The Electronic beats Magazine Issue 03/2008
Issue 03/2008
...AND THE GEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH!
The Electronic beats Magazine For Music, Life and STyle
The modern misf its issue, featuring: To p Ne r d s o f Po p C u l t u r e, Grand Geeky- Chic, Berliners on Berlin Inter views with Neonman, John Sa Trinxa, autoKratz and more!
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Letter from the Editor
“I AM A GEEK” You may hardly have noticed but actually geeks have undergone a dramatic transformation in the last 20 years. Which in turn means that the whole concept of cool itself has changed forever too. Geeks were always the posterboys and girls of Uncool. They were awkward, nerdy, obsessive, famed for their bizarre fashion sense, their knowledge of things like dinosaurs, comic books, computer games, technology plus their abject fear of talking to the opposite sex. Geeks were social outcasts and were ruthlessly depicted as such in countless TV programmes and films during the eighties and nineties, where they were always the master of the awkward moment, the butt of every joke, the person to be pitied. However to depict a geek in such a stereotyped clichéd way now, would look ridiculously dated. That’s because so many of the things that geeks used to be laughed at for, have actually been adopted by the mainstream. For example the Hollywood movie industry realized long ago that geeks were onto something with dinosaurs and comic books and turned them into massive film franchises - Jurrasic Park and Spiderman/ Batman/X-Men/Incredible Hulk/Superman anyone? (By the same token just look at films like Harry Potter and Lord of the Ring’s success – all down to us all becoming way more geeky). As for technology, almost every household has a computer nowadays, not to mention all of us with our own laptops. We have become masters at surfing the net, at finding and editing information quickly and accurately, we can play complex and hyper-realistic computer games or maybe we just use our handheld to watch mini DVDs on while travelling, we shop online, we skype, blog and belong to at least one or more social networks, we have a few different email accounts and get those emails on-the-go too thanks to our latest mobile phone, on which we can text with lightning-speed, and that can also play music and tell us how to get home thanks to its satellite navigation connection. It’s quite amazing really, when you look at all the evidence. The world has gotten seriously geeky. But isn’t it fun? Isn’t it actually cool to know how things work, to be able to do things for ourselves and to use our imaginations more when it comes to books, films and games? Isn’t it nice to be able to be who we really are and not hide our cleverness because we are afraid of the popular/tough/mean kid that’s going to point and laugh at us for it? Finally, the alternative philosophies, leftfield attitudes and off-beat styles of the geeks have metamorphosed into a form of cool in itself. In this sense you could say that the geeks have set us free! The beauty of the geek’s snail-like but determined (not to mention
stealthy) journey to the top - is they set the rest of the world on the geeky path, without the world really noticing. For example look at how they invented/designed the Internet – that is their playground that we are all in on a daily basis. They are at the companies designing our latest gadget obsession. They are dreaming up new levels of fantastical craziness for computer gamers. They are bringing new comic book heroes to the cinemas. They are acting as Trend Consultants for labels like Lanvin and Prada on the catwalk and inspire artists like Kanye West with his image, who in turn inspires everyone else. But do we all realise that all these changes are down to the geeks? No. Pretty clever you see? This issue our contributors have pulled out all the stops, coming up with some great content – but I have to point out that there does seem to be more for boys in this issue. That’s not because geeky girls don’t exist, we know they do, it’s just that somehow male geeks are much easier to spot than their female counterparts. They just stick out more, probably because they are such the antithesis of what society tells us men should be: strong, confident, sexually macho, hunter/gatherer types. Because male geeks have traditionally had a harder time than their female counterparts, we have decided to dedicate more space to them! However any geeky girl should enjoy this too, as almost all the content is relatable, I can speak from experience when I say that there are indeed geeky girls out there - the truth be told, I was a bit of a geek at school and am to this day, pretty darn geeky. At school I was freakishly tall, skinny and had glasses. Oh yes, I was a real picture. I got picked on a bit but did my best to ignore the taunts, I just worked hard (ok, not all the time, but most of the time) – I genuinely enjoyed school – and that’s helped get me here today, doing a job I love. So you see, it ain’t all bad. And with the spirit of this issue in mind, I now think I’m ready to finally declare loud and proud, I AM A GEEK! Oh you know something? That felt really good.
Enjoy this issue, Liz
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CONTRIBUTORS
PEOPLE PUBLISHER PRODUCER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ART DIRECTOR FASHION & STYLE EDITOR FEATURES EDITOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER PROGRAM MANAGER ONLINE EDITOR PROJECT DIRECTOR ONLINE ONLINE MUSIC EDITOR PRESS COVER FOTO David Bornscheuer
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS/ ARTWORK WEBSITE
Toni Kappesz Commandante Berlin Gmbh, Schröderstr. 11, 10115 Berlin, Germany Liz McGrath (liz@electronicbeats.net) Lisa Borges (lisa@electronicbeats.net) Sandra Liermann (sandra@electronicbeats.net) Viktoria Pelles (viktoria@electronicbeats.net) Leona List (leona@electronicbeats.net) Claudia Jonas (claudia@electronicbeats.net) Semir Chouaibi (semir@electronicbeats.net) Carlos de Brito (carlos@electronicbeats.net) Gareth Owen (gareth@electronicbeats.net) Michelle Kramer (michelle@electronicbeats.net) Gareth Owen, Jean Robert Saintil, Neale Lytollis, Ben Raven, Kevin Braddock, Daniel West, Laura Dunkelmann Leona List, Lisa Borges, David Bornscheuer, Lars Borges, Florian Kolmer, Rainer Metz, Betti Fiegle, Rory Scum, Joanna Woodrow www.electronicbeats.net
L ARS
DAV I D
KEVI N
NEALE
BORGES
BORNSCH EUER
BRADDOCK
LY T OLLIS
Lars Borges is a freelance photographer
“A geek fashion editorial? I love you
Kevin Braddock is Contributing Edi-
Neale Lytollis from Newcastle studied
specialized in portraiture from Berlin.
guys!” This issue’s topic is something
tor for British GQ. He has written for
journalism and media and then put
He has worked for a lot of leading publi-
David doubtlessly can relate to. A bit
The Daily Telegraph, Financial Times,
these skills to good use for magazines
cations like Zeit Magazine, Spex, NEON,
of a geek himself, he can obsess over
Sunday Times, Independent, Vogue,
like Face, Vice, Time Out and Electronic
Another Magazine, British GQ, Stern,
all things visual, from photography and
Director, Dazed & Confused, Elle and
Beats. He's been living in Berlin for the
DJ Magazine and others. At the moment
modern art to architecture and design.
Wallpaper, and was previously Features
last three years and has even got his
he wants to get to the point where he
His own work stems from his infatuation
Editor at The Face magazine. He was
own broadcast slot on Deutsche Welle
can’t tell whether he is at work or at play.
with the unobtrusive and seeks to play-
nominated in Writer Of the Year cat-
radio.
For this issue he shot the Secret Lives of
fully captivate the beauty of the second
egory for the 2007 PPA awards, and was
my s pac e . c o m / mi s t e r _ b u s i n e s s
Dreamers and Obsessives.
glance.
highly commended.
w w w . la r s b o r g e s . c o m
www.bornscheuer.net
INDEX
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GEEK S TUNE IN
F E AT U R E S
FOCUS
M O S T WA N T E D
06–19
20–23
24–49
50–53
NEWS . .................................................. 8 THECITYTHECITY............................... 20
ULTIMATE POP CULTURE GEEKS....... 26
NECESSITIES FOR SQUARES.. ............ 50
ELECTRONIC BEATS FESTIVALS.............12
GEEKOLOGIE.. ..................................... 21
SECRET LIVES OF DREAMERS
4010 STORE BERLIN.. ......................... 13
STOCKHOLMSTREETSTYLE.. .............. 22
AND OBSESSIVES............................... 34
STEP 13.. ............................................. 14
HOW THE GEEK CAME OUT
AUTOKRATZ........................................ 15
OF THE CLOSET.................................. 46
STEVE BUG.. ........................................ 18
I NTERVIEWS
GET DRESSED
JET SETTING
HEAR THIS
54–65
64–75
76–87
88–99
NEONMAN........................................... 56
GESTURES OF SLIGHT GRANDEUR.. .. 66
BERLIN: THE BIG EASY....................... 76
THE COLLECTOR'S GUIDE.. ................ 88
SASHA PERERA.. ................................. 78
MUSIC REVIEWS.. ................................ 92
JOHANN H. VON LANZENAUER.. ......... 80
MY MUSIC MOMENT:
SANDRA LIERMANN.. .......................... 82
ERRORSMITH...................................... 98
JON SATRINXA.. ................................... 60
TOM CLARK.. ....................................... 84 BEST OF BERLIN................................. 86
A R T WO R K
L I S A BOR G ES
»AND THE GEEK SHALL I NHERIT THE EARTH«
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Tune I n G ot yo u r t h i ck- r i m m e d g l a s s e s o n , p e n s n e a t ly l i n e d u p i n yo u r pocket and your bow tie on straight? G o o d , b e c a u s e t h e G e e k- p owe r e d i s s u e s t a r t s h e r e ! Fo r O n e s To Wa t c h w e h a v e a u t o K r a t z w h o s e c r e d e n t i a l s f o r t h i s i s s u e w e r e conf irmed the moment they were signed to Kitsuné, and the UK dubst ep collective St ep 13, who may not have t he cla ssic look of, but are cer tainly music nerds of the highest order! Plus you can ch e ck o u t t h e l a t e s t ge e k- ch i c l o o k s t h a n k s t o t h e b l o g s we h ave f e a t u r e d - Fe b e r f r o m S t o c k h o l m a n d T h e c i t y t h e c i t y f r o m B e r l i n and product blog Geekologie is enough to conver t even the hardest jock into a laptop -lusting gadget- obsessive!
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matter
Fabric’s twisted sister
Smirnoff
Having Night Visions? Aspiring UK club night promoters are about to get a lucky break. Smirnoff has announced it will be launching a groundbreaking new initiative, Night Vision, to discover, support and celebrate up-and-coming nightlife as part of the Smirnoff Original Nights programme. Behind every legendary club night is a promoter, although their names are never the ones in bright lights or on thousands of f lyers, but they know who they are and what they did – they made the night happen. It is these individuals that the Night Vision aims to celebrate and support! To be launched this autumn, Night Vision will see the brand investing in aspiring promoters, encouraging the creation of better, bolder nights. So, if you are involved in a club night and want to get a helping hand, or if you have an idea for a night you want to get off the ground, then listen up: you can apply online on the Smirnoff Original Nights Facebook page. Go to www.facebook.com and search for ‘Smirnoff Original Nights’. There will be a free-of-charge advice and resource forum run by people who have been in the biz for years – this can be found on the Night Visions Facebook page and is available to anyone organising a night. And those with the best ideas will be chosen for the bursary scheme where you can receive some financial support - helping to turn your bold vision into an exhilarating reality! T ext
L I Z M C G R ATH
Not content with having dominated London nightlife for almost a decade, the team behind Fabric are launching a new club in the city. Bolder still, this new venture will be located on a former marsh, surrounded on three sides by water and facing the Isle of Dogs. matter – strictly lowercase ‘m’, apparently – will open in late September, to the joy of New Labour mandarins still clinging to their pre-millennial Greenwich wank fantasy. With a local population comprising middleweight key workers, Citibank drones and South London chavs, matter may have trouble maintaining the oxymoronic everyman-meets-muso patronage its sister enjoys. In an attempt to address this, the Fabric bigwigs have rustled up a Thames Clipper service to ferry punters ‘saaf ’ for the evening. Any of the capital’s glitterati still perturbed by matter’s unseemly neighbours – the O2 and David Beckham’s Fame ... sorry, Football Academy – will surely be won over by the venue itself: a whopping 32,000 square-feet of dance f loors, unisex cubicles and fag shelters. matter’s four bars, three f loors, two balconies and ‘skybridge’ – whatever that is – may yet prove more labyrinthine than Fabric itself. The interior is being designed by Pentagram, and includes the obligatory LED lighting tiles and LCD screens one expects from a wallet-demolishing Night Out™. Moreover, crack teams of VJs and techies have concocted a bespoke projection system that will map every contour of the building’s interior to truly disorient the ‘merry’ crowds. No doubt this will finish off queasy landlubbers still reeling from the ferry, or that dodgy half. matter’s cloakroom will also be digitised, though it’s unclear if this means robot butlers or Russian gangsters with a calculator. T ext
Daniel West
NEWS
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Soulwax
The Beautiful and the Damned Soulwax and F. Scott Fitzgerald make awkward bedfellows. The Belgian foursome are synonymous with serotonin-fuelled soundclashes; the author with erudite witticisms on 1920s high society. Despite these gulfs of epoch and class, they are united by a devotion to leisure bordering on OCD. Fitzgerald was an irrepressible socialite, jetting between America’s old-money mansions and Europe’s fashionable resorts. Soulwax have spent the last three years touring the world, performing alongside painfully fashionable friends such as Tiga, Justice and the Klaxons. While Fitzgerald immortalised his excesses through prose, Soulwax have chosen film. This September a DVD, filmed by director du jour Saam, will chronicle 120 of the band’s shows. Its title, Part of the Weekend Never Dies, reveals the band’s hedonistic motivation: the weekend as virus, infecting life with its energy. Like a moth to a f lame, Fitzgerald was correspondingly seduced by the weekend’s brilliance. “With its birth, its planned gaieties, and its announced end, [the weekend] followed the rhythm of life and was a substitute for it,” he remarked in The Great Gatsby. Ultimately, Fitzgerald’s extravagant life imploded, dying aged 44 with a schizophrenic wife. Hopefully this DVD will not prove Soulwax’s own peripeteia. T ext
Daniel West
QR Codes
Electronic Beats joins the Matrix Never heard of a QR code? Just read this quickly and feign astonishment at anyone not yet informed. To those in know, these two-dimensional barcodes are the ultimate in data access, linking physical world objects and digitally stored data. To try it out, just use your mobile to scan the code and find out all you need to know about Electronic Beats. Don’t have a code reader? Not to worry: just enter http://reader.kaywa.com into your mobile browser and download the reader. Y o u c a n o f c o u r s e al s o g o s t r aig h t t o o u r m o b il e s i t e at w w w . e l e c t r o n i c b e at s . m o b i
Coke light
‘Coca-Cola light. In Fashion with…’ is the title of promising cooperations between Coke light and personalities from the world of fashion, may it be designers, models or photographers. Aim of their new campaign is to express one’s personality through fashion and to enhance your own individual style. To start they chose the new prince of the New York fashion set and darling of Anna Wintour, Zac Posen. The designer with his strong, feminine aesthetic has become a favourite of style leaders including Natalie Portman, Kate Winslet, Claire Danes, Cameron Diaz, and many more. Now listen up you fashionistas! Coca Cola light invites you to an unforgettable fashion experience: a design-workshop with Zac Posen! In November 2008 you could be the one to be personally inspired by the designer and his team. A ppli c at i o n s at w w w . c o k e - lig h t. d e
C oke light bottle desined by Z ac P osen
G et c r e a t ive w i t h Z a c Po s e n
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EB TUNE IN
Mercedes-Benz
Blue’s the new g reen Riding on cruise control through the countryside of Vermont it seems like the most dangerous thing that could happen to you is drowsily f lying out of a curve. The New England state in the US northwest is nothing if not idyllic. Vermont is almost as big as Belgium, but it is so sparsely populated that its biggest city Burlington with forty thousand inhabitants grants Vermont the attribute of being the only state with a ‘largest’ city as small as Burlington. There is virtually no industry, so it remains an untouched rural community. Vermont is famous for its maple syrup (leading producer in North America) and its dairy cattle, which outnumber the population and provide Ben & Jerry’s with milk for their ice cream. Most of the countryside is luscious tree covered hills and mountains with crystal lakes, clear streams and rolling green fields and valleys. The picturesque towns and villages spread throughout the state remain today as they were 100 years ago, with their lapboard houses, covered bridges and quaint byways. In 1609 the French discoverer Samuel de Champlain declared the region as ‘Les Verts Monts’ - hence the name: the Green Mountain State. And green it shall remain, for Vermont, along with California, Massachusetts, New York, Maine and Oregon, has more tight emissions standards than the rest of the world. Reason enough for Mercedes-Benz to introduce its new BlueTech SUV diesels, thus highlighting the fact that it is the first company to get EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) permission to sell its diesel vehicles in all 50 US states. BlueTech is the technology that Mercedes-Benz uses to make its new diesel engines powerful, efficient, quiet and pretty much emissionsfree. It consists of a turbo-diesel engine featuring common rail direct injection, a particulate filter and an exhaust treatment technology that pre-treats the exhaust with urea right before it enters the catalytic converter. The last step is the most significant because the urea, or AdBlue in Mercedes-terms, allows the catalytic converter to reduce the nitrous oxide in the exhaust to harmless nitrogen and water vapour. The outcome is an extremely clean exhaust with none of the black soot that was normally related to diesel engines. When it comes to fuel economy and the full-tank driving range (9,5 l/100km), the advantage over gasoline counterparts is undeniable which comes in handy in a place of long lost highways. And who would be better than MercedesBenz to start a new offensive in a diesel sceptic country since they were the first producers of a diesel powered automobile more than 70 years ago. www.mercedes -benz.de T ext
Sa n d r a L i e r ma n n
The Label Finder
Help’s in site It’s a common frustration, you finally come across the new, one and only, must-have item, but despite all the fancy-pants designer websites finding out where to actually buy it near you can be a hair-tearing mission. Thanks to our nightlife virtuoso Cookie and his partner Julian Hildebrandt, there is now help at hand. They just launched their website www.labelfinder.com, on which you can quickly find out what shop carries your favourite label. You also get to see pictures of the collections as well as background information on about 5500 brands so far. That only leaves one question: Why didn’t we come up with this, gals? w w w . t h e la b e lfi n d e r . c o m T ext
Sa n d r a L i e r ma n n
»AND THE GEEK SHALL I NHERIT THE EARTH«
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THE ANNUAL ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN SYMPOSIUM FOR HOSPITALITY
15th-17th OCTOBER BERLIN DESIGNHOTELS.COM/ FUTUREFORUM CURATED BY
SUPPORTED BY
PHOTO: WWW.LUCYANDBART.COM
18.10.
