TEA Podcast #14 - Dolan Bergin

At the moment in London, booking a big name act, securing a reputable venue and slapping together an aesthetically pleasing flyer just won't cut it for the average London reveller. House is a feeling and so should to the party it's being played in.

Avoiding the cliche of the bigger the better, Dolan Bergin's Electric Minds loft parties offer a smaller crowd the chance to carouse amid a cosy party atmosphere. Loft warmers so far included Session Victim, Move D, Jay Shepheard, Kassem Mosse and San Soda & Red D. On the record label side of things Electric Minds disco tip has seen releases from Yam Who?, Gatto Fritto, Max Essa and Ilija Rudman. More recently the label has shifted to a deeper sound with 4 lovely cuts from the mysterious GHL/Endian.

If Dolan Bergin was to come across as a shady east end promoter chances are he'd be driving around with a number plate reading "FINGERZPIEZ", but he is far to modest for that. From his inner north-east London warehouse beginnings in 2005, to his revered Electric Minds loft parties of today, Bergin's roving club night/record label has promoted itself through the cities divisions as would a sleep deprived Championship Manager gamer.

In a rare chance for Dolan Bergin to get a little heavier in the mix, TEA caught up with Mr Busy talk Arthur Russell, Halloween and his bedtime favourite.

So where and how was the mix recorded?The mix was recorded in one sitting at home using records and cds. It was recorded in August and I wanted to use some tracks that I’d been sent recently. Two U.K. Artists in the form of Shifted and Furesshu feature quite heavily, I really like their tracks and while its not every day I get to play techno out it made for a nice change to do that with this

mix.

Tell us about the story behind Electric Minds. It started as party in 2005 and became a label with its first release in 2009. What spawned the first Electric Minds party’s and who where they with?

The party came to life from living in a warehouse in Dalston during 2005 with 10 others. It was a really unique place to be in that there were a lot of creative’s from the world of art, music and fashion so I was exposed to a lot of different tastes. We all liked to party so when a birthday came up we used to strip the warehouse of our belongings and set up a sound system downstairs and on the 1st floor we’d put in a bar and the guys who lived up there would organise live music. We’d cover the cost from the bar so with free entrance we’d simply send out an email to friends with the date of the party and they’d run until the last man standing. We also had a roof that ran the length of the building so the nights would quite often finish off there trying not to think about the mess that waited for us downstairs. There were only so many of these parties you could throw in your home though so towards the end of 2005 we moved the party to a Russian snooker club a couple of doors down the road. I had been putting on parties before 2005 but mostly in traditional clubs so producing them from scratch was new to me then.

Tell us about running a night in London and working alongside so many of the other party's, clubs and events the city has. How has Electric Minds made it to where it is today?

There is a lot of competition in London, but whether its running a party or any other type of business, competition keeps things healthy. It provides choice for those wanting to find a party and also helps keep the standards high. Of course you want to be ahead of the competition and I think to do that you need to have a bit of imagination when it comes to seeing how spaces can work and then plenty of work to bring it all together. The competition is also made up of friends and working with the people behind secretsundaze, mulletover, Warm etc they’ve provided help and support in the past which is invaluable.

What then lead to the idea of starting a label and how long did it take to establish it once the idea was conceived?

I think the main reason the label was started is that the DJs playing at the parties had music to release so it seemed to make sense to try and combine the two. Id worked for record labels since I was 21 but they were mostly the major corporations so I wasn’t particularly passionate about the output. As a result I wanted to try my hand at helping to put out tracks that I was into.

Do you consider Electric Minds to be more of a platform as opposed to a label?

The label is really just a small operation; I put out a release here and there when I discover tracks that I like. So I think mostly events is what we do as its hard to find the time to concentrate on both things properly.

Have either the parties or label suffered or gained as a result of running both?

Id really like to spend more time discovering new music to release and have a consistent output but it’s just not realistic to do that and run events at the rate they have been happening this year. Releasing music for most people is a labour of love and unfortunately it’s very difficult to support yourself financially from that. Luckily I’m able to do both by throwing the parties, which is something I equally enjoy doing.

