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[ techno time ] (pg. 9)
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| Kate Manus |
I came across some interesting interviews recently done for the Gotham Grooves site. I really liked reading the one for WJH.
W. Jörg Henze is probably one of the hardest working names in techno. His production credits have spread far and wide using a variety of pseudonyms including WJH and Gecko, and he has worked with a laundry list of who’s who in techno. He is the mastermind behind the labels Federation of Drums, Danza Electronica, Dawn and Delirium Red. He also ran the record distribution company Neuton as well as Delirium, a record and clothing store that at its peak had nine locations in the US, Germany and Switzerland. Despite his extensive work in the realm of techno, it wasn't until recently he finally made a stop in the US. We got a chance to sit down with one of the most prolific producers around to talk about his new projects and his thoughts on the state of techno.
FF: What motivates you artistically?
WJH: Well, the music. It’s actually amusing, because the music is like a language. It doesn’t matter where people are from, they understand what you are doing because you do a performance and they understand the music so you don’t have to talk to them. So you can stay together and you can make a party together and you don’t have to talk to each other because it’s about the music. I think that’s the most inspirational.
FF: When did you first decide that you wanted to make a living out of music?
WJH: Well I started going to clubs when I was young. In Germany you’re not allowed to be in the club until you’re 18. I played in the club for like 7 or 8 months. Then I celebrated my birthday and then everybody asked me how old are you? “18” I said. Then they said “…it was illegal the whole time!” In 91 we did the first release, the first record. That was the start of the Delirium label.
FF: Speaking of Delirium you sold the store several years ago, what made you decide to do that?
WJH: Because I don’t like doing the same thing everyday and I did it for ten years. I mean sure it’s a different music, but the procedure is the same every week. Monday you order the stuff, then you get it Wednesday, then Friday the DJs are coming and you sell the stuff. Same procedure Monday. Sure it’s different music, but it’s the same way. And I hated doing the same thing for a long time. I need something special.
FF: Going back to when you started getting into this music. What made you decide you wanted to become a DJ?
WJH: It wasn’t my decision actually. It wasn’t like that, that I want to do it like this. The doors were open and I went through it. It was a different time, right now it’s not as easy to start a DJ career. There is no way, because there are a lot of people that putting their hands in it. Nobody can go up. 10 or 15 years ago it was totally different. Right now people expect to get something which 10 years ago you could, but there’s no way to get it right now.
Mostly people say “Ahhh right now its bad, 5 years ago everything was better.” I don’t think it was like that. We had a different time, we had different people. The old people are at home or they have a family or whatever. We don’t yet. We’re still here. Maybe we did something wrong. *laughs*
FF: What are you currently using in your studio right now?
WJH: Actually just a computer. Just software. A year ago I changed everything from analog stuff to just a computer thing. Before I had a 909, 808, I mean everything is still in the studio, but I don’t use it, because with the computer you have total control and total remote of everything you are doing. Before if you have just an analog session you had to record and had to hope that it worked. And if not, if you make something to loud or not loud enough, it happens. But on a computer you have total remote always. Even if you want to listen to a track half a year later, then you can change everything on it. That’s actually the point. Especially the music we did.
2 or 3 years ago, it would be enough if you just push the buttons like okay now the bass drum, now the snare. Right now you need something more. You have to play with that kind of parts. There are not more parts in it, but you have to play with it. There is no way to sit in front of the desk and play with knobs and make things like that. You need a computer to make the music more interesting.
FF: What inspired to make Ash & Diamonds the album?
WJH: I just wanted to do a new album. The other album was 2 years ago, so it was time for a new album. That’s why the Zenit guys asked for a new album.
FF: What can we expect to hear on that new album?
WJH: Club music. It’s definitely club music. Yeah sure you can listen to it at home. I don’t want to wake up with my album. It’s not like that. It’s cool if you want to go to the club and then you listen to it, but not to wake up.
FF: What do you listen to to wake up?
