you do in real stores? Would you have a tip for the shops, or markets in Berlin where you can never leave without at least one record?

I have to admit that I don’t visit record shops that often and I spend most of my time scouring the net, but it’s something I’d like to change in the future. One reason is that I imagine that in Berlin (where it feels like half the population are DJs) all the good stuff will have been snatched up before I get to the store. And I’m not the type to wake up at 6am for the flea market. The other thing is that I have pretty bad amnesia when it comes to labels, artists and so on. Some people seem to have a photographic memory, such a gift.. So going into a shop is just too much of a blind search for me, unless it’s very well-sorted. If “Dizonord” or “Discos Paradiso” were in town, you’d find me there every second day. It’s a shame that “Record Loft” has closed !

Berlin’s “Galactic Supermarket” and “Sound Metaphors” are nice though, and I still need to get kicked out of “Franz & Josef “ (read the reviews hihi)

I always appreciate tips on anything I don’t know. Besides, the year 2023 just ended. How was it for you? What cities, bars, clubs, festivals caught your attention? Is there a newcomer in music that it would be nice to highlight?

Looking back on 2023, I have to admit that it’s been a year with a rather sour aftertaste. In particular, the murder of tens of thousands of civilians in the Middle East, along with the heartbreaking humanitarian situation, has cast a dark shadow on it, it’s just so depressing. In addition, Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine, other ongoing global crises and the rise of far-right movements in Europe, including Germany, are deeply distressing to me.

Trying to focus on positive things: My anthem of the year was “Toad Lickers, Dawn Bringers“ by OGMA. I think I’ve played it in every set so far, can’t get enough of it… When the world gets too much and I need a giggle, all I have to do is put this track on. The entire record is just gold, and seeing them live as well. Another album on repeat was “Broken to Echoes” by Chantal Michelle and “Sanctuary of Ideas” by Nathan Dawidowicz.

My favourite festival was (again) “Braille Satellite” in Lithuania, it’s otherworldly what they’ve put together, such an ambitious and sophisticated booking in the most beautiful location. You can just float around for four days and be surprised by each performance (most of which I had never heard of before). A year earlier I saw “Zad Kokar” there, not sure if he still performs, but check him out. The more folk orientated “Polja” festival in Serbia was also a highlight, and to play twice at “Dim” in Belgrade, one of my favourite bars. Tip for 2024: “Camp Cosmic” will be back in the nature!

Other crazy good concerts and artists to look out for were “Dâdalus & Bikarus”, “Nâr”, “NEY” (just out on Somewhere Press), and “Saturn’s Drive”. Their debut album will be released this year on Lío Press. Hopefully soon, so that everyone can enjoy these sweet tunes – it’s been my soundtrack of last summer.

ANDRÉ PAHL on SOUNDCLOUD

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I N T E R V I E W  W I T H  S T E F F E N  B E N N E M A N N

Hey Steffen, childhood is usually one of the funniest topics in interviews. What is your first musical memory? Did music shape your personality before you discovered electronic music? What posters adorned the walls of your room in your teenage years?

It’s really funny to revisit memories of my childhood. I grew up in an age where telephones were landline only, mobile phones weren’t even invented yet. There was no internet whatsoever, and those people who had fax machines were super upfront. So we discovered music mostly through listening to late-night radio and buying bootlegged tapes of albums from shady dealers in thrift markets. I’ve never been a person idolizing stars, so, while my peers had posters of Nirvana, Michael Jackson, or Backstreet Boys on their walls, I was collecting flyers of parties that I went to at the age of 14.

Then came the crucial moment. When, where, how did you discover electronic music? Did it open new dimensions and turn your world upside down?

In fourth grade, we went on a school trip and shared the hostel with an older class, like 9th grade or so. They had a tape recorder and just one tape that they played over and over again: Side A was Michael Jackson’s “Bad” and Side B was U96’s “Das Boot”. We hung out with this crew to listen to it together while playing ping-pong and soccer. At the end of the trip, the owner of the tape handed it to me because I was asking so many questions about the tape player, the music, how he got it, and so on. At home I listened to this tape over and over again for months – it was the only music I had – and the more I listened to it, the more I got sucked into the electronic sounds of U96. My Dad was mostly listening to Cher, Bonnie Tyler, Phil Collins, and stuff like that – but U96 sounded so different, almost “alien” and was telling a story without any vocals at all. It was completely instrumental, that’s what got me hooked. My collection of tapes then expanded when I met two like-minded guys in fifth grade: One of them had a tape recorder and a radio that would receive signals from a station in Berlin. Two times a year this station did a live broadcast from big events like Love Parade and Mayday. We recorded all the sets and listened to them for the rest of the year.