E B F e st i va l W i e n Tricky Booka Shade G o r i l l a z SO U NDSYST E M LO - F I - F NK TH E W HIT E ST B OY ALIV E M u s eum s Quartier
E L E C T R O N I C B E A T S F E S T I VA L G R A Z :
20.11.
D J R A W, R O B Y N , R Ó I S Í N M U R P H Y
14.11.
Electronic Beats
E xtend the festival season Shorter days are just a good reason to carry on the festival season! Coming up this autumn season are three hotly anticipated instalments of the increasingly popular Electronic Beats Festival. First up is the Museums Quartier in Vienna on October 18 and the line up is mental! Legendary Gorillaz Soundsystem, experimental music maverick Tricky, kings of electrohouse Booka Shade, The Whitest Boy Alive and Swedish disco boys Lo-Fi-Fnk. On November 14 the music fanatics of Prague will be treated to what is set to be a very special live-show at the National Gallery. Disco revolutionaries Hercules and Love Affair, superbly talented Róisín Murphy, The Orb and Cartonnage are already confirmed, final line-up coming soon.
E B F e st i va l B e r l i n He r Cu l e s & L o v e AffAIR L at e o f t h e P i e r + tbc Postbahnhof
E B F e s t i v a l P r a gue RÓisÍn Murphy The Orb He r Cu l e s & L o v e AffAIR C a r t o n n a ge +tbc N at i o n a l G allery
Then on November 18, for the first time ever in Berlin at the very conveniently located Postbahnhof, Electronic Beats will host the final blowout show of 2008 with a mix of established and newgeneration talent. Keep an eye out for the final line-up, but we can already reveal that Hercules and Love Affair, as well as the glamorously trashy Late of the Pier are definite. This will be a gig not to miss and with the ICE trains stopping right around the corner from the venue, music fanatics from both near and far can join the extravaganza! F o r f u r t h e r f e s t ival d e tail s g o t o w w w . e l e c t r o n i c b e at s . n e t
»AND THE GEEK SHALL I NHERIT THE EARTH«
First
4010 Store opens in Berlin
The beginning of October sees Telekom’s launch of their first and only store in Berlin especially designed for the younger, urban crowd. We can’t reveal too much, but the shop, which will showcase the latest and greatest within the mobile music and digital entertainment market, is going to be well worth a visit! It will also be a reliable spot to pick up all the latest issues of the Electronic Beats Magazine and Slices DVD. In connection with Popkomm Electronic Beats will host a ‘mobile music week’ with evening events and special DJ nights planned. Come on down! w w w . 4 0 1 0 . c o m | A lt E S c h ö n h a u s e r STR . 3 1 | 1 0 1 1 9 BER L I N
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Ones to watch
STEP 13
Trials and Tribulations We c atch u p wit h Nick Ma ul, t h e foundi n g memb er of St ep 1 3 ; a g rou p t hat fu s e el em e n ts o f d r um’n’ba ss, reggae, rock and jazz t oget h e r i n wh a t a re t r u ly e l e c t r i f y i n g l ive s h ows . T h e b an d wowed crowds a t Gla s t onbur y t hi s year an d are b u sy i n t he s t u di o rec ordi n g t r a ck s fo r t h e ir fo r t hc o m ing a lbum. Unsigned but on t he u p – St ep 1 3 are def i n i t ely O n es To wat ch .
TEXT
L iz M c G r at h
I M AG E
Joanna Woodrow
»AND THE GEEK SHALL I NHERIT THE EARTH«
When and how did Step13 start?
It started in 1996 when I went to Luton University and me and my two good friends Matt and Phil started DJing and producing and drum’n’bass, so we did that for a few years, doing lots of free parties. Then we got our own night Mixamotosis at Madame JoJos club in Soho. Then in 2001 we decided to start a band because we were all musicians, so we hooked up with more friends and set up Step13 – called so because we were 13 people. But it was a bit mental; we didn’t know what we were doing! (laughs). Practice sessions were impossible and we didn’t have enough direction, there were too many cooks, that kind of thing. Then people started dropping out and it got down to a seven piece. And so we just started playing drum’n’bass live, playing with drums, bass, guitars, keys, samplers, synths and vocals. Then Phil and Matt left about two years ago so I’m the last founding member! So, since they left I started taking it a bit more seriously – we all did – and we’ve actually got much more focused and stronger.
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of different young people’s projects in schools and youth centers where I teach music production. I work with a lot of young MCs, DJs and singers – there’s a lot of great young talent out there. What feeling do you want to give people with your music?
It’s just really good party music. Some of the tracks are quite emotional; Lucy’s vocals have brought a whole new element to the band. Its emotional party music! You played Glastonbury this year - what was that like?
That was the biggest festival stage we’ve played on, we played twice there on two different stages – it was really, really good. The second time we played was in this smaller tent and that was more intimate and definitely more mental, there were these nutty people getting on the stage, some proper Glastonbury madness. Also we’re doing Grassroots festival this September and some others. We love doing festivals.
Focused like how?
Have you got plans for a Step13 album and who is releasing it?
Well we’ve been in the recording studio over in west London with Tim Rowe, he engineered Coldplay’s X+Y album. We’re still unsigned, but we’ve just been cracking on.
We are in the process of recording an album right now, but we are still sort of undecided as to whether we want to take it round the record labels. Firstly we just want to get a good manager. With so many changes in the industry it’s not necessarily the best thing to be signed – there’s digital downloads to consider and all that.
Who’s in the band now?
We’re a seven-piece. We’ve got Sabio on the drums, Lucy Randal on vocals, she’s currently working with The Streets as well, she’s an amazing singer, Ishu on vocals too – he’s been with us since we were DJing, he’s a reggae MC and a DJ, then Jim Faircloth on keys, Andy Furlow on bass guitar, Stuart Neale on guitar and myself, Nick Maul (aka DJ Bustawidemove), on synths and samples. Is that seven people? I think so, (laughs).
Are you going to be touring?
Most of the gigs we do are in nightclubs around the UK. In the last few years the scene in London has changed a lot. Live music is everywhere and not just as in gigs, its in the clubs too, so we bring our live act into clubs without too much hassle really. Hopefully in the next 12 months we will be touring more around Europe.
How would you describe your sound now?
Do you have any regular club gigs?
It’s crossover drum n bass – it’s very danceable but not strictly dancefloor drum’n’bass like you’d get in a club. It’s got some rock elements in there, Lucy is very jazz orientated, then Ishu is very reggae, so it’s a bit of a melting pot actually.
Yeah we do actually, one is a dubstep and reggae night called Reggae Roast at The Big Chill and the other is a night called No Rest For The Wicked at Rhythm Factory.
You guys were a part of the free party scene some years back – what’s happening now in this scene and are you still really involved?
The free party scene in London is still going, I don’t know about going strong, but there are parties every weekend though sure. Most of the people I used to do things with have moved onto other things, a lot of them are doing parties professionally now as in organizing big events and that sort of thing. The community is still there, we still know some people but we don’t do squat parties much really… (pauses). Although every now and then we will go and break into an empty building and throw a party! (laughs) Those days can’t go on forever huh?
Exactly, they can’t. I work with kids now too. I can’t go around getting arrested! I love the work I do with kids though; I work on lots
Tell us about a big high and a big low that you’ve experienced as a band?
Glastonbury was a massive high but the biggest was probably recording all our tracks with Tim Rowe at Townhouse. The recordings were just so good; he’d really captured what we were about. Then came a massive low, because a few weeks after the whole band fell apart. The singer we had working with us left, and so did the drummer guitarist. It was a major low, because the rest of us wanted to continue but didn’t know if we could. I was gutted. But then the curve came back our way when we found three new band members, who are equally as good, if not better actually. – So another high was getting together and doing our first gigs with the new lineup. The first gig we played at the Rhythm Factory was really astounding, the feedback was really positive. So it was all meant to be, you know?! (laughs) www.step13.com
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EB TUNE IN
O n e s t o Wa t c h
T ext
N e al e Ly t o lli s
P icture
Rory Scum
autoKratz
“I don’t feel we’re a typical British band at all. But then neither of us is typical in our approach to the world.” Untypical is definitely one adjective that can be used to describe autoKratz. Even David’s first encounter with bandmate Russell was far from conventional: “Some pissed up wanker puked on my shoes outside a club. I was about to kick his head in but felt sorry for him as he had also puked on his really nice Devo T-Shirt. That wanker was called Russell. It was the start of a turbulent friendship that can only end in murder!” Despite those less than glamorous beginnings, a solid friendship and incredibly productive working relationship quickly blossomed. “We locked ourselves in a grotty studio in the East End and started trying out some ideas,” explains Russell, “Inf luences came from loads of places but have never dominated things as making something original is essential to what we do.” While the autoKratz sound was still in development, an early demo found its way into the hands of Gildas Loaec, head of slick Parisian label Kitsuné, who was so taken with the embryonic autoKratz sound that he immediately added the band to his roster. It’s a creative partnership, which the guys are immensely happy with as David explains: “We can go to Gildas with an idea and he’ll throw it on its head in such a fantastic way. Everything from the artwork onwards is such an interesting process. It makes you push yourself.” Russell is equally convinced that the maverick attitude of the label makes it the perfect home for them: “For me Kitsuné is so important in electronic music because the forces behind the label are so adamant on continually moving forward rather than finding a sound and monopolising it for ages. They are constantly on the lookout for new things, which are exciting and original and needn’t necessarily fit the template of what people expect.”
Getting the music out there also seems to be a turn-on if their intense touring schedule is anything to go by. Their blend of hard rock attitude and dirty, fuzzy electronics has been wowing crowds all over Europe and shows no signs of letting up. “The live thing is so hectic at the moment and going from strength to strength,” says Russell, “Last week, we played to over seven thousand at Dour Festival in Belgium and it was absolutely unbelievable. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life to see that many people turn out for autoKratz and go for it in a massive way.” Touring is also something that is necessary to their artistic development as Russell explains: “To have the opportunity to travel round the world playing your music to people is pretty unbeatable. We love meeting different people and seeing how youth and electronic music culture is different across the globe. It’s really energizing to meet people who share excitement for this kind of sound. I would say with the music we write we try to be original and innovative so although we thrive on inspiration and inf luences, the music can only ref lect you at that point in time and what’s going on in your head.” But what about the guys’ musical heroes? Needless to say, they’re quite diverse. “The first time I heard Underworld it blew my mind!” enthuses David, “The intense vocal deliveries and weird lyrics all underpinned with a dark electronic score which was neither techno nor house; a rarity in the early/mid-nineties.” And Russell? “I was brought up on a diet of Shoegaze so at home I suppose I still find myself listening to loads of My Bloody Valentine, Jesus and Mary Chain, Chapterhouse…that kind of thing. I’ve always been fascinated by bands that explore other sides to their creativity to produce this wealth of amazingly innovative and forward-thinking music.” A lot of hard work and a little bit of good fortune go a long way in this business and the autoKratz story has progressed from humble beginnings to the verge of super-stardom in a relatively short space of time. Kitsuné have jumped on their sound with gusto thus far releasing four very sexy 12” singles, the newest of which, ‘Stay the Same’, recently topped DJ Mag’s Hype Chart ahead of tracks from Hot Chip and Laurent Garnier. A nine-track mini album is due to drop in autumn, intended to draw a line under the first chapter of autoKratz’s musical odyssey before work starts on their hotly anticipated debut LP. And if you’re expecting more of the same, then it might be wise to think again; autoKratz certainly won’t settle for sticking with a sound that sells at the expense of creative development as Russell points out: “For an artist to be truly important, moving forward, changing and innovating whilst still remaining compelling must be a prerequisite. Like an involuntary ref lex.” w w w . my s pa c e . c o m / a u t o k r at z | w w w . ki t s u n e . f r
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A word from the wise
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H EARTBREAK Lex Records latest signing Heartbreak, made up of smooth as silk Argentine vocalist Sebastian Muravchix and British-born beatsmith/italo disco legend Ali Renault, are figuratively, and some may argue quite literally, on fire. Their emotive pop infused italo disco tones tempered with metal has had everyone from Aussie electro-rock misfits The Presets to Delorean-obsessed label mates Neon Neon scream their praises. With their debut album Lies due for release later this year, not to mention several of their remixes getting played on heavy rotation from London to Shanghai (check their complete remix of Bowie’s ‘Loving The Alien’ on Rapster’s remix compilation Life Beyond Mars earlier this year), solo releases on Dissident and Lycra on the horizon, plus an international tour so tough it’ll make Jigga weep, it’s fair to say these chaps have it sorted. With that in mind, we thought we’d ask them to geek out with their thoughts on life, music and everything. 1 MP3s are the equivalent of looking at pictures of a painting in a book. You can study from MP3s, become aware of music, but not truly experience its depth. For Van Gogh, get to the Musée d’Orsay, for music, get it on vinyl! 2 Irony is an understatement. If you treat an understatement as something to use as a statement, then your discourse is poor. 3 When you listen to music, you need to think about what is speci fic to music: sound, melodies and harmonies and rhythm, and its intangible emotion, energy and power. If you don’t experience these things, then you’re not really listening to music, you’re just listening to yourself. 4 Don’t look for music to fit into your lifestyle. Let music change your life! 5 The old - new dichotomy is OLD! The power of this binary must wane. Help us destroy all binary power! 6 Good sex is very good for you, so it must be your aim to understand and conquer it. Love helps good sex a great deal. 7 Every product you buy is political contribution. Kids are exploited when you buy a certain thing, families such as yours live happily when you buy others. I know you know, now stop buying Nestlé for fuck’s sake!!
8 What you do with the power you gain within a rotten system is what makes who you are, not the power itself. What you do to gain that power is where all the most uncomfortable complexities of morality lie. 9 Follow your heart. Sometimes it’s good to stick to your first instincts even when you’re the minority. Don’t bow to peer pressure. 10 It’s not where you’re from, it’s where you’re at. 11 Water your plants. They will die if you don’t. 12 If you’re feeling down, tune into magicwaves internet radio www.magicwaves.co.uk. It will cheer you up. 13 Go and see live music every week if you can. It will keep things in perspective and possibly change your life. 14 Invest in a good pair of earplugs for when you are out listening to bands or DJs. You will hear the music better. 15 A broken heart can be what seems like the most painful experience one can handle, but it can be a true test of character and therefore inspiration. w w w . my s pa c e . c o m / h e a r t b r e ak 1
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To u g h a t t h e t o p
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Poker Flat will turn 10 years old at the start of 2009 – an impressive feat in the electronic music industry! Here Steve Bug looks back at his successes and looks forward to one big party. Let’s start with what we might know already: Poker Flat is about to release its hundreth 12” inch and at the beginning of next year, the label will celebrate its tenth anniversary, which in the electronic music scene really means something. There aren’t many labels around that have lasted like this neither in quantity nor in quality. Being one of the first labels around focusing on a minimal kind of dance music, Poker Flat became famous with their very first release (and Steve Bug’s hit) ‘Loverboy'. Their success carried on from there and so it’s highly likely that some of your favourite tracks over the last 10 years have come from the Poker Flat family. Whether it’s a Martin Landsky, Märtini Brös or an Argy-piece, a single made for the clubs or a compilation for home-use like Bug’s Bugnology-Series or an artist album: all of them feature what the label stands for. “All the artists are unique in their style yet still there is a bond that makes them work for Poker Flat” explains Clé from the duo Märtini Brös, who just finished working on their new album, The MB Factor. “It’s kind of a traditional label focusing on a lasting value,” he adds. The best proof for this might be the single Loverboy. It was not only a massive hit ten years ago, but some weeks ago it was still in the top-ten download charts of Beatport and in some years this single sold better than a new EP. Poker Flat’s contribution to electronic music history started 1999, when weird versions of techno music and trance where still circulating through the European charts. The label’s aim was clear already: Offering quality music that was entertaining. Since then, the label became present around the globe, getting more popular from release to release. Poker Flat became a DJ favourite and a party must-have.
And there they are, still in the record bags of all the big name DJs, almost ten years after their beginning. The man himself, Steve Bug, puts it this way: “At Poker Flat, I can simply do what I want music-wise. It’s the perfect surrounding for our output. There is not a word or genre that describes the Poker Flat music at all. There is just a certain sex in the groove.” Although Poker Flat has a core brigade of artists, there is room for a new sound, Ryo Murakami from Japan, (one of the few not living in Berlin), or Argy who is from Greece for example. Both belong to the younger generation of the label, but fit in perfectly nonetheless. “The personality of our artists is important”, says Steve. “Actually, I wouldn’t publish a track by a person whom I dislike. You have to work together, so you have to get along. We keep it fresh and are always developing, without following a trend but sticking to our own sound aesthetic. If the label and I wouldn’t keep changing, I would get bored. I don’t like doing the same over and over again.” Being open to the new, while sticking to a concept makes Poker Flat a constant that does fit into music-trends at the right moment, but without being too trendy. Since most of their artists are international DJs, there is a connection to the target group. The musicians and DJs know early what the party-crowd is longing for, what works in clubs and where there is room for experiments. Beside all the fun and creativity, it is a business. “Of course we are aware of the future. And I know that there are not many big DJs playing or buying vinyl anymore. I am not worried about our sound itself, but the whole market of course.” Selling digital music, which is much cheaper, can’t fill the vinyl-hole yet. “We are thinking of new ways to make people buy our releases”, says Steve. “At the moment, I don’t want to do something else except music! So I have to work out how to keep earning money with it,” he explains without the usual criticism of consumers, but with an openness that ref lects his music policy But no matter in what way the industry will develop within the next months or years, some things are for sure - a super hundreth Poker Flat release, and a big bash to celebrate it. w w w . p o k e r flat- r e c o r di n g s . c o m
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h, these freaky, geeky creatures of the night! There’s a particularly lovely breed here in Berlin, and so at the start of 2008 stylist Rainer Metz started to make a visual record of his nightlife safaris in order that we may all study the weird and wonderful styles and behaviours of these largely nocturnal beings. P h o t o s b y THEC I T Y THEC I T Y
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eekologie is a blog for the established or aspiring nerd. It is dedicated to the scientific search and study of gadgets and gizmos, as well as all other vital news and statistics to keep the modern geek in the know: Did Ewoks ruin the Return of the Jedi? Where do you find a genuine Spiderman costume replica? Answers to all this and more on Geekologie.
