kiwi wrote:but when you want to perform in front of areal audience and get some feedback you have to move/go to the place where the scene is active..... sitting in a forrest with a Powerbook, microcontroller and some speakers won't do the trick.....
Eh...not so. If i could have it my way, I would get a one bedroom flat in the middle of nowhere, cut myself off from all civilization, media, politics etc and do nothing but make music. Its been something ive been talking about doing for a while now. Talk about sparking the creative juices. Something Ive also been talking about is not listening to any kind of minimal or electronic dance music at all (see paragraph below)........
The problem with Berlin and other hot spots in europe for me is that theres too many people doing the same thing there. Its hard to differentiate yourself from others and be original. Especially when so many artists are using similar methods of production. With so many parties and such, its hard to come up with a style that isnt derived from someone elses music. And IMO, not much out of Germany & european hotspots is really doing anything for me, except for a few artists/labels for that very reason.
An artist can be artistic no matter where s/he lives!
Yeah, of course that's true, but if you want something to happen, and to happen faster, then it's often better to be placed in a city where things actually are happening... eg. Berlin/Barcelona/Hamburg/London/Paris etc etc....
True . But I take a much more progressive direction when I play and make music. And there is a slightly bigger scene for that sort of thing here in North America than for minimal/house/techno respectively. I also want to eventually release music music. Like, not club music, but with a live band et al. And that sort of thing is huge here in North America. I'd still love to do things in Europe of course, because the club scene in general is way bigger...I haven't got any particular place in mind, but I would enjoy living in Europe somewhere for a little while I'm sure. Yay shopping!
minimal house wrote: And IMO, not much out of Germany & european hotspots is really doing anything for me, except for a few artists/labels for that very reason.
I moved from nyc to berlin over 2 years ago. I cant say I was the first, but I chose to move because:
1. My entire life I was uncomfortable in america. This includes childhood in suburband dc and la before moving to nyc for school and beyond.
2. Its fucking true, there are more/more interesting opportunities. I make my living as a sound system engineer and dabble a lil with my own music. In new york I worked for one of the best companies possible, but when you work for one of the best guys in the biz, its hard to grow when he makes all the important decisions. Moving to berlin has allowed me to flex my brain and muscles a bit more regarding system design. There are no healthy edm scenes in the states. Berlin has virtually no money, but somehow it sorta works out.
Over 2 years have gone by and I have not had any plans to return. Not for family, not for work, not for play. My german is quite good now, so I feel integrated into society. I doubt most of the Name guys can speak much. I work with the Who-is-who's and there isnt really a need for them to fully integrate. Europe has a lot of languages and people are used to experiencing people with language barriers to an extent.
As I do work with these guys (Beatstreet is my family, not jsut one of my jobs), I have to agree that the art betters here. There is no dominating scene or sound in berlin. Schranz pulls its fair numbers. Typical electroey or drummy techno does very well at the festivals, and your dave clarkes, marco baileys, speedy js, and technasia sounds do quite well. However, minimal parties have as much freaking out. Its sh!t that didnt happen in nyc at all. Girls, lots of girls, like techno. There is hardly ever 5 rows of nerdy guys just staring while maybe 30 people feel it with 300-2000 just there to feel up or get shitfaced drunk. The people come and want to hear new sh!t. Sure, the megahits have their shelflife, but the party crowd doesnt trainspot.
Thats jsutthe atmosphere of a party. We dont need or want 2000 person dancefloors. Most parties do 600 people tops and the avg is prolly 2-300. There is virtually a party one can go to every hour of the week. Rent is so cheap one can have their studio out of their flat and go as loud as they need to and then play it or give it to someone to hear play that night. Venues are open for ideas, because you actually do need to separate yourself. Watergate and Ricardo organized a small orchestra to perform stuff from the old guys like steve reich, but in a party atmosphere. Ricardo played live and then looped what teh orchesttra was doing and then martini brös kept it going til way late and this was on a thursday! Hundreds came out to rock and this was not jsut a one shot deal. You dont get that in america. You play records in lounges that will acept edm because nobody has landed a hiphop party there yet, or you book a stage that is really better suited for indy or metal, or you play some monstrous club where most of the people are only looking for pussy.
Many of my friends, who are certainly not superstars, work on music together. With the concetration that is here, ideas mature quickly. Just because you never got to hear the record, didnt mean the sound didnt get played. Liveacts are well supported. Livepa still has a long way to go to unseat the concept of djing, but even a ranch themed open air bar on the river had a few guys play live in for their summer opening party.
Bands? Man, europe has so much live music. Many venues have been designed to accomodate nonedm stuff and typical techno parties with minimal inerference. There are scores of festivals. America is too puritan, europeans love to celebrate.
just a random reply. Ive never experienced any other city with such a burningman type of creative energy. I wont get started on nonmsical expression.
Things are not perfect here and the minus camp had a few priveleges when rolling in, but you can do what you want here if you work hard enough. As much as you work in detroit or sanfran or ny, it isnt possible there.
Der geile Ami wrote:
1. My entire life I was uncomfortable in america. This includes childhood in suburband dc and la before moving to nyc for school and beyond.
This is very familiar sounding...Many of my friends from the past(who I
started producing with) have said and acted on such feelings. I think some
of us are culturally misplaced to begin with...much respect for making the
move to germany.
It really sucks living in a place like Houston, Texas... Fourth largest city in the US and the entire dance music community is at the most - for big shows for someone like PvD or Oakenfold - maybe 600 people - and that's for the mainstream dance music. The "underground scene" is like 150 people tops. And most of them all want to hear the same kind of generic house music. Trying to have a DJ career here is like rolling sh!t up a hill.
Dont forget that Germanys economy is in pretty bad shape now. From what i hear alot of the big german minimal labels are struggling. Making techno music is not my highest priority either. My focus is on getting an M.B.A. and starting a career. So staying in the USA is my only logical choice. The only way Id make the move over there is if a: the german economy hits a huge upswing and b: I was positive I could make a living off of producing/djing minimal techno music for a long damn time.
Der geile Ami wrote: Ricardo played live and then looped what teh orchesttra was doing and then martini brös kept it going til way late and this was on a thursday! Hundreds came out to rock and this was not jsut a one shot deal. You dont get that in america. You play records in lounges that will acept edm because nobody has landed a hiphop party there yet, or you book a stage that is really better suited for indy or metal, or you play some monstrous club where most of the people are only looking for pussy.
Thats because the US has a lot large cities, which means people have to work in the morning. Someones got to maintain the city right? Unemployment in Germany is very high, its no wonder people have time to party all the time! And if im living in Germany and become unemployed, what good is a kick ass minimal/techno scene good for if i have no money to get into these events?
While im on a roll....
Im also pretty confident that Ricardo and Martini Bros would sell out a 500-1500 cap venue on any weeknight if they actually came over here.
. But I take a much more progressive direction when I play and make music. And there is a slightly bigger scene for that sort of thing here in North America than for minimal/house/techno respectively. I also want to eventually release music music. Like, not club music, but with a live band et al. And that sort of thing is huge here in North America. I'd still love to do things in Europe of course, because the club scene in general is way bigger...I haven't got any particular place in mind, but I would enjoy living in Europe somewhere for a little while I'm sure. Yay shopping!
