The Bulldog Amsterdam; click for more

Amsterdam based British DJ Dave Clarke welcomed the imminent introduction of a cannabis café pass system designed to prevent tourists from buying pot in Holland this week, telling Skrufff ‘I think it is a good thing.’

“Holland and Amsterdam is much more that the stereotypical view of smoking and poking. Most Amsterdam-ers are quite OK with the ban, to be honest,” Dave suggested.

“What impact do I think it will have on the club scene? Absoluely none,” he predicted, “Though Easyjet sales might be down for a while.”

Moving from Brighton to Amsterdam some years ago, the infamously single-minded techno star settled in the heart of Amsterdam’s touristic centre and painted a sorry picture of the smokers he encounters around town.

“I’m sorry to say it, but most of them seem to be English and German idiots who cannot control themselves, they think they can fly and then throw up at best or fall out of windows at worst,” Dave complained.

“I very, very rarely smoke, maybe a few times a year at the very most,” he added. “The last time I went to a cafe was a long time ago in the winter maybe two years ago, but I went because they did a killer hot chocolate to go with a steaming hot olliebal.”

“Come to Holland for the culture and the architecture, Amsterdam is, for me, the most beautiful city in the world,” said Dave.

His approval of the foreigner weed ban, which was implemented in Dutch border towns including Maastricht last week, came as police reported that buyers are simply driving further into Holland, with some popping up 90km from Maastricht in Nijmengen.

“In recent days, we are spotting cars with Belgian plates in the city center, who are clearly there for the coffee shops,” Nijmegen police spokeswoman Florian Vingerhoeds told reporters. “Before, we never saw Belgian plates.”

The futility of using laws to crack down on drugs was also emphasised by former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski who writing in the New York Times this week admitted his attempt at total zero tolerance with heavy prison sentences for users was a total failure.

Leading Poland between 1995 and 2005, the ex president admitted they expected the prospect of fierce prison sentences for people caught with even ‘minuscule amounts of drugs’ would deter users and catch dealers but said neither goal happened. Instead tens of thousands of otherwise law abiding young people were criminalised. he said.

“The vast majority of those individuals were not drug dealers,” he added. “Some of them, however, were adolescents whose prospects for careers as lawyers, public officials or teachers were suddenly blighted.” (New York Times: http://nyti.ms/LokREY )

http://www.thebulldog.com

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

Click on the picture for more

Fabric have ex Black Strobe legend Ivan Smagghe spinning at the club this weekend; for more details (and a great promo DJ mix) see below….

For a DJ like Ivan Smagghe it can become quite perilous to transpose your passion for DJing onto every canvas you get paint with your selection as you travel from club to club. But when it goes right, then something really magical happens.

Today, the Kill The DJ compatriot has decided to share his latest experience with us as we get ready to welcome him back to Farringdon on the 24th in Room One. Recorded at Amsterdam’s Trouw, where he was a guest of Patrice Baumel, Smagghe’s just released an 80 minute edit of his experience there earlier this month on his Soundcloud page.

Seeing as Ivan provided his own words to introduce the recording we’ll let them do the talking. We ourselves are focused more on the magic in the player below.

“After all these years, it takes quite a lot from a club to impress me and when asked about my favorite clubs, I sometimes wish I was a one-armed hillbilly not too good with chopping wood.

“TROUW is in Amsterdam, a city that had proven very disappointing since my early memories of Dimitri at the Roxy-who is actually resident for special all-nighters, and still has the magic from what I’ve heard, at the above mentioned place.

Click here to listen to the soundcloud mix; 

click to listen

click for more

“At some gigs for artists like Plastikman very few people are actually dancing, they are all taking photos, Facebooking; anything but getting lost in music.”

20 years after he established himself as one of the first global stars of techno, Dave Clarke remains one of dance culture’s most popular- and opinionated- characters, whether talking about Richie Hawtin’s alter ego or America’s soon to be next superstar DJ Paris Hilton.

“If Paris Hilton made a great track, would I support it? That depends,” he admits.

