it's a hard days night...

oh we are poor djs (04/2008)
"People have such crazy ideas about the lifestyle of DJs (sighs C-Rock). Of course we like to cut loose, just like anyone else, but most of the time you're spinning records, getting on planes, it's a job like any other" (Resident Advisor)

I stumbled over this one the other day, well, more over one of the comments... of course, it's a job in terms of getting up, driving/travelling to the venue and getting paid for playing music. with career steps, ups&downs, bootlickers, and so on. I guess nobody will doubt this no matter if there is passion or not (and i have to admit some djs seem not to be very impassionate about their job). and when I say "job" it shouldn't necessarily mean a profession one does not like. the idea of a job to me is doing something you like, you feel satisfied with. at least at a certain point in your life and of course this can mean that out of all the jobs we have done, there were a couple we did not feel fine with (which is obviously one of the reasons why people change their jobs).

and even so, if you finally found this one job that suits you, may it be teaching kids, tatooing bellies and asses or planting trees and roses which, sometimes, can be much nicer than tatooing bellies and asses... even then you will have moments when you dislike your job. playing out to a crowd of badly dressed brokers and investment bankers (who did find their favourite jobs, too) or being trapped on the last neo-trance night on planet earth can be a pain in the ass, even if djing is the best job in the universe. well, except of being a photographer for playboy magazine.

I don't argue that some jobs are mainly there to make money and these jobs (that I've done a dozen or two myself) are not satisfying at all - except of the money they bring. however, nobody will doubt that this does not count for the whole dj-thing which is basically the reason why so many people want to be djs. and of course, I don't blame the "dj-job" just because we have to do things that other people have to do, too such as catching trains et al - I see this can be easily misunderstood. however, honestly - it seems to be a miracle how we do catch our trains and planes sometimes. uuuuhh, this is such a hard job "sometimes we even have to talk to people we do not like and sit in a car for 200 miles with people that do not even talk anymore". shouts to jimpster and emma and thanx for this nice discussion we had the other day about this. i know you girls love it to see us suffering from our hard hard "jobs"!

two bags full of treasures...

and the "lord of the check in" (09/2006)
i have to say that my trip to bahrain (flying qatar airways via doha/qatar) was impressive. not being ignorant before i have to change my picture of the middle east completely (well, at least when it comes to bahrain and doha). of course, religion and tradition play a major role but to be honest: way less than i thought. western influenced lifestyle, cars, everyday life and music, and of course youth culture. the party itself did not turn out to be a big "crowd-magnet" as the date right before the beginning of ramadan wasn't the best to choose. however the poeple who were there, were really cool and friendly, dancing, shouting and having fun and most important: they paid attention to the music and the mixing. i met some great people from all over the world, russian, american, belgian, maroccan, german and many more and i have to thank rakesh, chantal, the greek nato allied (hehe), and of course: mazen and carlos for bringing me down. so, all in all it was a great night, with a nice afterhour on top. unfortunately i could not stay so long as i had to go back to the hotel and airport at 04:30 (my flight to doha left at 06:00!). so the way back from the desert wasn't as smooth as i hoped. the usual trouble trying to bring two record bags aboard was just the beginning...

check-in-guy (obviously the crew supervisor, lucky me): "i cannot allow you to do this, the bags are way too heavy, and you only can take one aboard, and even the little one would be too heavy".

c*: "oh please, come on, this is my life, my profession, these are my treasures and i've lost them once at madrid airport and i have never got back a single one, nor money from the airline (iberia, by the way). i would not survive anothertime" (i tried to make him feel what i feel, well, in a way).

check-in-super: "hmm, i see, so you lost them... you know what: you should stop travelling around with your records. this is not good. do something else"

c*: "but i can't, you know what passion is?"

supercheck "i tell you this: stop travelling around with your records man!"

c*: "erm?"

prince of check-in: "you know what you are doing to me? I will loose my job, you know? no no, i cannot do this. and do you know why?"

c*: "yeah, i know, you've told me... but you have to understand..."

check-in-master "no, you have to understand! everybody here were hoping germany will win the worldcup".

c*: "erm, what? football? what does that... i mean..."

