Marcel Dettmann is one of the supporting pillars of the Berghain sound: Powerful, sexy and knowing in the right sense. One could also say he knows his edutainment. Since 1999 Marcel is and has been a steady fixture at both the old OstGut and the new Berghain. The classic sounds of Chicago and Detroit have had a huge influence on him, but Marcel also says that the music and the sets have to work, should have a soul and be ignorant of boundaries. I re-invent my dj philosophy for every new set, location and night. Generally, it is very important to me to play as varied as possible sets fusing classic tracks with the contemporary ones.
Besides his dj activities, Marcel also works at Berlins highly influential record store Hard Wax. The stores excellent musical portfolio provides Dettmann with a constant inspiration for his upcoming projects. Dawning/Dead Man Watches The Clockon our label Ostgut Ton is his first ever released record, a collaboration with another Berghain resident, Ben Klock. It has gotten an excellent feedback and managed to chart Groove Magazines Top50 at number 2.
Music always works in a certain context at a certain time, or it doesnt. There still are a lot of interesting, very varied artists and labels releasing loads of good stuff, be it classic or experimental.
Together with the Panorama Bar located in the same building, the Berghain is one of the most spectacular Techno and House clubs in the world. Placed in a former heat and power plant in the middle of Berlin, the mazy, yet spacious club offers breathtaking perspectives, as well as the best in light and sound available today (Funktion One in Berghain, Martin Audio in Panorama Bar). The building has been converted with a lot attention to detail, keeping its original, industrial atmosphere and a lot of the Russian classicizing architectural style intact (for example the cladding behind the main bar in Berghain). Apart from Panorama Bars huge windows (both allowing the guests views out and daylight in, when the shutters are open), the places main eye catchers are three large sized works by Turner laureate Wolfgang Tillmans.
Berghain was opened in December 2004. Since then, it has been developing into an enthusiastically absorbed and internationally recognised Mecca for sophisticated and grown up clubbing. On Fridays, the Panorama Bar hosts label nights by Playhouse, Perlon, Kompakt and Cadenza. On Saturdays, it displays the huge variety in House music, whereas the Berghain below, focuses on Techno and is only open Saturdays. Since the beginning, the clubs biggest ambition is to offer a high quality and courageous line up, which combines resident DJs, internationally in demand artists, as well as fresh and interesting newcomers. Successfully, one might add, as weekend after weekend countless guests pilgrim to the club which rarely closes its doors before Sunday afternoons. Berghain and Panorama Bar have become synonymous with unique and intense partying, offering a maximum of individual development (which is why there is a strict no photos policy, for example). Berghain is also known for its wildly mixed crowd, leaving divisons along the lines of class and gender far behind, and finding a playground in darkrooms, in the explicitly gay sex club Lab.Oratory accessible through a separate entrance and in the entire club in general.
Yesterday
Snax / OstGut / Panorama Bar
Berghain´s headstone has already been laid in 1994, when the two bosses brought their first event into being: Snax Club Men Meat Only, which is and was a gay sex party. It first took place at the Techno club Bunker, later it happened in various, adventurous one off locations. With its rough attitude, it has been able to gather a quickly growing, sworn in following beyond the Berlin city limits. In 1998 the duo opened their first regular club in an abandoned goods station near Ostbahnhof, the OstGut, where a gay and straight crowd mingled. Two years later, the first Panorama Bar opened in the same building. Besides the residents, artists like the Scissor Sisters, Ricardo Villalobos, Andrew Weatherall, Laurent Garnier or Magda regularly played there. After four years of existence, the OstGut had to make room for a commercial, multifunctional arena in the area. During this time, the club including Panorama Bar has been building a virtually legendary status.
Tomorrow
OstGut Ton / OstGut Booking
In 2005, the record label OstGut Ton has been founded as a platform to channel the musical creativity of local and resident artists closely circling around the club. The fulminate vinyl debut came from resident DJs Ben Klock and Marcel Dettmann. Their track Dawning made it to position 2 in Groove Magazines DJ Top 50 and has been spinning on many turntables ever since. The second release came from Paul Brtschitsch, the third again from Marcel Dettmann. Releases by resident DJs Len Faki, Ben Klock and Nick Höppner are in the pipeline, as well as remixes for Manuel Göttsching´s seminal E2-E4.
OstGut Ton has also released two mix cds. The first coming from Berghain resident André Galluzzi, the second from Panorama Bar DJ Cassy. Apart from their sophisticated packaging, these mixes mainly impressed by their highly individual track selection, as well as by the fact they have been manually mixed on two turntables without any digital postproduction.