Welcome to the first edition of People Ask.
In February Whatpeopleplay had asked for your personal questions for Innervisions owner, DJ and mastermind Steffen "Dixon" Berkhahn.
So finally while on his way to Brazil and back he took some time out to respond to your
questions personally.We thank everybody for the great response we had and Dixon for the extra work and his only interview to take part in 2010.
Among all participants Dixon has chosen the three winners of a 25€ Whatpeopleplay voucher:
Sean, Jabbar and Alex will be notified by Email.
In February Whatpeopleplay had asked for your personal questions for Innervisions owner, DJ and mastermind Steffen "Dixon" Berkhahn.
So finally while on his way to Brazil and back he took some time out to respond to your
questions personally.We thank everybody for the great response we had and Dixon for the extra work and his only interview to take part in 2010.
Among all participants Dixon has chosen the three winners of a 25€ Whatpeopleplay voucher:
Sean, Jabbar and Alex will be notified by Email.
Nuno's question: You have been voted into the Top-10 DJ circle at Resident Advisor. Do you remember the exact amount of gigs you played in 2009 and what has been the best club/party you played?
Dixon: I usually play 2 gigs a week. So that makes around 100 in 2009 and it is hard to point out 3 or 5 of this. Would be easier to name the worst parties ;)
But here we go (in no particular order):
1.) Trouw in Amsterdam: I love the club and they give me the chance play there all night long and this is what I like most...
2.) Sunday afternoon/evening gigs at Panoramabar in Berlin: It is my hometown, an unbelievable club and a very diverse crowd. What else do I need more? The interesting thing there is that half of the crowd is on an after hour mission already and the other half is completely fresh. That forces me to play other music then on my usual Friday/Saturday night gigs.
3.) Precious Hall Festival outside Saporro: A charming small festival organised by (maybe) the best club in the world – Precious Hall. A festival with a friendly vibe, a very dedicated crowd and a beautiful location.
4.) Innervisions Boat Party at Garden Festival Zadar: Croatia, its summer and its on a boat…
Frank's question: Did you already arrange some gigs in South Africa during the FIFA World Cup 2010?
Dixon: Unfortunately not! I saved 2 weeks in that tournament month for my trip to South Africa. The few times I was there before, everything was always arranged very last minute. So I still have hope to combine this football trip with some parties….
Philipp's question: Did you abandon the idea of having an exclusive night in Berlin after you stopped your residency at Weekend? Will there be Innervisions parties in the future?
At the end of 2010 we will start something new.
Rdhillman's question: Several seasoned music connaisseurs / club goers who were all present for your set at Sunday School for Degenerates in 2008 agree that this was one of the greatest sets they had ever heard, and furthermore agreed that this was kind of the moment when Dixon really brought himself to the forefront of house music and, even to an extent, helped launch the 'deep house revival' in the US.
Dixon: I usually play 2 gigs a week. So that makes around 100 in 2009 and it is hard to point out 3 or 5 of this. Would be easier to name the worst parties ;)
But here we go (in no particular order):
1.) Trouw in Amsterdam: I love the club and they give me the chance play there all night long and this is what I like most...
2.) Sunday afternoon/evening gigs at Panoramabar in Berlin: It is my hometown, an unbelievable club and a very diverse crowd. What else do I need more? The interesting thing there is that half of the crowd is on an after hour mission already and the other half is completely fresh. That forces me to play other music then on my usual Friday/Saturday night gigs.
3.) Precious Hall Festival outside Saporro: A charming small festival organised by (maybe) the best club in the world – Precious Hall. A festival with a friendly vibe, a very dedicated crowd and a beautiful location.
4.) Innervisions Boat Party at Garden Festival Zadar: Croatia, its summer and its on a boat…
Frank's question: Did you already arrange some gigs in South Africa during the FIFA World Cup 2010?
Dixon: Unfortunately not! I saved 2 weeks in that tournament month for my trip to South Africa. The few times I was there before, everything was always arranged very last minute. So I still have hope to combine this football trip with some parties….
Philipp's question: Did you abandon the idea of having an exclusive night in Berlin after you stopped your residency at Weekend? Will there be Innervisions parties in the future?
At the end of 2010 we will start something new.
