Diary Of A Lonely DJ In Berlin

TEA's haphazard Diary Of A Lonely DJ is the sharing of personal anecdotes, memories and accounts from enjoyable or not so enjoyable times spent with electronic music, which this time comes from a four day weekend in Berlin.

Going out and witnessing DJ sets and live performances first hand is probably the best research you can do as a music writer, and what better place to do this than Berlin. Yes it’s the old cliche; techno in Berlin, but what many people don’t appreciate about the city is it holds more clubbing opportunities than what you'll know is on offer. My weekend began on Friday night where I caught the second half of a panel discussion hosted by Will Lynch that put Berlin record stores and their micro-habitat under the microscope. Speakers included Finn Johannsen of Hardwax, OYE-Records owner Markus Linder, Christian Pannenborg of Recordloft and a young Parisian, Etienne Dauta, who’s recently moved to Berlin and opened his own so far successful record store, Bass Cadet.

Finn Johansen made the point that record stores, such as Hard Wax, have become a trusted music filter for customers, while other topics included the growing rate of females' involvement in these retailers, the genesis of Max Graef at OYE, successful labels, Discogs and other idiosyncratic nuances of the record industry, such as Hard Wax banishing the phrase TIP! from their website. Later that night I saw Emptyset play at a Raster-Noton themed Berghain, and after being hit square in the chest by a super-charged sonic pulse of sine wave delivered direct from Paul Purgas and James Ginzburg, I remember thinking how foolish it was to think I had earlier contemplated not going because I was tired. For more than a hour the Emptyset billowed Berghain with a powerful live show, visually enhanced by the synced (random) dot patterns of (Ryoji Ikeda-esque) television static playing on two large screens.

My late arrival meant I missed Atom TM’s live show, whose first track, I was told, referenced Bob Dylan’s iconic music video to “My Subterranean Blues”. Pop HD indeed. Upstairs Panorama Bar played host to Laurent Garnier and a lot of fashionably queer characters. It had the vibe of how I picture Innervisions parties to be in several years time, which was quite the contrast to the crowd Raster-Noton pulled below. 

The last DJ set downstairs came from Credit 00, an Uncanny Valley affiliated artist that closed the night (of what I saw) suitably with a selection of techno that sounded like Aphex Twin covering Livity Sound. I didn't recognise a single track and enjoyed a lot of what I heard (which is always a good sign). 00’s jerky movements in the booth were also interesting to watch. One track I did take home with me though was “Channel B” by Mono Junk, which entered my ears after reverberating down Berghain's stairs into the cloak room as I was putting on my jacket to leave.

Saturday night presented Tresor, which before then I’d only experienced through a few poorly subtitled techno documentaries. Standing out the front was like being somewhere I’d only seen on TV (like Mount Rushmore or something). I remember hearing a conversation in the line about the difference in etiquettes between Berghain and Tresor, but contrary to what some people say, not everyone gets into Tresor; the two males in front of us were denied entry with a semi-empathetic shake of the doorman's head.

Inside, the club's walls are either black, or a raw, grey-cast concrete. The club’s lined with coloured lights which evoke a feeling of Trainspotting, but also a Hollywood movie recreating the night club experience badly - the cloak room playing irrelevant psy-trance for example. Before checking out Marcelus and Juan Atkins downstairs, I first experienced the spectacular sounding Globus, Tresor’s other room. Dutch label Clone were in charge and 2562 had just taken over from Dexter's opening set. 

After several funkier tracks from 2562, a labyrinth of stairs and a dank, dusty tunnel led me to Tresor where Marcelus was booming out slab-after-slab of heaving 909 techno. Down there it felt like I was never too far from the sound of breaking glass, which didn't seem to bother people; prompting me to realise that I, nor anyone else, had been patted down entering the club. The bar service however was some of the best I’ve had. My change, drink and redeemable 50 cent Tresor token were handed back to me faster than I could casually pay their respectable prices.