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F OCUS It’s time to really get your geek on! In ca se you ever wondered who are the g reatest geeks from the worlds of fa shion, f ilm, music and T V look no fur t her because we have gat hered t hem all t oget her in o u r U l t i m a t e Pop C u l t u r e G e e k s L i s t ! F r o m C h l o e S ev i g ny a n d J a r v i s C o c k e r t o K a n y e We s t , L i s a S i m p s o n a n d E r o l A l k a n - y o u w i l l l o v e this list. Then Kevin Braddock ha s written a slamdunk of an ar ticle (which makes him a bit of a geek too actually) detailing how the geek s have come out of t he closet over t he la st four decades t aking u s u p t o w h e r e w e a r e t o d a y, w h i c h i s b a s i c a l l y t h a t i t ’ s a n e r d ’ s world – we just live in it.
TheUltimat e Pop Culture
Geek s TEXTS
L I Z M C G R ATH | V I K TOR I A P E L L ES | BEN R A V EN
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The importance of the geek’s role in pop culture cannot be underestimated. Infamous fictional geek characters from the worlds of TV and film have always been around us as we have grown up. In the late eighties and nineties everyone knew that Clark Kent was the superhuman geek who could never tell Louis how he really felt or that Anthony Michael Hall would always play the awkward scrawny geek in films such as The Breakfast Club and that Carlton Banks was the unlucky-in-love nerd who would never be as cool as his cousin Wil - who was of course The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. And so geeks pervaded the popular consciousness but were always portrayed as characters that were somehow a tad pitiful: they were unlucky, they were insecure, they didn’t ever get laid or get taken seriously by their peers. They were losers in the big game called life. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when the stereo typing of geeks stopped, but suddenly things definitely started to change. There were still geeks around, sure, major major geeks, but somehow public opinion was shifting. Instead of derision and pity, the public began to see geeks with a touch of admiration. Look at the Lisa Simpson character - she is a major nerd yet she is undeniably great and cool. Her deadpan handling of her
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dysfunctional family is hilarious. Surely her character was drawn for all those real-life geeky kids, who escape difficult home lives by diving into their books. Or perhaps it was confident and intelligent actress Chloe Sevigny, who has always worn what the damn hell she pleases - even if it has been sitting in the back of her grandmother’s closet for 50 years? No matter, suddenly that was the height of cool. Or was it Daft Punk? - Two music wizkids so nerdy they never appear without their robot heads. The hipsters roared with appreciation and made them superstars. Or was it Tarantino, with his encyclopaedic knowledge of obscure film genres such as slasher horror and kung fu? The public stampeded to the cinemas and made them become blockbuster hits. Who knows when we all got so geeky, but you only have to see how new films such as Juno handle the role of the geek so wonderfully (the Paulie character is basically the hero of the film) to realise that the geek has changed beyond all recognition from his eighties guise. Here is our list of the Ultimate Pop Culture Geeks (25 of them in no specific order) to help you see just how the geek has transformed. All Hail the Geek!
Steve Urkel
Richie Hawtin
Steve Urkel is the god of nerd-style: high-water trousers yanked just a little too far up his butt, bright braces clashing with buttoned up shirts in glaring colours and multi-coloured cardigans and then, of course, the must-have windscreen-style glasses. This may now be the height of style and many a trend conscious fellow could glean fashion tips from Urkel, but remember that it was his embodiment of complete ridiculousness that became the main draw of the 1980s-1990s sitcom Family Matters. VP
He might have a reputation for being a blonde-mopped techno troubadour these days, but minimal’s brightest talent wasn’t always the coolest kid in clubland. Throughout the nineties, Hawtin was the posterboy for the stereotypical techno baldie, sporting a shaven pinhead and black thick-rimmed glasses. He discovered techno not in a club but from his bedroom while listening to classic radio shows by techno’s other famous geek, Jeff Mills. It wasn’t until a break up with his long-time girlfriend inspired first a move to New York and then Berlin, that the rock star Richie Hawtin emerged, sporting first his infamous blonde combover and current shaggy stubble look. But Hawtin’s inner geek is still as strong as ever. Inspired by his technology-loving Dad, from 909s to Traktor Scratch, Hawtin has long been associated with dance music’s newest technologies. The latest of which, the Cube, if you believe the Minus PR blurb, is a Borglike communications device that has inspired much derision in the techno community for the sci-fi inspired photoshoots that adorned advertisements. Shame then that the Cube is actually a glorified information server. BR
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Kanye West Before becoming one of the world’s most famous hip hop stars, Kanye started out producing stars like Alicia Keys and Jay-Z. Then a fateful car accident provided the impetus to push him into success on the other side of the mixing desk. Like Andre, he bucks hip hop fashion trends by constantly sporting dorky glasses or rugby shirts and unlike many hip hop stars, he hails from a middle-class background. But how does he like to relax while off duty? By playing nerdy board game Connect Four. “When I was in Europe I would play it for hours and hours,” he says in a blog on his website. “It helped me zone out.” On www.kanyeuniversecity.com, the pint-sized, stadium-mouthed producer/rapper nerds out about photographers, designer cars, furniture, clothes and virtually anything else nerdworthy of blog excitement. BR
Heather Matarazzo as Dawn Wiener in ‘Welcome To The Dollhouse’ Dawn Wiener will break your heart. Never has there been a more wronged and tormented pre-teen in movie history. The deeply unpopular seventh grader has all the wrong hair, skin, clothes and glasses, is as gawky and geeky as is humanely possible, and surrounded by sadists only to ready to respond to her vibes as a potential victim. Director Todd Solondz’s view of junior-high is brutal and unforgiving, and Matarazzo’s dead-on character Dawn will remind all – whether they identify or now sympathise – that though things tend to work out in the end, being a geek ain’t always easy! VP
Erol Alkan
Lisa Simpson Lisa Simpson is easily the most likeable of all the Simpson Family, which is a victory for geeks everywhere. Not only does she have to put up with Bart for a brother and Homer for a dad (can you imagine?), but she has managed to turn out relatively sane, charming, pretty, oh and with a massive intellect to boot. At only eight years old, she has an IQ of 159, is multilingual and is a virtuoso piano and saxophone player! You don’t get geekier credentials than that. Forget Hilary Clinton’s attempt to be the first female US President –- that job is waiting for Lisa Simpson. LMG © M att G roening
If Erol’s black thick-rimmed glasses weren’t enough of a giveaway to his status as one of the kings of musical geekery, then his record collection speaks for itself. The Turkish descendent, London-born DJ first made a name for himself as one of the leading lights of the bootleg scene. Best known for hitching Kylie’s ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’ with New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’ (which was later performed live at the Brits), his love of pastiche record culture spawned an entire scene of bootleggers and buoyed on his legendary club night Trash. But before stardom beckoned, Erol honed his craft deejaying from the age of thirteen onwards, often sneaking out of his parents’ house for as little as a tenner. Although the now defunct Trash ended after a decade of revolutionary parties, it began thanks to some old-fashioned record sleuthing. Even at the age of four, Erol deejayed for his mum, unable to read the covers of the records but remembering each one by their sleeve art. BR
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Thom Browne
Carlton Banks
In his buzz cut, naked ankles and ultra-narrow suit, Thom Browne looks a little like an accountant from the fifties whose suit got chucked in the drier. But he is in fact an award-winning, cutting-edge men’s fashion designer and the reason an increasing number of male fashionistas are sporting highwater trousers and sockless feet in brogues. His advancement of geek chic comes as a reaction to the hordes of men who can’t seem to move on from their adolescent wardrobe; in a world where T-shirt and jeans are Establishment, he has made the suit both subversive and incredibly snazzy VP
Carlton Banks was the academic, well-spoken and über-rich character played by Alfonso Ribeiro in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Carlton became a preppy geek icon with his amazing wardrobe of spotted bow-ties, cashmere jumpers knotted around the shoulders, knee-length shorts and well-shined shoes. But Carlton was also special because he was a black man and a geek, who didn’t want to conform to the more stereotypical alpha male, lady-killer, hip-hip type that Will Smith’s character embodied. Therefore watching the two characters interact with each other was really interesting and often hilarious (remember when Will would catch Carlton doing his freaky dancing?) and the show became a smash hit of the nineties. Kanye West had even recently said that his new line of shoes for luxury brand Louis Vuitton is inspired by the character Carlton Banks. LMG
Clark Kent What was so unique about the Clark Kent character was that he gave geeks a neverhad-before mystery and sex appeal. Because the core message was that hiding inside every bespectacled, awkward geek there just might possibly be a Superman. It served as a great reminder to Lois Lanes everywhere to take a closer look at their geeky buddies or work colleagues: take off those thick-rimmed black glasses and ruff le that hair and you just might notice something you didn’t see before. LMG
James Zabiela Progressive house star James Zabiela is proof that constant practice does pay off, even if you’re as far removed from the typical DJ superstar stereotype as is possible to be. The UK twenty-something DJ broke through the ranks after impressing Sasha with his skills and earning a slot on his Excession agency. Few nerds can claim to be real geeks without a lifelong devotion to Star Wars. James was bitten by the George Lucas bug at the age of three. Now he spends his off duty time in cities around the world collecting sci-fi memorabilia from films like Star Wars or Doctor Who (his house contains a life-sized Storm Trooper and two life-sized Daleks). His first single was naturally called ‘Robophobia’ and he’s currently sponsored by Pioneer thanks to his inhuman skills on CD players and effects units honed after hours and hours of daily practice as a young hopeful. And despite being introduced to dance music by his raver parents, James, apart from a one off wayward beer from DJ Nic Fanciulli, is famously teetotal. GEEK! GH
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Michael Cera as Paulie Bleeker in ‘Juno’ Michael Cera has emerged as the cult geek actor of the moment – he played Evan in Superbad and Paulie in Juno to rave reviews. Both roles highlight his natural sweetness, sensitivity and let’s face it, inherent geekiness, and have turned him into an overnight sensation – he is now amongst Hollywood’s property. It was his role as the awkward teenager, who impregnates his girlfriend Juno, that really put him on the map – and specifically his track and field running outfit – the short shorts, the long socks, the vest that hangs off his skinny pale frame and the headband crowning it all off beautifully. Juno was entranced and so were we all. LMG
Anthony Michael Hall as ‘The Geek’ You may not know the name but if you have watched any of John Hughes’ high-school comedy classics, like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club or Weird Science, you will know the face. In these films Hall was consistently cast as the likable misfit and with his scrawny pale frame, braces, squeaky voice and twitchy gestures became the posterboy of geek for an entire generation. To relive the simple days of true nerdiness, we recommend an Anthony Michael Hall movie extravaganza – too good to describe. VP
Daft Punk The lords of dance music began their careers as two spotty teenage geeks in failed French band, Darlin before beginning an obsession with dance music. After handing a demo to Slam’s Stuart McMillan, the duo quickly rocketed to super stardom. Now, just take one look at any Daft Punk endeavour and it’s easy to spot their geek tendencies. Obsession with comics? Check their animated film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem produced under the supervision of cult manga creator Leiji Matsumoto. Collectors of figurines? See their collection of associated Daft Punk toys. Love of science fiction-related paraphernalia? Gaze in wonder at their robot helmets rumoured to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. Obsession with film? See their own Electroma or check out the long list of esteemed directors behind their videos which include Spike Jonze and Roman Coppola. BR
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Aaron Ruell as Kip in ‘Napoleon Dynamite‘
Maggie Gyllenhaal as Lee Holloway In ‘The Secretary’
As a wimpy 32-year old still living at home, Kip in many ways outdoes his younger brother Napoleon in the nerd stakes of this film. From rollerblading to his obsession with internet chatrooms, Kip’s geekdom climaxes with the arrival of his internet girlfriend LaFawnduh, who restyles him ghetto, hip-hop style. But even as a pale wigger Kip is entirely casual and comfortable. This blissful ignorance of his own absurdity, or more positively put, complete lack of self-consciousness, should be an inspiration to all. VP
If we’re talking about nerd-style you can’t go past Maggie in this dark, but deeply romantic film about the socially awkward Lee Holloway, who is hired by an eccentric lawyer despite her stilted social skills and unprofessional appearance. What begins as frumpy layering of cardigans and pussy-bowed blouses paired with knee-length shapeless skirts turns into this fantastic style of chaste sophistication. Buttoned up – and typing! – was never so sexy. VP
Dr. Who
Viktor & Rolf
The Doctor, who travelled through time thanks to a magical tardis, is also the man who has championed the geek chic look. Many actors have played The Doctor (it is the longest running TV series in history, starting way back on the BBC in 1963!) and some fashion favourites have been the long woolly scarf and the tailed leather jacket. Think absent-minded, eccentric and oddly-trendy professor, and you’re there. Now the latest actor to play him, David Tennant, has said his look is definitely ‘geek chic’ – think pin stripe suits with trainers, glasses and skinny ties as accessories. He could probably be in an indie band or dating Kate Moss if he wasn’t so busy time travelling. LMG
The Amsterdam duo, who in their formal and identical dress have continually drawn comparisons to artist-twosome Gilbert & George, exist in a kind of hybrid zone between fashion and art. Known for theatricality and the great sculptural quality of their clothes, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren shared a sense of alienation in their schooldays, but when they met in 1988 at the very start of their fashion studies, recognised a similar sensibility right away. Together they create designs, which are both cerebral and breathtaking, and the clever theatricality of their shows make conventional runway about as interesting as a visit to the dentist. VP
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Jarvis Cocker
Andre 3000 from Outkast
During the mid-nineties pop media circus, where massive ego reigned large (Gallager brothers particularly spring to mind), Jarvis Cocker became a hero for the disillusioned. Renowned not only for being tall, lanky and wearing bookish glasses, but also for his wit and critical observations of the cultural scene; Jarvis famously stormed the stage at the 1996 BRIT Awards in protest of Michael Jackson performing dressed in a white robe and making Christ-like poses while surrounded by children and a Rabbi. V P
Not many hip hop stars start off their musical careers learning to play the violin. Or hang out in VIP rooms wearing a nice sweater and golf pants. Or cite Kate Bush or Aphex Twin as their major inf luences. After a childhood of bucking hip hop trends, in 2004 yoga-loving Andre Lauren Benjamin was voted the world’s Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity and the World’s Best Dressed Man by Esquire magazine primarily for his mix of psychedelic hip hop and geek chic. Where his partner in Outkast is best known for his blinged out hip hop attitude (he has a shark pool in his mansion for god’s sake!), Andre describes himself as “the most nervous man in the world” and fronts his own label Benjamin Bixby best known for its f lair for dandy, seventies style fashion. BR
Moby Where do we start? The great, great grand nephew of Moby Dick author Herman Melville started life as Richard Melville Hall. A baldie from an early age, he took first to vegetarianism, environmental activism and Christianity, before finally letting loose to rediscover his naughty side in recent years as a titanic force in electronic pop music. Moby found fame in the UK rave scene of the early nineties through songs like ‘Go’ that paved the way for future coffee table classic albums ‘18’ and ‘Play.’ Another champion of thick-rimmed glasses (there’s a pattern forming here somewhere), he’s almost as famous for his vegetarian café and tea emporium Teany in New York’s Lower East Side, where he likes to share his love of tea with the world, as he is for being a self-confessed bad dancer and purveyor of chart-friendly dance music. G H
Gaylord Focker in ‘Meet the Fockers’ Ben Stiller is legendary for the many geek characters he has created, but his most impressive achievement as a writer and actor is Gaylord (Greg) Focker in the two smash-hit films. Gaylord is the accident-prone male nurse who wants to marry Pam, who just happens to be the daughter of retired ex-CIA hardman Jack (Robert de Niro). Like a classic geek, he was never good at sports, yet his parents kept all of his mediocre achievements like coming fivth or sixth place in various sports competitions in a shrine called The Wall of Gaylord that is still on show for all houseguests to see. Other highlights include the fact that his mother keeps his foreskin in The Book of Gaylord. And how Jack puts him through various CIA tortures, like a lie-detector test or injecting him with truth-serum, is painful to watch whilst being hilariously funny. Chaos ensues but true love prevails and geek gets girl. LMG
Jarvis C ocker
»AND THE GEEK SHALL I NHERIT THE EARTH«
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Quentin Tarantino
Chloe Sevigny
One characteristic binds each Tarantino film together: amazing music. From Pulp Fiction to Kill Bill, each of his films is accompanied by an iconic soundtrack advertising his indelible skills as a music selector as well as film geek. And as geeks go, he’s one of the biggest in the business. Tarantino began his film career, not at an expensive film school, but aged 22 in his local video rental shop ‘Video Archives’ in Manhattan Beach, California, where he says his observations of what kinds of people rented different types of films helped inform his future career as a director. His latest project to hit screens, The Grindhouse project with co-director and comic geek Robert Rodriguez, is a homage to seventies slasher movies. Like all of his films, it cuts a thin line between being an original work of film-making as it does a homage to his favourite scenes in nerdy cult classics. G H
As the originator and champion of ‘The Chloe Sevigny School of Ironic Dressing’, Chloe made ugly clothes into such an art that she completely inverted people’s concept of style aesthetics, and was eventually anointed a twenty-first century fashion maven, inspiring thousands of like-minded ‘individuals’ to scour the dark corners of second-hand shops for the most bizarre creations available, often with a less favourable outcome than their icon unfortunately. If you still doubt her inf luence, consider the now ubiquitous Ray-Ban Wayfarer in stark white: first seen on Chloe circa 2003. V P
Carrie Munden aka Cassetteplaya The trendiest fashion geek on the planet. She has dressed MIA, Afrikan Boy, Kano, Dizzee and the rest of the grime brigade, Klaxons and too many other cool cats to mention. She was there at the start of the massive ‘nu-rave’ craze – just don’t dare call her clothes that anymore. She’s moved on, you see. Yes, Cassetteplaya can be hard on the eyes; her neon T-shirts and crazy patterned leggings and trousers are not for the faint of fashion heart – only hardcore daring hipsters with a good sense of humour really get this stuff. But that’s all part of it. Wearing her clothes means you are in on the joke, a member of a small insiders-only club, which after all, is the ultimate aim for every serious fashion geek. Plus the fact that she bears a striking resemblance to Sue Pollard just adds to the genius of it. LMG
Hot Chip The very fact that every promotional photo of Hot Chip looks like a portrait of Napoleon Dynamite’s extended family is a sign that geeks now rule pop music. Bestival curator and Radio 1 guru Rob Da Bank claims they’re “accidentally cool” but how did the band go from being bedroom synthesizer obsessives to one of pop music’s best discerning bands? Timing has a lot to do with it. The band’s second album, The Warning, was released in 2006 just as icons like Napoleon Dynamite were enjoying cult status and Europe was drowning in a sea of look-alike indie bands. Citing geek gods Kraftwerk or New Order as influences, the band are the latest in a long line of electro pop bands made up of one part sophisticated grooves, one part hook melodies and one part goofy clothes. BR
C hloe S evigny
Secret Lives of Dreamers and Obsessives P hot o g r ap hy by L a r s Bo r ges Production by Lisa B o r ge s Words by Vikt or ia Pel l es
R o m a n Va r d i j a n – FA S H I O N F E T I S H I S T There are those who claim to be clothes obsessed and then there are people like Roman Vardijan, who are quite simply a few fashionable steps beyond. A student of Apparel Production Technology Roman spends his weekends scouring the Berlin f lea markets for vintage garments and items, and shares his one-room f lat with innumerable shoes, giant lipsticks and a few sequin cranes in the bathroom. He does let the amateurs benefit from his obsession through Nightboutique though, an event where some of his hard-won treasures can actually be purchased. w w w . my s pa c e . c o m / n ig h t b o u t iq u e
»AND THE GEEK SHALL I NHERIT THE EARTH«
Fo c u s Ready for this journey? Ok....so we start with a collection of well-known musicians and writers such as Snax, Beardyman and Jazzie B, recounting the most inspirational journeys that they have undertaken so far - from a tour across New Zealand to a simple train ride to Hackney, to seeing the Berlin Wall for the first time - these are all gems of stories. Next there are interviews with the director Brad Anderson about his new movie about the ultimate train journey, Transsiberian, a thriller that should have us all on the edge of our seats this summer. We also have an interview with the film’s lead actor, the brilliant Sir Ben Kingsley. Then in ‘The Alternative Route’, you can find out how there are many ways to make your dream journey possible, from couch surfing, to swapping houses to hitch-hiking! Lastly we have some dee-liteful playlists, to take your around the world in 80 Electronic Beats!
