DJ T.’s tour blog: Week 8

DJ T.’s tour blog: Week 8

3 September, 2009 | 8.23AM

• Written by: Beatportal
• Filed under: Music News: dj t, dj t blog, get physical

Bar25 in Berlin closed this week, and our man-on-the-scene DJ T. was there to record its final last moments (click through to watch a video).

In this week’s tour blog he also shares his tales from London’s Fabric nightclub, and updates aspiring producers on the ongoing Get Physical Producer Challenge which launched last week.

Saturday, 29th of August, London

No matter how hard you try: you can’t trick your body, although you might cling to that illusion when you’re still 25. At 40, your perception skews to the other extreme – it makes you feel like you’re paying twice for each lapse of judgement.

Psychologists would file both under ‘selective perception’, but reduced to the facts it boils down to one simple certainty: if you keep depriving your fragile physique of the bare minimum of recovery, it will simply revoke your license to free will and knock you out one way or another ... to the point where even a few days of comatose rest won’t help to put you back on your feet.

Well, this is pretty much what happened to me by the end of last week, when I finally got the receipt for the previous month of accumulated party fun and had to pay the bill in full – and with interest. But: je ne regrette rien!

So, last night I suddenly realised that my schedule left me a mere three hours between my return from the Summer Spirit Festival and the subsequent flight to London – something I hadn’t really noticed before. Cue: rush of panic.

Followed by an unexpected salvation – Daniel at my booking agency had managed to scour the murky depths of the Internet for an affordable one-way ticket on British Airways, i. e. five delicious and much-needed extra hours of sleep and a welcome respite from the curious shackles of EasyJet (choose your own seat? Speedy boarding? What a bunch of crap) and the long drive to Berlin’s Schönefeld airport.

Due to my crazy schedule, the festival turned into a pragmatic case of in and out. Basically, after a 90-minute drive to the east of Berlin, I was hustled straight to the decks without any warm-up and then back to the car without catching even the slightest glimpse of the festival beyond my own floor. I vaguely remember some kind of hangar – and the last few minutes of Marek Hemann’s wildly popular live set as well as the first few bars of my successors, the Italoboys – plus my own two hours on stage, from tricky start (Hemann was a tough act to follow!) to the thumping finale.

Pondering these profound thoughts, in room 412 of the London Malmaison, I can feel the benefit of those extra hours of well-deserved rest. I just got back from the restaurant, from one of Fabric’s notorious artist dinners with up to 20 lucky souls.

I guess the numbers shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering that Fabric is the world’s only club (or at least the only one I can think of right now) that books up to 10 international artists for every single night that it’s open. Add their friends, bookers, tour managers and Fabric’s own posse and soon the table gets a bit cramped.

The natural centre of attention: Judy ‘Mama Coca’ Griffith, Fabric’s booker and night manager and thus one of THE institutions in London’s thriving nightclub scene.

Walkie-talkie always at hand, to spread a number of instructions, always on the go and in-between places, she still has an open ear for everyone and loves music with the same intensity as on the club’s opening day. Living this spirit and enthusiasm, Fabric remains one of the most prominent marks on the grid system of links between London and Berlin.

Unwittingly, the term ‘family’ comes to mind – a hackneyed expression and then some – when I think of the tight social net the loose circle of friends around a few clubs, labels and agencies in both cities has spun and nurtured over the past six to seven years.

And this goes far beyond business and countless parties. I guess this phenomenon really defines one of techno’s most positive aspects – sorry, more clichés and pathos coming up! – i. e. the way this shared interest in music and its associated lifestyle brings people together in such a beautiful and immediate way.

I would even say that ‘our scene’, compared with other segments of the ‘entertainment industry’, is even more laid-back and uncomplicated. But maybe that’s just another case of selective perception.

Sunday, 30th of August, Berlin

The party at Fabric was a success, both for the club (or so I hope) and for us as a label. Right now, any measure of success has become relative in light of the overreaching crisis – hard-hit by the financial meltdown, sold-out nights have become the exception rather than the rule on the British Isles.

Their entertainment sector is in especially dire straits and suffers from the increasing weakness of the British pound. While Scotland is still doing relatively well, Britain and Ireland find themselves sliding into ever-deepening crisis.

The latter seems to be the worst off: officially in recession for over a year, the country’s downturn was triggered and exacerbated by a similar implosion of the property market as in the US.