When the label first started its first few releases were very disco orientated and were somewhat capped off by your tribute to Arthur Russell. Tell us about that?

The parties have always been quite eclectic in terms of what we play, well eclectic in terms of the dance world in that it moves between disco, house, techno and perhaps a few other bits thrown in. So I think the label reflected that at a time when I was working with producers who moved between those genres. Listening back I think there is some inspiration from disco but they are all modern productions and certainly the first Arthur Russell covers from Lil Tony and Yam Who were very much house based tracks. The releases from Max Essa & Stevie Kotey blew my mind when I first heard them, dubbed out and atmospheric. I didn’t really know what genre they’d sit under, I just really liked them so asked if I could release them. After the first 12” that covered Arthur Russell’s tracks, the artists that featured and myself came up with the idea of producing a full-length album. Looking back it was a very ambitious project to take on and it took a huge amount of work to pull it off. The album definitely delved into the field of disco and I think on the whole it went down well although covering Arthur Russell’s work was always going to draw some criticisms. It was simply done though out of respect as everyone that worked on the album was fascinated by his output.

More recently Electric Minds seems to have taken on a very deep house/techno sound. Tell us about this shift and future plans for the label.

I guess it’s a reflection of the parties and the bookings that I make. I like disco and I still collect plenty of records and play them but for me when im at a party if Im going to stay there until the early hours I prefer to hear something a little edgier. I like the subtlety and depth from the house / techno tracks that I buy so I want to learn more about that side of things and if I can, release that type of music on the label.

GHL and Endian are the two latest artists to release on EM. Tell us about those two as they are both new names.

Its actually the same person, its an alias he uses to put out his house based productions as his background sits in another side of electronic music. He’s very talented and I was really into releasing these tracks as myself and a few others had the demos for a while and they always got great reactions when played out.

What’s next for Dolan Bergin?

The last of this years loft parties is coming up with Prosumer, which should be a great way to close the venue for the year. For Halloween, James & Giles from secretsundaze and myself are producing a warehouse party in Shoreditch and from there it will be NYE to see out the year. This year I’ve worked with Warm producing the Ostgut Ton events in London which went really well so we’re starting to put some plans in place for those to continue throughout 2012 as well speaking to some other labels to help them bring their acts to London. I’m also hoping to make it back out to Australia and Japan sometime next year so starting to look into that now.

What is your favourite tea?

The kind that is brought to you in bed.

1. Endian - Two Chords Deep [Electric Minds]
2. Essa & Ervin Granger - Verloore [Fina]
3. K2VX - Sequential [Field]
4. 19.26.1.18.5 - Horizontal Ground [Horizontal Ground]
5. Furesshu - Untitled (demo / not mastered)
6. Relay - Untitled [Naked Index]
7. Dettmann & Klock - Dawning [Ostgut Ton]
8. Shifted - B2 [Avian]
9. Gonno - Acdise (Skudge Remix) [International Feel]
10. Skudge - Senocular [Karat]
11. Shed - It's A Love Thing" (Island mix) [H2]
12. Furesshu - Lucid (Shifted Remix) [Project Squared]
13. Shifted - Drifting Over [Mote Evolver]
14. Mondo - Work Me Baby [Deeply Rooted House]
15. Rhythm & Sound - Why [Burial]

Pic Credit - Heather Shukar

TEA Seeks Contributors

TEA is now looking for contributors to help out with news, reviews, features and interviews. We want to hear from any budding journo or beard stroking beatspotter interested in jotting down some techno ramblings for TEA. Applicants should be familiar with TEA and the artists, labels and sounds we have featured. Successful applicant(s) will be paid in hugs and kisses sent via email.

We care not for boundaries at TEA so as long you have a reliable internet connection, your geographical location is of no issue.

For those interested email teaandtechno[at]hotmail.co.uk with a small bio and some clippings of any past work.

The Public Works Department - Loop 23rd Sep

This Friday the 23rd of September at Loop The Public Works Department thrusts itself into the mesh of Melbourne's electronic music scene and does so with promise of all things deep and intrusive.