Tresor's not really a club that lends itself to trainspotting, but a white splattered record being put back in its sleeve by Marcelus was my hint that JC's then unreleased Endurance EP, on Deeply Rooted, had just given the newly installed Void system an enjoyable workout. The sound in Tresor initially came across as coarse, but the more I settled into the club, and its dark dwellings, I learned how suitable a rawer sound was for the space; tough and scraping, but not painful. 

Back in Globus, 2562’s set came to an end with some UK garage sounding melodies, and other keys and chords shone brightly through the system. The highs were crisp, the mids were clear and the bass was more physical than audible. Alden Tyrell followed up and delivered the night's highlight, a hour and a half (or so) of highly danceable, high octane club tracks. It was Clone's Basement Series live in the flesh and hearing Tyrell's “Rush” from his CBS 12” couldn't have been a better way to experience this. All that was missing was a basement. 

Completing Clone's takeover was label owner Serge, who from afar looked liked Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger playing west coast electro. He was cool looking, composed and well dressed in a royal blue shirt, and his mixing was executed with the clinical precision. Early into his set however, mid-mix, either a needle skipped or a CD jumped, or something, throwing Serge's seamlessness way off the tracks with a clutter.

He didn't make it obvious, but after killing that mix short, it was apparent he was upset at the unfortunate glitch and as a result lost the full dancefloor left by Tyrrell. Literally hot under the collar, Serge stripped down from his smart blue number to a brown T-shirt and worked on rebuilding his dancefloor, and over four to five tracks, won the punters back with some rave. It was professional DJing at its best.

As difficult it is to watch someone lose their cool, it's twice as rewarding to watch someone earn it back, like a footballer that’s scored an own goal, who then scores two more at the right end to win the match. The rave card proved a masterstroke for Serge and his hard work, and renewed composure, payed off. A wave of clubbers made their way out of the clubs cracks and crevices, whooping and cheering to this unidentified hit. Serge was back and he fist pumped the air in recognition/gratitude of his returned dancers, which was doubly reciprocated.

Shortly afterwards I caught what was left of Juan Atkins set back in Tresor, which was loud, fast and melodic. Some lone characters wearing D(etroit) baseball caps were scattered around the perimeter and it felt all the more real to think Detroit was in the building. The wild card of the night however was german DJ Manuel Münster. Wearing a Mastodon T-shirt, he'd signalled his intentions before playing a record, and when he did, it was ferocious and non-stop. At irregular intervals the room would fill with so much smoke that all you could see were strobe lights flashing in thick grey fog. A serious (and surreal) clubbing experience not really fit for the faint hearted.

A 6pm flight home on the Monday meant I had the excuse for one more night out, and walking through Friedrichshain, passing some words of anti-gentrification, I made my way to see the Giegling crew play an unannounced gig at Sisyphos, a club or commune looking place that's like something out of Easy Rider. This was another new Berlin club for me and I arrived early, about 12:30am. My entry was a comedy of awkwardness. I was about as cool as a dropped pie. Clipping my foot on the step in, I was then pin-balled around by the several unimpressed door men, ignored at the cashier by someone cradling a cat in a blanket, and I chose the wrong, locked door, to actually get in the place.

Sisyphos has three rooms. The first, on the left as you enter the club, is a small Hawaiian-like hut, which that night was filled with a musky aroma of stale love, poppers maybe, soundtracked by the type of music you’d expect to hear at a Wolf & Lamb after-party that's gone on for too long. Room one, as I dubbed it, was like a basement club you'd expect to find off the beaten track in Tijuana during Spring Break. Inside was a large fan blowing department store hot-air on to the dancefloor drenched in terrifying (and very disorientating) blue strobes and equally frightening music. I spent my time at Sisyphos in the wooden rotunda ('Room 2'), which to enter involved crossing a makeshift bridge of wooden palettes floating on mud.

To my pleasant surprise John Osborn was playing. It was a set of pumping appreggios, progressive builds and big mixes. And although I'm still yet to connect with John Osborn’s music and DJ sets, the long and technical mixes the Tanstaafl Records boss pulled out were impressive. One moment in particular saw Osborn look up in appreciation to a room cheering his longest mix of the night, that, if it were him surfing, would have looked something like this.

