The Bunker presents: 15 Years of Spectral at Good Room
The Bunker presents: 15 Years of Spectral at Good Room 98 Meserole Avenue 21+, 10p-6a
$10 for The Bunker Drip members, $15 advance
Around the same time that Michigan’s Tadd Mullinix adopted his hip-hop oriented Dabrye alias, he also took on the acid house alias James T. Cotton. With its playful use of female Chinese vocals, the first Cotton single “Mind Your Manners” became an instant favorite of DJs like Traxx, Deecoy, and Carlos Souffront. Not one to be pigeonholed, Cotton’s work became darker with his remix of Charles Manier’s “Bang Bang Lover” and the monolithic EBM monster “I Seek” from the State of the Union EP. What followed was an extended period in Berlin where Cotton really hit his stride. The Buck! and
Press Your Body EPs were a definite shock to the system, owing much to the sounds of classic Detroit techno and Belgian New Beat, and paved the way for his hypnotic debut full-length, The Dancing Box. In 2005, Cotton teamed up with D’Marc Cantu to create 2 AM/FM. Cotton is also one half of Saturn V along with Traxx, creating pieces of masterful jakbeat, as well as a member of techno duo TNT with Todd Osborn. Cotton’s Oochie Coo and the LP Like No One continued down the path into darker, more psychedelic territory, delving deeper into Cotton’s mysterious persona.
SOUNDCLOUDThere are lots of stories about DJ and producer Todd Osborn (no e, mind you). They are, unfortunately for your ego and ours, all true. Our Lego-sculpting, electron microscope-owning, Japanese-speaking uber-producer puts his joy of life and the art of making into his music. Todd fixes and flies planes, has fabricated a video game kiosk out of hospital equipment, and is finishing his hovercraft as we write this. We could call him house music’s Macgyver, but that would be obvious. I guess we just did.
Todd has been championed across the board, by everyone from Gilles Peterson to Aphex Twin (he records as Soundmurderer for his Rephlex label), from UR’s Mad Mike to Warp’s Flying Lotus. But such accolades should be taken lightly; after all, Todd just wants to have a little fun and get some time in on the dance floor. Like Todd, we should all get (more) busy.
Detroit native Miguel Senquiz has artfully crafted a unique voice from a rich musical background. With roots firmly established in the gravitas of the area’s heritage, he’s incorporated a unique soulful texture and a polished-but-scuffed aesthetic aided in part by his connection to the Ghostly family.
“Growing up in the Detroit music scene, I was lucky to hear proper house, techno, and electro on the radio and at parties. I’m not old enough to have heard MOJO or The Wizard on the radio, but I had 89X live from Motor, Liz Copeland on WDET, and WaxTax N Dre on WJLB. Some of the first DJs I got to see out were Richie Hawtin, Delano Smith, Mike Huckaby, Mark Farina, and Derrick Carter. I was lucky to have a good foundation.”
He’s used that experience and knowledge to hone in on his own sound, gaining a reputation for long and energetic sets threading, and sometimes blurring the lines of house, techno, and acid.
The son of a Quiet Storm radio DJ and manager of Industry (a ‘90s nightlife spot just outside Detroit that hosted early Industrial and Techno shows), Miguel’s mother helped pave the way for his musical interests and imbued his tastes with a weighty soulfulness and playful eclecticism.
After setting up his New York home base in 2006 and taking a few years to settle, Miguel jumped head-first back into the NY music scene with formidable residencies (No Big Deal, Real Talk, and most recently Put in Werk at Output).
Slowly building demand outside of his NY home base, he’s recently taken his talents back to Detroit (Movement 2015), Miami, Austin, Mexico City, and Berlin to play alongside mentors Ryan Elliott, Trus’Me, Carl Craig, Matthew Dear, and Dixon among others.
When he’s not DJing or working on music, Miguel spends his days pursuing his shared mission to get artists paid through Drip.com, a music and creative subscription platform he co-founded with Ghostly’s Sam Valenti IV.
SOUNDCLOUDMike 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.
