An Oral History of Berlin Minimal Techno
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Menu Search Red Bull Music Academy Daily An Oral History of Berlin Minimal Techno A look back at the stripped-down subgenre that defined the German capital from 1998-2008 September 7, 2018 By Joshua Glazer In 1998, the rave scene that gripped Germany after reunification was at its apex. What had started in the literal underground spaces of post-GDR Berlin after the fall of the Wall had gone mainstream, with millions of young people celebrating the colorful culture of electronic dance music all across the country. But the techno utopia envisioned by many as the new millenium approached was already starting to come undone. The trend was swiftly co-opted – ironically, by some of the same capitalist forces that had defeated the communist system a decade earlier. The bubble soon burst, and many of those truly dedicated to the music were forced to rebuild. The result was something that was the opposite of rave’s over-the- top excess, a movement that idealized a minimalist aesthetic in sound, visuals and fashion. It was a lifestyle that resisted the unbridled exuberance of rave in favor of something more sustainable – and sustain it did, with tracks that filled whole sides of vinyl and parties that went on for days at a time. Berlin became the center for this new creative community, drawing in techno practitioners and aficionados from around the world who came for the party and stayed for the ease of living made possible by cheap rents and easy access to artist visas. “Minimal” became the buzzword around this scene, and while overindulgences were aplenty in freewheeling afterhours, the “arm, aber sexy” (poor but sexy) slogan coined by then-mayor Klaus Wowereit could not have been a more accurate appraisal of Berlin’s appeal. The Berlin of today might not offer the €100 rents of two decades ago, but it still maintains an independently-minded music community that is the envy of cities around the world, one that manages to be both pure in sound and a primary economic force for making Berlin an international destination. 20 years down the line, we talked to some of the DJs, producers, label heads and journalists – including Richie Hawtin, Ellen Allien, Break 3000 and more – who helped shaped the decade of minimal that once defined the city. OVERCOME In 1997, Berlin’s annual Love Parade reached a peak attendance of 1.5 million. The hangover that followed would force the infamous party capital to redefine itself, not for the first time. HEIKO HOFFMANN HEIKO HOFFMANN The American forces abolished the curfew in 1949 to compete with Berlin-born editor of Groove magazine the Russians, to show how liberal and open and forward-thinking they were. This is what attracted Iggy Pop and David Bowie to West Berlin in the 1970s. They could just go on and on and on. ELLEN ALLIEN ELLEN ALLIEN Kraftwerk is the origin of minimal. Hysterical music filled with DJ/Producer from Berlin who founded BPitch different sounds is too heavy for me – needless and even deranging. Kraftwerk taught my ears that less is more. Control in 1999 HEIKO HOFFMANN Growing up as a teenager in Berlin in the ’80s was completely uncool, at least in regards to pop culture. You just had the feeling that this was a really grey city with not much interesting happening. ELLEN ALLIEN The first techno labels I know from Berlin are Tresor and Basic Channel. RALF KOLLMAN RALF KOLLMAN We all know the story after the Wall came down. We had an DJ from Frankfurt who co-founded Mobilee underground techno movement and then we had the Love Parade, we had a Mayday, it became commercial. That was ’96-’97, when I Records in Berlin in 2004 turned my back, ’cause techno was all over the place. It was on music television and in magazines, everywhere. It was a sell-out. ELLEN ALLIEN There was no interest in booking Berlin DJs in London, for example. HEIKO HOFFMANN Berlin had some important DJs in the early ’90s, but a lot of the music came from Frankfurt, mainly, and a little bit from Cologne and Munich. The music that came from Berlin was either early trance like Paul Van Dyk and Energy 52 – or Basic Channel. That was mostly it. RICHIE HAWTIN RICHIE HAWTIN I was inspired by Mike Ink and the Cologne sound for its rhythmic Canadian DJ/producer and founder of Minus approach, and I was inspired by Basic Channel and the Berlin sound for its washes of noise and effects. Records HEIKO HOFFMANN During the whole of the ’90s, you had a very local audience in Berlin. You could go to a club like WMF or E-Werk and see the same faces week after week. RICHIE HAWTIN The smallest town in Germany had a techno club. I’m talking