Rdhillman's question: Several seasoned music connaisseurs / club goers who were all present for your set at Sunday School for Degenerates in 2008 agree that this was one of the greatest sets they had ever heard, and furthermore agreed that this was kind of the moment when Dixon really brought himself to the forefront of house music and, even to an extent, helped launch the 'deep house revival' in the US. Would you agree that this moment was one of those career-defining moments? If not, could you describe an experience in the US that you feel contributed to your rapid rise in popularity?
Dixon: First of all thank you for the compliment. Considering my DJ situation in America I think this gig at the Sunday School in 2008 helped a lot. But was it important for a deep house revival? That’s something that other people should discuss. Just on another note – I am not playing deep house. I play house with all its different sides. Some might think it is kinda deep whatever I play but it is not just limited to the “deep house” genre.
Joe's question: Which tune do you think had the most influence on dance music:
Rhythm is Rhythm “Strings of Life” or Marshall Jefferson “Move Your Body (The House Music Anthem)” and why?
Dixon: Mmmmh. No idea, and does it really matter?
Hans' question: Imagine you would get you a ticket to DJ on Virgin Galactic, which 5 tracks would you bring to this trip?
Dixon: A set always depends on the crowd/club/sound system. I am expecting a crazy price for the ticket so who do you think will be able to afford it, right? I would need to play boring hits to entertain a tasteless crowd. I would be an entertainer that needs to play like a dance music jukebox. A round up of the top tunes of the last 20 years of dance music.
So real question is: Would I play there? No. I would rather try to travel that trip then being the entertainer on this trip, and if I can not afford it, I can wait.
By the way – if I would take the job then I would not only bring 5 tracks! ;)
Peter's question: The vinyl releases of Innervisions are packaged in a very nice and unique way. Are there any plans to offer something similar to the digital customers?
Dixon: Hahaha. Yes we actually thought about this but found no answer yet! Maybe the answer is simple - this format doesn’t need a package because it is actually designed to be thrown away. I mean - in 10 years people won’t even save music on their hard drives anymore. But that is another story....
Sean's question: There is a trend to expensive limited editions with Vinyl and CD´s currently.
How do you see the future of the physical product Vinyl and CD, will it stay?
Will it get even more special /expensive now or should it be cheaper to become more available again?
Dixon: I do not think the price of vinyl is the main reason why the people buy digital more and more. It is simply the comfort that goes with it which makes the digital format so attractive for a lot of DJs. I am pretty sure that DJs that now play digital would not switch back to vinyl if the price for vinyl would go down.
Does the price go up? I don’t think so. But on the other hand there is actually no need to speculate what people would do if the price for vinyl goes down. There is just no way to make it cheaper. Every label sells less then it did 5/3/1 years ago and therefore the earning per unit is going slowly but surely towards 0. So if the label doesn’t earn money – why do you do it?
Dixon: First of all thank you for the compliment. Considering my DJ situation in America I think this gig at the Sunday School in 2008 helped a lot. But was it important for a deep house revival? That’s something that other people should discuss. Just on another note – I am not playing deep house. I play house with all its different sides. Some might think it is kinda deep whatever I play but it is not just limited to the “deep house” genre.
Joe's question: Which tune do you think had the most influence on dance music:
Rhythm is Rhythm “Strings of Life” or Marshall Jefferson “Move Your Body (The House Music Anthem)” and why?
Dixon: Mmmmh. No idea, and does it really matter?
Hans' question: Imagine you would get you a ticket to DJ on Virgin Galactic, which 5 tracks would you bring to this trip?
Dixon: A set always depends on the crowd/club/sound system. I am expecting a crazy price for the ticket so who do you think will be able to afford it, right? I would need to play boring hits to entertain a tasteless crowd. I would be an entertainer that needs to play like a dance music jukebox. A round up of the top tunes of the last 20 years of dance music.
So real question is: Would I play there? No. I would rather try to travel that trip then being the entertainer on this trip, and if I can not afford it, I can wait.
By the way – if I would take the job then I would not only bring 5 tracks! ;)
Peter's question: The vinyl releases of Innervisions are packaged in a very nice and unique way. Are there any plans to offer something similar to the digital customers?
Dixon: Hahaha. Yes we actually thought about this but found no answer yet! Maybe the answer is simple - this format doesn’t need a package because it is actually designed to be thrown away. I mean - in 10 years people won’t even save music on their hard drives anymore. But that is another story....
Sean's question: There is a trend to expensive limited editions with Vinyl and CD´s currently.
