On physical sounds of Berlin and guides to getting into Berghain
Techno is a landscape, not a feeling. I don’t mean to be poetic but I do feel like that is a very apt description of techno — unlike its other electronic music relatives techno is born of industrial noise — railroads, hammers, autobahns, car factories and shattered glass. If techno was a city, it would be Berlin — again, don’t mean to be poetic, but those who have lived in Berlin and walked around old abandoned warehouses and factories, can associate these places with techno sounds. That’s why techno is so organic to Berlin and its club scene. While today’s Berlin techno scene is very international, it maintains its heritage and remains true to its sounds. Most clubs in Berlin are owned by old ravers — people who organized illegal parties during the late period of 1980es in old houses and later moved into abandoned factories of East Berlin. They continue to maintain the same atmosphere and sound that fueled Berlin’s rise to techno capital.
Techno in Berlin is very much a reflection of the city’s recent history. In 1980es, citizens across the country were obliged to complete military service after graduation from high school — except for West Berlin, where allied forces were present. People of alternative lifestyles, artists and musicians, who didn’t wish to go to military service moved to West Berlin giving birth to a high concentration of creatives. Later, unification of Germany and availability of abandoned buildings created a great opportunity for spontaneous raves, which gave birth to first clubs like Tresor (then UFO) — first organized in abandoned Wertheim department store and now at former heating plant — and Bunker, now defunct, but then organized in air-raid shelter. Later Berghain, successor of Ostgut club opened up in a former power plant. With all new spaces came freedom and a very physical sound. All these spaces are part of techno, as much as the music itself.
Even today the city continues to have numerous spontaneous raves and underground parties.
What makes Berlin techno parties so special?
What makes a great rave? — it’s equal parts crowd, environment and music. Music and environment go hand in hand, as techno is a perfect reflection of most of the Berlin club venues — you can’t really enjoy Berlin techno on a boat in a swimsuit. Most popular Berlin clubs — be it Berghain or Tresor are true to this vision of sound being reflected in the setting. These old abandoned, metal and concrete places remain today as they were 10 years ago, there are no lounges or leather sofas here.
Which brings us to the crowd — couple million articles have already been written about door policies of various clubs, but most famously of Berghain. Although there is no official policy, or a picture of a perfect raver hanging near the door, to which the bouncers compare the potential entrants, numerous commentators have been giving advices on how to get in into different clubs — wear black, wear leather pants, pretend you are gay, try to look crazy and etc. Of course, none of these things will ever work — there are no tricks or magic. Most clubs in Berlin have a very rich history of being a shelter for various subcultures or hosting various types of parties (see the history above) — bouncers are experienced enough to know if a person wishing to go into the club is part of this subculture or what their idea of fun is, they can compare it to the environment inside the club. If someone doesn’t get in into a club, it’s probably because they wouldn’t enjoy that specific club. It’s not that a person that gets rejected, isn’t cool (as people and clubs have different definitions of cool), but because that particular club might not be suited for drinking and partying for 4–5 hours with 5 friends.
That’s what makes the scene so special. Some of the Berlin’s clubs create a completely new world inside, even more industrial, “metally”, dark, heavy and cold than outside Berlin is. Some people like to get lost in that world, but not everyone. Most well-known clubs in Berlin maintain these door policies, as much as they maintain the sound and environment. It’s not exclusivity based on coolness or wealth but different clubs creating different environments for different types of dancers.
Sounds of Berlin
Of course, all this is fueled primarily by music. Today thousands of DJs, producers and ravers come to Berlin, but the techno scene maintains its sound and isn’t easily corrupted by poppy sounds that “threaten” some electronic music genres. Artists in Berlin produce insane amount of tracks and every time you listen to a set in a club, you hear something new and interesting, merged with the familiar dark and cold sounds.
People love techno for various reasons — be it its physical touch when the kick drum from Funktion One hits you, or its ability to create a moment. One often hears that techno exists in a moment, it’s right there, the sweat and noise that you enjoy with strangers next to you and is gone by the next day. While that is the beauty of the techno music, the world that it creates through industrial sounds often can become leitmotifs of our lives, like in case of the author of this post.
On this blog, we are going to bring you sounds of Berlin — interesting upcoming producers, as well as techno behemoths, their take on electronic music and sound that translates into a physical substance.
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