checko beckenbauer: "of course football! man, you had the chance to make it, big time, the worldcup, and what did you do? you lost it! what a disappointment, shame on you, no! i cannot check you in with two bags of hand luggage" (he meant it! honestly, this is no joke although i know it sounds like complete nonsense!).

c*: "so, you mean, you liked it? i mean, the worldcup and the team?"

lord of the checkers: "man, we fucking loved it! what a great performance you guys had, what an atmosphere, you should have made it" (I did not know what to say for a couple of seconds, he looked at me with a serious, almost scary face, took two handluggage-batches and sent me off to the gates...). "but before you go, wait a minute. just for my inner peace: show me your records, i want to see them!". (he let me go with a smile after he saw the simon & garfunkel album ;)

unfortunately he wasn't the last one who wanted to see my records on that trip. but first things first. so, finally, i was in the plane to doha, lacking sleep (and a shower) and with only 35 minutes to fly there would hardly be enough time to catch some sleep. after the touch down in doha, i got off the plane, carrying my two heavy bags down the stairway, into the bus, walking through the security-check, queuing up, waiting, walking, carrying, sweating, walking... then back to the gate, back to the bus, back to the aircraft. stairways up to the aircraft (damn, heavy bags!) loading the bags up the lockers, sitting down and... finally: ready to sleep for at least 4 hours.

however, life is a bitch and bags are there to get carried around. the pilot told the passengers in a nice and polite way (very good english by the way!) that all of us had to go off the aircraft as this one had a malfunctioning door. so, we did what we had been told to do... everybody got off the plane, i carried my two heavy bags down the stairway, into the bus, walking through the security-check, queuing up, waiting, walking, carrying, sweating, walking... then back to the gate, back to the bus, back to the aircraft. stairways up to the aircraft (damn, heavy bags!) loading the bags up the lockers, sitting down and... finally (again): ready to sleep. it was around 08:15 local time already, the afterhour might have reached its climax meanwhile and i started to get a little bit pissed. at least the flight from then on was smooth and i could get some sleep... however not enough to be prepared for the bonus beats at frankfurt airport...

welcome 2 frankfurt!

officer: "where are you coming from"?

c*: (god, what did he think? i just walked through the door with the "doha" sign on): "doha, i mean bahrain, flying over doha".

officer: "how long have you been there"?

c*: "two days, well, no, two nights, well, also not really but kind of".

officer: "what did you do in bahrain?".

c*: "making music".

officer: "what do you mean? music?".

c*: "erm? well, what do you mean with what do you mean? playing records".

officer: "a dj"?

c*: "here we go, the clever officer", (at that moment my mobile was ringing... sabine from cocoonclub called me, i answered quickly saying i cannot speak and i'll call her back because i am having a nice chat with a "border-police man" - which she replied with a short and dry "oh my god!").

officer: "could you please turn your mobile off? now!".

c*: "could i please tell the lady that i will call her back? kind of unpolite if i wouldn't don't you think?"

officer: "it's unpolite to anwser the phone in the middle of a conversation! and i am not a border policeman, this is state police, you understand? state police!".

c*: "what conversation? i did not ask for a conversation. so please then could you hurry up with the q&a game, my wife and my daughter are waiting to pick me up. and sorry, i did not mean to hurt your feelings nor to downgrade your work and rank. alright, mr. statepolice officer, what's next?".

officer: "ok, making music, all right. where did you dj in bahrain? a nightclub?".

c*: "no, a private party, in a hotel ballroom".

officer: "who was doing the party? and what is the address of the hotel?".

c*: "well, sorry, you have to understand, but i usually don't keep these things in mind. i can look it up, i have it written down somewhere".

officer: "so what are you waiting for? get me the infos. and also your flight-ticket".

c*: (huu, nice tone, imagine he would ask his girlfriend to marry him, well, if he has one). "i don't have a ticket, i just have the little boarding note, left from my boarding pass, the rest was kept at the check in".

officer: "that's not possible, you must have a ticket".

c*: "no, seriously, i just have this little thing here".

officer: "does that mean, somebody booked you the flight? not yourself?".

c*: "well, they usually do, when i dj at foreign places".

officer: "do you carry any drugs with you?".

c*: "what? i, erm, how...".

officer: "are drugs crossing your way as a dj?".