“By ‘great’ it would have to mean it appeals to me; not because there is a magazine hype,” he explains.

“I have no issue in supporting great music even if it is by people that are not on my radar, music always speaks for itself.”

He’s also surprisingly open-minded when quizzed if there are any circumstances he would work with the billionaire pop princess, noting her similarity to manufactured British pop icon Kylie Minogue.

“Twice in my career I was offered to work with Kylie,” he confides. “Though just let me be clear on that, I’m not sure that if I had agreed whether it would have actually happened.”

“I said no because it is not where I wanted to be,” he continues, “Although I never saw how flexible she could be when she worked with Nick Cave, I missed that totally,” he admits.

“It’s not about high fees either, it about the ‘comfort factor’,” he explains.

 “It’s about can I look in the mirror into my eyes and like what I see. Since I have never taken cocaine that becomes a very stringent test,” he sniffs.

Celebrity collaborations aside, he’s recently teamed up with upcoming young Dutch producer Mr Jones to form Unsubscribe, following a sustained break from making any music at all. Chatting about the slew of new remixes they’ve done together (by the likes of Boys Noise, Ben Sims, Tom Trago and John Foxx- the Ultravox pioneer’s classic solo hit Underpass) Dave’s in uncharacteristically reflective and magnanimous mood.

Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): Starting with your new music as Unsubscribe; you took a long break- why?

Dave Clarke: “For many reasons actually; a change of life, wanting to take a back seat for a while to see how things develop in both my life and the industry: Also because I was waiting for technology to become more reliable if I gave up some of my analogue ways. Though maybe I should have waited until everything became 64 bit then I wouldn’t get so frustrated.”

Skrufff: In the past you’ve always been solo as a producer: now you’re with Mr Jones: why did you choose him in particular? And why did you decide to collaborate?

Dave Clarke: “Almost my entire time in the studio had been on my own, I wanted a change, I was always a little envious that groups (when not arguing) could bounce ideas off each other and let that push the creative direction forwards; doing everything alone (from engineering/ producing/ writing) wasn’t something I wished to continue forever. Jones was sending me music all the time and I really liked most of his tracks and loved his commitment, I played a lot of his productions on my radio show and met him in Utrecht and it grew from there. So far working together has been a very relaxed process for both of us.

Skrufff: How does the process work: who does what? (Have you generally used engineers? How do you feel about producers who hire anonymous producers generally? Acceptable or not?)

Dave Clarke: “I have never used an engineer (except in a studio that came with one), engineering is easily one of my favourite pastimes in the studio to get sounds to work together can be so rewarding. I have no issue if an artist doesn’t understand engineering but is good at writing and has solid ideas and uses the engineer as a catalyst, but some “artists” (normally those that refer to themselves in the 3rd person in interviews) just sit behind the people that do all the work and claim the credit to reinforce the brand that their PR people have made for them, that sickens me to be honest.

I mean some people have a Warhol approach, I suppose, maybe in the past DJ Hell had a little bit of that and actually that worked well for everyone concerned, but some artists shouldn’t even pretend, or maybe journalists should dig deeper and tolerate these things less, but I don’t believe expose’s are encouraged against sponsors of magazines, but I’m sure there would be a market for a truly independent and truthful view.

As for me and Jones…..it is very democratic, we learn things from each other, I was hovering between platforms on which to restart making music (I used to use Cubase during Devils Advocate) and Jones got me into Logic which is great from a deep engineering perspective.”

Skrufff: How much are these releases about marketing yourself for gigs?

Dave Clarke: “Not at all, DJing is instinct, production is more a cognitive process, it was time again for some of that.”

Skrufff: How much do you accept that you are a brand: what does ‘Dave Clarke’ stand for?

Dave Clarke: “Truth in the music I present, whether it is mine or other peoples’. I will stay true to what I believe in and won’t move due to whimsical insecurities.”

Skrufff: You said on Twitter recently ‘Not into this cheesy rave noise revival, boring’: what’s your assessment of club culture these days? What impact is the rise of electro-pop having on wider club culture?

