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Interview: DJ tootekool

Sebastian talks about micro and moving on - By Morgan, Oct 23, 08


For the last four years, minimal music in Shanghai has almost exclusively been associated with one word: micro. Whether they transpired in a ritzy rooftop bar, an abandoned warehouse or a sweaty basement club, micro parties have been the highlight of the clubber's calendar, and the trademark merging of audio and visual content -- live and DJ performances -- has provided a rare meeting ground for the diverse cultural and artistic spheres of Shanghai.

This Saturday, The Shelter hosts the final micro party, as friends old and new bid farewell to the micro concept once and for all. SmartShanghai caught up with Sebastian Scholz (aka DJ tootekool) at LOgO ¨C the originator and organizer of the micro parties ¨C to talk about micro, minimal music, and moving on.

***

SmSh: So this is the last micro?

Sebastian: Definitely. The thing is I decided to go to Japan in the middle of announcing that this was the last one. I was supposed to leave Shanghai by November 11, but now I've got a three-month visa, so I'll be here longer. But I don't know because maybe I'll go up to Beijing. If you ask me where I'm going to be in two months I can't tell you.

But yeah defiantly this is the last one.

SmSh: No matter what you won't do another micro?

Sebastian: No... I'll move on. Do other things. Maybe even do a new night with Ben [Huang, DJ]. We might be looking for a place.

SmSh: Something completely new?

Sebastian: Yeah... new location.

SmSh: So, one last time then: what is micro?

Sebastian: Uh...

SmSh: Do you want me to just write that "micro is the premier platform..." line?

Sebastian: Yeah, just put that "platform" thing in there...

SmSh: [Laughs]. Okay... micro is the premier platform for minimal music in Shanghai...

Sebastian: Yeah, exactly [Laughs].

SmSh: It combines minimal music with other art forms like..

Sebastian: Collaborations...

SmSh: Collaborations with video artists, lighting artists...

Sebastian: Musicians...

SmSh: Musicians... so is there other "platforms for minimal music" in Shanghai? Because if you're the "premier" one, then...

Sebastian: Yeah, there's another one... but I haven't been here for a while so I don't know. But there is DIAN with Skinny Babu.

SmSh: Oh yeah, that's at MAO.

Sebastian: And Minimal Therapy.

SmSh: Do you want to use this as an opportunity to talk some shit about these guys?

Sebastian: No. Skinny Babu is a very good DJ.

Yeah but anyways, about micro we did around 80 parties...

SmSh: 80?

Sebastian: Yeah, like at Madam Zung, Fabrique... you know. It started at Madam Zung. Everything started at Madam Zung. It was actually the first club to try to do like underground weekly things.

SmSh: What about dkd?

Sebastian: Yeah, they had their own things going on, but at Madam Zung it was me and Siesta [DnB DJ], and then Michael [Ohlsson, DJ] and Antidote at C's. But this was like the regular thing to do...

SmSh: Okay, so what exactly is "minimal" music?

Sebastian: Techno.

SmSh: Minimal is techno? Well, what the fuck. Why don't you just call it techno instead of minimal?

Sebastian: Yeah, because at the end everything is techno... it's difficult to explain... do you know electronic music at all or not?

SmSh: Yeah. Well no. Maybe I don't. Doesn't it all have to do with beats per minute and shit like that?

Sebastian: No, no, no. The thing with minimal was there was this big hype about minimal since eight or nine years ago...

SmSh: It started in Frankfurt right? And you're from Frankfurt. I did some research... I'm on it [Laughs].

Sebastian: Yeah, well no... minimal actually comes from -- again -- Detroit, and they just called it techno, but there is a German version out of it.

But all this happened at a time when the big, big parties were getting smaller... and minimal came out of techno, but its still just techno.

SmSh: I have a theory that "maximal" is like... Metallica and Slayer.

Sebastian: No "maximal" is trance...

SmSh: Wait... what?


*waitress brings drink*

Sebastian: Xie Xie... Hang on, I have to go tell Tai Pei that I don't want to pay for this.

SmSh: So you're telling me Slayer isn't "maximal"?

Sebastian: No. Well, we're staying inside of dance music and so for me the "maximal" is trance. Because it's very obvious music trance is... there is a lot in it... and you know exactly when to throw up your arms.

SmSh: Is that the one with the glowsticks?

Sebastian: Yeah. Exactly. But for people who listen to techno, trance is just complete crap.

SmSh: It's crap?

Sebastian: Like Paul van Dyke, Tiesto, Armin van Buuren... the whole top ten, that's all trance...

SmSh: That's all trance?

Sebastian: Yeah. But then progressive...

SmSh: No. We don't have to do "progressive" or any of that shit... just minimal, techno, house, trance...


Sebastian: Yeah.

SmSh: What are those.

Sebastian: What are those?

SmSh: Explain each of them.

Sebastian: Okay, so it has to do with beats per minute -- BPMs -- so house is around 126 and techno is 134...