Afterwards, Giegling co-founders Dj Dustin and Konstantin joined Ateq in providing Sisyphos with six-plus hours (I left at 9:30am and the party was far from over) of super dry minimalism; for the majority captained by Ateq. Dustin and Konstantin took turns cutting in with snippets of calypso house, Russian Torrent Versions and an endless supply of other minimal and housey essentials for a Monday morning's clubbing.

TEA

TEA on Tour - Part 2

Amongst bleating cattle I boarded Easy Jet flight 5415 to Berlin to take part in Tobias Rapp's Berlin and the Easy Jet Set (plus a few extra days). As I stared onto the concourse I found myself conjuring up excuses of how I could exempt myself from Rapp’s cliché, I am staying for 6 days, I do have friends in Berlin, I’m not just going to Berghain, I can count to zehn in Deutsch... A slight delay had me land at Schoenefeld Airport around 10:00pm and thanks to some touristic errors I made my Frankfuter Tor destination by 11:30pm-ish. Bags dropped and two (novelty size if your Australian, the norm if your German) Weißbier’s later I was on my way by foot along Karl Marx Allee (excitedly poster spotting along the way) to Weekend to see Ed Davenport and Oliver Deutschman.

Up the elevator with not a word spoken to the hazy lift attendant I entered Weekend unknowingly walking straight through eight friends arm in arm posing for a photo, not exactly Berghain. I looked on as Davenport banged out some hard hitting house with some trademark E-D bottom end to boot. El Carlsberg flowed and before I knew it was was nigh on 5:00am and time to make tracks back down the Karl Marx.

TV Tower en route to Weekend.

Friday morning saw a shower, coffee, croissant and trip Weinmeisterstraße for some new threads with old mate Fred Perry. Feeling almost dapper with my three new purchases a late lunch at Monsieur Vuong’s Indochina cafe called as I indulged in a light Vietnamese laksa and some green tea. Feeling human again I made the short trip south to Gneisenaustraße for some record shopping at Space Hall. Around 2 hours and fifteen records later I was U-Bahn-ing it back to HQ for some rest, pizza & biers and rest before hitting Henning Baer’s Grounded Theory 12 with Ben Klock, Delta Funktionen, Vault Series (Live) and Mr Grounded Theory himself Henning Baer.

Arena Club just south east of Berlins Mitte near Treptow was originally designed and built in 1927 for the intention of housing the omnibuses of Berlin’s public transport services, but was then re-assigned as a weapon’s arsenal for the Third Reich. Arena Club is tucked in amongst a barrack of industrial framework and was unusually quite on approach, leading me to think had I come to the right address. Those thoughts were quickly dispelled as lowly muffled throbs pulsed through Arena’s brick walls. A hushed line up consited of some whispered conversation where not surpringly the only distinctive voice to be heard was a group of American’s, their saving grace being a conversation about DJ Harvey. Nothing beats the feeling of entering a club when the night is young and this time I entered Arena to Henning Baer playing Conrad Van Orton's - Shattered, an artist I had funnily enough been telling friends about that day. Arena’s club was already quite full and a packing a friendly vibe, even when the bar ran out of beer. Beers were soon flowing again and so were Subjected and Moerbeck performing live as Vault Series and as to be expected were heavy on the four four German-ness to the rampant applause of Grounded Theory.

Rubbing shoulders with many of the artists whom have featured on TEA and the enthusiasm of Arena in general was a nice lead up to the start of big 'n' bustling Ben Klock's set. Oozing techno, Klock kept his first half very melodic, with comparable sounds to his Compression Session EP. The second half had Ben bring it home to the delight of one patron swinging his shirt swing above his head for the greater part of his set. I'd be lying if I said I didn't experience a Ben Klock moment like so many of us have. I took respite from a more crowded part of the dancefloor and pushed my way to the rear where I managed to find a small stepper elevating me above the dancefloor. What I saw next turned me from stoned face techno obsessive blogger to blushing prepubescent school boy as 3 german girls exchanged heats of passion, which to be honest it was a welcomed change from the usual same sex debauchery seen on German dance floors.