After a well received warm up set to Lucy of Stroboscopic Artefacts last weekend, TEA's James Manning will be playing alongside Luxxeparty's Samari with his AV show and The Public Work Department's Sam Bentley and The Myth.

Added visuals will also be provided by the ever reliable Netziar.

Doors at 10pm.

DJ Skurge for RBMA Radio

A fresh new mix to hit RBMA's Radio waves comes from Underground Resistance and Model 5oo infantry man DJ Skurge, with his Train Wreck Electro Therapy Mix.

Snappy snares, jackin hits, full tone kicks and sleazy everything else makes for a "What Up" serving of Detroit electro thanks to some bootylicious jams from The Detroit Grand Pubahs, Aux 88, Erik Travis, Underground Resistance and Skurge himself.

Lucy Plays TEA Tonight!

Part 2 our our Stroboscopic adventure starts tonight with Lucy!

Online tickets close at 5pm today and will only be available on the door from then on. This tour has been 12 months in the making so I am thrilled to see it finally come to fruition. Hope to see all tonight for a celebration of electronic music!

Pick up your last minute tickets here

Check out Lucy's Weekend Weapon selection for Onion Magazine here

10:00 - 11:45 Daniel Filipovic (Pinksilver)
11:45 - 01:00 James Manning (TEA)
01:00 - ? LUCY
?- End Simon Slieker & Andrew Till (Machine)

R.I.P DJ Mehdi (1977-2011)

For the tecnho purist Ed Banger Rec is what a chubby kid in a highschool quadrangle is to the school's bullies. Crunchy distortion and fluoro t-shirts aside the label in the mid to late 2000's had their moments of brilliance, much of which is due to the superlative talents of DJ Mehdi.

A must see is the official video to DJ Medhi's (Thomas Bangalter edited and cleverly sampled Dynasty Strokin') rave hit Signatune and his best work can be found on his 2006 LP Lucky Boy which features another perfect Loop in Wee Bounce.

TEA's condolences go out to the family and friends of DJ Mehdi.

Lucy on Kiss Fm

Lucy will be appearing tonight on Daniel Filipovic's Drowned In Sound radio show on Kiss FM to talk of his tour so far and all things Stroboscopic Artefacts.

James Manning from TEA will also be supporting with a guest DJ set.

Tune into one of the following frequencies 87.6 - 87.8 - 87.9 - 88.0 from 8:30pm (Melbourne Only) or stream from Kiss FM's Website.

8:30pm Australia (EST)

11:30am London

12:30pm Europe

Listen here

Oblivious Artefacts Tease Xhin

November 11 will see the release of Xhin's 3rd long player and first on his home label Stroboscopic Artefacts.

From Xhin's early 2004 sounds on his debut and Singaporean only LP Supersonicstate, to his 2009 minimal-esque Greyscale full length on Meerestief, Xhin's albums have always been a testament to his musical explorations and statement to his take on electronic music at the time.

Having heard only a few small snippets of his upcoming album Sword, one can only suggest that this is his best work to date and the result of years of practice and cultivation. Marco Morici from Oblivious Artefacts (Stroboscopic Artefacts graphic partner) have put together a small teaser which features the final track of the album This Is What You Drew While You Were Half Asleep.

So on November 11 as we take a moment to remember those fallen in the call of duty since world war one, it may be in solace that we first unsheathe Xhin's Sword.

TEA Podcast # 13 - Beaner

The faceless artiste conceptualising dystopian visions of an Orwellian future has become all too common within the deeper strands of the electronic music community, whilst internet forums and comments sections are a brim with blowhard internet tough guys waiting to pounce and tear apart any hapless journalist who dare challenge the encyclopaedic knowledge any 20 something raver of the 90's. 

So it's with Pablo Roman-Alcala aka Beaner's playful bio that states his love for masturbation and tear jerking finales that breathes a breath of fresh air through the corridors of electronic music, ushering in a welcomed change from stone-faced press pics and DJ bios claiming world domination, from Manchester to Melbourne?