How do you see the future of the physical product Vinyl and CD, will it stay?
Will it get even more special /expensive now or should it be cheaper to become more available again?
Dixon: I do not think the price of vinyl is the main reason why the people buy digital more and more. It is simply the comfort that goes with it which makes the digital format so attractive for a lot of DJs. I am pretty sure that DJs that now play digital would not switch back to vinyl if the price for vinyl would go down.
Does the price go up? I don’t think so. But on the other hand there is actually no need to speculate what people would do if the price for vinyl goes down. There is just no way to make it cheaper. Every label sells less then it did 5/3/1 years ago and therefore the earning per unit is going slowly but surely towards 0. So if the label doesn’t earn money – why do you do it?
Why is there this big trend in the electronic music industry to do a label yourself? Well - doing a label is not rocket science these days, and it doesn’t even need a crazy amount of investments at the start. Especially if you only focus on the digital market. So of course it looks enticing to do it yourself and build your own platform to promote your work so hopefully you get yourself some job offers (DJ gigs, live gigs, production work, composition work, ect) But let us put it the other way around. Where do you see yourself in 10 years if you are not an artist and if you work in this industry? If it is getting harder and harder every month to make a direct income with your label, do you really keep on doing it? So the fact that so many artists are running their own labels is not just based on their desires. It is a result of the label business reality.
Jabbar's question: What has been the most difficult part of breaking through with your own sound, and how did you overcome it?
Dixon: I learned a lot when I started to play outside Berlin. Before that I had some residencies in Berlin with an own crowd, in great clubs and with good sound systems and every new step felt very naturally. There was a niche for my sound in this city with that huge amount of clubs and I didn’t feel any struggle or whatsoever. But then the first promoters from outside Berlin heard me and booked me to their clubs and I had to adjust my sets to more difficult circumstances. Now I came to cities that maybe had just one club and not that huge club variety that Berlin has. So of course people in that cities were used to a different definition of house then my own.
Jabbar's question: What has been the most difficult part of breaking through with your own sound, and how did you overcome it?
Dixon: I learned a lot when I started to play outside Berlin. Before that I had some residencies in Berlin with an own crowd, in great clubs and with good sound systems and every new step felt very naturally. There was a niche for my sound in this city with that huge amount of clubs and I didn’t feel any struggle or whatsoever. But then the first promoters from outside Berlin heard me and booked me to their clubs and I had to adjust my sets to more difficult circumstances. Now I came to cities that maybe had just one club and not that huge club variety that Berlin has. So of course people in that cities were used to a different definition of house then my own.
I had to learn that certain songs that worked very well with my crowd in Berlin actually worked because I played them over and over again and MADE people like them. A lot of my favourite tunes were not tracks or songs that you can play everywhere and they will just work. So I needed a new understanding of programming my sets for a crowd that never heard me play before. You know - I am speaking here about the times when there weren’t millions of free mixes available online. The times when there was nobody taking videos in the club to put them online the next day and find out what the tune was. It took much longer for music to spread. That was the time when I started to learn much more about the programming of music for a certain crowd. You can play the same 40 songs in 4 hours but create totally different atmospheres by playing them in certain orders.
Sometimes it is important to slow it down after the resident DJ (that usually tries to give you a full on dancefloor) or even do a full stop to be able to pace it up later. However, on other occasions you take over and play the harder stuff and as longer the night goes you can go deeper and deeper. Sometimes I play one track and then one song, but in other clubs I play 30 minutes of songs and then 30 minutes of tracks. Or for instance the difference mixing tracks fast or letting the tracks play so they breathe more. All this I learned basically when I started to play outside my own little scene in Berlin.
In other words – I needed to learn that there is not just MY personal favourite way of presenting my music. If I want people to like not just the obvious big tracks but also personal little favorites of mine then I need to read the situation and react to it.
Samuel's question: What apart from edits can we expect from Dixon, the producer in 2010?
Dixon: One more EP with Henrik Schwarz and Ame that will come out in May/June, some remixes, a Dixon EP at the end of the year, a CD with the music from the Caligari movie scored by Henrik Schwarz/Ame/Dixon and at the end of 2010, there will be a mix CD for the Robert Johnson Club.
Dixon: One more EP with Henrik Schwarz and Ame that will come out in May/June, some remixes, a Dixon EP at the end of the year, a CD with the music from the Caligari movie scored by Henrik Schwarz/Ame/Dixon and at the end of 2010, there will be a mix CD for the Robert Johnson Club.