I took further respite on Arena’s viewing deck as Klock finished off his set to the cheers and hurrahs of a party not close to finishing. Delta Funktionen took over from Klock with some heavy hitting, deep and "Nu Skool" electro easing in from Klock’s thunder and lightening. Calling it a night I was handed a copy of Vault Series Vol.7 by Subjected a former interviewee and podcaster for TEA capping of night two of my Easyjet Set adventure.

Talk of Berghain at the moment is about as worn out a screen print T-Shirts of Kate Moss sold at Camden Market, so I'll keep it brief. Disappointingly missing out on Shifted's set I caught Planetary Assault Systems bang out Rip The Cut, Kray Squid, Bell Blocker (A DJ's favourite) and Wriss, followed by some loopy James Ruskin techno. High fives all round to Ruskin for dropping Thomas Bangalter’s - Outrun. Nearing my 8th hour inside Norman Nodge lived up to the reputation of what a Berghain resident should and his mix of Blawaan’s What You Do With What You Have was certainly a work out.

Berlin Purchases.

My remaining three days in Berlin essentially only consisted of rest, record shopping, donor kebap munchings und eine kaffe’s. This was my fourth trip to Berlin so I can confidently say that I had seen enough of the cities touristic attractions to not feel guilty about dusting up the knuckles for three days. Hardwax was my first port of call and I arrived at 11:00am, a little too keen, let's say one hour too keen as Hardwax opens at 12:00pm. I took a stroll along the Spree and made sure my return to Hardwax was at 12:15pm, don't want to look to keen right? gimme gimme gimme.

Two hours later I was mechanically and unemotionally processed at the register with what was close to 150 euro’s worth of records. Next up was the very friendly OYE Records located just off Schonhauser Allee up from Senefelderplatz. Listening to some records at my listening booth I was politely interrupted by a woman who explained to me that a German news crew were filming in the shop and that I would be in the background whilst the presenter did her thing. If any one reading this happens to see a German news story on OYE Records please let me know as I'd love to see it. I remember listening to this during filming. Last stop was Mitte Musik just off Warschauerstraße, a bulging bag full of records had me telling myself to relax and not buy everything on sight but the Mitte Musik guys had me at hello with their impressive Fachwerk selection, sold.

Weighing in at?

Wednesday I managed to quickly catch up with Henning Baer for a quick coffee and was treated to a sneak peak inside K209's studio, it’s no lie when they say techno made in a Berlin basement. As I hopped the S9 headed back to Schonfeld I huffed and puffed breaking into a small sweat lugging around what was in total close to 50 records. I packed light for Berlin knowing I would be bringing back some records, only I didnt expect my binge to be as big as it was, or at least I told myself that. I made my way to counter to check in my bag and attemped to casually lift it on the weigher, I wasn’t fooling anyone as I no doubt looked like an olympian weight lifter about to buckle, pulsating vien in the middle of the forehead is always a good too. I ended up checking in at 19.6 Kg’s, 0.4 Kg's under the limit, not bad going considering I had more in my hand luggage.

TEA & MACHINE Present Lucy

Friday the 16th of September TEA and MACHINE proudly present Stroboscopic Artefacts boss Lucy for the third appearance of his Australian tour.

Lucy's will be hitting Australian shores direct from a Klubnacht at Berlin's techno high command Berghain with Ostgut Ton stalwarts Shed, Marcel Dettmann and Boris.

Tickets are now on sale through Resident Advisor and Moshtix!

Lucy will be playing at The Royal Melbourne Hotel Friday the 16th of September.

Get your tickets here

TEA with Sascha Rydell

Minus the chiselled jaw line I’m not sure if it is possible for anyone to be any more techno than Fachwerk insider Sascha Rydell.