c*: "what do you think? is the pope catholic? of course they do. but i would be quite stupid if i would buy, sell or even bring some into the country, don't you think?".

officer: "so, you have contact with drugs. how?".

c*: "have you ever been to clubs? people do things there as they drink beer on the octoberfest, but that doesn't mean i am challenging them, ok?".

officer: "people do even other things at the octoberfest! can i see your records please? and i mean all of them".

c*: "somehow i have the feeling this is going the wrong way, don't you think?".

well, what should i say. a "nice" line-up of misunderstandings and talking just bullshit, at least i know now these guys were statepolice officers (wow, mummy's pride!) and that bahrain and qatar are "drug-sensitive" countries (damn, i should have known this before). after searching each(!) of my records (taking them out of the bag and out of the sleeve) they even were thinking about taking me to their station (and putting me on the toilet!)... they decided not to do so (thanx guys!) so i could leave without being arrested. i needed to pee badly for about an hour by the time our "conversation" ended but as you can guess i did not want to run immediately to the next toilet knowing they would follow me a for a couple of minutes and check what i do next. it might have looked a bit strange running straight to the toilet then ;) so, i waited another ten minutes, passed the "regular" passport control and finally got out of the arrival-section without peeing my pants. aleikum salam!

i am what i am!

housemusic - state of mind?
(sorry, this one comes in german. no time to write it all down in english. please find another english diary entry further down the page)

so ganz grob lassen sich djs in zwei gruppen aufteilen. die erste gruppe ist die der dogmatischen und linientreuen djs, die in der regel nur zwei, drei verschiedene musikrichtungen abdecken (wollen) und dementsprechend auch eigentlich nur in den jeweils passenden õrtlichkeiten dazu auflegen. egal ob house, techno oder hiphop - für diese gruppe von djs gilt: a beat is a beat is a beat is a beat. was natürlich nicht heißen muss, dass diese djs auch einen guten geschmack haben, geschweige denn gute musik auflegen. es gibt auch djs, die nur hardtrance auflegen und sonst nichts. immerhin konsequent, was meinen vollen respekt verdient.

wenn man natürlich die auswahl hat, musik in guten clubs oder platten vor unwissenden langweilern zu spielen, bevorzuge ich selbstverständlich gute clubs mit "housemusic-geschulten-gästen" - logisch. allerdings zähle ich mich auch immer noch zur (vom aussterben bedrohten) gattung des allround-djs, der auch vor events wie z.b. hochzeiten, geburtstagen, messen und firmenfeiern nicht zurückschreckt. hauptsache musik spielen - na ja, also, im prinzip zumindest.

dass solche anlässe für einen modernen dj meistens nicht die einfachsten sind, brauche ich niemandem zu erklären. dennoch sage ich bei den meisten dieser events aus purem eigennutz zu. denn, wenn nicht djs wie ich, solche feiern bespielen würden, müssten wir den kirmes-djs das feld überlassen, die noch nichtmal vor scooter zurückschrecken und sogar "love generation" von bob sinclair spielen (obwohl das jetzt ein bumerang ist, aber dazu später). denn was diese "djs" mit ihrer "musik" da anrichten, das müssen wir "richtige" djs dann später in den clubs wieder ausbaden. und nicht nur da, denn neben der tatsache, dass diese kirmes-djs den geschmack von generationen versauen, verzerren sie gewissermaßen auch noch die vorstellung des dj-berufsbildes nachhaltig. allein schon deshalb wird auch auf firmenevents gescratched, gebreaked und transformed, was das zeug hergibt.

im rahmen dieser dj-tätigkeiten hatte ich unter anderem bisher das vergnügen für die 25-jährige jubiläumsfeier der zeitung "auto motor und sport" im besten hotel stuttgarts aufzulegen - mit samt edlem buffet und essen fassen neben der deutschen polit- und automobil-prominenz. auch die weihnachtsfeier einer großen frankfurter agentur hatte durchaus lustige züge, die ich nicht missen mõchte. wenn sich zum beispiel die kollegen dank jägermeister und aufgeheizter stimmung morgens um fünf vorwerfen zum wiederholten male die neue praktikantin aufgerissen zu haben (und nicht nur das) und der chef nebendransteht... (p.s.: sorry sascha für den wasabi-nachtisch, aber das war die retourkutsche für das, über die hose geschüttete, bier).