When did you get a taste of the nightlife in Leipzig and where were you most often found? Can you think of any special parties where a DJ opened your eyes?

I started going to raves in the rural area where I grew up around the age of 14. I still admire my parents for allowing us to do so. Riding our bicycles through the night to some old barn in a village about 10 km away, and returning home just in time for breakfast on Sunday. When I turned 18, I could finally go to official clubs. My friend Leo was a few years older and a regular at the “Distillery” in Leipzig. A few days after my 18th birthday, he took me there and I was blown away by the location, the massive sound, and all these people raving! My memory of this first night in a club is still fully clear and vivid – it was Johannes Heil playing live in the basement (with a tower of analog machines as set up) and some guys playing House music upstairs. Their names were “DJ Sören” and “DJ Gabor” – later world-famous as the Wighnomy Brothers, and today as Robag Wruhme and Monkey Maffia. I became a regular at Distillery after that and a few years later also a resident DJ. The Distillery became my living room for a decade, quite formative for my own vision of DJing. I got to play with all my Detroit heroes there, Jeff Mills, Robert Hood, Kevin Saunderson, and others. Later, I moved to Conne Island, where I also spent a lot of time both on the dancefloor and behind the scenes. Those were the heydays of the Deep House movement. I remember hearing Lawrence and Efdemin there for the first time. Conne Island is a multi-purpose venue though, so I also got to see many great bands there, Tortoise, Sunn O))), Swans, Motorpsycho, and many more. Profound influences to my own music were James Holden, when he was still DJing, and I-F, when he played a pure acid set as Beverly Hills 808303 in the basement of Trouw Amsterdam. A room completely filled with fog and one strobe as the sole source of light. The first time I heard Aleksi Perälä play live was an epiphany as well, his music was so light and energetic at the same time. It was so much fun to dance to! My latest discovery has been Terrence Dixon live at Waking Life Festival: His music is the essence of Techno, like Brutalist art in sound. Also Paquita Gordon and Olivia have been big inspirations in recent times.

And then, at some point came Nachtdigital? How did you become part of the crew and how did your roles and responsibilities grow over the years? Is there any period in Nachtdigital´s history that you fondly remember?

I attended the first two editions of Nachtdigital at the age of 15 and 16. It was the first big open air in our area and we went nuts. At the age of 17, I joined the crew because I had learned how to build websites – very simple, using Microsoft Frontpage – and this was the age when everyone got their first “homepage”. Later, I took over responsibility for press and communications. Since I had spent a year in the US as an exchange student, I was the only one from the whole crew who could translate to English – so I took over communication with English-speaking artists and agencies. Plus, my dad had a fax machine and internet access via one of those dial-in-modems that make funny sounds when they connect to the internet. A few years later, I became the head of booking and could fully develop my vision of a festival program. I would say those were the best times when we developed the festival into the international brand it is known for today.

I assume that just as you helped Nachtdigital to fame, Nachtdigital helped you in your DJ life. What interesting places have you been to? Is there any place in the world you’d like to play at all at this point?

As Nachtdigital grew as a brand – it was never meant to be a brand, but I use this term for lack of a better option – our circles widened. Word of mouth slowly spread to neighboring countries, first to the Czech Republic and the Netherlands and soon we started to get invited to places like Brno – thanks to you, Pepi! – and Amsterdam. Later also the UK, Poland, and so on. I’ve been to so many interesting places, it’s hard to pick favorites. I have a very special connection with Prague though – I’ve been coming here for more than two decades and while it seemed like a blank page in terms of club music 20 years ago it’s now a city with a scene that I’m amazed by each time I visit.

When was your love for ambient and the concept of sleep-in concerts born? What would the ideal scenario of such an evening look like if you had no financial limits?