Rydell belongs to a city where it’s not out of the ordinary for a cab ride, falafel house or convenience store to be soundtracked by minimal mixtapes from the early 2000’s or Jeff Mills. Rydell like many Berliners has experienced the cultivated swing of Berlin's club scene and has seen first hand illegal basement raves now become events listed on Lonely Planet’s travel guide.

This is a good thing insists Sascha, who in his twenties frequented clubs like WMF, Tresor, E-Werk and Walfisch with two chaps known as Roman Lindau and Mike Dehnert, friends he now considers brothers. The three together have helped create and develop a definitive Berlin sound, aesthetic and ethic with influences harking back to the scuffled dub templates of Basic Channel.

Rydell's ability to blend dubby Berghain tackle with deeply reflective grooves and ponderous chords is what makes the Fachwerkian Sascha Rydell so perfect to listen too. TEA caught up with our production dreamboat to talk of his love for the French, the Sascha Rydell remix and life outside of Fachwerk.

How has your 2011 been so far?

So far this year has been pretty good. It started out with our label night at the Berghain, followed by several showcases in Europe which received a great reception. Mike, Roman and I finally performed togther as a three piece. At the moment that kind of live act is reserved for exclusive events. Roman and I also started working with Octopus booking agency and I am really optimistic about my future with them.

In terms of releasing music, how prolific do you plan to be? Are you happy with the amount of material you are releasing at the moment?

I am happy with the amount of music I am producing right now, but I am planning to step it up to a higher level since getting some great feedback for my Marmonner release. I am very strict in what I release, every piece I produce owns a part of my soul which expresses experiences I've gained through music over the past ten years. I like to consider my music as an art form rather than something disposable.

Will any Sascha Rydell material see a home outside of Fachwerk?

Yes. I can imagine it happening and I'm pretty sure it will. Of course it is always a challenge to publish music for a different label as you must take into account everything that specific label stands for whilst expressing your own sound. The most important thing is that the label suits me and that I fit the label. If people are interested and the timing is right then I would certainly be excited about working with others.

Will we ever witness a Sascha Rydell remix?

Oh yeah, absolutely! There is always something special about doing a remix. Getting the chance to interpret a track in your own way is a huge honor. When remixing someone's work there has to be a connection between the track and myself. You have to feel it, otherwise you won’t be able to put all your thoughts into the production. You have to fully trust that song.

Tell us a bit about your relationship with Mike Dehnert and Roman Lindau. Mike is the boss and Roman is the joker, does this leave you somewhere in the middle?

We are all friends through our passion for making good music, especially electronical music. We were all born in Berlin and grew up together doing your usual teen stuff. We used to go clubbing at WMF, Tresor, E-Werk and Walfisch during our twenties, we used to take so much away from these nights. We were not necessarily restricted to techno but also Hip Hop, Jazz , Soul and so on. You can still hear those influences in most of our tracks, there is always something groovy and housy in them. Berlin was really exciting during the nineties, totally different from what it is now. We have all developed with the city of Berlin over the past 20 years. Regarding Mike, Roman and myself, we have a great relationship, fitting each other perfectly. There is this confident feeling between the three of us, like being brothers. So I guess if I am in the middle of the two I should be referred to as the gentleman of the group.

How does the dynamic work between the three of you?

Even though we are completely different, we all have the same taste and the same understanding of producing a track, therefore complementing each other perfectly. We catch up once a week for discussions on the label and new tracks, we also help each other out with our work and in doing so makes sure anything that we release is best for the label. In the end our diversity is reflected in the Fachwerk sound. Each of us bring our own individuality to the label and there are no limits set by anybody, not even by Mike, the initiator, founder and Motor of the label.

Tell us a bit about Sascha Rydell pre 2009. What were your influences and how did you get into production Was it a long process?

Electronic music has always been present in my life, you couldn’t escape growing up in Berlin. In the middle of the nineties I bought myself a turntable and haven't taken my hands off it since. Over time I happened to play in a few different clubs around Berlin and producing was a direct consequence of this, I wanted to make my thoughts on music a reality. At the beginning of 2000 I started focusing on producing, first just putting simple loops together until my first “real” track was released in 2007.