MIKE SERVITO SOUNDCLOUD MIKE SERVITO LIVE AT NO WAY BACK DETROIT 2018 MIX MIKE SERVITO APPLE MUSIC PRIDE MIX, 2021 INSTAGRAM VIDEO OF MIKE SERVITO LIVE AT PARAGON: 4/20/2024Many DJs have reputations defined by a certain place and time. Not so for Derek Plaslaiko, whose 20-year career behind the decks has seen him gather a loyal fan base wherever and whenever he may be.
Some will know Derek as a favorite of the mid-90s Detroit warehouse scene, which lead to a personal invite from Carl Craig to appear at the inaugural Detroit Electronic Music Festival in 2000. Others recognize him from his near decade-long residency at The Bunker New York parties, during which time he was named “Best Techno Party DJ” by the Village Voice in 2006. Then there was the summer of 2011 spent behind the decks at Berlin’s infamous Club der Visionaere, as an honorary resident at the weekly Visionquest nights—a worthy introduction to the city he now calls home.
Of late, there is a new generation of party people who will know Plaslaiko from his extended sets (up to 12 hours) in New York, Paris, Seattle, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, or his regular appearances at clubs like Tresor, Hot Mass, Beta, Output, Smart Bar and Berghain, and festivals like Decibel, Communikey and Movement. Or some who caught his name on the flier for the No Way Back series of parties put on by Interdimensional Transmissions, the Detroit imprint that has put out several of Plaslaiko’s rare original releases, along with Perc Trax and Minus.
There are tens of thousands of others who caught on to Plaslaiko following his record-breaking 12-hour Boiler Room set, where he gave viewers a look into his living room, while friends and friend’s toddlers enjoyed the day. This landmark session properly archived the full Plaslaiko musical experience, from flawless house and techno, to hip-hop, classic rock, and whatever other musical moment this life-long record obsessive chooses to share. And let’s not forget the thousands of folks who have befriended Plaslaiko while sharing the dance floor with this committed clubber who refuses to hang out in the booth and will always skip the DJ dinner in favor of catching one of his peers behind the decks.
Wherever one picks up Plaslaiko’s story, maybe during his days dealing discs in Detroit’s famed Record Time dance room or possibly the years spent moving serious weight at Watts and Syntax Distribution, the one constant is top-shelf musical taste, as defined by Plaslaiko’s personal heroes—names like Laurent Garnier, Daniel Bell and Zip, and colleagues including Carlos Souffront, Jason Kendig and Mike Servito—and a passion for music that over-rides the usual trappings of the modern DJ industry.
This may mean to some that Plaslaiko is still unsung. But for those who know better (and there are many all over the world), praise for Derek has been sung for decades.
SOUNDCLOUD BOOKINGS OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICAJeffrey Sfire is a fag that plays 80's italo, high nrg, chicago house, and everything WBMX. He's real real real.
Jeffrey Sfire’s introduction to the underground dance scene and illegal warehouse parties of Detroit occurred at the age of 15. This escape from suburban high society led him to some of the city’s most talented DJs and musicians, who soon exposed him to a new culture of creative riches. Learning by example, Sfire’s taste and skills as a DJ developed naturally and he soon began playing out at parties, clubs and sleazy gay afterhours, usually entering covertly through back doors or
with a fake ID. At the age of 18, a move to Chicago exposed Sfire to a whole other side of dance music history, including the Italo Disco and High Energy sounds of the 1980s. He spent afternoons digging through record store crates, meeting retired DJs and developing his musical palette. Having held numerous club residencies, he regularly plays in LA, Detroit, Chicago, and New York, consistently offering a finely-tuned selection of Italo Disco, 80’s High Energy, New Disco and Electro.
SOUNDCLOUD "SFIRE 2" ON YOUTUBESpectral Sound (the dancefloor arm of Ghostly International) has championed the Detroit/Midwestern dance sound since its launch in 2001. Spectral has been integral in the launch of artists such as Matrixxman, Fort Romeau, Hieroglyphic Being, Benoit And Sergio, JTC, Todd Osborn, Seth Troxler, Ryan Elliott, and founding Artist Matthew Dear/Audion. New signings such as Patricia and Moiré continue to evolve the catalog of subversive psychedelic rumblings.
The Bunker has been working with Ghostly and Spectral and their artists for many years, and we are proud to help them celebrate 15 years of existence!