Berlin Calling...Codekontrol

Berlin Calling…
Friday, 8th of April, funnily enough 8.00 PM, at Codekontrol HQs, in London.
The phone’s been ringing off the hook for the whole day. In between morning work, reading and answering e-mails, organizing everything in boxes for the office move this weekend answering the phone seems to have lost some of its charm! CJ finally answers…It’s the Ostfunk crew, Berlin.

Codekontrol’s just about to send the first troops to the world’s capital of electronic music tomorrow, on Saturday. Berlin, the Mecca of everything and everyone electronic, the only place in Europe where you can have God and Jesus Christ on the decks on the same bill in one night, the place where every techno dj dreams to play one day. For Codekontrol the time has finally come.
The gig’s been on the books from the early days of 2011, but only getting closer to it actually brought the realization home: WE are going to BERLIN! And from all the clubs in Berlin, we’re doing TRESOR! And on the same bill with Hardfloor, the techno Gods! Trying to play it cool before such a gig is like trying to keep still in the middle of a Brazilian street carnival.









































They say the devil is in the details, and you know what, it is especially true when you plan a gig outside your home playing field. How many times things get lost in translation and it happens that you realize just hours before the gig that someone forgot to book the hotel rooms for the artists?! Thankfully, our Berlin connection, the guys at Ostfunk have been absolutely spot on with everything over there. The way they’ve been taking care of things throughout the months building up to the gig speaks miles on how serious they are about what they’re doing.

Ostfunk Records Berlin is the brainchild of Oliver Tatsch and Daniel Boon. Ostfunk has been playing with breaking the minimal house and techno boundaries for over 7 years now. What they have achieved until present is an original mutant sound that resonates very well with the likes of Stephan Bodzin, Marc Romboy, Namito, Lutzenkirchen or Tube & Berger.



Fast forward, Friday the 22nd of April, let’s hear how it all went. Who better to ask than the man who actually felt Berlin dirt under his feet, Codekontrol’s Monokode:

“Berlin will be remembered, man. I just played Tresor man! T R E S O R!
‘I remember I had read about Tresor something like 15-16 years ago. And I was
dreaming about only being there! Instead i've actually played Tresor!

You know, the people, the vibe, the encounters I had there, just incredible! The way the gig went from beginning to end, the way the “usual” organizational problems were solved and dealt with, it was all under control at every point. It felt really good!

I mean I had a few problems in there. My headphones had broken during the flight and my time coded vinyl’s were bent. By all measurements I was pretty screwed! Luckily Match and Daniel (Ostfunk) hooked me up brilliantly in no time :)
But as you know troubles always come in pairs so when my set started i also had some problems with Traktor. I felt like I was just about to diiiiiiie!
But the crowd just jumped in with their phones and lighted up the back of the mixer so I could finally hook up my Traktor right! They were amazing, nothing like that ever happened to me anywhere else in the world.

Seeing Hardfloor bang it at Tresor was awesome! It was like a trip back in time; I remember I first saw them in Naples at Le Dune Club when I was just about the necessary age to get in the club. Their deep and bouncy groove, sometimes getting a little acidy making your hairs stand up as you feel the rush coming over. Everyone on the dancefloor went literally crazy, me included 

The Sunday was pretty much relax, staying in the whole day in the hotel sleeping.
Woke up in the evening around 8pm to go and grab a bite. That was Sunday. Monday I had a very good time hooking up with Namito and Siamak, we had a lovely late lunch in this restaurant the sun was on and so strong… awesome!
After, we went to check out Namito's studio which was few meters away. Can you believe in my walk there i met PIER BUCCI and HEARTTHROB?!?! I couldn't. It was just unbelievable. But that was Berlin for me, first time playing there but hopefully again…soon!"

Compiled and edited by Serge for Codekontrol

People really listen to the music after 5 AM.

I can still smell the traces of the weekend just passed in my clothes…a thick, smoky cigarette stench which only after about three washes fully loses its repulsiveness. I’ve been spending the past two weeks in Romania, one of the last places on Earth where smoking is still freely allowed inside clubs; I can safely assume that the cigarettes conglomerates are making a killing around these parts…

Romania is still a country still largely in the early days of clubbing, where a raw energy and a real hunger for escapism feed a slow burning youth rebellion against the old establishment and ancient prejudices. As Romania is my birthplace, I get around this far side of Europe quite often.

I was born in Bacau, Romania some time ago. I left this town almost a decade ago, even before realizing that I will forever be in love with music…London took care of that chapter.For you out there, just to explain Bacau is one of the Romanian cities of about 100k inhabitants purposely created by the communist government around only one type of industry; as they did with everything! After the communism fell, it became a town forever defined by mass unemployment and derelict industrial scenery. I’d always feel that it had just the right ingredients for nurturing a healthy techno scene; which in the end it actually did.























Bacau is the place where the now infamous Romanian technotrotters Rhadoo, Petre Inspirescu & Raresh started playing in their young days, when they weren’t even called [ar:pi:ar], and they were probably just preparing for their GSCE’s. Couple of years late here they are, now filling up 2,000 people capacity warehouses in London, Berlin or South America.

Everything started at Zebra Club. Situated in the city's culture and arts house, Zebra is Bacau's clubbing institution, if there is one here.
I remember sneaking to my first club event here when I was barely 15, falling head over heels in love with loud pumping music and the clubbing vibe. Probably the girls in there had also something to do with this.
So every time I get to come back to my roots for a couple of days I make it my top priority to get down at Zebra and see what’s on offer at the weekend. So the weekend just passed I did it again. Headlining were Livio & Roby and Rhadoo, two of Romania’s most valuable techno exports. Warming up were Cezar and Zotist, both names that play alongside the [ar:pi:ar] crew on a regular basis.




The night started slowly and by 3 AM people were still coming in, moving about, getting their drinks and hugging their hugs. The music went from the slower, more laidback grooves of Cezar around 11.00 up to a more progy and techy sound from Livio & Roby. Quite a few pleasure shouts and hands in the air all throughout! Just as we were getting closer to 4.30 the vibe suddenly got deep, spacious and thumping: The real, strong techno sound of Rhadoo. Suddenly it seemed that everyone had found their place and pace. Peak time felt purely amazing, people hungry for good music, showing nothing but love; everything else unimportant, second to the music.

The crowd kept going on and on until the sun was well up in the pure blue skies outside. If there’s one thing I love about the Romanian scene is having these kind of moments, moments which in my opinion really define clubbing. Not the big names on the line-up, not the topless dj, not on what gear you’re spinning your tunes, but all about the music.
Sometimes I look at the major mess this country is still in after more than 20 years of economic and social turmoil and ask myself if somehow, through a strange and ironic twist of history, Romania could recreate some of Britain’s early rave days madness right here, right now?

Serge for Codekontrol