besonders viel spaß hatte ich auf der hochzeit von meiner langjährigen freunding meike letztes jahr im september mit einer großen gruppe tanzwütiger engländer zu gast. billy bragg's "i'm looking for a new england" und "moving on up" von primal scream waren die hits des abends. vorher spielte eine elvis-coverband (keine angst, der erste eindruck täuscht - die jungs waren gut!). am ende des auftritts der band hatten alle anwesenden herren (inklusive dem dj) hochgestellte hemdkragen und mit cola nachgestylte james dean frisuren. außerdem kam ich in den genuss die wohl beste rede auf den bräutigam zu hõren, die es auf einer privaten hochzeit je gegeben hat (das sag ich jetzt einfach mal so, weil es am ende sogar wirklich stimmt) - sehr beeindruckend, und extrem unterhaltend.

um mal einen abgedroschenen satz zu bemühen: "party ist in der kleinsten hütte". häufig sind sogar die events die besten, die im vorfeld grauenhaft erscheinen (manchmal bestätigt sich der erste eindruck aber auch auf schlimmste art und weise). dennoch: gib mir zwei bier, zwei plattenspieler, ein mischpult und eine besoffene meute und es wird schon irgendwie hinhauen. wenn nicht, hatte ich entweder fieber und durchfall oder die leute waren einfach scheiße. an besonders guten tagen auch beides. ich überlege gerade ernsthaft immer einen anständigen vorrat guter end-90er xtc pillen mitzunehmen, die ich in so einem fall den leuten in die cola schmeißen kann.

p.s.: die fotos sind übrigens aus dem kurhaus wiesbaden. ein recht anstrengender event bei dem die erste platte um 19:00 laufen sollte, vor 22:00 aber keiner der gäste in den raum gehen wollte in dem die anlage stand, was wohl auch an dem üppigen buffet lag, an dem sich die haute vole der wiesbadener kurhaus-besucher labte. ich hatte übrigens keinen zugriff auf's buffet, hielt mich an den mir hochgestellten zwei(!) flaschen bier fest (wohlgemerkt für den ganzen abend!) und hörte meinen bauch knurren, der die miese anlage locker übertönte. ich holte mir dann auf der rückfahrt an einer nacht-tankstelle ein leckeres altes frischkäse-sandwich. gutes artist-hosting sieht anders aus. egal, unfassbarerweise wurde es aber dann noch richtig gut, und der abend endete legendär. man tanzte, schrie und wollte mehr, wie zu den high days der new yorker disco-ära. leider war der veranstalter nach dem gig nicht mehr zu finden und ich warte bis heute auf meine gage für diesen auftritt. thanx guys - immerhin das kurhaus wiesbaden, ein ort mit weltruf, wie ich mir später habe sagen lassen ;)

let's talk about tracks!

i will survive!
in diese kategorie der, ähm, etwas anstrengenderen feiern, fällt auch die party einer frankfurter bank die für ca. ausgewählte 100 leute ein tolles exklusives "dankeschõn" fest feiern wollte. an einem dienstag wohlgemerkt, der ideale tag um mal zwischen feierabendbier und kantinenfrühstück eine nacht durchzumachen. leider kannten 80 von 100 teilnehmern das wort "feiern" allenfalls aus dem fernsehen oder der tagespresse und die kleine 20er splittergruppe des "afterwork-kommandos abteilung abfahrt" hatte zudem noch einen sehr heterogenen musikgeschmack. zum glück war aber allen 20 gemein, dass der musikgeschmack mies war. nicht, dass ich es nicht trotzdem versucht hätte. die situation ist also folgende: ein raum voller banker zwischen 26 und 46. alle getränke sind gezahlt, aber keiner trinkt was. die barleute langweilen sich und der dj bedient sich am schon gezahlten wein. nicht die schlechteste ausgangslage

was für musik läuft an so einem abend am besten? hans nieswandt würde disco sagen, ich tendiere zu rüderen 80er sounds. die musik wird also ab ca. 21:30 etwas lauter und tanzbarer (es läuft "connected" von den stereo mcs... vorher "i can't wait" von den nu shooz, was übrigens super nach tom tom club passt!). nach dem mix in den nächsten track, schauen mich von der seite zwei ernste, vom harten bankeralltag und dem überlebenskampf in überfüllten aufzügen und frankfurter bank-tiefgaragen, gestählte augen an...