Dave Clarke: “Electro pop doesn’t feature in my world at all, so I have no opinion on that. Club culture has changed, especially in the UK, Scotland still has that rebellious nature but in England that has been pushed away by corporate strategies that maybe feature culture as a last resort. Obviously there are some shining lights that put music first, like Fabric, and thankfully they reap the profits of their belief.

Many things have changed Europe-wide though, smoking is one factor which I find hard to believe the impact the ban has had. When people used to smoke in clubs in Italy or Ireland they stayed on the dance floor, now they have smoking breaks and go out and use it to chat to people, so strangely the smoking law can have an impact on how deep clubbers get into the music. Then you have the advent of the cheap flight generation that follow you from country to country, all the time things are changing.”

Skrufff: You also wrote on Twitter recently ‘all trance DJs deep down are embarrassed by what they play. They take it on the chin!”: do you really believe this?

Dave Clarke: “For some of those guys it really is just about the money, some are honest, some are not, although I’m sure that maybe a few actually love that music, not too many mind.”

Skrufff: How do your trance DJ friends react to such comments? (You must have a fair few in Holland- Ferry Corsten?)

Dave Clarke: “Ferry is ignoring my tweets now!”

Skrufff: You also recently Tweeted ‘the Battle of Culloden is on BBC 4 now, history is only a few miles from my hotel.” You mentioned it reminded you of school days: did you have any/ many fights at school? Ever get beaten up or bullied?

Dave Clarke: “Only Jonty can turn the Jacobite rebellion into a school bully conversation! I am lucky enough to travel quite extensively, whilst that in itself isn’t always a rewarding experience, occasionally some of the pages of your school work get lit up by the location you are in, and whilst in Inverness I saw the fields by the road and then when I got back to my hotel there was a programme at 4am on BBC4 talking about it, I like coincidences like that very much.”

Skrufff: What’s happening with your radio show White Noise; why did you change radio station in Holland?

Dave Clarke: “I did a two hour show every week for 5 and a half years, that ate into my new plans of wanting to be in the studio. I did everything myself for the show and something had to give. You may not be aware but there are some syndicated dance shows that are NOT prepared by the host and in fact all they do is provide 15 minutes of speech which is edited together with music by someone else.

I did the whole thing because honesty matters, but I don’t have the time anymore, it was a big dilemma as I want to keep supporting the music and the artists, so I decided last year that reducing the show to an hour was the best way forward. I still get to listen to music (which I need to do for gigging anyway) and more importantly artists still can have a platform with my backing. RTE 2fm happily stepped in to take over the podcast.”

Skrufff: When was the last time you were make-up? Why have you seemingly stopped wearing it?

Dave Clarke: “There is a time and place for everything, that was then and this is now, no other answer really.”

Skrufff: What do you make of the rise of Vegas as an ‘EDM destination’: is it somewhere you’re particularly keen to visit or to crack?

Dave Clarke: “I will be there in a few months, but I am not an atypical English artist with The Beatles in mind thinking that I have to ‘crack’ America. Also, when you leave the UK any colonial overtones that you may have had are washed away with European culture.”

Skrufff: You’re travelling week after week, month after month, year after year: ever find yourself getting bored?

Dave Clarke: “The ipad helps the travel experience immensely, when I first got the ipad I used to watch videos, now I mostly read from it, trade mags, current affairs, it keeps me up to speed and it eats the miles and hours.”

Skrufff: Do you ever have any existential thoughts about devoting too much time to DJing?

Dave Clarke: “My skull fascination helps keep my own mortality clear in my mind, if I rewound my life would it be any different? That is a question no one can answer so why beat yourself up over it?”

http://daveclarke.com

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

Easy listening icon Tony Bennett, 85, called for drugs to be legalized this week, in a moving tribute to Whitney Houston he delivered at Clive Davis’s annual pre-Grammys party.

“First it was Michael Jackson, then Amy Winehouse, now, the magnificent Whitney Houston,” the Vegas crooner told stars.

“I’d like every person in this room to campaign to legalize drugs,” he urged.

