Drumcode Tour gets Compressed in Los Angeles

Drumcode Tour gets Compressed in Los Angeles

18 October, 2008 | 7.20PM

• Written by: Industry Boy
• Filed under: Music News: adam beyer, compression, drumcode tour, joel mull

Adam Beyer and Joel Mull’s Drumcode Tour continued in fine style last night in Los Angeles, a city which has recently become a hot spot for electronic music in North America.

Thanks to the continued hard work of local DJs and promoters Droid, Compression and Droog, techno is thriving in the city and last night’s party was hosted by Compression at Cinespace in Hollywood.

Rob from Compression looks a little weary when we pull up to the front door of the club, with good reason.

“We’ve just done seven parties in five weeks which has been great, but a hell of a lot of work,” he says.

“Usually we only do two parties a month.”

But that’s the reality of Los Angeles’ club scene today – there is demand to hear quality electronic music and a hell of a lot of supply.

“I used to have to wait a whole month for one good party, but now it’s like which one should I miss out on as there are great parties going on every night,” explains one Compression regular.

Compression recently hosted Minus’ 10 year anniversary party with Richie Hawtin, and they’ve had Detroit legends Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson play for them too.

The fact that Adam Beyer and Joel Mull were booked shows that underground techno is flourishing in this city.

The duo don’t really offer anything except pure techno. “There are no compromises with the Drumcode sound,” Adam has said previously on the tour in an accent not too dissimmilar from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s.

In the main room of Cinespace, Joel Mull warms up the floor with his usual throbbing bass heavy techno whilst a crowd of techno heads dance to the beats.

There are a few chin-stroker types dotted amongst the audience, which Adam Beyer says, “is a good thing, because it means our music is being taken seriously.”

Joel Mull drops the Mark Broom Remix of Matt Nordstrum ‘Lucky Drawls’ (check it in the player below) which makes the crowd get super excited.

Adam Beyer then takes over the music, but not before first removing the elevated stage behind the decks so that the equipment is at a more comfortable height for his 6’ 6” lanky frame.

A bottle of black liquorice-flavoured alcohol starts being passed around the DJ booth, which is salty in taste.

It’s vile Viking tipple frankly, but the Drumcode twosome seem to love it.

Outside on the Cinespace smoking patio Rob from Compression explains how the scene has changed in Los Angeles.

“We started Compression three years ago with the intention of creating a new scene in Hollywood,” he says.

“The Droid guys have always done a great job of putting on warehouse parties downtown, but we wanted to do parties in more comfortable venues that were more accessible to people.

“Our parties grew as techno became less avant garde and they’ve become better and better each time.

“People now have high expectations in L.A. and seem clued up about the music.

“They’ve been to Ibiza and Sonar in Barcelona and they want to hear the same music here as they’ve heard in those places.

“They also expect great sound.”

Speaking of sound, my left ear seems a little dull thanks to the only mobile Funktion One soundsystem on the West Coast, which Compression managed to secure for their party.

With 5ft bass bins it’s less about hearing, and more about feeling the music.

And it’s a sensation, the Drumcode boys are exploiting in full.

Adam Beyer, who’s generally not one for showmanship, throws on a white pair of Star Trek-esque sunglasses and starts dancing like a loony whilst Joel Mull swings a white towel above his head.

The tomfoolery in the DJ booth starts to be mirrored on the dancefloor, and a girl rips up a poster and shoves it into her skirt so only the words Warehouse Techno is showing.

I spot another girl with a Minus tattoo on her arm.

Clearly Compression attracts the right kind of crowd.

Mull and Beyer then start going back-to-back, working cooperatively on the Allen & Heath Xone:92 mixer, Kaoss pad and their loop machine.

Their biggest track of the night, believe it or not, is a new techno track by Sharam.

The Deep Dish man is clearly on a mission to emulate Dubfire’s techno renaissance with this release, and whilst it would be easy to be cynical, the music speaks for itself – it totally destroys the dancefloor.

Joel Mull grabs a microphone and starts shouting “Compression” and “let’s go L.A.,” in his thick Swedish accent which is highly entertaining, especially considering he has a white towel on his head and red sunglasses on.

The night starts to drift into weird o’clock, when time becomes irrelevant.

Suddenly it’s 4am, and the lights are on.

There are mutterings of an afterparty and for a minute we’re tempted, but in the end we decide to hop skip it to bed.

After some much needed rest that night and an easy flight to Denver in the morning, we’re sitting in a Hummer limo grinning like chimps who’ve discovered a mountain of bananas.

Despite the tacky disco blinged interior it’s nice to be able to lie down in the limo and listen to minimal techno.

“I can’t believe this tour is almost over,” says Adam, as the limo cruises towards the stunning pink skyline of Denver, with the Rocky Mountains glistening on the horizon.

“Soon we’ll be back in Sweden and I’ll be freaking out wondering when the next gig is coming.”

First though, they have to make it past Denver.

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