WJH: I don’t want to wake up. *laughs* I don’t know. I don’t use club music to wake up.
FF: What other music do you listen to besides club music?
WJH: I don’t have a turntable in my apartment. I don’t have a PA in my apartment. There’s just one television. I have everything in the studio, that’s enough if you’re in the studio 8 hours a day. So you don’t need music at home. Especially in the car, I don’t listen to music. If I listen to music it’s totally different. It’s more like classic stuff. It’s not to listen to the music; it’s more to think about something different that doesn’t have a 4/4 bass drum on it.
That’s important. I think it’s the wrong way to just listen to the same stuff. You need some influence. It doesn’t matter what kind of music. It can be alt or hip, they always got some really cool parts or really nice sounds. Sure it’s old school stuff, but they always have really nice sounds. It’s simple, but it works. But it’s not like I prefer that one or that one or that one. Actually I listen to everything instead of radio popular trance . I don’t need that one.
FF: Where do you see techno going in the next five years?
WJH: Good question. I think we will have new splits for techno music. Like 3 or 4 years we got a split when the drum and bass came up. Right now we make a split from the really hard techno stuff and the minimal. So it will split again. Which is actually not as good because there is not enough crowd to make a really huge party every Friday. If you got a new music style you always lose people like that. I think in the next 5 years it will change to maybe a bit similar to the style of 90’s where the music was open. A year ago you just got one kind of sound in the club. It was just like 148 or whatever but for the whole night. There was no way for the DJ to play a smoother sound because the people didn’t accept it. I think right now its better for the club that the people are more open to the music and they listen to a little bit minimal a little bit harder. You can make a wave as a DJ but not just one peak. I hope it will change like that. Because then the clubs are a bit more packed and the people are more open about the music.
FF: What about the new technology. Like Ableton Live, Final Scratch. What role do you see that playing?
WJH: I don’t know about Final Scratch. I mean I bought it one and half years ago, but I sold it a year ago. Because if you are going to play music from the laptop I think it’s stupid to work with vinyl than. If I make it with the computer than I can use the computer then I don’t’ need the vinyl. I think that’s a bit boring, I don’t know. For live, for the crowd, if I was on the dancefloor, I want to see a DJ looking through his case. That’s a part of the DJ thing. I don’t want to see a DJ look in the laptop and play with his mouse because you don’t know if he’s playing music really or if it’s just a tape.
That’s the thing in Germany; the crowd definitely didn’t accept it, because they want to see if the DJ is looking for a record, if they search for it. It’s a part of DJing, and not just looking at the screen and seeing what they should play next. It’s cool that you have everything with you, but if you make the step to play the stuff from the computer, it’s stupid to use vinyl then. You’re still on the vinyl, but you want to do it the new way, and the next step should be to play with the computer, but without the turntable.
FF: How do you see Ableton live?
WJH: It’s easy cheap software, it works. It’s easier than Logic or Cubase. Actually for the stuff we do it should be enough. Cubase is a really nice program, Logic as well, but those kinds of programs are more professional. You can also use it for film. Ableton is specially made for electronic music.
FF: Do you think more live performances are going to start popping up?
WJH: If you’re talking about Live then it’s not a live performance. I mean you can say okay and record a CD-R you can play it should be the same. If people stay with a laptop on the stage and say hey we did a live performance. I really don’t think so.
FF: What would to you qualify as a live performance?
WJH: That’s the reason why I don’t do a live performance. Because if I want to do it, I need a week before in the club to put my whole studio in there, ya know? Then you can talk about a live set. But I don’t want to stay there with my computer, and just stand there, because you cannot actually do something. You can play the loop a bit longer, or a different one. It’s different to stay with a 909 and a sequencer on stage, because then you have to push the knob.
WJH: But on Ableton you can go drink a beer and come back and it still works. I don’t know if that’s the right way to say okay that’s a live set. I mean sure if you make it cool no problem. But most people just stand behind the desktop and nothing happens. I mean if you got a good performance sure, if it’s a good performance, but then it’s the performance. But if you just stand there, then no.