A former resident at Berlin's now defunct Bar25, Beaner's cultivated deep house productions could easily be a by-product of the venue's celebrated early morning and afternoon sessions. With Bar25 now gone the San Franciscan hosts Beaners Backyard BBQ's at KaterHolzig, Bar25 mkII if one can be so brash. 

Apart from his solo productions on Bar25, District of Corruption, Little Helpers and autoreply sub label Stuga Music, Beaner teamed up with previous TEA interviewee Ed Davenport and Agaric for their Three Doctors entente collaboration in 2010.

TEA caught up with Berlin's very own Beaner for a chats on Mexican slang, his life so far as a result of an botched abortion and vanilla tea.

How and where was the mix recorded?

It was an unbelievably humid and uncomfortable "summer" day here in Berlin. It has been uncharacteristically and extremely wet this summer and also cold, but on this day the weather was hot, sticky and disgusting. It was more like Indonesia than Germany. My friend Gar offered for me to do the mix at his house because he had just inherited a pair of 1210s and an Allen & Heath mixer from a friend who has had a baby and will no longer be allowed to use them (thanks Gar and sorry Gar's friend-sucks for you). 

I misjudged how close Gar lives to me and walked for what seemed like fucking ages to get to his place, covered in a layer of gelatinous secretions. When I made it Gar had pretty much just finished setting stuff up in his living room. The only speakers he had were some computer ones. I was a bit worried about how it would come out, as that is really not a good monitoring situation. I hope it turned out ok, Gar seemed very pleased with the set, assured me he enjoyed listening immensly, but we had a few beers and he also a joint.

So the name Beaner? A google search lead me too “Beaner - A slang term, widely regarded as derogatory, that refers to people of Mexican descent”

Yeah, that is why I chose it. I am a Beaner. I'm mixed of a lot of different things, but mostly Mexican and Jewish. It's more complicated than that, I am my own melting pot. When I masturbate it is like jungle fever. Eric D. Clark and I came up with that when we were drunk at his old afterhour party I was a resident at. We thought it would be doubly hilarious as no one in Germany would ever get what it meant. My older DJ names were a million times worse. DJ Drunk Pablo, I was in a duo called Fresh Milk & FreeBass, Fuzzy, oh god, there were worse ones too.

So you you were born deep within a Tajikistan prison and then raised by wolves and the Jim Jones Peoples Temple...

A priest and a prisoner. Yeah, I was actually born in San Francisco. Raised mostly in collectives. A pretty unorthodox, political upbringing, but less easy to translate on a onesheet. I just was sick of reading shitty bios. Everyone got into music early, everyone learned a bit of piano or drums or something, everyones music sounds like its influenced by detroit techno, chicago house, but is, yknow "original and fresh and new". Ugh.

What music were you listening to in those early years?

My secret shame is that I started out collecting comedy records. Later on I delved into my moms music collection, she was and still is a musician and got into all the well known and some lesser known 60s stuff. I was especially into southern soul and some of the more well known pop/rock groups. I found punk music, noise music, hardcore,tradtional ska/rocksteady/bluebeat, jump blues, jazz, etc on my own in my early teens. I was really involved in the local music scene, worked at record stores. I tend to get really into one kind of music and find other genres I like through my research and listening in that genre.

You also had a residency at Bar25. Tell us a bit about the years leading up to the final closing party at Bar25. How was it going through all of those opening and closing parties?

A lot of people think that it was all a PR stunt. It wasnt. The first year I was officially a resident, no one outside of the Bar people seemed to take it seriously. But when the party ended (about 18 hours after it officially ended) people were crying, hugging, etc. I really thought it was over. That year was the one where in December there was a court decision, giving reprieve from closing. Since then, there was only one year where I knew the next year was going to open for sure. And that decision (through negotiations with the BSR who own the land) came only a couple weeks before the closing party. The last couple of years I left to go out of town directly from the closing party, missing the very end. Partially to forgo the emotional aspect of it, but also partially to not have to see the spectacle, which kind of wasn't my thing. I wish I hadn't last year though, but I had to visit my grandmother.