Ten years ago my friend Heiko – DJ Onetake, my longtime b2b- and promoter-partner – and I attended a sleep concert by Robert Rich at Unsound Festival in Krakow. We were blown away by the concept and decided to start an event series with a similar approach in Leipzig. By then, we had already done hundreds of club nights in Leipzig and the concept of a pure ambient night – playing music for people while they sleep – was a much-needed change that brought new excitement for everyone: The audience, the artists who perform, and us as promoters. To this day these nights are absolutely magical – most people have never been asleep in a room with so many others, it’s a very unique experience that people remember for the rest of their life. The same holds true for the performing artists – it’s the most delicate performance setting of your life. To our great surprise, it’s so much more intense to play for an audience that’s asleep than rocking a packed dance floor. I dream of taking the Sleep In concept to the biggest venues imaginable – imagine thousands of people laying in Stromovka Park and listening to deep sea ambient. Pure bliss, isn’t it?

Where do you get your inspiration and energy from and what makes you happy in your life?

I get inspiration, energy, and happiness from almost anything around me: Nature, art, people, meditation, cooking, baking, gardening. In general, I enjoy moments of peace and quietness more and more. I almost completely stopped watching movies and series. Digital life forces us to spend so many hours in front of a screen, and I’m happy about every hour I can spend away from it. Same for books unfortunately, I love reading, but I’m consuming so many words written by someone else on the internet, apps, and text messages that I rarely find myself reading a book these days. The digital world has come with such an increase of communication on so many channels – so when I have some time off I rather listen to some nice music or just to the sound of leaves in the wind.

What are your musical plans for the near future (DJ, producer, event organizer, dancer…)?

I’m working on music in my studio regularly, but I haven’t released any of it yet. In terms of DJing, I’m returning to my roots somehow, going back to playing vinyl, and searching for that naivety that electronic music still had when I discovered it. I do much fewer events now, currently just one bi-monthly party series at my home base in Hamburg, the Golden Pudel Club. It’s called LIFE and I’m sure it will eventually expand to a broader radius, but for now, I’m happy with how things are.

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STEFFEN BENNEMANN on SOUNDCLOUD

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I N T E R V I E W  W I T H  N I K O S L A V  N A C H H A L L

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Hi Nikos, thanks for taking time to answer my questions. Where and how did your musical journey begin? Do you remember any crucial moment (first party, first flyer, first record…)?

My mother is a violin and a piano teacher. She used to teach at our place and I would sometimes sit under the piano. The piece I enjoyed the most was this rhythmical piecefor beginners. There were also plenty of records from my older brother. Bouzouki lessons introduced me to greek folk music such as Rembetiko. I was developing and improvising rhythmical disharmonious musical pieces on piano in the concert hall at my school and listened extensively to the Karlsruhe Querfunk radio station, which was a lucky case as you could get to listen to almost any music style on the station. So music was an important part of my life from early on. At some point I received a Max Roach CD as a present from my mother and, a little later, a percussion set. To this day I am very thankful for this present! My neighbours would lend me their Prodigy and Nirvana CDs, which also was a great influence for me. After I heard Curmudgeon for the first time, for me, it became clear I want to do something in this direction! In my town, we as teenagers had luck because there were local crews who booked great artists, so, for example, I had the pleasure and opportunity to hear King Shiloh with their own sound system on more than one occasion. This is actually crazy! Thanks to Ganja Riddim! Throughout the years I’ve been sharing space with many great musicians with whom we would live, experiment and improvise together — this was and is a big part of my musical development!

You were part of the Tanzmichmal collective. Was it your first “crew”? Is this project already finished?

Tanzmichmal was my first Collective in Berlin. It started when I met Dj Katovl Menovskyby accident at a small Open Air Rave at Rosengarten in Berlin, it went rather spontaneous: the DJ asked me if I was a DJ myself and if I want to bring my records over to play. When I came back the other DJ was on the decks, little confusion and three of us ended up doing a back to back set playing one after another. We figured that our record collections work rather good together. Right after, Katovl invited me to come to another party to play B2B, and so I entered the Tanzmichmal Crew (which translates vaguely as „I dare you to dance me! Crew“). In December 2018, on its 10th anniversary, we threw our last iconic Tanzmichmal Party.