FF: What other projects besides Ash & Diamonds do you have coming up?
WJH: I also started a label called Ash and Diamonds. The Ash and Diamonds album is on Zenit, but I started a label called Ash and Diamonds. And I have some other projects, like the Jericho I did, also another record on Zenit. There’s a lot of stuff, I didn’t realize everything I’m doing.
Right now I signed a contract for the new Hardsignal. Yeah, it’s like that. People ask me if I can do a track for them. That’s the position I’m in right now. People ask in a friendly way if it’s possible if we can do something like that. We have to do something. It just gets harder if we don’t do it together. In Frankfurt it’s mostly like that. Everyone is just focused on themselves, but it doesn’t work for the scene. If everybody just makes his own thing. You know you have more power if you make something together. I mean that’s my opinion. Not many people have that opinion. Sometimes they start thinking about it.
That’s the only way to build something. It’s easy to say “Ah everything is bad, and the clubs are bad, and the music and the DJ and whatever.” But you have to try to change something. Then you can say everything is bad. But before you have to try it. Sure it’s easier to say everything is bad, and the promoters and the parties and whatever. It’s easy, but if you try to change it, you see it’s possible to change something. And if it’s just an opinion, then it’s already a start, if the people think about it. That’s actually the most important thing you can do, get them to start thinking about the whole thing and not just doing.
FF: What other upcoming releases can we expect on the Ash & Diamonds label?
WJH: The next one is WJH but I’m not sure. It’s my label and I did the stuff on it, so I didn’t sign any people. It should be close to the album. That’s the idea behind Ash and Diamonds, to make a platform. Like Federation of Drums I’m on #52, but actually I think that’s enough. Not with the music, but everybody is always looking for something new. I don’t want to make a label with #278, because it doesn’t make sense.
FF: Is that why you left Neuton?
WJH: No no. You know I ran the stores Delirium, and I ran Neuton as a distribution. 14 hours a day at Neuton, smoking 2 boxes of cigarettes, then I went everyday into the Delirium store as well. I was 25, if you realize at 25 you will have a heart attack in 2 years then you start thinking. That’s why I said I have to stop Neuton. It’s really about my health. I mean if you want to do something you have to do it 100%. It doesn’t make sense if you just do a bit on it. Sure it was still my baby. It wasn’t as easy to say okay I have to stop. But you really have to think about your health. That was really the point I have to say okay I have to stop. It wasn’t easy.
FF: Why the name Ash & Diamonds?
WJH: There are a lot of interpretations behind it. Some people said okay the diamond will come from the ash. I really don’t know what’s behind the ash and diamonds, I think ash and diamonds is cool. Nobody can do an album and everybody likes every track. So everyone can say okay that’s the ash and that’s the diamond. If you listen to the album you have to think about what’s behind the ash and diamond, because everybody has a different interpretation of it. It isn’t like it has a special concept behind it. It’s a good title. I really don’t care about the title actually. Sure it’s cool I also used it for the label. I didn’t really think about the whole politics of it in that moment. I mean the Japanese also have a franchise shop they also call Ash and Diamonds. There is nothing special about me or the music behind it. I think it’s a good title.
Also, this one for Richie Hawtin:
Techno is in a state of transition. Raves, the infamous all-night parties that helped herald in the new sound to America and the rest of the world, have all but disappeared. There are still events with large flashy flyers and a multitude of DJs that made their name 8 years ago stuffing line-ups. They are even well attended, as the recent Whistle 5 put on by Local 13 in Philadelphia demonstrated. However, it’s hard to escape the feeling that these events are just reliving the past, especially with the popularity of “old school” events rising. The music bumps, and people dance, but it lacks that edge that says, “This is the sound of now.”