You used to throw parties in Berlin. How was that and how do you find the Berlin scene now compared to when you were throwing your own parties?

Berlin always has been special, very different from other cities. There is a special flair, people were much more ingenious and most of them local. All the parties were really underground and the locations were not more than construction areas with some kind of basement. Nowadays, everything is much more organised, gone are the times of illegal clubs and parties. Clubs and parties are bigger now and more open to the public. Most of the clubs are even mentioned in “Lonely Planet” which is great. A lot of creative people come to Berlin and keep up its culture by just living it up.

Music is not yet your full time job. Is it something you would like to make full time?

At the moment I do have a full time job. So far both my music and job are working very well together, even though I sometimes wish I had more time for music. But right now both complement each other. It’s like my job is balancing out the creative part of my mind, it works the other way too. This may change but only time will tell.

Your Serrage EP was by far TEA’s favourite release of 2010. It was an EP of four quarters with the mechanical Contraire and peak time Rude interlaced between the deeper and dubbier approaches of Cette Nuit and A Plus Tard. Was this something you sat down to specifically create, an EP of four quarters?

What I always find exciting when buying records is finding different tracks for different moments. This was a mindset that influenced the tracks on Serrage. When putting together an EP I try to choose a selection of different tracks that will make for an interesting record. This was a goal of mine when producing the Serrage EP. Besides, I don't only want to serve just one genre, I like Techno, House and Dub, the records I make should show that.

You seem to have an affiliation with the French, alluded too by many of your track titles. What is the connection there?

It's simple. We all just love the French accent and so we often use the French language. It started with the track French Lesson that Mike and I produced together on the Colombage EP.

Does this mean that your label night in Paris was a special one?

Oh Paris was great. It was such a great time with people dancing and having fun, it was so crowded. We always look forward to playing in Paris. We love the city and its people, going there always gives us the chance of meet other DJ's as well as catching up with friends, it was great chatting to DJ Deep that night, we had an awesome time.

Fachwerk has been on the road so to speak in 2011. How has the reaction been to Fachwerk’s label nights outside of Berlin.

We look forward to each label night. It’s always a lot of fun for us to spend time in the clubs, be surrounded by great music and nice people as well as play together. So far the previous label nights this year have been a huge success. I think this proves to us that what we have been doing is turning into a success, this is rewarding as we there is so much passion involved. We can take people on a journey with one a night full of Fachwerk. During those label nights the co-operation between the three of us works the same way as our friendship, we complement each other perfectly. Like I have said, we are influenced by a range of different genres and I think this reflects in our DJ sets. There are some more label nights planned for the second half of the year and we are looking forward to London and ADE in Amsterdam in October.

What’s next for Sascha Rydell?

Fachwerk 19 - Lot De Deux by Roman and Fachwerk 20 - Bricolage by Mike Fachwerk has just been released and upcoming is Fachwerk 21 is due soon. Other then that I am going to contine to work on the live act. I have a lot of ideas in my head so I look forward to seeing what I come up with.

What is your favourite tea?

Fachwerk tea

TEA with Len Faki

Dont be alarmed if you feel slightly dwarfed when the name Len Faki is mentioned around you 'he has that effect on people' whispers an anonymous bystander.

After a career and life changing move from Stuttgart to Berlin in 2003, Len Faki has grown in stature and sound. His 3 labels Figure, Podium and Figure SPC all harbour the trademark of innovative and daring sounds that have helped sculpture todays techno into a forward thinking and danceable standard.

Len Faki can also be credited as one of the first residents at techno mecca Berghain, in which he says is a saviour of techno music. Not doubt if techno was to have a hall of fame Len Faki would be one of the first ushered in, framed and mounted.

TEA caught up with Len prior to his London show at Fabric this Saturday to talk moving house, domestic safety, label concepts and Lemongrass.

Tell us a bit Len Faki pre Berlin. Where were you living and what first lead you towards electronic music?