How detrimental has the gentrification of the “mediaspree” been to Berlin’s club life and how far do you think it will go?

The Mediaspree project in and of itself is a very nebulous decision made almost (more than?) 10 years ago by business owners, developers and city government together. The idea of urban renewal is a tool used to displace lower income people and "revitalize" an economy in favor of people who are already a ruling class. Gentrification is not an unstoppable juggernaut that we cant do anything about. I've been through fights against it in my hometown and others I have lived in. I just hope that the activists in Berlin can coalesce and get the working class/working poor to get involved and make the movement against it widespread. As for what it has done to club life, it is a shame. A lot of places have closed, or are being pushed out, despite the city politicians finally realizing how much money it brings in. I think it is a bigger issue than the nightlife, though. Rents have shot up insanely in the 7 1/2 years I have lived in Berlin, and that is just the beginning.

How much has Bar25 contributed to your productions?

Well, the stuff I did with my partner C.L.A.W.S. as War Vs Sleep was very influenced by our time at Bar25. Even concepts for the music were hatched there. When he still lived in Berlin, we were regulars there before ever playing at the club. We almost did an album instead of our first 12", but some of the songs were promised to Rekids (which due to unforeseen circumstances haven't been able to see the light). Solo, though, my music is really different. Bar25 has had a lot of influence on my experiences and I personally have thanked those involved in what it has done for me, but I also work very conceptually with my EPs and music, so it has less literal contribution. I just did a 100bpm song for the movie soundtrack, though. And I'm working on a plan for a bigger release with them. The music is mostly done, but I think it's still in discussion phases.

How much are you involved with KaterHolzig and how is it going?

I am doing my Beaners Backyard BBQ parties there this summer and I have been playing quite a bit. I wont be serving you drinks this year or checking stamps or something. I am there often to say hi or talk to the booker about ideas. I like it a lot, but I feel really busy these days and want to put a lot of energy into producing. Unfortunately, that means being involved a little less. It seems to be going quite well, despite the delay in opening AND the fact that it has rained nearly non-stop this summer. It will be open year round with the indoor part too. I'm looking forward to the next 2 years they have contracted.

Do you think KaterHolzig will ever match the reputation on Bar25?

Nothing will ever be the same as Bar25. But that's ok, it shouldn't have to be.

What is your favourite tea.

My favorite tea used to be this Russian vanilla almond black tea I got from a dessert shop my girlfriend worked at in San Francisco. I haven't been able to find it here, but I haven't really properly looked. Lately I've been drinking Lyons Irish tea. An old friend left a giant box at my house long ago and it's really quite good.

1. Agaric - No Way I Know I Feel (Axel Boman Remix) [Ovum]
2. Paul Frick - I Got Through feat. Crawford [Kalk Pets]
3. Guillaume & the Coutou Dumonts - Praise to the Beat Maker feat. Dave Aju [Oslo]
4. Deep'a & Biri feat. Gene - Morning Dive [Rotary Cocktail]
5. Audio Werner - Can You Scratch? [Hartchef Discos]
6. Mr. V feat. Miss Patty - Da Bump (Bumpadump Dub) [Vega Records]
7. 1-900 - Keep Him On The Phone (Spero's Deeper and Deeper Dub) [Strictly Rhythm]
8. Trick or Treat - No Way [Ceancut Records]
9. TC Crew - I Can't Do It Alone [DJ International]
10. Rick Wilhite - What Do You See? (Rick's Groove Mix) [KDJ]
11. Scott Grooves - Coco Brown [Clone Records]
12. COMMIX - Change (A Made Up Sound Remix) [Metalheadz]
13. Induceve - Papillion [Classic Recordings]
14. J-Mode - The Trouble ((Jamie) Lee Curtiss Remix) [Leftroom]
15. Cesare Marchese - [Aether Vakant]
16. James Blake - Limit To Your Love (Few Nolder Edit) [unreleased]
17. PS 22 - Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want (Beaner Beat/Break Edit") [unreleased]