It is usually in these environments that something new bubbles up to the surface, a fresh sound that carries us into the next era of musical innovation and discovery, as those that grow weary with the stagnation dig deeper. In the early 80’s, DJs that fed off the disco sound took things in a fresh direction and created house. Today, rave is dead, but there is a new sound emerging. This sound is being called minimal, although perhaps inappropriately titled, as it bears a small resemblance to the music that bore the same name in the 90’s. The method of transmission is changing too. Turntables are still predominant, but the laptop is becoming the new messenger of sound. Even big names are making the switch, most notably Sasha, who has gone 100% Ableton Live. Even those that haven’t fully ditched the turntables, are still using laptops via Serrato and Final Scratch, and often incorporating Ableton with vinyl.
What had appeared to be a low point for techno, what with major distributors folding and record sales lagging, is becoming a very exciting time. Richie Hawtin, one of the pioneers of techno and this new wave of minimal, is in agreement. “Right now I see techno bridging more of the boundaries again. Taking ideas, samples, and inspiration from all areas, between house and techno, techno and trance, between all types of genres, because of the technology we’re using and the spontaneity of the devices. That idea will continue. You will see a continuation of cross-fertilization of sounds and these different subgenres.”
“For me the exciting part is, I see more collaboration than splintering in all these different directions. Sonically I can’t say exactly how it’s going to sound, although the music is progressing and changing again. In a way it feels back to the basics and back to the roots where people are much more open minded. Where people are talking and sharing ideas.”
Hawtin has a long history of pushing the boundaries of techno, be it through his production work as Plastikman, or through his DJing and his Decks, EFX, & 909 series. His latest release, DE9: Transitions, is another step in that direction with a DVD audio mixed in 5.1 surround as well as a music CD. Though, anyone hoping for a return to the tough beats of the first DE9 should look elsewhere. “It’s not really for the feet. It’s more for the head,” Hawtin describes it. “There’s a beat, it’s dance music, it’s very heavy. It’s not instantaneous. Once it grabs you and you connect to the groove, it transitions so quickly from one groove to the next sound and groove that it’s hard to get released.” Hawtin likens it to his younger days chasing trains and jumping on for a ride. Once you catch it at the right moment, you are pretty much locked on to the end of the ride.
The basic inklings for Transitions have been in development for a number of years. Finally the technological advancements have made it possible. “I was playing a lot of long long sets. [There were a lot of] drawn out situations with Ricardo and Magda. We had a lot of fun playing extreme afterhours, where we can really be free to tinker and play hypnotic grooves. It’s coming from there.” These sorts of hypnotic grooves are much more prevalent in his sets these days. “The groove is more minimal. It’s slower. It’s still based on what is referred to as techno and house. They’re more subtle, for sure slower. That’s what people find quite different, now they’re between 128 and 132 BPM.”
Richie recently brought this sound to New York for not one, but two recent gigs. The first was at Spirit, located at the same address that once bore the venerable name Twilo. The last time Richie visited those lands he was on his first DE9 tour and singing a much harder tune. Four years later and there is little sign of the Richie that played that tour, but many of his fans are loyal as ever. Some snapped repeated pictures of just his entry to the booth. To these fans, Richie could drop no wrong beat, and it would be these fans that would carry the night for him.
Photo by Michael Lorenzini
Lee Burridge warmed the crowd up nicely for Richie, playing a mix of glitchy minimal electro, picking up into harder electro house, rising on up to some tougher techno beats, and easing back into funky electro and minimal funk just before Richie took the helm. Richie’s performance however, left something to be desired. The beats were certainly hypnotic, but the mixing was just as minimal as the sounds. It was clear he was reinterpreting old tunes in a new way, but the presentation fell a little flat. He relied heavily on volume and filter sweeps, and let slow grooves, lacking in the necessary dose of funk to keep things moving, ride for just a bit too long. Regardless, his legion of devoted followers screamed and hollered. They cheered at every volume cut and roared as the bleeps and bloops returned. The loyal Richie Hawtin fan club left happy, and it could be conjectured if they could ever be disappointed by Richie. Several others however, were left wanting.
