The Bunker presents Moritz Von Oswald & Hugo Ball at Good Room
98 Meserole Avenue
21+, 10p-6a
$10 for The Bunker Drip members, $15 advance, $20 door
Having Moritz Von Oswald as a guest DJ at The Bunker is an honor to say the least. The influence of his body of work cannot be underestimated. The profundity of it all, starting with the Basic Channel and Maurizio records he made with Mark Ernestus in the Nineties, onto the stunning Main Street and Rhythm and Sound material, straight through to the Moritz Von Oswald Trio albums of the past few years, is pretty overwhelming. There has basically been no time in the past 20 years that Moritz didn't have at least one active project shaping the music of the day.
Many 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.
Patrick Russell is a true veteran of the US underground, perhaps one of the last unsung heroes of a now lost era in the Midwest. A genuine sonic storyteller, he magically transforms the diaspora of acid, IDM, and pure jack energy into a deep, fluent sonic dialog that never fails to devastate both minds and dance floor.
A Detroit-bred DJ, artist and producer active since the early 90's, Patrick has now made New York City his home. Perhaps best known as a key figure in the legendary No Way Back parties, his ability to weave intensely unique, long-format narratives has earned him critical acclaim for his recent appearance at Berghain, not to mention featured spots at festivals such as Japan’s famed Labyrinth, Unsound, and his numerous appearances at DEMF/Movement. Patrick has also been steadily building a strong catalog of high-profile productions to compliment his increasingly varied, hypnotic, and in-demand DJ sets; his upcoming 3-track remix EP on The Bunker New York also marks his induction as an official resident DJ at the long-running Brooklyn party.
His consummate taste and disciplined execution have created a respect that cannot be purchased. Patrick Russell is not just a name to watch, he is someone to be experienced.
Chicago native Justin Long discovered his fascination for uncanny music at an early age when his mother entrusted him with her record collection that spanned from UK punk to American dance. This served as a gateway, stimulating his journey into the sonic vortex. As a child of Medusa’s on Sheffield, Long gained a higher level of musical education. His weekly pilgrimages to this venue’s all-ages hedonistic dance parties supplied a compelling musical concoction of acid house, UK bleep, industrial and new wave. Possessed by these unorthodox forms of music, Long purchased his first set of turntables and began to collect 12-inch singles from local record shops. Though his intentions were solely to pander to his musical appetite in the privacy of his bedroom, this acquisition proved to be the genesis of a voyage that continues to present him with new challenges that are met with an unforgiving dogmatic approach.
Co-founder of Hugo Ball; Smart Bar resident selector; vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter for her one woman band Eris Drew; programmer for Theater of Cruelty; dancer and sampler at the House of Black Dress.
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.
There is honestly no higher honor for us than hosting Moritz Von Oswald at our party, and tonight will mark his 4th appearance at The Bunker. With our resident DJ's Derek Plaslaiko and Patrick Russell supporting him in Good Room, it's sure to be a special night of deeply psychedelic sounds.
In the Bad Room we welcome Chicago party crew Hugo Ball, who've hosted many of our artists in recent years. They are joined by Mike Servito, who has been the special guest at their event in Chicago. In their own words:
Hugo Ball is a polysexual, oppositional, surrealist monthly dance happening which launched at Chicago’s Smart Bar in September 2012. Hugo Ball is a member of Smart Bar’s residency program for 2014-2016. The Hugo Ball “Troupe” is Justin Long, Nathan Drew Larsen (Eris Drew), Sevron, and Sold. It is based on a musical philosophy that transcends genre and time—one might hear Severed Heads mixed with Terry “Housemaster” Baldwin, Section 25 and Gesloten Cirkel. All selectors play vinyl and all live shows are performed on hardware. Hard-dancing and democratized space are the politics of the dance floor.