Has your musical taste evolved over time? What musical waves have affected you?

I would say Jazz, Punk, HipHop, Dub, DnB and House/Techno, Neue Musik. maybe even exactly in this order:)

I´m sure you´ll know your way around Berlin even in places that don´t primarily attract tourists. Would you recommend some secret tips for bars, clubs, vinyl shops and maybe even a favourite restaurant?

A few years ago, it was great to travel through the thrift and housing clearance shops, but there isn´t much good vinyl to be found anymore. I think Melting Point, Oye Records, Hard Wax, Sound Metaphors and Space Hall are not secret addresses, but great record stores. To eat I would recommend the Shalimar restaurant, they cook original Pakistani dishes. Dan Thai Food (at Reinickendorfer Strasse 96 in Berlin Wedding)  is often very tasty.

Will you also add tips on Djs, producers, labels and bands that you think are worth paying attention to? It doesn´t necessarily have to be just from Berlin or Germany.

I was in Kyiv in November 2020 visiting friends and doing a radio show on 28ft Radio. I met a lot of great musicians there. Tofudj is a DJ and producer from Kyiv and his crew, Pep Gaffe, do super cool stuff.
I really liked the new release from Monod0nt.
Andriy Kostyukov is also super good!
Then, of course, I would like to point out Nasty King Kurl´s great label Nasty Enterprises.
The Rio label here in Berlin.
And the upcoming Dolphins record!
Cid Hohner!
Kryptic DJ!
Sandra and Hendrik Stein!
Ron Wilson with his 777 label!
And of course Mad Lubi!

When you play as a DJ, do you prepare in advance or is everything spontaneous? What musical corners can you get your audience into?

Most of the time there is a light direction dictated by the party, event or location. I let myself be inspired by that. For example, if it´s a Techno Party which is a little faster and harder, I would pack Techno, Electro, Acid, Footwork and Hard, or Trippy House, maybe some Wave etc. So I always prepare my records suitcase beforehand and sort the records according to the genre. Although what will happen later in the club is never planned and depends on the real life experience: how I feel at the moment, what is the vibe of the crowd, what did Djs who played before me do — all of this certainly can’t be planned beforehand.

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NIKOSLAV NACHHALL SC / NIKOSLAV NACHHALL BC / SERIOUS TROUBLE 

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INTERVIEW  WITH  DJ  FEELAZ

How are you doing in these difficult times? Is the weight of events of the last months weighing on you (covid, war…) or are you trying not to read the news? Sometimes it seems to me that it is all the fault of today’s world and its possibilities. Every medium pours news (mostly bad news) at us from all over the world, and that makes it perhaps easier to succumb to skepticism. What’s your cure for not going crazy with it all?

I’m doing quite well actually – really can’t complain to be honest… Especially considering the agony this madman from Moscow has brought to our neighbours from Ukraine! I am trying to stay informed as well as I can, but also balancing out the amount of news I expose myself to. In general, the key to life is balance, so that’s probably my cure.

Being a DJ and running a record store, I assume music plays a big role in your life. What music are you listening to right now?
I listen to lots of music when I’m in the shop of course! All sorts of stuff while categorizing and pricing records… Running the shop for the last ten years has definitely broadened my musical horizon a lot. At home I listen to less music than I used to – of course when I’m preparing for gigs I do & when I feel in the mood, maybe twice a week or so. I like listening to whole records & albums these days. But I do enjoy the silence too!

Was it always your dream to open a record store? Do you still enjoy it? Can you imagine making money for living doing something else?
I always wanted to work in a record shop and even sent out some CV’s while living in London, but never made it through the interview stage. So, opening the shop was a dream come true! I still enjoy running the store, maybe because I am not there every day from start to finish, as it’s not the only thing I do. I actually do imagine a ‘normal’ 9 to 5 job from time to time, but in the long run it’s all good as it is.