Thankfully, Richie came back for another visit a few weeks later. Perhaps he was tired that night at Spirit, or heard some of the complaints about the Spirit gig posted online immediately afterward, because when Richie returned for a repeat visit at Cielo, he threw down proper. All the funk that was missing from his set at Spirit was in full effect at Cielo. The crowd bumped and grinded, some decked out in costume as it was the night before Halloween. Richie took classics like Paperclip People’s “Throw” and Steve Poindexter’s “Computer Madness” and reinterpreted them, stretching the original themes and chopping them up to create new phrases. Teasing with “Throw” and finally dropping the bass to many cheers. There were no gimmicky filter or volume sweeps to be had this time around, just solid mixing and funky minimal grooves. Sets like those are why Richie deserves the acclaim he continues to receive. Richie may have ditched his hard sound, but he can still mix with a level of intuition and acuity few others can.
Regardless, as can be expected of any artist that transforms their sound so markedly, many fans don’t agree with this new direction. “There’s always people who come in and out of what you’re doing. If there’s people that don’t think I’m pushing it or experimenting, Transitions answers that for any type of idea of what a mix CD is.” Hawtin responds. “If there is a backlash or disappointment of harder techno sets, then for me….I really can’t comment about it. Those type of people are stuck in the past and have stopped progressing. All I can do is be strong about and continue on with my path. I’ve done that for 15 years and had points where I had strong support and points where I haven’t. When I did Concept 1 people were saying ‘What happened to Plastikman?’ , and now people are asking me if I’m going to do another Concept series. It’s always a give and take. I feel really inspired with what’s happening right now. I think what I’m doing with M_Nus and the whole gang, we’re contributing a really big part, a really interesting part.”
Don’t expect M_nus to grow to a mega label though. There are some plans to branch out. “There’s an idea for a sub-label for next year. And a 5.1 sub-label,” but Hawtin stresses, “M-nus is a small label, it’s a family of small friends and collaborators. We do not want it to grow into a large label like Plus 8. [That’s how] you lose the inspiration and original idea. A sub-label would allow us to release music by different people, but keep each of the individual labels at a manageable level. I lost my family once with Plus 8 because of the success.”
Some other plans include a large tour. “We’re planning early next year, some type of major long form M_nus tour with Magda, Marc Houle, probably Matthew Johnson, Matthew Dear, Troy Pierce, myself all over North America, to really hit home our sound. America is at a low point, but it’s also at a strong point. Every city has a really core supportive electronic audience. They’re so into what’s happening now. We want to help connect some of those dots over this large continent.” In addition there is some talk about making an appearance at the Burning Man festival next year. “We had hoped to be there this past year. Burning Man is a huge light, a bright shining amazing white light. Burning man is something very very important for all people that live in [America].”
These days Hawtin is gaining more and more inspiration from his travels. “Travelling and my lifestyle is inspiring in and of itself. People say, ‘Why don’t you slow down and work in the studio?’ It’s so exhilarating being in a new city, looking out and seeing new things, new cultures. All that boils thru me. In the early days I was just sitting in the studio trying to find inspiration in my self. Seeing and travelling, being inspired by what you see, of what possibly could be. There’s always plenty to inspire. Sometimes it’s a bit hard getting it out.”
His travels have also influenced the music that he has been feeding himself on. “I’ve been listening to a lot of different DJ’s and performers. Matt John, James Holden, Guido Schneider.” Surprisingly, Christopher Lawrence and Ferry Corsten have also perked his ears up. “Seeing what they’re doing to the crowd, the music is crossing together and coming a bit closer. I’m not going to produce trance. It’s really nice to see all these genres working together. For me I have to admit its’ really amazing what they’re able to accomplish and the size of their crowds that their drawing. I have a much wider and realistic view of what’s going on these days and what people are into. That’s good. I’m definitely so in my own little world musically with our Berlin scene.”