ein hõflicher aber leicht dominant wirkender und irgendwie ungewöhnlich dünner banker mit ost-europäischen akzent (nicht falsch vestehen, aber er hatte wirklich einen heftigen harten akzent) fängt an mir seine geschichte zu erzählen:

banker: "ich habe mit unseren mädels gesprochen. die wollen tanzen".

ich: "die mädels, ah ja, gut. dann mal los!".

der banker: "hmm, ja, aber spiel doch mal 80er".

ich (verwundert): "aber das mach ich doch gerade"
(zu dem zeitpunkt lief eric b & rakim "Paid in full"... ok, man kõnnte jetzt diskussionen führen, dass das 1987 veröffentlichte stück ein lied der 80er am übergang zu den 90ern war, genaugenommen sogar die folgenden 90er jahre maßgeblich beeinflusst hat, aber für mich zählt der bekanntheitsgrad und der dürfte ausreichend 80er-jahre-musik-banker-kompatibel sein ... dachte ich).

der banker: "nein, so richtig 80s - so die volle ladung! hardcore, weißt du?". (gerade mit dem angesprochenen akzent wirkte dieser satz eher traurig als lustig - ich fühlte mich für einen bruchteil einer sekunde in eine russiche edeldisko versetzt, in der einer der gäste zum glück deutsch spricht).

Ich: "ok, verstehe, mache ich".

ich lege also nochmal drei kohlen aus dem 80er jahre fach nach und versuche meinem set das geforderte prädikat "hardcore" zu verleihen. leider hatte ich nicht viel zeit den motor richtig auf touren zu bringen, da schon die nächste ampel auf mich wartet und mich ausbremst... eine, ähm, "rustikalere" bankerin spricht mich an:

bankerin: "spiel doch mal 'i will survive' von gloria gaynor"

ich: "hmm, jetzt schon? ich bin doch gerade auf dem 80er trip. 'i will survive' hab ich auch gar nicht dabei (ein großer fehler, ich weiß), aber ich schau mal, ob ich in der richtung was finde".

ca. drei minuten später eine weitere bankerin (blond und gut aussehend): "hast du eigentlich nur 80s dabei? oder hast du dir heute eine 80er cd gekauft?". (während des gesprächs lief "i wear my sunglasses at night" von corey heart, für mich absoluter 80er hardcore. die nächste bankerin stand übrigens schon wartend hinter der blonden um den dj gleich maß zu regeln. super! musik auflegen mit wunschbox-gesprächen, fast wie im mdr-fernsehen. nur, dass dort die wünsche besser sind - spreewald olé!).

besagte wartendende bankerin (durchaus nett aber wohl eine ambitionierte hobby-djeuse): "spiel doch mal was aktuelles. den wm-song zum beispiel oder das neue von madonna." (hab ich natürlich nicht gemacht und stattdessen von was-not-was "papa was rolling stone" aufgelegt. ohne erfolg natürlich. keiner hat getanzt).

weitere drei minuten später:
bankerin (dünn, sehr gut aussehend, große braune augen): "spiel doch mal was von robbie"

ich: "oh ja, robbie ist gut, aber der macht doch fast nur langsame lieder, welches willst Du denn hõren? also ich mein von den schnelleren?"

sie: "keine ahnung, irgendeines. ich vertrau dir da, du wirst das schon wissen."

Ich: "ah, na denn, ich schau mal was ich hab".

natürlich hatte ich nix von robbie dabei. ich war zwar auf ein hartes programm eingestellt, aber autoscooter auf der dippemess ist dann doch ne nummer zu heftig. egal, die moderne technik ist dein freund und the sky is the limit. dank laptop, itunes und wireless-lan (kein witz!) konnte ich mir im internet parallel zum auflegen "tripping" von robbie williams runtergeladen, später übrigens der hit des abends. neben dem wm-song von bob sinclair, den ich auch live am abend aus dem netz gezogen hatte. ich plädiere übrigens dafür, dass alle clubs und event-locations ab sofort mit w-lan ausgestattet werden! man stelle sich das mal vor: ich spiele gerade musik, die aus dem laptop kommt und über die plattenspieler kontrolliert wird (serato von rane und final scratch von stanton machen's möglich), während ich mit demselben laptop im hintergrund im netz surfe und musik runterladen kann. wenn das noch auf einem ozeandampfer mitten auf hoher see funktionieren würde - oh mein gott, meiner anstellung als moderner kreuzfahrt-pianist stünde nichts mehr im wege...

