The Bunker presents High Kicks and Neck Snaps with Magda, Mike Servito, Mike Huckaby, Eric Cloutier at Output / The Panther Room
74 Wythe Avenue
21+, 10p-6a
$20 advance
Magda of course really needs no introduction. We're pretty sure you're all familiar with her achievements, the huge label she was closely associated with throughout the 00s, and her rise to prominence. What many of you may not know is how Magda is connected to Mike Servito and The Bunker. We first became aware of Magda in the late 90s, when we caught her opening for Richie Hawtin at various events in Detroit and New York. We fell in love with her style of DJing and gave her a Friday night DJ residency the week she moved to NYC at Openair, the short lived but infamous DJ lounge on Saint Mark's Place and Ave A. It was through Magda's bookings for this residency that we made early contact with Daniel Bell, Zip, Sammy Dee, John Tejada, Theo Parrish, Troy Pierce and many other artists. Magda also brought in Mike Servito to play her party, 10+ years before he became the resident DJ at The Bunker. This is how we met. We also met BMG from Interdimensional Transmissions, who we collaborate with on the No Way Back event, through his booking at Magda's Openair party. Turns out she was also tight with Derek Plaslaiko.
Lately Magda has taken Mike Servito under her wing to open for her at a series of events across Europe's biggest clubs called High-Kicks and Neck Snaps. These events have been a huge success and Servito wont shut up about how insanely good Magda's DJing was on all of these dates.
The main thing you need to know about Mike Huckaby is that he has impeccable taste and the ability to see past petty genre divisions to bring together amazing sets that may cover everything from the deepest house and the darkest techno to classic tracks from 20 years ago that you didn't even realize existed. These skills have landed him endless gigs worldwide at huge clubs, and make him an ideal DJ for The Bunker dancefloor. Although his talents as a DJ are well documented, do not forget that he is also a very accomplished producer of dub techno and deep house, with tracks on his own Deep Transportation and S Y N T H labels, and endless remixes on labels around the world. Mike has played at many parties for us in the past (not just The Bunker, but House-N-Home and Kiss & Tell), but it's been a few years since we've had him on board and we're excited to bring him back into the fold.
Mike Servito is from a very special yet temporary and partially lost fertile crescent of techno / house / party DJing. It was a time when raves were still a fresh idea, almost felt like a revolution, and DJs like Claude Young, D Wynn, Derrick Carter and Mike Huckaby were informing an upcoming generation. If you look directly to that inspired generation you will find the lost threads of Detroit Techno, House and beyond, you will find a group of DJs with insanely deep mixing skills, the ability to rock almost any kind of party with an improvisational approach that is so skilled it makes everything seem so well thought out that even they don't know where their set will go. But, it will take you there! In the future, this special generation of deep midwest mixers will be remembered and revered as the wizards they are, long after the trendy players have lost their luster.
Detroit never forgot about Mike Servito, his upfront dirty deep and bitchy taste has had an impact on Detroit nightlife for over a decade. From debuting in 1995 at Dat's Poorboy parties, to being a resident at blackbx and Ghostly's Untitled (along with Derek Plaslaiko, Tadd Mullinix, Matthew Dear, and Ryan Elliott), contributing to the bizarrely popular, wild and free Dorkwave, and progressing that concept into Sass (the hippest queer party in Detroit at the time), to blowing minds at Interdimensional Transmissions' No Way Back parties, Servito has made his impression. Moving to Brooklyn, Detroit's loss has been their gain, as he has found a proper home with a new residency at the Bunker, and worldwide representation from Beyond Booking.
Now making music as considered and carefully crafted as his DJ sets, Eric Cloutier has long been an influential selector. Though he recently started releasing his own music, it’s fair to say that Eric Cloutier has established himself as an influential underground figure purely off the back of his DJ sets. Known to be able to tease and control crowds for extended periods of time without resorting to cheap thrills or lowest common denominator kicks, since first emerging in 1996 he has been installed as resident at some of the most knowing venues around the world, and for good reason.
These include local hotspots in his native Detroit, internationally acclaimed clubs in his current hometown of Berlin but also mythologised places like The Bunker in New York. In terms of festivals, only the finest will do, and as such Cloutier is one of the select few who gets invited to play the culturally considered affair that is Japan’s Labyrinth.
“I like to keep it really body-oriented,” says the man of his inimitable DJ style. “I like to focus on hypnotising people in to a deep groove and just locking them in.” House, dub and techno are all fair game for Cloutier, and be they deep and driving tracks or harder hitting selections, every one bridges the gap between the old and the new in seamless and unpredictable ways.
2014 finds the high quality DJ further focussing on making and releasing music. As such and as well as being involved with The Bunker New York label and already established TANSTAFAAL imprint, his first productions and remixes have been snapped up by Studio-R, Freund Der Familie and Steve O'Sullivan’s influential Mosaic. Given that he is such an acclaimed and informed DJ, it’s no wonder Cloutier’s deep, airy and atmospheric music is turning out to be just as essential for those who know.
Bryan Kasenic (pka Spinoza) is known in the electronic music world for throwing The Bunker, playing adventurous DJ sets, and starting Beyond, his own booking agency. The past few years have seen Bryan take his infamous Brooklyn-based party, The Bunker, to Panorama Bar in Berlin, Corsica Studios in London, Unsound Festival in Krakow, Communikey Festival in Boulder, Decibel Festival in Seattle, Smartbar in Chicago, GAFFTA in San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and of course Detroit. In January 2014, The Bunker celebrated it's 11th Anniversary and launched a record label.
Last year's edition of Magda and Mike Servito's High Kicks and Neck Snaps at The Bunker was such a blast that we had to do it again. This year we'll be taking over both rooms, with Detroit's Mike Huckaby, a mentor to everyone else on this lineup, headlining Panther Room. The Bunker's Berlin based resident Eric Cloutier joins us for his final NYC set of 2014.