The doyen of German and International house and techno scene, Steve Bug is bringing a new music selection on Friday, the 19th of august, which will this time be presented under the open sky of Belgrade’s Barutana club. One of the favorite characters of the local audience, to whom Belgrade is an inevitable stop on his planetary tours, will perform at the warm-up party for the upcoming Apgrade Weekend which will again host some of the hottest names in the electronic scene such as the undisputed ruler of the Resident Advisor list Dixon, the world’s most wanted DJ duo Tale of Us, “live techno” master Recondite, and electro-heroine Miss Kittin. Local support for Steve Bug on the 19th of August will be provided by Kristijan Molnar and Vlada Janjić, and tickets for the party, “Prepare to Apgrade”, are sold at the box offices of Eventim and Gigstix at the pre-sale price of 600 dinars.
“A gentleman of techno”, as referred to by the prestigious Resident Advisor, is considered to be one of the favorite DJs and producers on the planet thanks to his harmonious fusion of rhythm and bass line where, with exquisite taste and skill full of finesse makes the most demanding connoisseurs of electronic music dance as well as those who rightfully consider his name synonymous with a good time. From his base in Berlin, he travels as the favorite at all major international festivals including Hyte, BPM and Nuits Sonores without bypassing the carefully chosen clubs such as Space, Watergate, Pacha, Panorama Bar and many others. He is responsible for essential mix series called “Bugnology”, while his distinguished mixes for Cocoon, Fabric and Fuse are considered to be the jewels of electronic publishing.
In addition to labels that reflect the flavor of sophistication, Audiomatique and Dessous, Steve is also the leader of the legendary Poker Flat Recordings who positioned it globally as one of the main sources of contemporary house alongside the names of Trentemoller, John Tejada, DJ T, Lahs Nico (Nicolas Jaar), Alex Niggemann, Daniel Dexter, Mihai Popoviciu, Mathias Tanzman , Vince Watson, Mark Henning, Martin Buttrich and Martin Landsky among many others. After almost two decades of existence and 176 editions, Poker Flat is one of the most influential labels whose longevity can thank to its undisputed quality from the very beginning.
The Clubber Mag had the chance to talk to Steve before his show at the latest Apgrade event where he explained to us why most festival rosters have become generic, how important is the research for new artists and releases and just how hard it is to run a successful.
You are one of the most wanted DJs in the world. Yet, you manage not to gather a lot of hype around you and still be at the cutting edge of refined club music. How do you manage that?
Unfortunately I can’t really answer that question, maybe it is my personality or my taste in music, but I really don’t know. It is just the way it is.
Besides running the cult imprint Poker Flat, you run 4 more record labels, out of which two are the famous Dessous and Audiomatique. I’ve seen that a lot of newcomers start their labels with different agendas, sometimes for all the wrong reasons. Can you explain how hard it is to run a successful label, how much hard work is involved and do you think that it is something that should be taken lightly?
Seeing labels pop up all the time makes me wonder what is the motivation behind starting a label these days. And there are many good reasons to do so, but if you don’t really have an idea of what kind of music you want to release and what kind of artists you are going to work with it doesn’t make sense at all. I think the best reason to start a label nowadays is having a few friends that have a similar taste in music, and ideally a sound of their own. Something that doesn’t fit on an already existing label and that not many people would release. So you come up with your own label with your own particular view on electronic music, and I am sure there will be people out there who appreciate what you are doing. Over the years your gonna loose artists, but you will win new ones. Keep an eye on the direction you want the label to go, and most importantly try to keep the quality of the releases as high as possible. Never release something because you don’t have anything else to release. Wait for the next suiting track instead and stay true to your roots. Don’t change the sound due to trends out there. Stick to what you personally like and feel like playing. You might have your ups and downs, but in a long run, it’s gonna pay off.
You are one of the few who still appreciate the method of crate digging. How important it is for a DJ, well anyone, to explore new music?
Do you think that, in a way, it can help you learn and evolve? For sure! I discovered so many great artists lately by digging for music. If you stick to the few friends that send you their promos your gonna end up in a circle of endless repetitions. To play a great dj set you have to have a bandwidth of styles. Only then you can create great moments and take people on a musical journey. Not many DJs understand that today.
Line-ups of today have become generic, where most of the artists you see at the biggest festivals are just copied to another festival roster of the same sort. Why is that?
Well, I don’t exactly know why, but my guessing is this. There are a few big, major booking agencies. If you run a festival and want to book one of their big names you might have to book a whole stage if not a second stage through them to get the artist you want to play. That leaves no room for other artists. Another reason is that the whole electronic music world is giving way too much credit to a dj poll in a certain online mag. So, if you want to to run a successful festival you only have to book the top twenty djs, and that is exactly what most promoters do. It is not about someone being a good dj nowadays, it is about having a big name, no matter how you became popular. I call it the trump phenomenon.
But I seriously wonder for how many years people gonna go to listen to the same artists over and over again, and If they will get ever fed up with this. There are so many great artists to explore. Why always listen to the same 25 – 50 djs?
You said that you don’t want to make another Loverboy track. Can you explain what making new music is? Is it planning ahead or feeling the essence of the moment?
For me it is all about experimenting with grooves, sounds or a synth until I feel there is something that is worth working on. Sometimes it can be a mood that you manage to put in a melody, but at the end it has to be hypnotic and very danceable for me. But it is different every time.
Can you tell us about the musical focus behind the recently dormant “Traffic Signs” and the latest “Apes Go Bananas” monikers? What are the sonic tales you want to tell under them?
Under Traffic Signs I release very simple basic tracks, mostly using one synth line being doubled or tripled by other sounds and build the arrange about that. Unfortunately I can’t sit down and say: “hey today I gonna write a new traffic signs.” It either happens, or it doesn’t. The Apes Go Bananas project and label is basically our take on the classic house revival. It is a fun project that we release on vinyl only. The second EP is finally about to be released in early October.
Less is more. What’s the beauty behind it and how hard is it to make something like that?
It can be very easy sometimes. Because certain tracks simply don’t need more than you already have. So you arrange it and it’s done. But as I said, things happen and I can’t plan them. Certain tracks need another layer or another synth line, or more drums, or whatever, while others just work fine without anything to add. In general I try to keep things to what they really need instead of adding more and more sounds. I try to make every sound work.
You have a memorable history in Belgrade when it comes to your shows. The crowd here loves your music. How do you feel when performing here?
I am happy to be back, I can really feel the appreciation of the crowd when I am playing in Belgrade. It is a great feeling, almost like coming home to people who understand you and what you are trying to tell them.
What has been the most recent mind blowing track you’ve heard?
Unfortunately there are not that many tracks lately that are different enough from the rest of the releases. But one track I really dig is The Deetron remix of Honey Dijon on Classic recordings. Very simple, very functional and it reallly works if you build up to it. I like to play tracks that you have to build up. When you have to think two three tracks ahead, how to get there, to be able to suite it in your set. Another thing that got lost over the years…
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