Clubbing/ Dancing Industry - Recorded and Remixed / Episode 05
- Series: Recorded and Remixed
Could the story of the Love Parade in the Ruhr Area be symptomatic of the region? In 2008, the closure of the B1 for the Dortmund-based Techno event was a huge success for everybody involved, with 1.6 million visitors. One year later, the event in Bochum had to be cancelled due to organizational problems after long negotiations. This year, the love parade shall take place in Duisburg on July 24th. However, the financial support for the gigantic Techno fest turns out to be quite difficult: the City Council of Duisburg stated that the city's low treasury cannot fund the big event.
Yet clubbers and dancers don’t care – they want to party. Travelling through the region, we got to experience the diverse Dancefloor scene. The Hotel Shanghai in Essen, one of the longest-serving clubs in Northrine-Westphalia or on the Mayday that has been taking place at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund since 1993. Apart from DJ legend WestBam, Ruhr2010 Manager Dieter Gorny or Deep House DJ Ingo Sänger, 3 protagonists who have been infusing live into the electronic scene one way or another get a chance to speak:
Carsten Helmich (organiser Juicy Beats festivals and DJ)
The sun is shining, the weather is great. At the Juicy Beats Festival, organiser Carsten Helmich grants us a few minutes in a quiet corner of the Westfalenpark, to speak about the development of electronic music in the Ruhr Area. “I always wanted to set something up”, says Helmich with a mischievous smile. In the early 1990’s, he organized his first events for the FZW in Dortmund. The music-lover drove around on his bicycle into the scene shops in the closer surroundings in order to distribute flyers for his "Club Trinidad".
Located in the basement of the FZW, right beside the “Rote Liebe” in Essen, the club used to be the centre of the Ruhr Area for clubbers. Drum’n’Bass, Break-Beat, House and Abstract Hip-Hop dominated the dancefloor here. Helmich always ended is own resident sets on the turntables with the DJ Shadow classic “Midnight In A Perfect World”. Apart from the meanwhile established dance events on the Dortmund-Ems-Channel boat "MS Santa Monica", Carsten created one of the nicest open air-events of the region. The Juicy Beats Festival has become an inherent part of Germany’s open air season since its founding year in 1996. Equally whether it’s in the park’s train where DJs keep the travelers entertained with garage punk, on large stages where top acts such as Tocotronic, Zoot Woman or Nouvelle Vague are expected to perform this year or on the different dance floors that are presented by the leading clubs of the Ruhr Area: the programme is diverse and custom-made. Same as last year, one is expecting about 20,000 visitors on July 31, 2010, when 60 DJs and 40 bands will be performing on 17 floors and and 8 stages.
Klaus Fiehe (radio host, musician and DJ)
Radio host and DJ Klaus Fiehe is a regular at the Juicy Beats Festival. He was born in Hamm in 1957. After studying German philology in Münster and becoming a part of the NDW (New German Wave; translator's note) band “Geier Sturzflug" as saxophone player, he spent large parts of the 1980's and 1990's in Dortmund. "I miss the Ruhr Area", Fiehe admits at the edge of the Westfalenpark, where he is sitting under a strong maple tree. Later that night, he will be presenting a DJ set there. For some years now, he has been living in Solingen with his wife Susanne and more than 40,000 records. A little while ago, the football club Union Solingen offered the enthusiastic football fan to start working for them as stadium speaker. “Unfortunately, I cannot accept the offer”, says Fiehe. "Almost all of the games take place on weekends and that’s when I have to prepare my radio shows.”
His Sunday shows from 10pm to 1am focus on electronic music and they have been taking place on Einslive since 1996. Along with night talker Jürgen Domian, Klaus has been the longest-standing host of this WDR youth channel.
He is a tireless story-teller who has a huge portfolio of expert knowledge – the anecdote anchorman of the German radio landscape. It is not surprising that he was nominated for the renowned “Prometheus” journalism award. The online radio station byte.fm, where he also hosts shows on a weekly basis, was given the Grimme-award.
Phil Fuldner (music producer, model and DJ)
Phil Fulnder’s bungalow lies a bit hidden at the end of a green street in a traditional residential area. His mother, who designed the house, won an architecture award with the building. To write tracks, Fuldner confirms during a conversation at his home recording studio, was not too far away from the job of an architect.
Fuldner began his musical career performing as DJ at graduation parties. He shared his unconditional love for music with his skateboard buddies. Fuldner, who also modeled for Hugo Boss' fashion, negates blinders and listened to Punk music from bands such as Hüsker Dü or the Goldene Zitronen in his early youth.
Nowadays, Fuldner produces songs and basic tracks for world acts such as the Sugarbabes or Kylie Minogue. The Recklinghausen-born is also a sought-after remix artist. He refined the works of 2Raumwohnung, Thomas D or Rosenstolz. His greatest success so far was the new edition of Captain Future’s title music “The Final” which dominated the top ten charts for several weeks in 1998. “I’m delighted that I can be myself in the Ruhr Area”, says Fuldner into our camera only to come out as huge fan of Helge Schneider (German comedian; translator’s note).
Text: Peter Hesse and Jens Mayer
„The Ruhr Area - recorded and mixed“ – episodes from Jens Mayer, Jörg Stiepermann and Peter Hesse on music, people and the Ruhr Area.
Episode 06 mit entitled „Dick blockig und voll erkennbar“ will tell us about Rap in the Ruhr Area - the region's typical Hip Hop sound. Coming soon!
Related videos:
- HipHop in the Ruhr Area – Recorded and Remixed
- Down-to-earth Movers and Shakers – Recorded and Remixed
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