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S t e p h e n Wa l t e r – S Y M B O L I C C A R T O G R A P H E R Stephen Walter’s The Island is in basic terms a very large map of London with incredible miniscule detail that took the artist over two years to complete and necessitates the use of a magnifying glass to see properly. Geographically accurate with the city’s main landmarks, roads and rivers, the map is a spoof of an historical map, featuring Walter’s selective historical listings based on local stereotypes or celebrity trivia for example. The artist is currently in Berlin and it seems he’ll be here for a while, working as he is on a map of the German capital. w w w . s t e p h e n w alt e r . c o . u k
»AND THE GEEK SHALL I NHERIT THE EARTH«
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Ro b e r t H e n ke – SY M P H O N I C T E CH N I C I A N Better known in music circles as monolake, Henke studied sound engineering and computer science and has had an incalculable inf luence on electronic music production through his development of one of the most successful commercial music software, Ableton Live. Fascinated by technology as a medium for artistic expression, Henke maintains that technology fuels inspiration and art fuels technological development, and the truth of these claims are well-manifested in the correlation between his creations in music and innovations in technology. w w w . m o n o lak e . d e
»AND THE GEEK SHALL I NHERIT THE EARTH«
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Sven Hannes – TEMPLE CONSTRUCTIONER Sven is a writer/historian shortly before publishing a book on nuclear weapons, but more interestingly a man with a most unusual hobby. Sven has an interest in classical architecture you see, and has created 30 different temples using different types of ‘jenga’ blocks in his own home. The constructions – which can take months to build – are eventually deconstructed, keeping as close to a natural process of deterioration as possible! Temple building is like an addiction to Sven, causing him to forget about time, eating or leaving the house. He’s managed enough time outdoors to meet a girlfriend though, and she has commissioned a temple for their living room.
»AND THE GEEK SHALL I NHERIT THE EARTH«
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P h i l i pp H a f f m a n s – T H E B I F O CA L M A N An avid eyewear collector and designer, Philipp has devoted himself to the art of eyewear couture for more than 10 years. In glasswear design, where a millimetre can make all the difference in achieving the perfect fit for facial features, Philipp has managed, along with design partner Harald Gottschling, to leave something of a legacy with the design of the screwless hinge, f lat metal frame. Not surprisingly these spectacles are very popular with other four-eyes due to the featherweight and modern style. w w w . myki ta . c o m
»AND THE GEEK SHALL I NHERIT THE EARTH«
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P r o t e y T e m e n – G R A P H I C H A P P Y TA L I S T Precocious Protey became art director at Zunge Design at the fair age of 20. Four years later Protey inhabits a personal world of kiddy-styled graphics. The bright and basic simplicity of his style is wholly individual and manages to make a strong statement that belies his young years. Currently Protey is working on projects based on his notion of Dobrotarizm (translating roughly to Happytalism) and also draws inspiration from idiosyncratic sources like the symbiosis of tasks and feelings, advertisements, lifehacks and popular social self-improvement questions. w w w . p r o t e y t e m e n . c o m | w w w . z u n g e d e s ig n . r u
© P r ot ey Te m e n
»AND THE GEEK SHALL I NHERIT THE EARTH«
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Geek hits the cover of the NME as Joy Division’s Ian Curtis suffers his first epileptic fit, and the band generate a following of "intense young men dressed in grey overcoats”
The Ramones, fronted by lanky weirdo Joey Ramone, appear at The Roundhouse, London
Silicon Valley first identified journalist Ralph Vaerst in Electronic News.
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Woody Allen, the biggest nerd of the 20th Century, delivers his best work in “Annie Hall
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Punk arrives, championing misfits everywhere
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How the geek came out of the closet T ext
K e vi n B r add o c k
P udding-bowl hair s tyles cut by mot her. Over size d , t h i ck - r i m m e d s p e c t a c l e s . T ro u s e r s t h a t s t op a n i n ch o r t wo a b ove t h e a nk le. S andals wor n wit h sock s. Pe ncils an d pe n s ne a t ly r a cke d i n t he b re a s t pocket s of a s hor t - s l e eve d s hi r t . B e i n g i n t e r e s t ed in ( but in all probability obse sse d wit h) comput e r s , pl a nt s , mus i ca l i ns t r ume nt s , comi c b ook s , t r a i ns , a na l o g u e syn t hesiser s, sp ec ial e f fe cts, vid e o gam e s, tr ivia or ma g i c t r i ck s . Jus t a b out a ny t hi ng , t ha t i s , a pa r t f rom t he oppos i t e s ex .
All these may seem to be signifiers of a particular breed of person - the geek, the dweeb, the nerd, spod, anorak, trainspotter or any other kind of wonky social misfit. But equally, they could just as well describe the kind of ultra-trendy directional hipster you might see wandering through Shoreditch, falling out of a Kreuzberg bar, or swinging through the streets of Williamsburg pecking on their iPhone, lacing up their Nike Air Napalm Death XVIII sneakers and adjusting their f luoro-yellow Ray-Ban Wayfarers in the glinting eastern seaboard sunshine. Where once the geek and the hipster occupied the opposing extremes of a social ladder – and never the twain would meet these days, you’d struggle to put a Post-it Note between the two. In terms of who they are, what they do and how they look, they’re one and the same. And just as how we all became a hell of a lot trendier in the last 30 years, we’ve also become way geekier too. And so have our heroes. Because when you consider the characters who are really driving culture forward today, the ones who make the headlines, write the songs, create the looks and design
the technologies that make the world tick tock tick, you'd be hard pressed not to notice that their unifying DNA is a certain wonky social unease and an obliviousness to prevailing notions of ‘cool’ that has transformed into a form of cool in itself. From computing to fashion to music to politics, so often pop culture’s new gods are the kind of gawky, sexless, blinks-too-often dweeb whom you used to make a point of avoiding at the school disco. People who stand too close to you when they talk, don't notice when their f lies are undone, and who, at the merest invitation, will froth on at great, enthusiastic length about the new iPhone, some vintage spectacle unearthed on Taiwanese eBay, or some other speck of weirdness discovered on Google Maps, in a second-hand record shop or deep within the CGI murk of World Of Warcraft. People who you think might smell a bit funny, and probably have parents with strong religious convictions. This isn’t to suggest that world-beating A-List anoraks, real or fictional, like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Flight of the Conchords, Spike Jonze, Marc Jacobs,
Kraftwerk release “Computer Love”, a romantic ditty on the love between a man feels for his keyboard.
Rubik’s Cube, the first “kidult” toy, is first marketed.
The Smiths arrive with their debut single “Hand In Glove”, plus pro-vegetarianism manifesto. Morrissey wears deeply unhip National Health Service spectacle.
Steve Jobs launches the first Apple Mac as “Revenge Of The Nerds” opens in Box Offices
Sinclair’s ZX Spectrum births a generation of future computer dweebs.
“Doctorin the Tardis” by The Timelords becomes the second No.1 record to celebrate science fiction
Huey Lewis & The News point out that it’s “Hip To Be Square”
Acid house arrives. Science fiction becomes reality.
Bill Gates publishes the first iteration of Microsoft Windows.
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Richie Hawtin, Napoleon Dynamite, Ugly Betty, Morrissey or Chloe Sevigny have all the social finesse of a bowl of muesli. But you have to admit it comes to something when the world’s biggest brand, Google, is named after an algorithm (algorithms are the new black, apparently). It has been predicted (albeit as a joke) that ‘the geek shall inherit the earth’, but it turns out that over the past thirty-odd years, they really have. Nevertheless, they did it in the face of tremendous adversity and often against a cold shoulder the size of the Himalayas. Introspective and bedroomy, misunderstood and ignored, unfashionable and usually downright odd, geeks were society’s natural outsiders, and therefore were forced to define themselves and carve out their own territory against the rich, the beautiful and the powerful. From take-no-shit rock stars and the sexual athletes of Hollywood to the omnipotent deities of Wall Street, the political Alpha Males and the jocks of the sports arenas: they all looked down on the geeks. But the geeks not only broke through the glass ceiling of acceptability, they also forced society to change along the way. The geek’s legitimacy was hard won, and it was won across a number of cultural categories by some very brave individuals indeed. You could probably peg the emergence of the geek to a couple of key figures. Firstly, there was Andy Warhol’s embrace of everything fake, childish and plastic, a precursor to the nineties and noughties obsession with silly things (Star Wars figures, anyone?). Subsequently, there were the early-seventies comedies of Woody Allen, the infamous misfit who chose to make entertainment from his manifold sexual neuroses rather than do what everyone else does: repress them, or lie about them. Before Woody Allen, comedians made jokes about other people, but Woody Allen turned his own failings into Oscar-winning gags. A few years later, punk rock emerged as a platform for weirdos,
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“Star Trekkin’” by The Firm becomes the first UK No.1 to celebrate science fiction.
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its greatest pin-ups – Joey Ramone and Johnny Rotten – somehow alchemising their essential nerdiness into genuinely radical individualist style. All three forced their audiences to recognise – if nothing more – that not everyone need conform to accepted standards of success, cool or achievement. And while Joey and Johnny superficially appeared intent on overthrowing capitalist society, their real appeal to fans lay in ref lecting their own sense of awkwardness back to the audience. “If you were to look back at me as a school kid you’d see a very quiet little church mouse kind of character,” Johnny Rotten later said. Pop music is a playground for self-reinvention and has proven to be the most fertile breeding ground for geeks. Joy Division’s Ian Curtis was an epileptic, whose personal style, a combination of charity shop finds and misreading of Fascism’s sartorial lexicon, was remote from any prevailing notion of ‘cool’. Yet he too came to personify a kind of gloomy male introspection that was quickly adopted as some form of cool. But it was Morrissey above all who became the Patron Saint of Geek, standing out by refusing to conform to pop stardom’s standard articles of faith. He was a f lag-bearer for many things that are perfectly acceptable now, but were genuinely radical back in 1983: vegetarianism rather than rock & roll excess, bookishness rather than bravado, ambiguous sexuality rather than balls-out machismo, plus a challenging proclivity for romantic poetry. Nothing has come to symbolise geekdom more than Morrissey’s thick-rimmed reading spectacles. Today they’re worn by everyone, from Graham Coxon, Ugly Betty, Jarvis Cocker and Chromeo’s Dave 1 to Jay-Z, Bill Gates, Harry Potter, Lily Allen and most recently Lourdes Ciccone (Madonna’s daughter and blooming fashionista), to impart an air of cerebral outsidership, but Morrissey was the first to fetishise this most ugly symbol of
the World Wide Web debuts at Cern in Switzerland
EGeekdom B FOCU S bad at The Columbine Massacre when Trenchcoat Mafiosi Eric goes Harris and Dylan Klebold slaughter fellow pupils. Meanwhile, Spike Jonze’s video for Fatboy Slim’s ‘Praise You’ brings geeksituationism to the MTV masses.
Jamiroquai does for environmentalism what Morrissey did for vegetarianism, whilst wearing a silly hat
Cultish anoraks Pulp hit the big time with ‘Common People.’ The Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal magazine resurrects the world’s least stylish haircut, the Mullet.
Rave culture goes both nerdy, funky and beardy with the Acid Jazz revolution, which fetishises vinyl records, beads and kaftans.
Stadium techno spods Orbital, Leftfield, Underworld and The KLF legitimise public knob-twiddling
Blur lose the pop war with Oasis, but Graham Coxon becomes a bespectacled Renaissance Geek.
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personal inadequacy although it was, of course, Woody Allen who wore them first. And if we’re going to quibble about it, Buddy Holly got there first). The Smiths’ singer also personified the other key psychological traits of the geek, including braininess, sensitivity and an empathy for one’s own anxieties and failings. Other geek touchstones he embodied were an obsessive-compulsive attention to detail, impaired social interaction (for many years he claimed to be celibate) and a dedication to extending the fads and fantasies of his childhood and pubescence (boxing iconography, the Moors Murders and fifties rock & roll) into adulthood, constructing an entire imaginative cosmos around him. As trailblazers like Joey Ramone, Johnny Rotten, Ian Curtis and Morrissey dragged these urges from the dimly-lit bedroom into the centre-stage glare of the media, they also emerged in other fields. During the nineties, elements of fashion, video gaming, TV and film took on a distinctly nerdy appearance. In the nineties, it became okay for 30-year olds, following the cue of nerds-in-chief The Beastie Boys, to pursue their enthusiasm for skateboarding, role-playing games and retro culture trash like Star Wars, Planet of the Apes, Donkey Kong, Tron and old skool hip hop. Indeed, who better symbolised the geeky ‘kidulthood’ era than Mo’Wax boss James Lavelle, a DJ seemingly intent on casting himself as the Luke Skywalker of the trip-hop generation. In any case, geekdom was gradually fetishised and achieved the seemingly impossible by transmogrifying into an entire new strand of global cool. The process bequeathed an enduring legacy in both how we consume and how we dress. From obsessing over a certain formulation of coffee in Starbucks all the way to agonising over the colour of the stitching on your jeans, these days we prefer to focus
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Michael Hutchence, the last real rock star, dies.
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Geek cool crystallises in kidult-in-chief James Lavelle’s ‘Pysence Fiction’ album on Mo’Wax. A generation obsesses over Star Wars figurines and rare sneakers. Leading film geek Harry Knowles begins publishing Ain’t It Cool News, a webby review site for Hollywood films
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on the details rather than the outline in our consumer choices. Ultra-rare (and prohibitively expensive) denim, vintage trainers in customized colourways or otherwise entire looks painstakingly curated from former eras (soulboy, skinhead, two-tone), available off-the-peg at Zara or H&M – these are all deeply geeky inheritances. The embrace of geekdom accelerated towards the end of the nineties as the digital revolution ensured that even the most technophobic jocks ended up communing with their inner geek as computers achieved even greater penetration in the workplace, the home, the car, the living room and the pocket. Amid the mass uptake of broadband and mobile phones around the millennium, computing achieved a key shift from productivity (doing work) to communication (talking to people), and from communication to self-expression and networking (creating stuff, from playlists to avatars to MySpace pages). Formerly geeky pastimes like video gaming, mobile music and blogging gradually shed their shameful reputations and won mass acceptability. And looking back, it’s easy to see how it was only logical that a certain white, pocket-sized music gadget should become the ultimate symbol of the convergence between cool lifestyle and nerdy technology. From almost the moment it arrived in 2004, the iPod became the most fetishised, celebrated and iconic object of its time (until, of course, the iPhone came along). Of course, links between the glamorous world of music and the less-than-sexy sphere of technology were established almost 30 years ago by Kraftwerk, a human pop group who asked audiences to accept them as robots. The nerdiest band in music’s geekiest category – techno – Kraftwerk were using computers to write songs about exciting subjects like motorways, radiation and cycling (yes really), long before Daft Punk were even born and back when the cartoonish
P hoto credit for M C F rontalot : S ean M c P harlin
Marc Jacobs print campaigns feature ultra-geeks Stephen Malkmus, Michael Stipe, and Chloe Sevigny. “Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets” becomes a geek-smash at the box office. The iPod arrives and changes the world. Geek triumphs in ‘Napoleon Dynamite’
iPhone sells 1,000,000 units in 74 days. Oversize spectacles are reborn as directional eyewear
The world achieves a Higher State Of Geeksciousness.