nochmal drei minuten später (es nimmt einfach kein ende):
andere bankerin (auch dünn, gut aussehend, aber blond, die andere hatte braune haare): "spiel doch mal hardrock".

ich: "bitte was? hard rock? (ich dachte an slayer, die onkelz oder sepultura, merkte aber rechtzeitig, dass sie wohl was anderes meinte). hmm, ja, kõnnte ich. dachte zwar banker stehen auf 80er aber was soll's. was soll ich den spielen?"

sie: (ich habe keine ahnung mehr, was sie gesagt hat, hab ich vergessen, oder eher verdrängt)

ich: "ich schau mal". (ich glaube ich hatte ihr versprochen 'sunday, bloody sunday' von u2 zu spielen. definitiv der perfekte, ähm, "hardrock-song" auf so einer banker-party).

ich hab dann von green day "boulevard of broken dreams" gespielt (was natürlich viel zu langsam ist, ich weiß) und danach von oasis "wonderwall". keine(r) hat getanzt, geschweige denn mitgesungen. ich glaube auch kaum, dass das anders gewesen wäre, wenn ich richtigen hard-rock aufgelegt hätte.

ok, der abend war also nicht die krone meines schaffens, aber um nicht komplett die achtung vor mir zu verlieren, denke ich denke, dass ich zumindest eine interessante "challenge" hatte. sagt man glaube ich so im modernen bankerdeutsch. und im nachhinein kann ich mir selbst attestieren, dass ich mich gut geschlagen habe (hüstel), zumindest kamen im großen und ganzen alle anwesenden auf ihre kosten und es wurde sogar noch richtig getanzt - oder wie man auf einer afterworkparty zu sagen pflegt: abgehottet! und das sogar zu musik, die ich im plattenkoffer mitgebracht hatte (freeze "i.o.u" und shannon "let the music play"!). dennoch muss ich sagen: jederzeit gerne wieder. irgendwie hat auch so ein abend was.

gebt mir tiernamen - ich will es dreckig

//

p.s.:
ebenfalls noch runtergeladen live im club:
chacka kahn & rufus: "ain't nobody" // gloria gaynor: "i will survive" // gloria gaynor: "i am what i am" // gloria estefan vs. mylo: "dr. pressure". wobei mir gerade auffällt: musik von künstlern deren name mit gloria anfängt, scheint bei bankern gut zu funktionieren ;)

p.p.s.:
der antihit des abends war übrigens "the bomb" von den bucketheads (der track mit dem chicago-loop). normalerweise immer eine sichere bank (tolles wortspiel in dem zusammenhang). sogar die houseband vom frankfurter kinkhameamea spielt das, und das will was heißen. hier hat das gute stück mal gerade die tanzfläche gecleared. mein versuch der "wilden meute" housemusic näher zu bringen, ging also in die hose.

berlin berlin!

april 29th, 2006
ok, this is the situation: usually a team like eintracht frankfurt reaches the german cup-final every 15 to 20 years (if even). with a normal lifetime i would have the chance to see three or four finals. however, chances to get tickets for good prices are pretty low. this time, it seemed to be my turn. frankfurt has beaten teams like arminina bielefeld (where the fuck is bielefeld?) and schalke04 (we won 6:0!) and reached the final again after winning the cup in 1988 ... more than this: frankfurt is playing bayern munich in the final. that's what they call a dream-final i think. but the most important thing was: i had a ticket due to the fact that all seasonticket-holders got a ticket automatically. strike!

