Saturday 8th December: Australian Tech. Park Exhibition Hall, Sydney
The Warehouse Collective w/ Stephan Bodzin
Marcel Dettmann, Dense + Pika and Made In Paris
Sunday 9th December: Catani Gardens, Melbourne
smalltown w/ Stephan Bodzin,
Marcel Dettmann, Dense + Pika and Made In Paris
Sunday 9th December: Chasers, Melbourne
smalltown Official After Party with Marcel Dettmann
The Berghain resident needs no introduction, yet with his latest double EP releaseTest-File he still manages to show us just why he is so revered. The six-track EP is the first solo record Dettmann has released with his label Ostgut Ton since 2013. That doesn’t mean he has rested on his laurels in all that time: in recent years the heavy-weight producer has lent his talents to some of the Berghain associated label’s most defining tracks.Growing up on the outskirts of Berlin and living through the German capital’s defining era of mid-90’s techno, Dettmann plays a style of the genre which is synonymous with its early beginnings, while still in constant search of new sounds to inspire his unique vision. He strikes a perfect balance between being a shining beacon for the Berghain sound and branching out just enough to still keep his audience on their toes, pulling out unheard tracks from his repertoire of over 25 years of mixing experience. The result always leaves you mind-boggled and in absolute awe of a man who can indeed lay claim to having shaped techno into what it is today.
DJ and producer Marcel Dettmann is recognised as one of the most influential proponents of contemporary Techno. Widely associated with iconic places – Berlin, Berghain and Hard Wax – Dettmann stays true to his roots by consistently innovating his interpretation of electronic music, integrating art with the scene.
Raised in the former GDR in a small town near Berlin, Dettmann had already begun to develop his passion for electronic music in his youth days. Bands like Depeche Mode, The Cure and Front 242, as well as Post-Punk and Industrial, count as his earliest influences, long before he discovered his affinity for Techno. Since his hometown lacked a record store specialising in electronic music, Dettmann started selling vinyl from his own home between 1995 and 1998. He purchased records from various distributers, Hard Wax amongst others, both to resell to his friends and to cement the foundation for his own considerable collection.
Like many of his friends, the mid-90s saw Dettmann frequenting Berlin’s nightlife. This included club institutions E-Werk and Tresor where the resident DJs of that time aroused his passion for the Chicago and Detroit influenced sound. In 1999, after many (including self-organised) parties, his turning point came; Dettmann began to work as a resident DJ at Ostgut, Berghain’s predecessor. Shortly thereafter upon receiving a job offer from Hard Wax, he finally moved to Berlin. His apprenticeship as a vinyl buyer and seller as well as DJ, granted him an extensive depth of musical knowledge and intuition.
Dettmann quests tirelessly for new ways and inspiration to further develop his own concept of electronic music. His label MDR (Marcel Dettmann Records) serves as a platform upon which to shape his musical vision, and through its releases launch new talent onto the Techno scene. As a curator and producer, Dettmann fosters the call to create in a way which is equally timeless and innovative. His own releases comprise two albums on Ostgut Ton, numerous singles and remixes for artists of various genres – Junior Boys, Fever Ray, Moderat, Commix, Clark and Laibach to name a few. Furthermore, he has produced compilation albums for London’s fabric club, Berlin’s Berghain, the Belgian techno label Music Man, as well as one issue each of the DJ Kicks (!K7 Records) and Selectors series (Dekmantel).
Outside of the club context, Marcel Dettmann has established himself as a multi-faceted artist. He designed the sound concept for New Works, an exhibition of photographer Frederike von Rauch, contributed to the contemporary dance project MASSE – together with Frank Wiedemann and choreographer Nadja Saidakowa in cooperation with Berghain and the Berlin State Ballet. His single “Seduction feat. Emika” provided the soundtrack to director and screenwriter Parker Ellerman’s short film of the same name.
As a passionate DJ and one of the faces of Berghain, Dettmann seeks to inspire his listeners with sounds both reduced and rough, balanced by emotional and surprising moments throughout his sets. Between pure Techno, banging Chicago, tracks old and new of the past twenty-five years, Marcel Dettmann communicates his message with an apparent effortlessness.