I lived and grew up in the south of Germany, Stuttgart. In the 90’s before I got into electronic music I was totally into rock and punk. Seeing bands and attending concerts was how I spent my spare time, club life was not existent. One day a close friend of mine started babbling about this new style of music he couldn’t really describe. Unwillingly I went with him to a local club where I first heard acid/techno and that was it, one of the key moments in my life, I will never forget that moment. I danced the whole night and into the next day, my first rave. I felt so alive and happy, it was amazing.

What then spawned the move to Berlin?

I was thinking about moving for while. Berlin had fascinated me for quite some time and I always wanted to be part of what was going on there, but hesitated. I was waiting for when the time was right. Besides, the Stuttgart club scene was deteriorating. Lots of police were showing up at almost every party, raids and long checks on everyone before entering the clubs, things like that can kill a club scene atmosphere. The final straw which lead me to move or which lead me to my ‘destiny’ was my neighbours apartment went up in flames and mine was badly damaged, so I literally had to move. This is something I'm really grateful for in retrospect. I was absolutely desperate, all my furniture, a large portion of my records and studio equipment was devastated and alas no insurance!

Your my third Berghain resident I’ve been lucky enough to speak with. You each have your own story of how your involvement with Berghain/Ostgut began. How was it for you?

Before Berghain opened its doors their was a forerunner by the same owners, Ostgut. It was located just 100 meters from where Berghain is today, now a huge ice hockey rink and concert hall has taken its place. I first played at Ostgut around one year before its closure and it was great. The feeling and contact between the owners was one of those encounters where you are on the same wavelength straight away. They booked me three more times during this last year of Ostgut which made me feel more and more at home there. The owners were already talking of this new place called Berghain and what it was going to be like, but of course it had no fixed program. When I moved to Berlin one of the owners (Michael) came around for dinner to talk about me becoming a resident. It was a friendly experience and happened quite naturally. Lucky me I know (laughs).

Many artists cite Berghain as a big influence on their productions. Is this the same case for you?

That’s for sure! To it me it feels like symbiosis, it connects my own style and character. Because of the residency and therefore being a constant part of Berghain for over six years now it has definitely imprinted on me. Two tracks in particular were directly inspired by the club. When producing 'Bx3' I always pictured in my mind the dancefloor, the club and the crowd. The track truly can be considered as a hommage to Berghain. Same goes for 'Kraft und Licht' for Ostgut Ton’s funf compilation. It represents the feeling in the late afternoon hours of Sunday when everybody is feeling that special indescribable joy.

Tell us about your track Kraft Und Licht for Funf. How was it trawling through all of emika’s foley recordings and how many of them did you use in that production?

Gee, that was huge. A gigantic sound library that emika created. All that passion, time and enthusiasm, she did some incredible work. It took what felt ages to listen through it all and the one and only element I chose hit me straight up from the first listen. It’s the sound of the main entrance doors of Berghain. As a sound it's similar to a big room snare hit. I loved that sound especially as I knew it was the entrance, the door where the world of Berghain begins and ends is what attracted me to the production.

Do field recordings play a role in your production?

Actually no. I know there are many producers doing this who have my huge and honest, but for me it hasn’t played a part so far. For me it was an interesting and inspiring excursion to take thanks to Berghain and emika’s foley!

How are things going with your Podium night and label? Will this be an ongoing project and what can we expect in the future?

Oh yeah, it has no time limit. I love the idea of having a release with artists that I admire to celebrate with friends at my Podium night in Berghain. A major component of the night is that I’m always involved with a release. Due to a notorious lack of production from my part there have only been five releases and nights so far. It has really surprised me in a pleasant way how nice the reactions have been.

You are playing fabric this Saturday. How often do you play London and how influential do think clubs like Fabric and Berghain are on electronic music today?

What can I say! I’m always happy to play in London. It’s the city that did and is making electronic music the way it is today. I had an amazing time playing Fabric last year. I love the feeling of communication between myself and the people. London is as a city for music and Fabric is a club institution,. Regarding techno I truly believe that Berghain saved techno, why? Because of its reputation and the spread word through mouth. The atmosphere, the industrial technoid look, it really revitalized the whole scene. Young artists have been inspired all over the world to dare and produce techno again.