well, it happened what usually happens in these situations: i couldn't go. i had a gig confirmed longtime before the "final-reaching" happened and no chance to cancel it (and no budget to afford the private jet from berlin to friedrichshafen). so now i am sitting on the train to lindau (where i play tonite, after i've watched the game of course) typing these lines and listening to morrisey's "viva hate" album ("everday is like sunday"). i get text-messages from my friends who are on the way to berlin (actually they've just reached the stadium) and reports of alcohol-poisoning in the bus and ambulance-calls. i slowly start byting my fingernails as tention gets more and after two glases of whitewine i start to convince myself that it is better to "see them winning on tv somewhere in bavaria (surrounded by 1000 bavarians in a pub) than cancelling a gig, driving to berlin after djing the night before and then see them loosing there in the end".

well, i stop this here, before(!) the game even starts and before I can tell if the night tonight will be good and even worth not going to the game. my feelings about the game tonight changed the wholed week through so i keep my fingers crossed... and defintely will follow the team for one game next season in the uefa-cup.

p.s. (a day later): frankfurt lost.

p.p.s.: because i got off the train before the final station (to make sure i can watch the game from the beginning) the promoter of the night thought i've missed the train and was about to cancel the party. as you can guess i was a bit pissed as we never agreed someone will pick me up or knew he would do so - and just to let you know: the club is literally 15 metres away from the trainstation - i am pretty sure i would have found my way to the venue without a pick-up ;)

well, of course he didn't cancel the night and the night turned out pretty cool. so, remember: never cancel a party only because the dj is not at the trainstation (or airport)... at least not before checking if there is an important football match going on at the same time. hell, i don't want to know what means for the worldcup coming up ;)

related links: www.eintracht-frankfurt.de

let it snow let it snow let it snow!

march 3rd & 4th 2006 // frankfurt & ravensburg (shouts to alton m!).
now in the juliette "native-speaker" edit ;)

you have to know that i like snow. i love it. a lot. it's been a while since i last went skiing, at least 15 years i think, but i still enjoy snow and the wintervibe a lot. however, as a dj i realized pretty soon that snow is not my best friend. whenever there was a chance for snow on a weekend-night i had the luck to get it. that means for some cities and areas the clubs will get less than 50% of their ususal intake over a snowy weekend. depending on the amount of snow you are sometimes even alone in the club (not the worst depending on the club I have to admit), well, with the bar-staff or course and the clubmanager (complaining he had a bad night and business wasn't the best - mainly to prepare me that I would be getting paid less for the gig - what's a gig anyway?). by mid november i usually start to say a little prayer as we get closer to Friday nights. so, although the snow-factor ruined a couple of my gigs in the past i have to admit that the first weekend in march 2006 made everything i had before look like kindergarden.

i was really looking forward to a great weekend. friday i was with carl craig and alton miller at cocoonclub and the saturday in the south of germany in a club called douala. carl was expected to land at 7 a.m. in fankfurt and so he did, safely and on time. around two hrs later it started to snow... and it didn't stop until midnight! alton m (my guest-dj on the housefloor) was there unable to fly in as planned. about 500 flights were cancelled at frankfurt airport including his flight from brussels. so he had to take a train from brussels over cologne to frankfurt. a 5 hour journey. not so bad i have to admit... if he hadn't been waiting at the wrong platform at brussel trainstation and consequently missed his train. alton is professional. and cool. he told the story by ending it with a relaxed and calm "and then i really freaked out".

alton finally arrived in one piece and we had a cool but very quite night. nice music on both floors but of course not enough people in the club to make us all feel real good. however the next day defined a new level of "snow-ruined-gigs". on the way to ravensburg it started to snow (heavily!) around 5 p.m. i was in the train and just passed stuttgart. it kept on snowing the whole evening and night and when i arrived in ravensburg there was hardly any traffic to be seen on the roads. on top of that: the unions in that particular region had been on strike a few days before and resulting in a complete absence of winter maintenance and road clearing (what the hell is the english word for "winterdienst"? I guess they don't have a word for this as there is no real winter in england). again, less than 50% of the anticipated crowd turned up (still had a lot of fun). however the worst part came at the end of the night. snow was so heavy that we could not get away with our cars. everybody was slipping around and it took us almost 30 minutes to get back to the hotel. I had to carry my bags through 60cm snow the last 200 metres - no car in the world would have been able to get through this.

