The Bunker 13 Year Anniversary with Function, Inland, Post Scriptum, Carlos Souffront, Mike Servito, Bryan Kasenic at Good Room
98 Meserole Avenue
21+, 10p-5a
$10 for The Bunker Drip Members, $15 advance, $20 door
Function, aka Dave Sumner, should be a familiar name to anyone who's been paying attention to techno in New York City for the past 20+ years. Heavily influence by the early New York rave scene (Limelight, NASA, Storm, etc), Dave dove into production with a few releases on Damon Wild's seminal Synewave label in the mid-90s. From the late 90s to the early 00s, Function put out many productions on his own label, Infrastructure. He also made an undisclosed number of the incredibly popular, anonymous User techno 12"s. He probably made a ton of other anonymous records too, but we'll never know for sure.
In the process he made a strong artistic connection with Female and Regis from the UK, and formed Portion Reform with Regis, releasing a handful of 12"s on Downwards. In 2008, Dave moved to Berlin and began to strongly focus on the Sandwell District label, which was undoubtedly one of the breakout labels that year, and remained in the spotlight until it was retired in 2012.
In 2013, the techno spotlight continued to shine brightly on Sumner with a residency at Berghain, a new album on Ostgut Ton and mix CD on Fabric, and and regular appearances at other huge clubs around the world. His appearances at The Bunker over the past few years have been legendary. In 2014, Dave relaunched his Infrastructure NY label and released a collaborative album with Vatican Shadow and a mix for Ostgut.
Inland is the Techno alter-ego of respected DJ and Producer Ed Davenport. Inland performs Live, with a hybrid setup of digital and hardware sources, and plays records, new and old. He co-runs the Infrastructure New York label with Function, where the duo released their collaborative 'Odeon/Rhyl' EP in 2014. Inland productions have also surfaced on Davenport's Counterchange label and most recently on Berlin's Ostgut Ton.
Inland stands for purist, and atmospheric Techno. Informed by a maturing career in independent electronic music, collecting and studying productions from the finest Techno producers from the UK to the U.S and back, and infused with a need to infuse modern club music with those classic ideals, the inevitable formation of Inland arose in 2013. Kick started with a run of 12”s on Berlin based labels Figure SPC, Counterchange and Vidab the first productions met praise from some of the Techno community’s key players.
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 residency at The Bunker, and representation by Beyond Booking in North America and Odd Fantastic in Europe.
Carlos Souffront is a music gourmet, a true DJ's DJ. His taste is rich and vast and he has the unique ability to create deeply rhythmic narratives that offer unexpected and exotic spices. He mastered his deep mixing skills with a cassette deck and a belt drive turntable in his father's den in Troy, home of contemporaries such as Mike Servito, Tadd Mullinex and Matt Dear. Equally entrenched in indie rock, post punk, experimental music, ambient, rock, house, and techno, Carlos was always a man of many worlds - with an ability to traverse though them with an unique imagination. There is a mood to his search within sound, something that is heavy, deep yet gritty. Like many Caribbean transplants that ends up in northern colder climates, he wonders where our rhythmic complexity is. For him it is effortless and endlessly surprising to the listener.
Carlos is an important component of the Interdimensional Transmissions parties, bringing a loose yet tight moody deepness and an ever unexpected edge. At the original No Way Back party, he demanded truth in advertising, pushing us to and then past the 12 hour mark. He has participated in the studio with Ectomorph, and also performed alongside some of their live performances.
It is all too rare to find someone within the electronic music spectrum that can be called an original, that you can only really explain to someone who experienced them on the dance floor, usually just by saying "that's so" and saying their name. Carlos is one of those rarities. (bio by BMG)
For the past 12 years, The Bunker New York has led the way for American techno by bringing together hundreds of artists from all over the world. More than a mere techno party, The Bunker unites diverse sounds from across the electronic music spectrum, connecting the dots between house, techno, experimental sounds, and much more. The Bunker New York began as a party, grew up into a record label, and has become a collaborative community, fostered by founder and curator Bryan Kasenic since its launch in 2003.
Kasenic's roots in the world of music go deep. In 1993, at the age of 16, he began DJing on Carnegie Mellon’s WRCT in Pittsburgh. He went on to launch his own radio show on WNYU in 1997. The radio show, and his interest in the many weird corners of the NYC music scene, eventually morphed into the creation of a weekly email newsletter, which included noteworthy party and event listings at a time when nothing of the kind existed online. As Bryan became more established in New York City, he created Beyond Booking, the agency that would become a core part of The Bunker New York. During this time, Bryan was also a sought-after DJ, performing at parties and events on a weekly basis. Currently, Bryan also hosts a weekly show on Red Bull Music Academy Radio, featuring The Bunker's friends and family.
Bryan is much more than a mainstay at The Bunker New York. He has also played in many of the finest clubs and venues around the world: Berghain, Panorama Bar, and Atonal Festival in Berlin; Output, Verboten, and MoMA PS1's Warm Up series in New York; Air Tokyo and Circus Osaka in Japan; Smart Bar in Chicago; the Communikey and Decibel festivals in Boulder and Seattle respectively; Public Works in San Francisco; and many more. Additionally, he has co-produced numerous events and festivals, including several years at Unsound Festival New York. Unsound is one of the leading electronic and experimental music festivals worldwide, and he subsequently brought The Bunker to Krakow, Poland, Unsound's native city.
To understand Kasenic as a DJ one needs only look back at his decades of passion promoting electronic and experimental sounds in New York, and towards the sound of the artists that have become key members of The Bunker New York family: the psychedelic, cerebral bent of Atom™, Voices From The Lake, and Reagenz; the swirling, atmospheric soundscapes of Clay Wilson, Zemi17, and Marco Shuttle; and the industrial-strength hardware dynamics of Løt.te, Mark Verbos, and Romans. 12 years after its founding, The Bunker is stronger than it has ever been and continues to grow, thanks to Kasenic's vision and effort.
Debuting with the relaunch of Infrastructure New York in Berlin, the 23 year old classically trained musician from Australia is now delving into the electronic music world.
It's no wonder why 2015 passed so quickly, as we released 4 EPs and 30 Bunker Podcasts, launched an RBMA Radio show, produced 22 events in NYC, and took The Bunker to Berlin (Berghain), Tokyo (Air), Osaka (Circus), Detroit (Movement weekend), Los Angeles 3x (Mount Analog, Fine Time & Dirty Epic), San Francisco (As You Like It), and Baltimore (Vague Output). Our resident DJ Mike Servito really spread his wings and is flying around the world to DJ nearly every weekend now at top clubs and festivals. Of course in we have no plans of slowing down for 2016, our 14th year!
Tonight we celebrate our 13th anniversary at Good Room, who opened their dancefloor to us for 7 exceptional parties in 2015. Function and Inland's Infrastructure NY imprint takes over Good Room all night long. Infrastructure has been around since 1998, but relaunched in 2014 after a long dormant period with a slew of killer releases. One of our favorite artists on Infrastructure NY is Campbell Irvine, who joins us for a live set tonight between DJ sets from label heads Functions and Inland. In the Bad Room we are joined by Mike Servito, who, despite being our resident DJ, has not appeared at The Bunker since September! Also appearing are Interdimensional Transmissons' resident and frequent Bunker guest Carlos Souffront and The Bunker's founder Bryan Kasenic.