So tell us a bit about your labels. Figure originally started as a medium for you to release your own material but has since moved on to harbour quite an impressive roster. How are things going for Figure and what do yo have planned for the future?

That’s right, I started Figure fresh after my move to Berlin. A new start with the new surroundings. As you said originally Figure was intended as a platform for my own productions. Over time it has smoothly and healthily developed into an artist oriented label, taking other artists on board and having a nice sound and community whilst maintaining the idea of providing great dance music. Music we love and want to share. The next step is to get even more artist oriented with closer relationships with certain artists and the introduction of albums. This will help form a close circle of artists and great roster who will support each other.

And the concept behind your Figure SPC imprint? Tell us about that.

Figure SPC is special to me as I received a large amount of music by great artists that made great music. A lot of the music didn’t really fit the kind of sound that Figure was known for. The sound on SPC is much deeper and housier, transporting more timeless sounds. The focus is not to have music that is only for peak time dance floors. It can be clubby but it doesn’t have to be, it’s more for the feeling. I have to be careful not to confuse people when they listen to a Figure release as I don't want then to have an expectation of what they’ll hear. On the other hand I didn’t want to let these great tracks pass me by just because they didn’t fit to the current Figure style. So the idea to start a stream of special releases was born aka Figure SPC. I’m so happy that I have a medium to release a range of music without confusing my audience.

How do you go about deciding which artists will suite which label?

I’m very open in general and love to be surprised. I love artists that are daring and try new things, it’s all about the music. It’s not important what you have done before or where you are coming from, the music has to speak to me personally. This is unpredictable and predictable at the same time. Of course I have a personal taste, but it varies. I prefer artists with which I can connect with on a personal level, that plays a huge role for sure. I like it professional, but friendly. It’s like a package that contains the music I love from a very nice and easy going person.

I’d like to speak a little about two of your artists in particular. The first is Markus Suckut who burst on to the scene last year, how did you first get in touch with him?

Nice to hear you mention him! It was quite extraordinary for sure. He sent me a demo and that was it. I say extraordinary because of the flood of demos I receive and it is not usual that a release happens this way, well at least not from my experience. It usually happens because of recommendations or some sort of personal contact. So Markus sent me an email at the beginning of last year introducing himself with some of his material. I was very impressed with him straight away, he really has his own unique style and since then we have stayed in touch. A few months ago he sent me some material that blew me away and I wanted to release it no matter what. He is a very nice person and I can only talk highly of him, so be sure there is more to be expected of Markus Suckut.

And the brooding talents of the Japanese A.Mochi. How did things happen there?

He is such a great guy. I’m always happy to support and praise his amazing talent. I was lucky enough to recognize this right from his very first release. I sent him my thumbs up via myspace and he told me that he loves my label so from then on we wrote back and forth. A very nice myspace friendship followed. He later sent me some new material which I released. We always meet in person when I’m in Tokyo. He definitely is one of Figures artists who has a strong bond to the label musically and personally.

He recently released his Primordial Soup EP parts 1,2 and 3. Did you ever think about releasing this as an LP?

Funny you ask. It was conceptualized as an album but for obvious reasons you might consider it as an EP. Reason for doing it in three parts was because of the love for vinyl, but due to the bad economic situation of the vinyl market we figured it would be smarter to release it in a three part series. For asia we were able to keep to the original album format with a special cd version. Watch out for some upcoming remixes for the album too.

What is next for Len Faki

The very next thing is an apartment move, no fire needed this time (laughs). Quite a move with all my records and studio gear. As always their will be ongoing label work and of course getting back into my own productions for Figure as well as a new Ostgut Ton project. If time is on my side a Cocoon maxi is in the works so the Len Faki wheels are in motion.

What is your favourite tea?

Green Tea with Lemongrass and a shot of Honey. Thanks for asking.