Regardless of where he sits musically, Richie has always been at the forefront of technology, helping to design Final Scratch and being among the first to push Ableton Live. The latest piece of technology that has been catching his eye is the Lemur. “It’s a human interface device, a multi touch screen that is configurable and customizable by the user,” Hawtin describes it, “So you kind of decide how you want to interact with your computer and with your software programs. It’s a really really interesting thing. It’s the nearest I’ve ever seen to interacting with music like you’re sitting at the front of the starship enterprise.”
The Lemur certainly has the potential for great things, however Hawtin contests “We still need to do a lot of research. The great instruments of the past, whether it was the guitar or hitting drums, or flute, or clarinet, or turntables, work because they took our physicality as humans and found a way to allow us to interact mechanically and produce some type of music or entertainment. Using turntables and or keyboards these days the amount of power and possibility at your fingertips it just doesn’t work. There needs to be a new interface that is both versatile and something that works with our human physicalness.” Technology and software developments have afforded electronic musicians with a multitude of parameters to control in music, creating an endless stream of possibilities. “How do we interact with all these possibilities? You can’t expect an artist an electronic music artist to control all the possibilities with interfaces that are out there today. The first one that I’ve seen that is a step in the right direction is the Lemur, the jazz mutant.”
It may not be the definitive future of electronic music but Hawtin declares, “It’s definitely the near future. There are nuances and inflections that happen on that device – you can make comparisons to what people do with turntables or what a great person does with a clarinet.” |
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| UneeK |
| i just went through this thread completely for the first time...INSANE! I stocked up on techno for like 3 months! SO many crazy sets. + The DJ RUSH news! Thanks Kate! |
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| nchs09 |
im shure kate will like this
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Dj Murphy @ Mint - Buenos Aires - Argentina
27-05-2005 |
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| Skipper |
wow, the beyer set is almost 3hrs long and a lot of minimal!
woot!
Speedy D/L too. |
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| Kate Manus |
| quote: | Originally posted by Skipper
wow, the beyer set is almost 3hrs long and a lot of minimal!
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He played right after Jesper early in the night so I expected as much.
Haven't heard this one yet but I think Skoog would have picked it up a notch... I sure hope anyway since he closed!
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also... I expect Cari delivered.
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thanks for Murphy - he is in the midst of a european tour, Portugal this weekend, U60311 the week before, I expect a lot of fresh sets to come out of it as a result. ;) |
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| LiGHT78 |
Would one of you mind re-upping the Beyer set please? The link is dead...
Thank you! |
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| Kate Manus |
a few more goodies...
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TRACKLIST:
Logic - "Celebrate Life"
Terrace - "Turning Point"
Black Scorpion - "Dreamworld"
Rhythm Is Rhythm - "Icon"
Baby Ford - "Dead Eyes"
Carl Craig - "Domina"
69 - "Poi Et Pas"
Robert Hood - "The Pace"
Traxmen - "Wet Floor"
H&M - "Real Life"
Aphrohead - "The Dark We Live"
Dave Clark - "Red I"
Code 6 - "Lost Voyage"
HMC - "Scifonic"
Outlander - "Homeboy"
H&M - "Sleepchamber"
Visnadi - "Transpassage"
Paperclip People - "Remake Uno"
Sueno Latino - "Sueno Latino"
Traxmen and Eric Martin - "Midnite Madness"
Ghetto Trax - "Phreak"
Scan 7 - "Introducing Scan 7"
Basement Trax - "Bang The Box"
Phuture - "Slam"
Phuture - "We Are The Future"
DJ Funk - "House The Groove"
Laurent X - "12 AM
The Advent @ 14yrs Tresor Berlin 13-03-2005
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Thomas Krome @ darkside, october 2005 |
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| all-nite-freak |
| OMG...Sueno Latino is a bombdiggilybomb track. |
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| all-nite-freak |
PS My friend told me Frank Biazzi has an EM..is this true, cause I smell bull.I cant find it anywhere so i have my doubts.
Metamorph is ssssssssssssssooooooooooooooooooo killer |
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