When you lived in London? Did this period have any musical influence on you? Have you lived anywhere other than Poznań and London? I saw you also use German on your fb.
I used to live in London for a while in the mid-nineties when i was a teenager and then went back with the first wave of polish immigrants after we joined the EU in 2004. I stayed, on & off, for a few years but London, or the UK scene in general, always had & still has a big impact on me musically, not only while living there. I would still put the UK scene on the first spot for it’s diversity & impact on the music scene worldwide. The German comes from me being born & raised in Germany, so it’s my second language. I moved (back) to Poland with my parents when i was 12.

I’m definitely hooked on the 90s music-wise. To this day it’s the first section I go through in any record shop & any genre really.

Am I imagining correctly that living in the UK in the mid-nineties meant a lot of party stories that we can only dream about today? Do you remember any significant experience from this time? It sounds to me like you were at the birth and heyday of a lot of different musical styles.
I wish! But I was only 13 or maybe 14 at the time so I only got exposed to pirate radio, bought some of my first 12” and collected flyers of the raves I could only imagine going to. My first rave experiences were around the same time, but after I was back in Poznań, as the door policy was way more chilled out back then. I’m definitely hooked on the 90s music-wise. To this day it’s the first section I go through in any record shop & any genre really.

Ok, back to Poznan. How is the music scene there? Does it generate enough people to shop at your store? Do you follow the musical taste of the city when choosing music for your store?
Poznań’s music scene is really healthy and quite diverse, I would say. There are plenty of great clubs, competing of course, but also working together in many fields. Same applies to promoters/crews/djs – it’s fair play! My shop was never strictly for djs. First and foremost, because I wouldn’t survive that way (especially now with most djs playing digital), but also, I never had the intention to run a record shop strictly with electronic music and just for djs. And because I always tried to please as many customers as possible with our selection, I got to know so much music that I didn’t even know existed before! These are the moments I cherish the most. When I go through a pile of records I purchased at some point (I mainly buy up whole collections) and find something absolutely great, where I didn’t know anything at all about the artist or label. It’s quite easy to fall into a loop these days, digging for music online via search engines, because we mostly use names we already know anyway. So I try to persuade people who come to Vinylgate to dig deeper, like the old school way – just take a pile of records and spend some time at the listening booth!

That sounds really nice. How would you describe life in Poznan? In addition to dance clubs, are there places where djs play music to listen to? Where to go for a good coffee or a drink? Is there a street or even a neighborhood full of nice businesses like these?
I honestly can only recommend Poznań as a city. Of course, it has its pros & cons (especially now with the city centre being a massive construction site), but for me the size & geographical location is perfect. Also, the fact it’s a student city. You’ll always find something to do but without the need of long-distance travel as you’ll easily get anywhere within 30mins. I always recommend the Śródka district to tourists who pop into my shop. It’s a really beautiful area and has plenty of great restaurants with all kinds of food, but I would highly recommend checking out Gotuyam for the best Asian Food. It’s run by my friend & techno DJ Sin + in the kitchen there are even more Poznań DJ legends working the Wok! The Jeżyce district is great for food or coffee – most places there are at least good! My recommendation here would be Falla for great Veggie/Vegan food & ALEkosmos for the coffee. More & more cool places pop up in Grunwald also, where I’ll definitely have to highlight my dear neighbours Bluszcz – it’s a Pizza & Wine place with the most beautiful Garden, which during the spring/summer season is always full of nice people. Me & my friends play some chilled dj sets there during the day/evening from time to time. Also the Wilda district is getting more & more nice restaurants & bars. For that I’ll pick Farby, a nice little bar located in a former Paint Store with a very nice atmosphere & great djs playing pretty often. In the city centre, just next to the Old Market Square there are also a few cool bars serving good drinks & home-made shots, with djs playing cool music – check: Przelot, Ścisk, PORN (People Of Real Narnia) & House Szkolna.

You must have traveled all over Poland with records. Is there a healthy scene across the whole country? What places and to which audience do you like to return the most?
Looking back, I have played in most corners of the country over the years, which shows that small scenes/clubs pop up everywhere, but unfortunately they don’t necessarily stand the test of time. Most of the clubs are located in the cultural / industrial centers, which of course are the main cities / regions of the country. I very rarely get booked by to the ‘wrong’ clubs, so it’s hard for me to pick out the ones I enjoy going back to the most. But I’ll have to mention FOMO club in Białystok on this one, because unfortunately they are closing down next month. I have been visiting FOMO and its predecessor Metro regularly for more than 20 years now, which makes it even more heartbreaking, because Białystok has a really good crowd & great people working very hard behind the scenes to make it all happen. Of course, there still will be the annual Up To Date Festival, but that’s a different thing. I am sure they will work out something sooner or later, but it’s a sad moment for everyone in the Polish scene.