Mjcoles' question: What do you think of Berlin as a new “Local Global” Hub for New Talents?
Rio Reiser used to get out of the City at a certain point in the 70´s. How about yourself?
Also, can you still buy a breakfast at the local shop without meeting fellow DJ´s from 5 continents?
Dixon: Berlin as a city has the size of New York but in New York there is 8,2 million people living and in Berlin there is only 3,4 million. Another interesting number is that when the wall came down we had 3,9 million people in Berlin. Now 21 years later we have 3,4 million living here.
Rio Reiser used to get out of the City at a certain point in the 70´s. How about yourself?
Also, can you still buy a breakfast at the local shop without meeting fellow DJ´s from 5 continents?
Dixon: Berlin as a city has the size of New York but in New York there is 8,2 million people living and in Berlin there is only 3,4 million. Another interesting number is that when the wall came down we had 3,9 million people in Berlin. Now 21 years later we have 3,4 million living here.
So this image of Berlin exploding with people from all over the world is not quite correct. Yes we have a lot of dance music producers/DJs now living here. But how many are they? 200?2000? I know it is still much more then in a lot of other cities but it is not a big problem to avoid the DJ-madness when you go for breakfast. You just need to want that!
My job makes me travel the world 3 days a week so it is pretty normal for me to come home and rather relax and cool down then looking for the action…
My job makes me travel the world 3 days a week so it is pretty normal for me to come home and rather relax and cool down then looking for the action…
Freia's question: Berlin again: The still ongoing movement of artists towards the city, which is self titled “poor but sexy”. Is it enhancing or killing creativity in your eyes?
Dixon: Berlin has the best nightlife in the world and this definitely is enhancing the creativity. As mentioned above I am not really the guy that is constantly hooking up with all the other Producers/DJs here in Berlin.
Dixon: Berlin has the best nightlife in the world and this definitely is enhancing the creativity. As mentioned above I am not really the guy that is constantly hooking up with all the other Producers/DJs here in Berlin.
I have my friends and my crew and they did not change that much over the last 5 years. So all this ongoing movement is not really affecting me. It does not enhance or kill my creativity. As for the others – I am a Berliner and I never moved somewhere else to live. So I am really not able to make a judgement based on my own experience here.
Wayne's & Ambientbeats' question: What is the address of your bakery and what's the best thing you sell?
Dixon: FCM, Kastanienalle 45, 10405 Berlin
Avocado Clubsandwich: Avocado, pinenuts, rocketsalad and a balsamico-mustard dressing on a wholeweat toastbread, and maybe our green tea icecream.
Dixon: FCM, Kastanienalle 45, 10405 Berlin
Avocado Clubsandwich: Avocado, pinenuts, rocketsalad and a balsamico-mustard dressing on a wholeweat toastbread, and maybe our green tea icecream.
Michael's question: Dixon, I really dig your style. You seem to be influenced by Ann Demeulemeester, Dries van Noten and Alexander McQueen. It's totally on the proto-trance down tempo relaxed vegan yoga tip, earthy and modern. When can we expect a pret a porter collection from yours truly?
Dixon: Haha. I am not a fashion designer but if you feel like handing me a cheque. You know - they say you learn best from your biggest mistakes...
Tina's question: You are at a fancy dress boat party. Which costume would you wear?
Captain, pirate or sailor?
Dixon: Captain.
Alex's question: Why is this your last interview in 2010?
Dixon: There is so much more media these days and every label/club/manager/festival/promoter tells you that you need to speak to this or that, but at the moment I just don’t feel the need to say anything in public anymore. I gave so many interviews lately and it is enough now.
Wasn’t it all the same questions/answers over and over again anyway?
Captain, pirate or sailor?
Dixon: Captain.
Alex's question: Why is this your last interview in 2010?
Dixon: There is so much more media these days and every label/club/manager/festival/promoter tells you that you need to speak to this or that, but at the moment I just don’t feel the need to say anything in public anymore. I gave so many interviews lately and it is enough now.
Wasn’t it all the same questions/answers over and over again anyway?
Thank you!
Here are Dixon's Whatpeopleplay Essentials:
© 2010
Comments (3)
applause
Carl Walther
12.03.10
yummie!
Daniel Bregulla
12.03.10
great
kikereki
15.03.10