Introspective rapper Pharrell Williams forms N*E*R*D, the Genesis of Geek Antipodean muso-geeks Flight Of The Conchords win Best Alternative Comedy Act at the US Comedy Arts Festival
Baghdad nerd Salam Pax blogs about the invasion of Iraq from deep within Baghdad
Myspace permits bedroom geeks everywhere to be famous for 15 MG
MC Frontalot coins “nerdcore hip hop”
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CGI fantasies of Gorillaz were just a twinkle in Damon Albarn’s eye. They’ve never been particularly rock & roll, but who would doubt that Düsseldorf ’s geeks-in-chief rank alongside Elvis, the Beatles or Public Enemy as pioneers? In the noughties, however, music once again established itself as the natural habitat of the geek. But this time, as music culture fragmented into millions of niche scenes and cults, geekery became the rule rather than the exception. At the same time, the deep geekdom of indie, with its bedsit narratives of broken hearts and playground victimhood, effectively replaced pop as the default daytime soundtrack, while wearing your heart on your sleeve replaced packing your naughty parts into a pair of leather pants. And finally, you need look no further than Chris Martin and Thom Yorke - frontmen of two of the world’s biggest bands – to see how that era of the geek is upon us. Flagrantly challenging the laws of rock stardom, the former didn’t lose his virginity until well beyond the age of 20 (and let’s not even mention his onstage ‘dancing’), while the latter has used his tortured soul and not-exactly-Brad-Pitt appearance to form a very deep bond with his audience. In a very real sense today, geekdom rules. But in the end, the real architects of modern culture’s mass geekification are people who probably know nothing about Japanese denim and are not able to tell you what was on the b-side of The Smith’s ‘Hand In Glove’ seven-inch. It’s no doubt some kind of vindication for brainy, if not exactly sexy outsiders like Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Steve Jobs that their innovations are used on a daily basis by billions of people all around the world. Similarly, it is the visions of Silicon Valley’s new oligarchs, like YouTube’s Steve Chen & Chad Hurley, MySpace’s Tom Anderson & Chris DeWolfe, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sergey Brin &
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iPhone 3G sells one million units in one day, Bill Gates abdicates to go save Africa and Mark Ronson achieves massive international success while looking like Ringo Starr.
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Larry Page, that increasingly determine how we shop, socialise, communicate, self-express and orientate ourselves in the new digital world. They may have begun as IT experts, but increasingly they’re social entrepreneurs responsible for the shape and direction of the unfolding future, and if you’re in any doubt, just think of how much time you spend in front of a laptop, commenting on friends’ pictures on MySpace or poking people on Facebook. It’s easy to be cynical about what a brand like Microsoft has become, but when Bill Gates achieved his mission “to put a PC on every desk in every home,” you can only wonder about what he might achieve next with Africa. The new digital revolutionaries were often fuelled by precisely the same sets of quirks, eccentricities and drives common to their counterparts in music: studiousness, imagination, empathy for their own ideas and perhaps even a desire to prove the jocks, the cynics and the tormentors wrong. Computer geeks may not always be the most attractive or finessed of people, but you have to admire their drive and commitment to seeing their ideas become successful. As fans of popular TV shows like Ugly Betty or Flight of the Conchords know, there’s rarely a more satisfying sight than watching the awkward but endearing geek triumph over the glacially aloof hipster, for one simple reason: deep down, we know we’re all geeks at heart.
Necessities for Squares B e t t i F i e gl e Sa n d r a L i e r ma n n Lisa Borges
P hotography P roduction
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Slipp e r s E D U A R D M E I ER , WWW . E D M E I ER . D E
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K e y c h ai n C h e l s e a F a r m e r ’ s Cl u b S h av e c r e am P u r e - F o r ma n c e G r o o mi n g Clay P u r e - F o r ma n c e Exf o liat i n g S h amp o o A L L b y A v e da Raz o r k n if e Old S h e ffi e ld , ma s t e r w o r k f r o m S o li n g e n S h avi n g b r u s h R o o n e y s e e n at T h e D iff e r e n t S c e n t, w w w . t h e diff e r e n t s c e n t. d e 1 5 4 C o l o g n e J o M al o n e B o w t i e C h e l s e a F a r m e r ’ s Cl u b C u ff li n k s C h e l s e a F a r m e r ’ s Cl u b C r o c h e t fig u r e P r i n c e C h a r l e s b y C h e l s e a F a r m e r ’ s Cl u b
A mi n o -t h e r apy r e vi tali s i n g e y e t r e at m e n t Papai n daily fa c ial w a s h V i tami n lip s av e r Ult r a lig h t b ai ji h yd r at o r Ski n d e f e n c e daily p r o t e c t o r all b y M o lt o n B r o w n F e lt / l e at h e r b r a c e s b y E D U A R D M E I ER , WWW . E D M E I ER . D E Raz o r P r o g r e s s 5 0 0 f r o m S o li n g e n G e o F. T r u mp e r V i o l e t S h avi n g S o ap Ha n d s e w n L e at h e r c a s e s f o r Raz o r s a n d Blad e s A L L s e e n at T h e D iff e r e n t S c e n t, w w w . t h e diff e r e n t s c e n t. d e A r o m e s s e n c e T r ipl e A c t i o n Ra s ag e P e r f e c t i o n S e r u m b y D e c l ĂŠ o r Ski n D iv e r Sav e t h e M al e s b y O r igi n s M u lt i - b e n e fi t m o i s t u r iz e r A c t iv e C h a r c o al b o dy w a s h O r igi n s
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I nterviews T r y not t o feel jealous when you read all about Jon Sa T r inx a’s allye a r- r o u n d s u n s h i n e l i f e s t yl e o n I b i z a - h i s l a t e s t S a l i n a s S e s s i o n s album is full of gems and a must for all balearic loving hipsters. And check out Neonman - a successful Anglo- German partnership whose latest exploits you can hear on their new accomplished album Knights of Error - out on new sub - division of Pale Music: Pale House Rock - stick that in your geeky pipe and smoke it!
Neonman
Waiting F or The MaN
T ext
G A RETH OWEN
PHOTOS
F L OR I A N K O L M ER
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eonman is an Ang lo-Ger man par tner ship, in wh i ch t h e o nly t hing t hey can def init ely ag ree on is a mutu a l l ove fo r Guns N’ Ro ses ( a r are t hin g an d coin cid e ntly a l ove s ha re d by t h eir int er viewe r ). They have j us t re le a se d t h e i r s e cond a l bum on Berlin’s guardian of new t alent, Pale M u s i c. Wi t h a so und so mewh e re betwe e n gu it ar s and e le ctroni cs , b ut c l oser t o t he for mer, t hey have cer t ainly changed a l ot s i n c e t h eir early days relea sing electrocla sh on Gigolo.
H ow d i d yo u m e et a n d h ow l o n g h ave yo u g u ys b e e n i n B erlin? B astian
I came in here in 2000.
Yeah in 2000 – 2001 we met at work – I came here in 1999. I’m a trained graphic designer and it was the beginning of the internet boom when I moved here. So, I taught myself HTML and internet in three months and managed to talk myself into the job at Dollar Man, which made pop music videos. Bastian was working there too and one day he just came up to me and said ‘I heard you’re into music – here’s one of my mix tapes’ – back in those days it was - I dare say - more trip-hop. B en
B astian
How l ong have you b e e n i nt o mus i c? Wa s t hi s wh e n yo u s t a r t e d ma k i ng mus i c?
No, no I was doing a lot of stuff – house stuff – I was writing and then computers came along and I found them very intriguing, so started to do basic things like samples on Ataris. B astian
S o how l ong a g o wa s t hi s – a b out ni ne ye a r s a g o?
God yeah, it must have been! When we did that first track it was all really just for a laugh – I’d never even sung anything before. So we were like “yeah I fancy a bit of that!” So when we started producing things together, our main aim was to make the most offensive music possible – lyrically and sonically! B en
Yeah, it was on a mini-disk in those days!! You have to remember back in those days it was completely covered with dope RnB and American artists – I mean they do great stuff and everything, but after a while it was all too much. And then there were all the chill out albums and the jazzy Brazilian albums for people in suits at the time of the economic boom who could afford the expensive drinks – it was shit! So we tried to make something that was totally tasteless and different. B astian
Yeah, I am a DJ as well and that’s the background I came from in London. So Bastian said if you like electronic music, listen to my mix tape. It was in that weird void time of 1999 and 2001 when everything had gone a bit strange. Especially here in Berlin, everything had gone a bit Jazzanova and people in suits. We were both moaning about the musical state at that time, so when I took Bastian’s mix tape home, I thought yeah, this is alright, it’s quite funny – so I got out my old microphone and recorded some vocals over the top of it onto another mini-disk, gave that back to Bastian, who then went on and sampled it on an Atari ST and the first track was born! Which was shit, probably. B en
B astian
Yeah, pretty shit!
I mean then, at that time, even on a Saturday night at ZMF, there was loads of house and techno because in 2000, techno sort of lost its way and so did house music – like that ‘Sing It Back’ song from Moloko – it was like playing at every party! So, from making this horrible electronic music, next thing, we were watching Fischerspooner at their first live gig in Berlin, and this was long before the term electroclash had ever been used. We B en
then became a large part of that scene in Berlin. So we had our four tracks, then we met this man about town and he managed to arrange our first gig – this was the first time I was ever on stage with a microphone in my hand. It was at E-Werk at Love Parade, and I remember the line-up well: Ricardo Villalobos, Steve Bug, DJ rock from Gigolo. It was also the first ever live gig! So we went on in front of 800 ravers with four songs playing from CD!
on our doorstep and we wouldn’t be able to express this on a nice techno track. I want to tell it in a song to get it off my chest! After writing it and practising it over and over again, it’s out of my system for good! S o how l ong have you b e e n work i ng on t he a l b um?
About two years – it takes a long time, what with writing and record companies. It should have been ready nine months ago. Don’t sign a contract – that’s our advice to anyone out there thinking of doing the same! B astian:
It went all right. I mean the whole concept then was to take the money, be as successful as possible without out knowing anything about it. We purposely didn’t even rehearse! It was a legendary techno venue and everyone was really educated on their techno, but somehow we did it! B astian
It was all very crass and tasteless and we never imagined that project would become Neonman and all of a sudden we had people from Sony BMG and all these record labels in the Far East saying they were interested in our stuff. Our MP3s had somehow got onto the internet and people were downloading them and they were being played in clubs! There was one called ‘Riot-Ache’ with lyrics like “boys in black boys in blue – don’t like the look of you” (laughs). It was all really funny, and then there were people offering us money and pills. This was in 2002 and we started signing record deals, obviously there was never any real money at this stage - we were still dreaming that might happen one day! So we started to take it a bit more seriously and would meet regularly and write – we both didn’t have washing machines at that point, so every Monday we would meet at the laundrette and write songs. B en
Yeah, so eventually, after releasing a few of the songs on 12”, we had an album! B astian
After all that, we discovered our love of rock songs – everything had gone a bit electronic, I guess it was a knee jerk reaction. B en
We were being different cause of whatever was going around us. We were tired out, we’d been doing it for so long. So when we play live now, we have a live band – drums and guitars – that wouldn’t really go down well at a techno club these days. I play guitar, but we have a backing track still. B astian
So now with this new album, we haven’t totally lost the electronic side to our music, it’s just a bit more in the background now than before when it was in the front. B en
Electronic music doesn’t always give you a lot of room to let you say what you want to say and now we want to be able to have our say. B astian:
B en
Now we get angry about various political things and things
We pretended it was a concept album when it first started, as some of the songs are dance and some are rock – it’s not a concept album really. There’s no concept of a story running through it – it’s just bullshit really, we’re having a laugh and doing it for fun! B en
K n ig h t s o f E r r o r o u t n o w o n P al e M u s i c
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»AND THE GEEK SHALL I NHERIT THE EARTH«
T ext & P H O T O S
G A RETH OWEN
Jon Sa Trinxa
On The Beach C
on que re d by Roma ns , Moor s , C hr i s t i a ns , a nd i nhi b i t e d by Ibe n co’s, t he islan d of I b i z a ha s s ur vive d for ma ny ye a r s by prod ucing salt… Ib i z a : me cca of t he pa ck a ge hol i day, che a p booze and sunbur n a l l ro u n d . W h a t a b o u t I b i z a , d e s t i n a t i o n of som e of t he bigge s t DJs i n t he worl d pl ay i ng a t s ome of t he bigge s t clubs in t h e worl d? O r pe rha ps i t’s a hi ppi e ha ngout , populat ed by t hos e wh o h ave d ropp e d o u t o f n o r m a l s o c i et y. M ayb e I b i z a : p l ay p e n o f t h e r i ch , f a m o u s a n d d e c a d e n t . Ins tigat or s and ex por t e r s of t he ha z y a nd e cl e ct i c B a l e a r i c sou nd . Ibiza ha s a s ma ny s i de s a s a di a mond. Jon Sa T r in x a is h i ms e l f a ma n w i t h more t ha n one s i de t o his s t or y. He ha s live d a n d DJ ’d o n t h e i s l a n d fo r ove r f i f t e e n year s. A chance m e et i n g w i t h t h e ow n e r o f S aT r i n ch a , a b a r on Salina s beach l e d t o Jo n ga i n i n g a re s i d e n c y o n o n e o f t h e islan d s m ore be aut i f ul s t ret che s of coa s t . Howeve r, t hat is a n of t - t ol d s t or y, a nd fa r more i nt e re s t i ng is t he s t or y of how hi s prof i l e g rew by word of mout h a l one, f rom people who c a m e t o S a l i n a a n d t o o k away o n e o f h i s fam ous m ix t ape s, s ha r i ng t he m w i t h f r i e nds a nd i n doi ng s o spre ad in g his soun d a l l ove r t he worl d.
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EB INTERVIEWS
Ibiza is hot hot hot when I go to interview Jon. English (and a surprising number of Spanish) tourists are out in full force, mingling round the shops, going pink and looking for their next beer /cooked breakfast/ shag. I meet Jon outside Space, closed and desolate looking now that Ibiza’s new licensing laws mean it is not the 24/7 party palace it once was. However, within approximately three minutes of driving down a local road, we are in picture postcard surroundings, observing a scene that could be from any time in the last two centuries. Simple stone houses dotting the landscape and animals seeking protection in the shade from a blistering midday sun.
S o how di d t ha t a ct ua l ly ha ppe n?
I am sur pr ised at how qu ickly and d r am atically s ur roundi ngs ch ange. H ow d o t he islan d e r s fe e l abou t it?
I s t h a t n o r m a l o n t h e i s l a n d t h e n ? D o p e op l e h e l p e a ch ot h e r out ?
They are very tolerant. It’s really surprising as they’re proud people; their lifestyles haven’t changed for the last hundred years. But the island has always been invaded; the Romans invaded here, but apparently never killed anyone. They sent their officers here for their holidays! All the artists and left-wingers came here from the mainland in Franco’s reign, to escape the war. Then the hippies came along, I’m not too sure why, something to do with the minerals or geographics. It’s a really strange island compared to the mainland, like the volcanoes, for example. It’s like Byron Bay in Australia, full of vagrant hippies and people like that, like Glastonbury used to be. The full moon here is really strong here, it makes something happen to the people! I mean people with blue eyes. Something comes over them and they get that look that they’re not quite with it!
There’s a great community out here, from all around the world. European and South American foreigners along with the Spanish. There’s more of a feel for it in the winter when the tourists have gone. There’s community of people who come out here in the summer; people who come out here every year. They come to the beach and that’s it! We’re great mates, but the people that stay are just a bit more crazy! You get people from all walks of life. I mean Donovan came to the beach once, a long time ago, with Nigel Kennedy! We all ended up going out for dinner together and he came to the beach afterwards. I mean he was sitting right in front of me when I was playing and I blew his head off! I was playing Floyd and mixing sixties music with techno. It blew his mind! I meet a lot of people by chance.
I s t hat what made you come?!
Well I came here first on holiday, and really liked it. I went back home and that’s when I started DJing and I just found myself playing Balearic and I wasn’t in Ibiza then. I can’t say I was inf luenced by Ibiza, but all the stuff I bought in London was being played back here. I mean I went to Salinas when I first came out here, by accident really. I’d hired a car and just drove there, walked half way up the beach and thought; I really like this place. It’s playing music outside! Three years before I came here I went to see a palm reader, as I was at a cross roads in my life. I had a restaurant with my partner and the palm reader said that I was supposed to be managing something, but not a restaurant. She said you’re going to move and manage somewhere in South of France or maybe even an island, and it’s going to be by the sea (my soul home was in Cornwall) so it was almost like a calling and then I came here and eventually got offered the job
The owner of SaTrincha picked me up after my accident [Jon fell at the side of a road, down a fairly hefty drop with only rocks to land on] - I was covered in blood and on my own, the rest of my friends had deserted me. So I was stuck in paradise and it had all gone wrong. So the guy took me to the beach and I washed myself in the sea, he gave me some food and the next day the DJ hadn’t turned up they asked me if I wanted to do it as they knew I had records. Luckily I’d got my records back from the travellers I’d come here with, who had then left. So that’s how I got the job at the beach!
D o you t hi nk you’ l l s t ay he re foreve r ?
I think so yeah. Once you’re transient, you never return to having that anchorage of belonging anymore. But saying that, it feels good here and a lot of people here are the same; they’re all black sheep. I think in the winter - Look at this lot! They’re all a bit crazy. Oh no, they’re my friends! There are so many interesting people here and their stories about how they got here. There’s a rock group that all got sent to Vietnam and ended up in the same regiment. Somehow three of them got out by pretending to be dead! They were put into body bags and got f lown to Spain; they got out the body bags and managed to get to Ibiza and have stayed here for the rest of their lives!! How di d your re s i de ncy deve l op?