SmSh: What about minimal?

Sebastian: 126. In Germany it's around 120 or 121... the thing about minimal is that it's about repetition. But minimal is about taking things out and creating the groove with nearly nothing...

SmSh: That makes sense... you cut away all the bullshit.

Sebastian: Yeah, this is why trance for me is the opposite of minimal.

SmSh: You put in all the bullshit [Laughs]. I get it. I understand. I've heard people say that minimal is hard to dance to. Is that true? Do you give a shit? Do you want people dancing?

Sebastian: Yeah, well, you play to the crowd so yeah...but minimal... if you can dance to house music you can dance to minimal. But sometimes the music is just too reduced for some people and they can't get into it so they don't want to dance... they think it's boring. But this is also the thing with our nights, we try to attract more than just minimal people, and so we integrate other musicians to minimal music...

SmSh: So where is minimal music at in Germany?

Sebastian: It's big... the biggest... and the last two three years it's gotten big in the fashion cities like Barcelona and Rome. But the minimal in Germany is the best worldwide. Even French people -- they don't want to admit anything -- even they say it's the best in Germany [Laughs].

SmSh: So what about minimal music in Shanghai?

Sebastian: Oh, I haven't been here in five months... I left for the Olympics [Laughs] but I think minimal is quite big here in town. Actually a lot of progressive house Chinese resident DJs... they have some minimal; even though they're not allowed to play it because of their boss, or even if they don't like it -- they still are looking at it... it's like a fashionable trend.

SmSh: So what was the very first micro show? That was with DJ Trix right? What was that like?

Sebastian: Yeah, we got introduced and we wanted to do something and we both had our own concept in our head, but I wanted to do mine [Laughs] and he's actually a house electro guy... So actually the idea was that I would play the minimal first and then we would eventually merge the sounds in the electro house [Laughs].

Maybe even that's a good approach at the beginning... make it easier for people to consume it. So we did like 20 shows but then we stopped because they got new management, and Trix did something else...

SmSh: Trix walks the line.

Sebastian: Then I got the offer to do something at Fabrique and then it got really big...

SmSh: Yeah, I remember Fabrique... I remember because the drinks were really fucking expensive and it used to piss me off so much [Laughs]. Just kidding. So that's when it started taking off?

Sebastian: No, it was big from the beginning; it took off at the start when we were doing monthly parties. But in Fabrique I was doing the bookings, the flights and all that stuff -- organizing everything.

SmSh: Was that a good experience?

Sebastian: Yeah, that was very good. A very good experience actually. It was also a time here in Shanghai with a group of 10 friends I've had since moving here in the beginning. We were just partying hard every weekend. So yeah like a micro party was a whole happening from a Friday to a Sunday... it was a lot of fun...

SmSh: So what was your favorite one?

Sebastian: Man, I already got asked that question today by someone else.

SmSh: Okay, I'll cut that one out... what was the shittiest one then?

Sebastian: Oh, I don't know... we never had one that wasn't even a little successful... But I got my midi controller stolen just before the microtourists one... Right before I was going there it got stolen so I couldn't play at my own party...

But for favorites... I guess there isn't one that stands out, it's more the whole story of micro for me. And not just the four five six hours that people see, the whole idea and process of doing them... starting a month and a half before hand, booking, preparing the flyers, and then there is a thrill of the night itself.

SmSh: Are you sad that it's over?

Sebastian: Not sad. Just sentimental. No, I have like ten ideas in my head for other things [Laughs].

***




The Last microshelter @ The Shelter: DJ line up: B6, Ben Huang, dji, tootekool. Cover: 30rmb. Starts 10pm.


shanghai_ultra

Oct 23, 08

Respect to Sebastian for his contribution to the electronic music scene in this city - three years is a long time in Shanghai. With Micro's consistent image, asthetic, themes and musical style, in my opinion I think Sebastian has been the most accomplished promoter in town and has consistently attracted great crowds to his events which managed to combine an underground concept with a hint of trendy glamour which helped attract the overbund and the underbund. I can't think of any promoter who has managed to attract both ends of the Shanghai party spectrum to their events. Don't forget, he also kept it Shanghainese as well, harnessing the raw talents of B6 with the technical prowess of Ben Huang. Promotion-wise, we could all learn a thing or two from him, and his micro and minimal theme also influenced the emergence of the minimal therapy and Dian parties. Musically speaking I appreciated minimal music to an extent, but found it to be more suited to music for the earlier part of the night. Hats off to the man from Frankfurt.

Gaijin

Dec 10, 08

Trance is crap? Who is tootekool anyway? Is there a reason why we have never heard of you? Promoting your music is one thing, running down a variant is another. That's probably why you had to tell them you didn't want to pay for your drink, IT'S CAUSE U CAN'T AFFORD IT!! Quick google check hmmmmm ranked 181119 OMFG was it even a worthy mention?
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