Regarding the Polish scene, what names and places are worth knowing?
There would be too many to mention them all, so I will just recommend some artists I have been listening to lately… My mate from Katowice, biøs, has just released a great compilation on his label Skan Records. 8 great electro tracks produced by some of the country’s best electro soldiers + here is also a mix made by my friend Begu (who is also part of that compilation). It consists of all 8 tracks from the above album + some of his current favs. Jacek Sienkiewicz has a new album out just now & it’s more of an ambient / electronica trip. Absolutely loving when Jacek is exploring these kind of musical territories, as he’s an absolute master. Check out “Kristine”, which is the first single from the album “Pristine”. Robodroid is a collab between Szczecin’s Robodrum & The Droidfrom the UK. This one’s top notch Electro with remixes by Maelstrom & Dexorcist. Glasszis a really talented dj from Wrocław. He’s also part of the SPLOT crew/night/label (they just released their 2nd EP so including that one also). Next would be Poznań’s finest International Day Off label with a new EP from labelhead Gary Holldman just around the corner. Also check out POTOP records, as they have released some great tracks over the last year too. 

Regarding festivals, LAS Festival is my current favourite summer festival. Absolute freedom, positive vibes, mind-blowing location with a great & diverse line-up. Also the aforementioned, Up To Date Festival, is always a highlight closing down the summer season, with great curation & attention to detail + marketing & visual identification which is unmatched. 

For clubs I want to mention Poznań’s big three. First – Tama, where I’m a resident. Huge and beautiful space, with a very diverse program. Apart from electronic music in it’s many forms, there are loads of concerts taking place, so everyone can pick something. Second – Projekt Lab, which is the longest running club in Poznań at the moment. They always have really good lineups, stay true to themselves. Not to mention the legendary after parties, especially during summer. Third – Schron is located in a real concrete bunker in the city center, so nearly none of the boom-boom- bass actually leaves the place which can make it quite a demanding experience. Happy to announce i will revive my clubnight Acid Plant there next month, since there simply is no space for the resident djs curated nights at Tama anymore. Olivia & Chino will play live as Radiation 30376which will be a Poznań premiere!

Apart from that I’ll mention just a few of my favourite clubs around Poland: – Jasna 1 in Warsaw – great place, great programming, always a pleasure to be back. – FOMO in Białystok – as mentioned above, they are closing down by the end of October, so be quick if you wanna experience this very special place. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! – CELin Katowice – super cool club located next to the Train station, so it’s ideal for any techno-tourists. It has a small dance floor which can lead to really sweaty sessions, and lovin’ it! – Szpitalna 1 in Kraków – always happy to return to that place. Located in the tourist hotspot it offers the exact opposite to most of the places in the area and hopefully will continue to do so for many more years. Pure Underground! – B90 / Ulica Elektryków in Gdańsk – this location is absolutely legendary, because it is in the heart of the Gdańsk Shipyard where the Solidarność movement began, which eventually led to the fall of communism. The line-ups are top & against the current + there’s another great place just around the corner – Crackhouse is the name and it’s run by some really cool peeps who know how to party!

How much do you prepare yourself for your performances? At Breathe festival, I heard a very wide range of music you played. Is it still difficult for you to choose the right records or have you already found the recipe for a set composition that will keep people on the dancefloor?
I don’t prepare too much to be honest. If I have a lot of new records I mix for a while or just listen through to see & what’s inside & but other than that I try to trust my gut feeling as much as possible. Of course, sometimes I prepare something special, which can be a few records I reckon could go well together. But most of the time I just try to pack a healthy mix of new & old ‘feelaz favourites’, trying to keep it diverse so I can go places depending on the vibe and the crowd. I like to surprise myself, why I can’t even imagine what it would be like to prepare a whole set or play the same shit at every party.

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