Unlike most places out here that put loads of posters up for nights, Salinas didn’t do anything like that. It was purely word of mouth. I was fortunate as I’d left my Balearic records at home, I happened to have the records that I usually didn’t play out: Eno, David Bowie – all the old favourites. And I was playing an eight hour set, so was having to go through all the different genres of music. You’d arrive in the morning and everyone was there chilled out and Brian Eno was playing. It was amazing. Word spread around the island pretty quickly. Having had such a bad start to the island, with all the people who gave me a hard
»AND THE GEEK SHALL I NHERIT THE EARTH«
time when I first got here saying I wouldn’t make it and I was bound to fail; and then they were all coming out to the beach! There was no hype, it was a very nice and genuine story. People were kind of like ‘well done!’ I became very respected by the island, they loved the music as it hadn’t been played here before [At Salinas].There’re a lot of people who come out here to ‘DJ in Ibiza’. I didn’t come out for that I just wanted to play on the beach. People come out here and DJ in the summer, then go back to England and do their day job. I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t go home as I had to save face and prove to them that I could do it. I had no help from anyone, I only had my records. H ow many rec o rds d id you have ?
I came over in a van, which made it easier. So I bought with me about 300 records, but there were lots of record shops around the island and I could buy as much as I wanted. H ow many h ave you got n ow?
Oh I couldn’t say, not as many as some people say, but I just can’t stop buying them (laughs)! [Having been to Jon’s apartment, I make a professional guestimate of there being 4000 at least] I have got lots though, some in London and here. I don’t know what I’m going to do with them all as nobody’s buying them anymore! But thinking about it, most of my music, you can’t get on the net and they’ve got pictures on them for a start! Wh at do yo u t h ink abou t t he two sid e s of t he m u si c s ce ne on t he island? B ig c l ubs an d be ach bar s like SaT r in cha .
I like playing in a variety of places. I don’t want to be headlining in big venues night after night, f light after f light; basically doing the same thing. I’d make a lot more money if I did – a lot! But it’s the job satisfaction, the lifestyle. Playing at a small intimate place, where friends come and you make a lot of other friends. Turning people on with your music, it’s the greatest satisfaction, rather than playing to 10,000 people, who also get turned on by the music. People get more passionate from music played closer to them. They feed off your energy. I’m not a pimp calling myself God! You don’t have to be playing all the same BPM tracks, I think that’s really boring. You can totally switch the genres. I mean theoretically reggae and techno doesn’t go. You can’t play those two together and then follow it with a Brazilian track, but you can! There are fine ways of doing it; you link the tracks subtly like doing a little mix or a sample. You find a way of doing it and it’s magic and the people are wowed! It’s like being in Star Trek; one minute you’re beamed into Brazil, then Japan, then zoom you’re in Africa, zoom you’re in Camden Town!!
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You me nt i one d e a rl i e r a b out whe n you f i r s t got h e re – p e o pl e s ay i ng you’re 1 0 ye a r s t oo l a t e. B ut t he n t h e n ex t 1 0 ye a r s t o yo u we re g re a t . D o yo u t h i n k t h e p e op l e wh o’ve come he re have cha nge d?
The island has always had a lot of publicity, even in the eighties. I mean I didn’t want to come here in the eighties. San Antonio used to be great, it used to be a lovely place, but then the 18-30’s lot came and sort of ruined the place; that kind of tourism spoiled it. It’s different now, everywhere has changed. You go to San Francisco and that’s ruined too. But it’s an island and the island is still beautiful, the beaches are still great. You can go from a beach, to a restaurant, to a bar and then a nightclub and then home at 6am. And you haven’t even noticed anything, and you think about going to bed, and then decide to stay up till 10. But yeah, everywhere changes sometimes for the better! There were more f lies back in the day and you couldn’t get a cold drink either! The beach bar used to always only have coke, beer or Tizer that was it! Maybe some fish or meat, if you were lucky. Just like in the sixties, really basic. A lot of places didn’t even have electricity, some still don’t have proper electricity. You still see people going into their houses, little old ladies with goats and their own water well. It’s like a time-warp. They look at you with a lot of wisdom…they’re treasured people.
I s i t q ui t e s e a s ona l your mus i c? Not pl ay i ng s t uf f yo u p l aye d l a s t ye a r ?
I used to be like that yeah, and I like playing new stuff all the time because you want to play your new records to people! But I don’t take it too seriously. I have a version of Althea & Donna crossed with Queen singing ‘We Will Rock You’. Kids come and stand by the decks and sing along with you. They know all the words and if you think about it, the majority of six to nine year olds around the world will know that song. It’s known worldwide and they dig my version. Things like that give me sheer enjoyment. It sounds a bit ridiculous my job – I’m like Terry Wogan or Jimmy Young! Ridiculous but fun. I can’t say I am not jealous of a lifestyle like Jon’s. He also has some very funny stories, which I don’t think I could ever put into print. Like the time he and Nigel Kennedy... If you want to catch some of the Balearic action, look out for Jon’s new mix – Salinas Sessions.
Ges tures of Slight Gr andeur P hotography David B ornscheuer
P roduktion S andra L iermann S tyling R ainer M etz M odel S ebastian Warschow P hoto A ssistant R ebecca S ampson
0 A ll glasses lunettes www. lunettes - brillenagentur . de
1 Jacket F rank L eder T- S hirt Wood Wood Pants Acne B elt S tylist ' s S ocks Falke S hoes Acne
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2 S hirt F rank L eder S hirt M j รถ lk J eans W ester B elt S tylist ' s Own
3 Jacket M j รถ lk S hirt R af by R af S imons Pants Wood Wood S ocks Falke S hoes Acne
4 Jacket Fabrics I nterseason S hirt + B ow T ie M j ö lk
5 Jacket F rank L eder S hirt Acne T ie + B elt S tylist ’ s own Pants Acne S ocks Falke S hoes Acne
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EB GET DRESSED
»AND THE GEEK SHALL I NHERIT THE EARTH«
6 S hirt R af by R af S imons T urtleneck C oncept by Q E D C orduroy Pants Wood Wood S ocks Falke S hoes M odel' s own
7 C ardigan H enrik V ibskov T- S hirt Q E D Pants F rank L eder S ocks Falke S hoes Acne
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8 Jacket Kostas M urkudis S carf M urkudis J ohnstons C ashmere S hirt Q E D Pants B laak S hoes F rank L eder
9 Jacket W ester P ullover M urkudis J ohnstons C ashmere Pants Q E D
»AND THE GEEK SHALL I NHERIT THE EARTH«
10 Jacket Acne S hirt Kostas M urkudis B ow T ie S tylist ' s
11 C ardigan Acne S hirt Acne T ie M urkudis J ohnstons C ashmere J eans M j ö lk
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T H E BI G E A SY TEXTS PhOTOS
V I K TOR I A P E L L ES / Sa n d r a L i e r ma n n
L EON A L I ST / L i s a B o r g e s
I L L U S T R AT I O N
L EON A L I ST
Over the years, stories of the ‘roaring twenties’, Bowie’s Berlin years, wild sex parties at Kit Kat club and intense drug spells at the love parade has cultivated a rather intense image of Berlin. The expectations of people who come here are huge; they may even feel apprehensive about their own ability to live up to all the craziness. But everyday life in Berlin is different, and locals are more easygoing than they are fervent hedonists. Berlin has a more ‘laissez-faire’ attitude than any other capital in the world. Creativity rules and it’s much cooler to work on your own little projects than doing something prestigious. There are hardly any restrictions or traditions to be followed, and you can of course party every night until the wee hours. Living is easy and there are many artists in the city to feed a bustling underground scene. People who come here with great ambitions find themselves bartending forever because they get by just fine. On the other hand, this is not a dreamland; the city is bankrupt and the occasional fancy movie premiere can’t cover up the lack of money and glamour. But scars of the past decades are healing; the city is free and wants no part in ideologies. Berlin possesses both the wisdom of experience as well as the energy of youth, and is in a process of continuous re-invention. This makes it one of the most open and inspiring cities of the twenty-first century – just see for yourself!
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SASHA PERERA m u s i c ia n / m c w w w . my s pa c e . c o m / ja h c o o zi
Sasha Perera, the knock-out frontwoman of fresh and smart Berlin booty crew Jahcoozi, moved to Berlin in 2000. For the Londoner with Sri Lankan – half Tamil, half Sinhalese – roots, it was not only the often stated trappings of cheaper living, a creative environment and an unreal nightlife that initiated the move, but as a self-confessed politics nerd with a degree in European Politics, the exoticism of Berlin’s unique history provided the main draw-card.
LIVING IN BERLIN Germany’s modern history is incredibly dramatic and in Berlin there’s still evidence of fascism, communism and capitalism all around, which is both rare and exotic. Coming from Brixton, Friedrichshain is about as exotic as you can get and this is where I first settled. People kept telling me I would feel so much more at home in Kreuzberg, but that seemed so dull – I really wanted to feel the East-German heartache! After this I lived some time in Neukölln and I actually find Hermannplatz to be the area, which is most metropolitan or most reminds me of London. Now, I live at 01 Alexanderplatz , because of the historical significance, but also the anonymity it offers; I only bump into Scandinavians in their Acne jeans when I walk out the door. SPIRIT OF THE CITY Berlin has less wealth than cities like London and I find it nonhierarchical and in turn less elite and less aggressive. Imagine it’s 5am and there are three people on a bike on a roundabout on their way to some party – this is like some scene from India, but also so Berlin! In London, nobody pays much attention if you are foreign and you can’t keep up with the slang, but here it’s not uncommon for seven Berliners to sit around speaking some shitty English to accommodate the one person who’s lived here for five years and still can’t speak German. History has created a generation of Germans who are incredibly accepting, curious and more adult in some way. SECRET SPOTS Berlin has a special aesthetic and there are unusual sights around practically every corner. On 02 Zehdenicker Strasse in Mitte, there’s a classic, half-decaying building and 03 Knorrpromenade in Friedrichshain has these rather odd pseudo-Greek arches. In winter, I like the stark white of 04 Schneeweiss or the wooden, oven-in-the-corner, bottle-of-schnaps-on-the-table kind of charm of Schlesisch Blau , both serve great food. I also enjoy 05 Baraka and the great mezze plates served in this place with a so-bad-it’s-good Ali Baba cave décor. Berlin is in serious
need of a decent Indian restaurant – watch this space! – but in the meantime, 06 Sigiriya is fresh, friendly and serves tasty Sri Lankan food. DRINK AND DANCE In terms of bars, I’ve got to say 07 Club der Visionäre is great; very busy these days, but I used to work there, so it has a permanent place in my heart. The Bierstube Alt-Berlin is the definitive German pub with a long history. I like to be able to have a dance when I drink and Picknick is very conducive to both activities. If you want to experience the 6am party vibe at a more respectable hour, say 8pm on a Saturday night, then check out Golden Gate , a classic afterhours place with a dingy kind of sound system. Paul Rose aka Scuba has initiated a dupstep event called sub:stance at the infamous Berghain ; the 18-metre high chamber normally reserved for shirtless techno-heads suits the UK bass-driven sound to a tee. For a coffee or a drink 08 Lass Uns Freunde Bleiben in Mitte has a sweet interior and friendly staff. BERLIN DESIGNERS There are some great Berlin designers. ADD and Mosch are personal favourites, and I’ve worked with both for my some of my stage outfits. Starstyling is super shop and a label. Konk is also a nice – if expensive – shop that carries the label C. Neeon , which I really think is a cut above most Berlin designers. Emulgator is a small art/fashion label started in 1998. You basically can’t buy it unless you know Hugo Schneider, but many people do! THE FUTURE Berlin really has a do-it-yourself mentality, and there is still a lot of original stuff going on. But, I also see a tendency to ‘copy and paste’ from other cities to conform to some vision of what a modern capital should be. Decisions like pulling down the 09 Palast der Republik also completely baff le me – they will regret it! My hope for Berlin is that it stays close to its roots. Bringing back the old WMF Club would be an improvement too!
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EB JETSETTING
JOHANN HAEHLING V O N L A N Z E N AU E R gall e r y o w n e r w w w . c i r c l e c u lt u r e . c o m
Wanting to escape the mediocrity of his small but beautiful hometown of Baden Baden in the Black Forest area, Johann Haehling von Lanzenauer moved to Berlin about 14 years ago. Time enough to see the city go through its many changes. In 2001 Johann and his partner Dirk Staudinger founded the art space Circleculture Gallery and a communications company called Circleculture Agency. He curates art shows in the field of urban and street art.
MY BERLIN Berlin is my home. I live in a beautiful old f lat in the Bötzowviertel with direct views to the Volkspark Friedrichshain , which is like a centre court for my social and private life. From there I like to explore new developments in Berlin and in the Brandenburg countryside. Right now it seems like Berlin is sitting between two chairs and there is a lot of change around. Social, architectural and urban structures redefine themselves constantly. And the quality is only getting better. At the end of the day home is where your roots, your family and your friends are. My own Berlin icon? My daughter Yoyo! There is nothing more lovely and more Berlin to my heart. LIVING IN BERLIN Prenzlauerberg is in my eyes the most relaxed area and that’s where I live since 1995. When I’m up for some cosmopolitan street life I go hang out in Kreuzberg. To get the feel of cities Düsseldorf, Hamburg or Munich I travel to the west part of the city, which can make you feel as though you are entering a whole different world. Berlin is incomparable to other cities though. There are still incredibly cheap rents around (though this is changing massively at the moment) and Berlin is a big city, which is nevertheless characterised by understatement and unpretentiousness; it’s an incredibly democratic and open-minded place. STREETLIFE To experience Berlin you’ve have to just stroll the streets. There is so much life and things to see. Coffees, bars, homeless people, tourists, high heels, red necks, geeks, skaters, posers, lovers, lost souls, broken hearts, daydreamers by night, celebs, beautiful loser, bikers, racer, kebab, street artists non-stop, all night. The streetlife of Berlin summer nights has more to offer than any night-club or posh restaurant.
PERSONAL HIDEOUTS Hidden somewhere in the centre of increasingly touristy Berlin Mitte trouble is the 01 Gipsstrasse , where my Gallery is situated. It is really one of my favourite streets in Berlin. Here the streetlife is quiet, small, cosy and easy-going. 02 Café Altes Europa is a lovely, unpretentious hangout with good European fares. I also like the whole vintage feel about the place. My favourite restaurant belongs to friends of mine, Benjamin and Nicole, the restaurant 03 Pappa e Ciccia on the corner of Schwedter Strasse and Choriner Strasse. It’s the perfect pasta place, combining understatement with high style and very friendly staff. In the summer I enjoy having a drink at the Biergarten 04 Zollpackhof . Sitting under the chestnut trees along with a very down to earth crowd you almost get a Bavarian feel (except for the view of the Kanzleramt). In terms of shops it’s always worth to stop in at 05 Hacking for some quirky accessories like bags, wallets, and leather bound books. ESCAPES To me the only thing missing in Berlin is the beach, but for as a getaway from the city in summer I can only recommend the island 06 Usedom where you can find some amazing beaches, interesting architecture and the occasional good meal. From Berlin it’s about two and a half hours drive to the Baltic sea. For some luxurious winter relaxation the 07 Spa of the Hotel de Rome is the place to visit. During the Berlinale Film Festival you can there chill – or get heated up rather – with people like Tarantino, Hillary Swank and Sharon Stone butt naked in the sauna and discuss the geopolitical situation in south west Patagonia.
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SANDRA LIERMANN F a s h i o n e di t o r
Sandra Liermann grew up in bourgeois, family-friendly Wilmersdorf in the west of Berlin and after some years of living abroad returned to the city around the millennium. She works as fashion and style editor for Electronic Beats and will soon launch a clothing line of dresses.
MY BERLIN My relationship with Berlin is like that of a relative. Some days you love them, and others you hate them. You know you can complain endlessly about them because they are a part of you and they can never really get rid of you. When I returned to Berlin after living away for some years I was constantly comparing Berlin to other metropolises, and it was not faring well. That was at the end of the nineties when Berlin was still quite divided, full of construction sites and completely without glamour of any sorts. Now I’ve made peace with the city and really enjoy living here. Berlin is liberal, low maintenance and the perfect place to come home to if you manage to get away every once in a while. LIVING IN BERLIN Berlin’s different neighbourhoods are very diverse and unique. There is Mitte, the heart of the city, with its historic sights, museum quarters and buzzing streets lined with shops, galleries and trendy restaurants. Then you have family-friendly Prenzlauerberg with its vibrant café-scene, Charlottenburg with its beautiful old buildings and chic boutiques or eclectic and bohemian Kreuzberg. These days the whole concept of living in a hip area is not as important anymore, it’s more about finding the environment you’re most comfortable in. The areas are less transient and driven by development, instead there's a desire to settle in and fine tune what you've got. EATING OUT There truly are enough places in Berlin to suit every gusto. But then, somehow I tend to end up in the same venues all the time. The two restaurants I go to frequently are the 01 Grill Royal and the 02 Borchardt . The Borchardt is a classic with an elegant brasserie-style interior and a cosmopolitan cuisine. The Wiener Schnitzel is a favourite. The Grill has been open for a year and a half now and the chic venue with its deep seating and its prime location right on the river quickly advanced to become the playground for the handsome and wealthy. In terms of the food, however, I can honestly say that the steak is one of a kind! 03 Calice on the west side of Walter Benjamin Square is my favourite Italian in any season. They have an amazing wine list and their antipasti platter is sensational. A very unpretentious, little restaurant
is 04 Simon , where Simon himself makes sure your every need is catered to. The terrace on the Gips-triangle is a lovely hangout for warm summer nights. 05 Bandol on Torstrasse serves French food to an artsy clientele. SHOPPING Berlin is not exactly a shopping mecca, but you do get by just fine. We’ve got almost all the big names (only Prada f led) and some of them even twice that is one in the east (Friedrichsstr.) and one in the west (Kudamm). The most established lifestyle empire is the department store in 06 Quartier 206 . Stretched over two f loors is a great selection of fashion for both genders, including accessories, cosmetics, one-off compilations and musthaves by the likes of Lanvin, J. Mendel, Marni, Jimmy Choo and Proenza Schouler. They also house a café, a great f lorist, and a space for art photography. The 07 Corner is serious fashion on a great scale. Phillip Lim, Derek Lam, Alaia, Balmain you name them. Due to the impeccable taste of the two owners this concept-store features clothes, accessories and selected books and magazines in sleek surroundings. One of my favourite boutiques is 08 Schwarzhogerzeil . It carries great brands for girls such as Isabel Marant, Velvet, Cacharel and Tsumoro Chisato. The 09 Chelsea Farmer’s Club is a great playground for ladies and gentleman. And then there is also the 10 Andreas Murkudis shop hidden in a courtyard off Münzstrasse where the international fashion f lock goes. The store has Kostas Murkudis, Margiela, Nymphenburg and many more. ESCAPES For that old Prussian feel I enjoy cycling through the 11 Tiergarten in the morning. It’s got lovely old trees, small lakes and ponds and endless byways. In the summer the best way to wash of the city dust is to have a swim in Potsdam’s 12 Heiliger See . Supposedly it has healing waters.