The trainride back to frankfurt the next day was pretty chaotic, too. i finally got onto a train that had been delayed over 85 minutes and ended 50 miles south of frankfurt in the middle of nowhere (with no reason!). no complains here - when you look at the pictures you can see that the fact this train was running was pretty much a miracle. on some trainstations one couldn't see a difference between the tracks and the plattform anymore. the snow just just blurred them both into one. i arrived after 6 hours and i was looking forward to the next weekend and my gig in moscow. the weather forecast announced heavy snow for moscow on saturday...

related links: www.douala.de

tic tac toe, istanbul

feb 11th 2006 // somewhere in istanbul...
before going any further i have to thank "auntie juliette" for the quick native-speaker-check and the corrections. i hope i've included them all - kick my ass if there is still something wrong ;)

istanbul, what a city. having known erhan sengenc for a good while now, we finally got to party together. in the past erhan visited me in frankfurt at club monza and a second time a year later when he had a quick stop-over in frankfurt. he is a cool guy with a very metropolitain style and way of living (yes, you're right juliette: the sentence i had here before sounded racist, but I have no idea how to explain the big difference of the picture i had from turkey build on my german point of view, compared to the real-life in istanbul). erhan's style is definitely more US biased. he speaks with a strong american accent and loves motorbikes - and somehow he looks like andre agassi's (older) twinbrother - with even less hair (sorry erhan). besides that his favourite topic to talk about is sex and sexual habits - you guessed it: we get along very well ;)

(juliette: "god do I have to read this further you dirty pervert?").

luckily erhan is one of the few housemusic-lovers in turkey who knows the score between good and bad techno. He has been hosting a radio show for a few years and is now throwing one-off-parties once in a while under the name "tic tac toe". our night was supposed to happen at a nice, decent and modern styled sushi-place. a pretty funky spot that could be in new york or london with a wide customer-range. gay & straight, posh and basic, business-men and students and of course no sign of religious fundamentalism at all. in fact there were a lot of good looking women who did not seem to hide "any sign of sexiness" - to be honest, I was pleasantly surprised (juliette: what did you expect? a hijab in the clubs?). ok ok, fair enough, i have to realize: i am more ignorant than i thought i am however i am sure most people would agree that istanbul appears more metropolitan and european than many other cities in "old europe".

unfortunately, due to a drink induced incident of violence involving some US tourists the week before, sushico were unwilling to host the event. no need to mention that such things never happen on housenights... erm, at least we will never tire of repeating this to everybody, especially to people who think house and techno are aggressive musicstyles (i hope juliette doesn't think now i believe americans can not deal with alcohol, well, maybe she would even agree).

the way how i've been told the sushico-story was of course typical turkish flavoured. after picking me up at the airport and engaging me in some smalltalk (analyzing the match between turkey and switzerland and voting who won the fights after the game) erhan changed the subject out of the blue: "you know, i have two news for you. a good and a bad one. the good one is, we don't have much competition tonite. people are looking forward to your gig and we have a big guestlist already. the bad one is... we have to move the venue, so we hope we won't loose to many guest due to this".

however, i was confident all would go well - and i liked the manner in which I was informed, full of style and with a local touch. i am familiar with the good old "let's make the best of things" situation. no bad feelings at all - i liked the vibe of the city, the lights of the bosporus by night and the fact that it snowed (again, not the typical picture i had of istanbul before). "but we still can have dinner at sushico" erhan added. so we had a good sushi and fried rice there around an hour later before going to the alternative venue, which on hindsight was better adapted to the type of music we played that night anyway. again, many goodlooking girls were there (partying like on an ibiza afterhour).

the soundsystem was very good (solid bass, no needle-skipping due to instable tables or stages) and the venue had a nice oldskool vibe and last but not least: the three of us were given enough drinks to satisfy 10 djs! after playing two hours a more or less "going deeper" like selection we started doing back2back and got wild playing techno, trance and some oldskool house. i would never have guessed that the original 12" of "relight my fire" and the live-recording of u2's "sunday, bloody sunday" would be the tunes of the night and would make the girls go wild - in istanbul!

the nice lunch next day (traditional kofte: made of lamb and lots of garlic, yeah!) and the waterpipe and turkish mocca for desert made it a cool and memorable trip to byzance... luckily i had enough space in the plane left and right to my seat so no one really smelled the combination of meat, garlic, onions, apple-tobacco and mocca.