Dortmund and Mainz and Hanover. There was so much more going on than just the main cities. It’s important because when you speak about Berlin today, you have to understand the foundation was being built all over Germany the past 20 years. That was the first time I’d ever been to a party like that that was populated by people that had been out all night and people who were just getting there fresh. — Philip Sherburne ELLEN ALLIEN Many clubs were closed in the late ’90s. That’s why I started to take things into my own hands, creating my own events and founding my label. The crash induced me to do it by myself, or everything would die. RESHAPE As Y2K approached and the global scene continued to contract, a new wave of artists arrived in Berlin and began to construct a sound that defied the euphoric conventions of rave. HEIKO HOFFMANN Ostgut opened in ’98, I think. Predominantly gay club, very dark. You could already sense something new happening with that club. RALF KOLLMAN There was a new underground developing around that time. My protagonists were people like Tobi Neumann, Luciano, Ricardo Villalobos and a few others who started some kind of new vibes in electronic music. And at one point, somebody gave that the minimal label. PHILIP SHERBURNE PHILIP SHERBURNE Not a lot of melody, just sort of burbling groove percolating ad American expat journalist who covered infinitum. This very steady holding pattern became the signature of minimal. minimal for The Wire and Pitchfork HEIKO HOFFMANN Musically, the most crucial thing happening was Ricardo moving to Berlin. His Alcachofa album and songs like “Easy Lee” were some of the first recordings he made in Berlin. BREAK 3000 You got records from Villalobos that were like ten or 20 minutes long and really very minimal, not much happening. That was completely different. It was really the sound of Berlin – I think one of the first times that Berlin really had its own sound. ▶ PHILIP SHERBURNE This never-ending unspooling. No big crescendo breaks or drops. Easy Lee – Ricardo Villalobos BREAK 3000 A lot of producers moved to Berlin, then everything changed. Labels like Highgrade and Mobilee were doing this minimal sound BREAK 3000 and they were from Berlin. But the biggest were like Perlon and Dutch DJ/producer and RBMA alumni who Richie Hawtin with Minus. They were really the major labels doing this style. established Dirt Crew Recordings in Berlin in RICHIE HAWTIN 2004 The important decision for me was to have Minus set up an operation in Berlin. So many of our artists were inspired by what was happening. And all of our friends in Germany were spending more time in Berlin. Ricardo and that whole gang were there. It just made sense to be a part of that creative explosion. CLARK WARNER CLARK WARNER Berlin was becoming quickly the center of the universe no matter Canada-based label manager of Minus from where you’re from. If it was South America, Central America, North America, even England, Berlin was the place to be. 1998-2007 PHILIP SHERBURNE All of this sort of Mutek community had gotten there – Gabriel Coutu-Dumont, Deadbeat, Mike Shannon. HEIKO HOFFMANN One major change for the artists moving to Berlin was the first budget flight carriers. Before that, the flights from Berlin to other major cities in Europe were quite expensive. If you were a DJ who was playing around Europe every weekend, you would have to go through Frankfurt or Munich to get to these cities. When the budget carriers started, tourists could easily come to Berlin from more or less than anywhere in Europe – but the artists could also get out. INITIATE Artistic boundaries and endurance limits were tested in new clubs and parties that incubated the minimal community as it continued to grow. RALF KOLLMAN There was enough space for everybody and there were so many different promoters supporting each other and people going out consuming the music. I think that was the reason why the club culture developed so well, because I know in other cities it’s exactly the opposite. Where there is competition, people just make their lives complicated. Nothing is growing, nothing is developing. RICHIE HAWTIN If I wasn’t off gigging, if I had a free weekend, I’d go to Berlin and go to Beat Street and these other things. Just get creatively re- inspired. Partying and being with friends and open-minded people on a Sunday afternoon as the sun is streaming in, there’s nothing to hide — Richie Hawtin HEIKO HOFFMANN Beat Street filled the void that happened when Ostgut closed in 2003. A lot of people who used to go to Ostgut were really missing that kind of music, so they got a lot of the resident DJs and the people who worked the bar and the door.