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TOM CLARK DJ/ L abel owner w w w . h ig h g r ad e - r e c o r d s . d e
The charming born and bred Berliner Tom Clark has been a fixture of the local and international DJ circuit since the nineties. In 2000, he also started his own label, Highgrade Records, and although he could quite easily see himself living in another place – South America, for example – he admits that while working so actively in the electronic music scene, there’s simply no better city than Berlin.
GROWING UP IN BERLIN I grew up in Berlin Lichtenrade, the former West. From there, I moved to Tempelhof, Lankwitz, Schöneberg and Kreuzberg. For the last eight years, I have been living in Friedrichshain, which is not everyone’s thing, but I like not living in some very thought-out, redesigned period building with a bunch of uptight and narrow-minded suits. Friedrichshain has the advantage of being in the middle of the city, there’s a massive choice of bars and clubs, but also plenty of quiet corners that still convey a real feeling of a Berlin neighbourhood. CITY WITH A DIFFERENCE Through my work I’ve experienced many large cities on practically every continent, and still I would say that in terms of personal freedom, the affordable high standard of living and an unbelievable nightlife, other major cosmopolitan cities just don’t come close. Berlin is also a completely different place to the rest of Germany. It is becoming more and more a genuine cultural melting pot, and this internationality and diversity is not something you come across in quite the same way in other German cities. The Berlin bear remains the ultimate symbol of Berlin for me. Back in the day when there was still the border control between East and West and you drove to the city past Dreilinden or Reinickendorf, it was always a joy to see the bear at the city limit – you just got that feeling of coming home. A BERLIN EXPERIENCE Berlin is a city with a very individual spirit, which is hard to pinpoint in words, but is easily recognisable when you see or experience it. One of my everyday favourite scenes is walking across the 01 Oberbaumbrücke as the sun is setting. You have a view to the TV Tower , the East Side Gallery and the Spree, which now instead of dividing the city runs as a life-giving artery around which more and more restaurants, bars and other alternative projects are springing up. I also really enjoy these moments in summer between about 4 and 5am; the city is for a short time like a ghost town, with hardly any cars on the streets. In summer having a good time is no effort - a drink in a beer garden, 02 Golgatha in Kreuzberg for example, followed by a short
walk in the beautiful Viktoriapark is all you need. Or barbequing with friends in the park! This perfectly illustrates Berlin's exceptionality – in what other European capital would you be allowed to do this? EATING OUT The selection of quality restaurants is always improving. I have a couple of favourites that have a cosy atmosphere, interesting clientele and of course great dishes. For Italian, there’s 03 Trattoria Libau in Friedrichshain and Il Contadina Sotto le Stelle in Mitte. Sasaya in Prenzlauberg is excellent Japanese, and Café im Grenzbereich , right next to the Oberbaumbrücke, serves delicious pan-Asian food. For something special, the restaurant at 04 Bar 25 offers dishes that are really a cut above, all in an unusual atmosphere offering comfort, as well as a certain coolness-factor. Aside from this I have a number of great little places across town where you can get good-value and tasty food. CLASSIC BARS In terms of bars, I tend to find over-styled places quite boring and so I’d rather hang out somewhere like the 05 Ankerklause in Kreuzberg, which – although it has the vibe of an old Hamburg sailor inn – is a true Berlin institution. I do have a few places if I want to impress guests, like 06 Sanatorium 23, Goldfisch or 07 CSA Bar, all in Friedrichshain. Bar 25 and Club der Visionäre are also classic Berlin summer venues. THE CAPITAL OF HANGING OUT Taking it easy in Berlin is…well, easy! There are so many open spaces and parks to escape to. I prefer the 08 Volkspark Friedrichshain and Volkspark Treptow , where the impressive Soviet memorial, is situated.
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BEST OF Restaurants Bandol sur Mer Torstraße 167 | Mitte Tel.+ 49 (0) 30 67 30 20 51
Baraka Lausitzer Platz 6 | Kreuzberg
Borchardt Französische Str. 47 | Mitte Tel.+ 49 (0) 30 81886262
Chez Gino Wrangelstr. 43 | Kreuzberg Tel.+ 49 (0) 30 69506525
Cookies’s Cream Friedrichstrasse / Unter den Linden | Mitte cookiescream.com
Curry 36
Schlesisch Blau Köpenickstrasse 1a | Kreuzberg
Schneeweiss Simplonstraße 16 | Friedrichshain Tel.+ 49 (0) 30 29 04 97 04 www.schneeweiss-berlin.de
Sigiriya Grünebergstrasse 66 | Friedrichshain Tel.+ 49 (0) 30 29 04 42 08 www.restaurant-sigiriya.de
Trattoria Libau Libauerstrasse 10 | Friedrichshain Tel.+ 49 (0) 30 25 76 85 29
Cafes Barcomi´s Deli
Mehringdamm 36 | Kreuzberg
Sophienstraße 21 | Mitte www.barcomis.de
Grill Royal
Bonanza Coffee Heroes
Friedrichstr. 105 b | Mitte Tel.+ 49 (0) 30 28 87 92 88 www.grillroyal.com
Il Calice Walter-Benjamin-Platz 4 | Charlottenburg Tel.+ 49 (0) 30 3242308 www.enoiteca-il-calice.de
Il Contadina Sotto le Stelle
Oderberger Strasse 35 | Prenzlauer Berg www.bonanzacoffee.de
Café Altes Europa Gipsstraße 11 | Mitte Tel.+ 49 (0) 30 28093840.
Café Bravo Auguststr. 69 | Mitte
Café Einstein Stammhaus
Mädchenitaliener
Café im Grenzbereich
Pappa e Ciccia Schwedter Str. 18 | Mitte Tel.+ 49 (0) 30 61620801 www.pappaeciccia.de
Sasaya Lychenerstrasse 50 | Prenzlauberg Tel.+ 49 (0) 30 44717721
Simon Auguststraße 53 | Mitte Tel. +49 (0) 30 27 89 03 00
Ankerklause Kottbusser Damm 104 | Kreuzberg www.ankerklause.de
Bar 25 Holzmarktstr. 25 | Friedrichshain www.bar25.de
Berghain Am Wriezener Bahnhof | Friedrichshain www.berghain.de
Bierstube Alt-Berlin Münzstrasse 23 | Mitte
Clärchens Ballhaus Auguststraße 24 | Mitte www.ballhaus.de
Club der Visionäre Am Flutgraben 2 | Kreuzberg www.clubdervisionaererecords.com
CSA® Karl-Marx-Allee 96 | Friedrichshain www.csa-bar.de
Golden Gate Dircksenstr.77 | Mitte www.goldengate-berlin.de
Goldfisch Grünbergerstraße 67 | Friedrichshain
Auguststr. 34 | Mitte Tel.+ 49 (0) 30 281 90 23 www.alcontadino.com
Alte Schönhauser Str. 12 | Mitte Tel.+ 49 (0) 30 40041787
Bars&Clubs
Kurfürstenstraße 58 | Tiergarten www.cafeeinstein.com
Golgatha Dudenstrasse 40 | Kreuzberg www.golgatha-berlin.de
Falckensteinstrasse 44a | Friedrichshain
Kirk
Galao
Skaliltzerstrasse 75 | Kreuzberg www.kirkbar-berlin.de
Weinbergsweg 8 | Mitte www.galao-berlin.de
Luxus Bar Belforter Str. 18 | Prenzlauer Berg
Lass uns Freunde Bleiben Choriner Str.12 | Mitte www.ruf-mich-nie-wieder-an.de
Picknick
Milchhalle
Sanatorium 23
Auguststr. 58 | Mitte
Nola's am Weinberg Veteranenstraße 9 | Mitte www.nola.de
Dorotheenstrasse 90 | Mitte
Frankfurter Allee 23 | Friedrichshain www.sanatorium23.de
Tausend Schiffabauerdamm 11 | Mitte www.tausendberlin.de
BERLIN Shops ADD available at Temporaryshowroom | Kastanienallee 36a www.add-contact.com
Andreas Murkudis Münzstraße 21 | Mitte
Apartment Memhardstraße 8 | Mitte www.apartmentberlin.de
Belleville Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 27 | Mitte www.belleville-store.de
Best Shop Alte Schönhauser Str. 6 | Mitte www.bestshop-berlin.de
Chelsea Farmer’s Club Veteranenstraße 23 | Mitte Bleibtreustraße 40 | Charlottenburg www.chelseafarmersclub.de
The Corner Knesebeckstr.32 | Charlottenburg Französische Strasse 40 | Mitte www.thecornerberlin.de
Departmentstore/Quartier 206 Friedrichstraße 71 | Mitte www.departmentstore-quartier206.com
NO 74 Torstraße 74 | Mitte www.no74-berlin.com
Petite Boutique Auguststraße 58 | Mitte www.petite-boutique-berlin.de
PRO QM Almstadtstraße 48-50 | Mitte www.pro-qm.de
Emulgator www.3mulgator.com
F95 Frankfurter Allee 95-97 | Friedrichshain www.f95store.com
Herr von Eden Alte Schönhauser Straße 4 | Mitte www.herrvoneden.com
Konk Kleine Hamburger Strasse 15 | Mitte www.konk-berlin.de
Michalsky Boutique Monbijouplatz 4 | Mitte www.michalsky.com
Heiliger See Berliner Straße | Potsdam
Spa of the Hotel de Rome Behrenstraße 3 |Mitte www.hotelderome.com
Volkspark Friedrichshain Landsberger Allee | Friedrichshain
Schwarzhogerzeil Mulackstraße 28 | Mitte www.schwarzhogerzeil.de
Starstyling Mulackstrasse 4 | Mitte www.starstyling.net
Strange Fruit Markgrafenstraße 33 | Mitte www.strangefruitberlin.com
Temporary Showroom Kastanienallee 36a | Prenzlauer Berg www.temporaryshowroom.com
Über Auguststr. 26a | Mitte www.ueber-store.de
Wood Wood Rochstr. 4 |Mitte www.woodwood.dk
The Different Scent Krausnickstraße 12 | Mitte www.thedifferentscent.com
Unwind
Hotels Arcotel Velvet Oranienburger Straße 52 | Mitte www.arcotel.at/velvet
Arte Luise Kunsthotel Luisenstr. 19 |Mitte www.luise-berlin.com
Die Fabrik Schlesische Straße 18 |Kreuzberg www.diefabrik.com
Dorint Sofitel Berlin Gendarmenmarkt Charlottenstr. 50-52 | Mitte www.accorhotels.com
Helter Skelter Hostel Kalkscheunenstr 4-5 | Mitte www.helterskelterhostel.de
Honigmond Garden Hotel
Culture Bauhaus Archiv Klingelhöferstraße 14 www.bauhaus.de |Tiergarten
Circleculture Gallery Gipsstrasse 11 | Mitte www.circleculture-gallery.com
East Side Gallery Mühlenstraße | Friedrichshain www.eastsidegallery-berlin.de
Hamburger Bahnhof Invalidenstraße 50-51 | Moabit www.smb.museum
Kunstwerke Berlin Auguststr. 69 | Mitte www.kw-berlin.de
Invalidenstrasse 122 www.honigmond-berlin.de
Josty Brauerei Bergstrasse 22 | Mitte www.josty-brauerei.de
Lux Eleven Rosa-Luxemburg Str. 9-13 | Mitte www.designhotels.com
Mandala Potsdamer Str. 3 | Tiergarten www.themandala.de
Motel One Berlin Dircksenstraße 36 | Mitte www.motel-one.com
Park Inn Berlin Alexanderplatz 7 | Mitte www.rezidorparkinn.com
ART WOR K
L I S A BOR G ES
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MUSIC REVIEWS
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HEAR THIS All you music nerds can rest a ssured; we have the latest and g reatest tunes for you to ca st your careful eye over in our review’s section. And if you want a g reat new playlist t o download,
check
out the Collector’s Guide to Musical Geeks that includes gems from Devo, Erlend Øye and Jef f Mills.
S ’ R O T C E L L O C E TH GU I D E T O M U S I CA L G E E K S T ext
V ik t o r ia P e ll e s
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THEC I T Y THEC I T Y
JAKE MANDELL
KELLEY POLAR
The Prince and the Palm
Entropy Reigns I Need You To Hold On When The Sky Is Falling / 2008 While pursuing an advanced degree at the illustrious Juilliard School in New York – from which he was eventually expelled, dispelling the myth that all geeks are teacher’s pets – prize-winning viola player Kelley assembled a group of Juilliard players and as the Kelley Polar Quartet provided the signature sound to Metro Area’s first record. His latest album is drenched in heart-tugging strings, continually references Greek philosophy, which when combined with the distance of glassy pop synth, creates this inexplicably magical and cosmic space.
Love Songs for Machines / 2001
Mandell is a highly reputed music producer, who previously lived in Berlin working as product manager at Native Instruments. Now he studies Internal Medicine in Boston in order to understand ‘the neurology of music’. You must check out his ‘musical skills tests’ on jakemandell.com, where you can measure your ‘musical visual intelligence’ and even be graded – nerd heaven! More important though are his music productions, which all beautifully ref lect a fine, cerebral mind.
BECK Gamma Ray Modern Guilt / 2008 Beck is super-stylish, knows how to dance and has made consistently edgy music since his teens. All this makes him the coolest rock star that ever lived, but the eternally translucent-skinned and skinny-framed Beck remains this sort of gawkish, outsider-character, incredibly prolific in his field and never afraid to follow ideas, in which others may have no interest. And anyway, is there anything geekier than a gamma ray?
DEVO Through Being Cool New Traditionalists /1981 The original geeky misfits, Devo took its name from their own concept of devo-lution; the idea that mankind is regressing rather than evolving as evidenced by the dysfunction and herd mentality of modern society. Labelled fascists by some critics, Devo’s brand of irony was obviously a tad too clever for some, as their atonal melodies and distinctive imagery was all about championing individuality and emotional expression.
AKIKO KIYAMA The Innocent 7 Years / 2008 It’s incredibly difficult to label women in music nerdy – they’re always so damn cool. Akiko is no exception but there must be a token female, and she has a classical music education, produces tracks on a laptop that are so superbly intricate, progressive and twisted at the same time that she will just have to do.
JAMES PANTS Space Date We’re Through / 2008 You know your friend’s dorky little brother, who you were constantly kicking out of the room? Yeah well, he’s grown up now (but kind of looks the same) and he’s turned his love of random old records, cheap equipment and goofing off into a rare and super-fresh sound, which got him signed to supreme hip-hop label Stones Throw and probably also made him something of a heartthrob. Not that this lone music obsessive seems to care much, he’s happy living life in the sleepy city of Spokane, Washington creating really deliciously freaky eighties boogie.
ART OF NOISE Moments in Love Single 7"/ 1985 Taking their name from a futurist manifesto written in 1913, this avantgarde synth-pop group aimed to blur the lines between art and its creator and so appeared to the public as a faceless group, meaning band members wore masks in the photos taken. The music is equally ambitious and clever, and Art of Noise is known for novel melodic sound-collages based on digital sampler technology, which was new at the time. ‘Moments in Love’ is a 10 minute ode to sensuality, and nerdiness never sounded so sexy.
CARIBOU Melody Day Andorra / 2007 The offspring of two mathematics professors, Dr. Daniel Snaith also completed a Ph.D. in mathematics, but is also a name in the electronic music world since 2000. First under the moniker Manitoba and later Caribou, a name allegedly chosen while on an LSD trip in the wild. These two words – LSD and wild – also nicely sum up Caribou’s more recent swirling and spaced out releases. Chaos with mathematical precision, if you like.
JEFF MILLS Robot Replica Metropolis / 2000 The master of live DJ sets, Mills’ legendary turntable skills require three decks, a Roland 909 drum machine and 70 records in an hour. Tracks (mostly his own compositions) are fragmented and transformed into relentless sound collages. But in true music nerd fashion, Mills continues to push his vision further and is now somewhere on the outer realms of epic techno with work such as his re-scoring of Metropolis and the album Blue Potential, recorded with the Montpellier Philharmonic Orchestra.
ERLEND ØYE Every Party Unrest / 2003 Erlend Øye is the quintessential skinny European white boy. Bespectacled geek chic at its absolute finest. Gangly limbs, porcelain skin… but we digress. So yeah, the music – well, that’s not bad either! As one half of Kings of Convenience, frontman of The Whitest Boy Alive, or in any one of his solo efforts, Erlend spreads loveliness and delight with his engaging harmonies and bittersweet anecdotes in a hushed vocal delivery.