Well, to cut a long story short; even at Fabric, a full house is no longer taken for granted, but this particular night saw a healthy turnout. Well, I hope that the presence of two popular labels, Spectral and Get Physical, played its part in filling the floors.

Our Get Physical showcase took place in room 2, my personal preference of the two floors. In room 1, Fabric’s official main floor, the particular DJ architecture tends to isolate you from the audience and I, for one, prefer direct contact with the crowd, the closer the better. Anyone who’s been to Robert Johnson in Offenbach will know what I mean …

We had crossed the Channel with four artists in tow, Einzelkind, Heidi, Siopis and yours truly. The night marked a premiere for Jannis aka Silversurfer aka Siopis and his partner in crime, MC Mr. Braen, as this was the first time they had shared a stage.

Unfortunately, the PA was acting up during their live set (not entirely sure why), which over large stretches of their set stopped the rather subtle Siopis sound from blossoming into greatness, but they were still met with mostly positive reactions.

I had a fantastic time during my own performance and bounced around to those of my colleagues. Well, no surprise there – Einzelkind and Heidi hardly ever disappoint.

Nevertheless, my personal epiphany turned out to be a live act by Bodycode who have released a new album ‘Immune’ on Spectral recently, which was pleasant enough for home listening, but it had never really grabbed me by the balls like his live set.

Somehow, here at Fabric, it sounded a lot more sweaty and alive – strange, and always fascinating, how your perception can change …

Tuesday, 1st of September, Berlin

If club history was detailed and charted as obsessively as the stuff they teach us in school, the 31st of August 2009, would join the annals of club culture. Why? This balmy late summer’s night marked the closing of Berlin’s (in)famous Bar25 on the Spree’s beautiful river embankment.

Well, not really and not forever – as suggested in a recent blog entry – but how will it continue, when, where and for how long? Again, I’m willing to throw some semi-knowledge and decent hearsay into the latest rumour mix.

Right now, not even those who run the Bar seem entirely sure on these points. On this last night, myriads of stories filtered through the air and even between the bar’s inner circle of volunteers a wealth of bewilderingly different (and often contrary) opinions arised, ones that we should probably take with a pinch of salt or file under ‘deliberate obfuscation’.

I couldn’t blame them if they did – I would probably do the same – and everyone needs some strategic marketing. So, I’ll present you with the three most likely theories and spare you the other 27.

No.1 (the best-case scenario)

The embankment construction project (MediaSpree) has failed, everything stays the way (and where) it is and the Bar can enjoy at least two more seasons at this beautiful location.

No.2 (The worst case)

The construction project might have failed, but the site’s owners are still obliged to remove the contaminated grounds under the Bar and replace them with a fresh layer of soil. To this end, Bar25 would be completely dismantled and removed; any reinstallation would have to wait until the 2011 season.

No.3 (The most bizarre)

The Bar will be taken apart, shipped to the US and erected at next year’s Burning Man festival, for just one week of free-spirited abandon, then burned to the ground in a grand ceremony. All of this would be financed by Bar sympathiser and supporter Quentin Tarantino himself ... so, only time will tell!

Bar25’s final song

Click on the clip to see, or rather hear, Bar25 member Danny Faber spin the venue’s very last track and favourite anthem, ‘I See A Darkness’, just before the midnight curfew.

Just why Danny chose a new, unfamiliar version of this Johnny Cash cover (produced by Console mastermind Acid Pauli and disallowed by Sony Music) will join the ranks of unanswered questions and myths that entwine the Bar like thick vines of ivy.

Get Physical Producer Challenge: Update

Dear Beatport(al) users,

We were pleasantly surprised by your prolific response during the first week of our competition – if this level holds up, we can expect a very exciting competition!

On this note, let me use this time and space to clear up a few questions and misconceptions. Unlike some of you assumed, the Get Physical Producer Challenge is NOT a remix contest or a call for already published tracks. Only submit your unreleased gems – the overall winner will be released on a Get Physical compilation! For those who missed last week’s entry (or want to brush up on the competition terms), simply scan Week 7 of my tour diary.

Before I forget, these are the technical guidelines for your submissions: from now on, please send all your tracks as 320kb mp3 files – no wavs or aiffs – and please mail them (or a direct download link on yousendit, sendspace et al.) to the address below. We cannot accept any entries via soundcloud or other online platforms!

Mail your hidden treasures to this address: competition@physical-music.com (and add ‘Get Physical Competition‘ to the subject box to be on the safe side).

Okay, time to Get Physical!

Your DJ T.

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