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MUSIC REVI EWS RE V I EWS G a r e t h O w e n / NE A L E LY TO L L I S
OUR TE URI O V FA
RITON Eine Klein Nacht Music
VARIOUS ARTISTS Ed Rec Vol III
CRYSTAL CASTLES Crystal Castles
THE MOLE As High As The Sky
(Modular)
(Ed Banger Records)
(Different)
(Wagon Repair)
The latest from one of the most versatile and consistently interesting producers around This project gestated from his recent interest in what the English call, rather crudely, Krautrock – the experimental sounds of bands like DAF. This release should shine as an example to dance-f loor producers who want to do something different AND interesting. Riton bought together a small band of musicians for his own micro orchestra, but the sound they have created is far from small. From epic string-soaked soundscapes, to jolly numbers with glockenspiels this is much more homage than copy. G o
When hype starts to roll and the press are all falling over themselves to lick your boots, then you have your work cut out to keep improving your product rather than bask in the spotlight and put out trash because you think you can get away with it. Media reaction is seldom the fault of the artists themselves but can be utterly ruinous to a career (Arctic Monkeys anyone?) and make us all wonder what the fuss was all about in the first place. If this compilation is a sign of things to come then Ed Banger need to buck up their ideas super quick. N L
Six months ago, it seemed that Justice were going to take over the world. Now attention has shifted to the new craze du jour, namely Canada’s Crystal Castles. They have finally dropped one of this year’s most hotly anticipated records, a fuzzy mixture of distorted vocals, broken up beats and brain fucking chiptunery. Admittedly, the band has a very unique approach to songwriting and structure, but time will tell if their brand of insane Gameboy hijinks will stand the test of time or become just another over-hyped curio. NL
A veteran of numerous Wagon Repair singles and several acclaimed performances at Montreal’s Mutek festival, it’s about time The Mole set his sights on a long player and As High As The Sky is a record that doesn’t disappoint. From the bouncy opening refrain of ‘Still In My Corner’, the album settles into a dark collection of deep house tracks featuring bass-heavy disco hooks and eccentric drum patterns. It’s an unassuming debut and a reassuring taste of things to come. NL
MUSIC REVIEWS
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DIGITALISM Kitsune Tabloid Mix
PONI HOAX Images of Sigrid
MÄRTINI BRÖS The MB Factor
(Kitsune)
(Tigersushi)
(Poker Flat)
New mix from Digitalism, who have been a bit quiet of late, on French fash’ label Kitsuné. On first glance, this looked a bit too similar to the recent Boyz Noize Suck My Deck compilation for me to review – lots of tracks, lots of hits, not really my bag at all. However, upon closer inspection I was, I have to say, pleasantly surprised. OK, it’s pretty heavy going and relentless – subtlety is not their strong point, and I would never usually reach for a CD that contains Calvin Harris, The Kills, The Presets, etc... Somehow though, his mix won me over. For a start, they have managed to shoehorn in some bands I like; B-52s, Hercules & Love Affair and The Human League. I am sure this will sound as dated as the Bay City Rollers in a year’s time, but for now, if you want to know what the f luoro kids of pogo are up to in towns and cities all over Europe, there are few better places to start than this. G o
“An own private Vietnam”, exclaims boozy frontman Nicolas Ker. Either he’s singing about his inner demons – of which we’re convinced he has many – or Paris is experiencing a public transport strike. Whichever it is, Images of Sigrid is more high-class French electronica, slickly produced once again by Joakim, somewhat darker than its predecessor, yet at the same time, eminently more enjoyable. NL
10-year anniversary mix from the Märtini Brös on – you guessed it – Poker Flat. This is a straight up DJ mix that touches base with all of their sonic experiments from the last 10 years. And pretty good it is too. If you are not familiar with their sound; deep, playful house and techno, then there is no better place to start than this. If you are already familiar and like their work, then this mix encapsulates their sound perfectly. The only grumble is that an unmixed version doesn’t look like it will see the light of day anytime soon. Go
FRISKA VILJOR Tour de Hearts (Devil Duck Records)
Someone once said that twee pop music that does nothing other than make you feel all happiness and light was shallow and ultimately worthless. Well, that person is officially an arse as Swedish popsters Friska Viljor prove here on their second LP. ‘Old Man’ is a corker of a track and is sure to top summer playlists the world over. N L
POP LEVI Never Never Love (Counter Records)
Well well, the Pop is back! Second LP Never Never Love, from one of pop’s most enigmatic characters, is a slightly more chaotic and experimental effort in comparison with his magnificent debut, yet he’s lost none of his hypnotic power to get your hips swinging along to the twangy guitar hooks and seventies-style echoing vocals. Dig out your super-tight dungarees from the dressing up box, jump into a glittery Mini Moke and celebrate the final hazy days of summer in style. NL
BLANK AND JONES The Logic of Pleasure (Soundcolours)
Cologne-based Blank and Jones have been making music since the mid-nineties and The Logic of Pleasure is their eighth studio album. Eleven tracks of smooth electro, this combines elements of slick pop and thumping trance and guest artists such as Claudia Brücken (formerly of Propaganda) and New Order’s Bernard Sumner are present and correct for vocal duties. There are even rumours of a special remix album in the offing proving that B+J have still got it going on. NL
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KIDDA Going Out
UH HUH HER Common Reaction
MUNK Cloudbuster
(Skint)
(Nettwerk Music Group)
(Gomma)
Kidda hail from Brighton and are f lying the f lag as the best of British music with this, a masterstoke of an album that deftly combines infectious, summery pop with street smart hip-hop and the odd fiftiesera doo-wop vocal hook. If this isn’t a contender for one of the best debuts of 2008, then I’ll go back to listening to Ed Banger records while I simultaneously eat my own head. Promise! NL
American two-piece Uh Huh Her probably have one of the strangest band names in music today but don’t let that put you off. The angular cover art alone, with its shades of purple, screams style and this is a slick pop record. In fact, it’s The Bangles, Visage, Human League and Susan Fassbender all rolled into one. Dig out your Regency pantaloons, slap on some kohl and hang around neon-lit synthy nightclubs looking morose. It’s here - welcome to 1981. NL
Third album from New Yorkers Munk. Full of nice little touches, and a sound that is both current and retro, this is taking the whole disco / electro sound where Headman should have gone. However, to call this either disco or electro would not really be accurate. Electronic music for nightclubs and home listening is a better fit. With current single 'Live Fast Die Old' firing up the feet in various forms, Munk clearly have an ear for a tune, but it is on the album where you can find the real treats. No Milk is unsettlingly strange, wearing it's 80's inf luence clearly on it's sleeve, but with a surreal rant over the top where Nights Of Heliopolis is what they call 'perfect pop'. All round a pretty good and, ahem, well rounded album. I particularly enjoyed the liberal smattering of pianos.. Go
VAROIUS ARTISTS DFA Presents Nobody Knows Anything (Supersoul Recordings)
RADIO SLAVE Grindhouse Remixes
Available for the first time digitally, these tracks have all been previously available on vinyl, and have been doing some serious damage on dance f loors from New York to Timbuktu to Pluto no doubt. With inf luences drawn from almost every conceivable area of electronic music, the overall impression is of a laser freak-out, with slightly more subdued passages. Perhaps when they turn off warp drive. Label boss Xaver Naudascher appears more than once, in fact four times with partner in crime Paul Mogg for all parts of their massive Moon Unit, as well as several of his own efforts. For all out silliness it has to be Plastique De Reve’s reworking of Vangelis, but the killer cut on these 2 CDs is Walter Jones’ with I-F’s edit of Deuteronomy Brown. Go
(Rekids)
HEAVY. After mulling over suitably descriptive phrases, and coming up with several, I opted for the ‘simple is best’ approach. For those in the know (attendees, anyone who has read a music magazine), the Dubfire mix of Radio Slave’s Grindhouse was the killer hit at this year’s Miami WMC….. cha cha. Does that mean it is any good? Yes in short. It’s the best thing on here. I am a big fan of Radio Slave – I firmly believe in working against genres, and not within them, and that’s just what Matt Radio Slave does. For those completely unfamiliar to what I am talking about, this is dub infused, gritty dancef loor techno. Three different mixes, like I said, head straight for the Dubfire mix. Go
MUSIC REVIEWS
VARIOUS ARTIST Seed Records Volume Two
JON SA TRINXA Balearic Beach Sessions
(Seed Records)
(Azuli)
Though they seem to have been around forever, this is only the second label compilation from Seed, the left-field label dealing in the far-f lung outposts of electronic music (the first is changing hands for silly money on the web). Seed have been busy; throwing parties in disused prisons and underground stations and releasing music that is about as far from the mainstream as you can get, so maybe another label comp’ wasn’t high up on their list of priorities. Here, they give us a selection of IDM, techno, acid as well as some slightly more esoteric music that at times verges on the challenging. Well, what right-minded genre pushers don’t make us feel uncomfortable from time to time? The likes of Alexander Robotnick (not Italo disco as some would have you believe – I don’t think there is much that Mr Robotnick has done recently that would fit in to that genre), Neil Landstrumm and recent Warp signing, The Doubtful Guest, provide the stand out tracks in my opinion. Definitely not for everyone but I have a sneaky feeling that that’s just how Seed like it. G O
Summer is here! (Or it is at the time of writing) So it must be time for some sunny, summery, easy-on-the-ears compilations, right? Right. Jon Sa Trinxa has been resident on Ibiza’s Salinas beach for some time now, 15 years in fact. That’s a long time playing at the same place more than once a week, but then again, if you have ever been to Salinas you will know that it is a beautiful beach, full of beautiful people, so I can kind of see his reasons for sticking around. As you may expect, this mix is never going to break any boundaries – the Balearic sound always has an eye on the past, but there are some definite stand out tracks – Wild Rumpus ‘Musical BlazeUp’ is one that springs to mind. Without the benefit of beaches and bare breasts though, it is hard to completely buy into those sunny vibes, in landlocked Berlin. G o
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SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO Sample and Hold (Witchita)
It seems that if you even so much as blink these days you miss yet another SMD release. Hot on the heels of the fabulous Clock EP is this remix album featuring interpretations of all those tasty Attack Decay Sustain Release tracks by the likes of Joakim and Simon Baker. Ultimately, it’s a somewhat uninspired effort with few stand out tracks and therefore smacks of being slightly unnecessary. However, there is one bright spot; a return to the musical radar of the mighty Silver Apples who work their magic on closing cut Scott. NL
HADOUKEN! Music For An Accelerated Culture (Surface Noise)
What can I say? London dudes Hadouken! have captured the zeitgeist of everything that’s less than impressive about the youth of the UK on a cracker of an album, brimming to bursting with jagged guitar hooks, savage drumming and rough ‘n’ ready electro beats. Covering topics such as commercialism, binge drinking and gang culture it’s a savage, angry record and as much musical masterstroke as it is social commentary. NL
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EB HEAR THIS
PRINS THOMAS / VARIOUS The Greatest Tits Vol 1 (Full Pupp)
SISTER CHAIN & BROTHER JOHN Darkness To Warm Your Heart (Dwarf haus Records)
TRENTEMØLLER Live In Concert Ep - Roskilde Festival (Poker Flat)
WARREN SUICIDE Requiem for a Missing Link (Shitkatapult)
Warren is back and seems to have gone through some Hollywood-style rehab/psychoanalysis process and come out of the other end vaguely smiling. He’s jumped over onto Shitkatapult and seems not quite the dark character he used to be, picked up a rock groove along the way and has even gone all tribal and got himself some cool new togs from African Apparel. Go Warren! N L
Trentemøller has been a bit quiet recently, not that his output has ever been that prolific mind. Perhaps he was worried about dropping off the dance music radar, as his latest release is a live recording of his set at last years Roskilde festival, apparently taken straight from the sound board. This is a digital only release, and has the feel of being rushed out. I don't want to hear a crowd screaming and cheering with every breakdown, or change in the music. It takes away from the complex subtleties of his music - the things that make it so good in my mind. It certainly doesn't convey atmosphere. Get the originals - any tweaks made to these songs live are ruined by the constant cheers. And they are constant. Perhaps he was playing naked. Go
Prins Thomas, but no Lindstrom. Across two CD’s? Hmm…interesting. Perhaps all is not well in our favourite Norwegian musical marriage. I think not… Whatever the reasons, this double CD – one mixed, one not – is effectively the calling card for Oslo’s class of 2008 on Thomas’ own Full Pupp Label. There are a whole host of familiar and not so familiar names here giving us a very broad choice of ‘dance music’ (I am done with genres today). Retro futuristic – a phrase I happily stole from the press release – sums things up. Nu Disco is so 2006. Hard to pick a highlight out as I am feeling quite a lot of love for this pair of tits. Generally there are a lot of bongos, and elements that sound somewhat like progressive electronica and funked up basslines galore. Some filler for sure, but it’s not much and to boot the mix is pretty damn tasty – Thomas takes some of the more noodling tracks and brings out their inner dancers to full effect. GO
Coming on like something in between Badlands and a Charles Dickens novel, Sister Chain & Brother John have delivered an album I can safely say is not like anything else I have heard this year Their songs are 21st century parlour tales, self-contained fables that conjure up images of checked shirts, diners and dark hearts. This is Wild at Heart without the happy ending. Sister Chain sings in a unique style over Brother John’s simple rhythmic bass lines and guitar hooks. Joanna Newsom is an obvious, but also lazy comparison. An air of melancholy runs through most of this, their debut album, but dig a little bit deeper and there is a dry wit and comic absurdity completely missing from the majority of most of the music that passes my way. I think if I am honest, you will either hate this, or more hopefully, you will love and cherish it. Subversive, interesting and unique. What more could you want? GO
MUSIC REVIEWS
TOBY TOBIAS Space Shuff le
BETT Y BOTOX Mmmm Betty!
(Rekids)
(Endless Flight)
According to the Toby himself his sound is like Gino Soccio and Sly & Robbie performing a scientific experiment in space, and well, that’s pretty much his sound. Lush funky rhythms with more than a hint of the cosmic about them dominate this album. He has even roped in songstress of the moment Kathy Diamond for some vocal duties, and although that space disco sound of 2008 is ref lected, this is one complete piece of work that can be listened to over and over again. I know, I have. It is often a bit depressing to have to shoehorn artists into categories, to reduce all their work into a couple of pat phrases, and I am not going to do that here. If you like electronic music – whatever you’re persuasion, check this out. It’s great! GO
Amazing compilations seem to be the order of the day right now. This selection of edits explores some of the more esoteric areas of the whole disco no disco sound. So that means The Residents, progressive rockers Hawkwind and the Jellies nestling up to the likes of Severed Heads. However, this sounds a whole lot more challenging than it actually is. Twitch takes what are some pretty obscure cuts, and brings out their inner beauty. In almost every case, he has taken something relatively inaccessible (in terms of finding the originals at least), and made it just that bit more palatable. In fact, he has done some of the best edits I have heard in a while. Excellent. Go
VARIOUS ARTISTS Space Oddities DOES IT OFFEND YOU, YEAH? You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into (Virgin)
DIOYY? hail from Reading in the UK and are riding the current wave of brilliant electro music currently coming from the island. While their debut LP is not totally devoid of charm and their live shows are becoming nothing short of legendary, it all seems to be trying just a little bit too hard. Catching a wave is one thing, but making your own mark is another. The Whip and Autokratz are doing this kind of thing much better. N L
(Permanent Vacation)
The latest offering from Munich’s Permanent Vacation; a collection of rare library recordings, dug out of dusty vaults, and released for your enjoyment. I like this. A lot. Weird sounds, off kilter melodies, cosmic beats and enough low rent electronics to send a gerbil into space, but, I would be lying if I said I had never heard this kind of stuff before, and you likely have too. It all makes me wonder if there is anything truly new still to be found in the past. Don’t take my word though, dig it out and take a listen (and enjoy the amazing artwork too). GO
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EB HEAR THIS
MY SIC MU T MEN MO
ErrorSM ITH A music obsessive to the core, Erik Wiegand is maybe an inconspicuous presence in the vastness of the Berlin electronic scene, but his productions, whether in collaborative projects like MMM, Smith n Hack or under the moniker Errorsmith (his solo project), are anything but low profile. For this issue, Erik remembers discovering Colombia’s traditional sound whilst on tour with legendary Berlin video artist group, Visomat.
I nterview
V I K TOR I A P E L L ES
In 2003, Visomat, a VJ crew at that time, were invited to play in Colombia and asked me to join them to make an audio video concert together. I hadn’t been to South America before so I was very excited, especially about the music. While we were there, I listened to the radio a lot and there was this one track that really stood out. It was something of a summer hit in Colombia that year and on heavy rotation. We’d be hearing it every time we got in a cab. It sounded like no other song they were playing. It had a pounding techno beat composed of carnival street drum samples. Super fast, around 160 BPM in a very ‘in-your-face’ production! Apparently, the song is about a dancing turtle. The singing interlocks with a nice thin sound from wind instruments I’d never heard before. I found out that it was a remix of an acoustic track by Los Alfa 8 called ‘El Baile de la Tortuga’; the original is nice
PHOTo
vi s o mat i n c .
too. I couldn’t find out who made the remix, and I don’t have a good sounding copy of it. In DJ sets I still play out the distorted radio recording I made back then! During the stay, I found lots of other great music too, mostly traditional. I fell in love with the soulful organ playing of Jaime Llano Gonzalez. On the f lea market I bought some Cumbia compilations and even found some superb field recordings of traditional music from Colombia’s Atlantic coast. The fact that I liked the traditional music so much made me wish I had grown up in a country where I could embrace and draw inspiration from the traditions more. I grew up in Germany and to me, most of the good music came, and still does come from far away, not from my homeland. I always thought that’s normal, but during this trip I realised it isn’t. It made me feel I’m missing something. w w w . e r r o r s mi t h . d e
I
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The Electronic beats Magazine Issue 03/2008
Issue 03/2008
...AND THE GEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH!
The Electronic beats Magazine For Music, Life and STyle
The modern misf its issue, featuring: To p Ne r d s o f Po p C u l t u r e, Grand Geeky- Chic, Berliners on Berlin Inter views with Neonman, John Sa Trinxa, autoKratz and more!