“Let’s legalize drugs like they did in Amsterdam, “No one’s hiding or sneaking around corners to get it. They go to a doctor to get it.”

His comments provoked a surprisingly balanced reaction from Rupert Murdoch’s ultra-right wing network Fox News who quoted liberally from addiction expert Maer Roshan, editor of The Fix.com, who said he supported Bennett’s decision to use Houston’s death to provoke a debate.

“At detoxes and rehabs across the country, prescription pill addicts and alcoholics and meth-heads are coke-heads all share the same plight, and suffer from the same scatter-shot treatment,” he noted, “Bennett, who has been public about is own drug problems, should not be condemned for putting the issue on the table.”

Speaking about the issue later, Bennett said he received ‘mostly positive’ responses to his legalization call and continued his theme, telling Rolling Stone magazine it would ‘”get rid of all the gangsters that make people hide’.

“One thing I’ve learned about young people, when you say ‘Don’t do this,’ that’s the one thing they’re going to try and do,” he added.

“Once it’s legal and everybody can do it, there is no longer the desire to do something that nobody else can do.”

http://www.thefix.com/

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

Click for more on Patrice

According to the Mayan Calendar the world (or at least civilisation) is due to end cataclysmically on December 21^st 2012.  With economists and futurologists also almost all predicting a year of upheaval, Skrufff asked a bunch of our favourite DJs and personalities for their predictions for 2012; both musically and apocalype-wise . . .

Patrice Baumel: The New World Order & the Coming Chaos (interview)

“Democratically elected governments are taking decisions against the very people who put them into office, all to protect banks, oil and big money in general. We are already living right in the middle of a New World Order.”

Growing up in Dresden East Germany, nowadays Amsterdam based tech-house-eclectic producer Patrice Baumel was 14 when the Berlin Wall came down and 22 years later, sees more than a few cultural parallels between then and now.

“People are more educated and better connected than ever, so it becomes harder and harder to suppress the truth,” he continues.

“And once the mob gets angry because their pension is gone and their jobs are gone and their kids are hungry, they will mobilize and turn against the powers that be. It will get ugly,” he predicts.

“At the same time people will have to find other ways to happiness than consumption, which will lead them closer towards the truth in life and each other. Overall, change is good.”

For more on Patrice (who as well as touring the world as a DJ nonstop is also a resident and co-promoter of Amsterdam’s top underground club Trouw) click here: http://www.patricebaumel.com/

Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): What are your musical predictions for 2012?

Patrice Baumel: “The trend of indie music crossing over into EDM (Caribou, Radiohead etc) will continue. The house-hype will collapse. Hoards of bandwagon-jumpers will frantically scramble into the next safe haven of rehashed old ideas – I’m betting on straight techno. The trend away from boring laptop acts and towards exciting stage shows will continue in a big way. DJs will become even less relevant, bands will start to dominate the clubs. I predict a tough year for tested-and-approved big money formulas like Ibiza, WMC (Winter Music Conference) and many of the festivals.”

Skrufff: What do you forsee is the future for dubstep: for David Guetta-style dance-pop?

Patrice Baumel: “To me, dubstep has passed its artistic peak. The fact that it’s aggressive, loud and feels like hip-hop will make sure it will keep growing further in the mainstream and have a strong influence on more commercial r’n'b and pop productions. It’s the new Ed Banger. Fun, loud and shallow party music. I have no doubt that dubstep will be much bigger than house and techno combined in 2012.

I cannot say much about Guetta-style dance pop as I have very little contact with that music but it has been around for such a long time, but I’m sure it will play the same role within dance music it has always played – giving people without much musical education and interest a good time in the clubs, at company parties or at corporate sponsored events. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Skrufff: How concerned are you (if at all) by the Mayan Prophecy and their end time prediction of 21^st December 2012?

Patrice Baumel: “I am not concerned about the Mayan Prophecy at all. The worst thing that can happen is that mankind is going to get wiped out. As a race, we have to start asking ourselves whether we deserve any better. The way we exploit land, nature and each other is a fucking disgrace. A fresh start, whatever it looks like, would be great and necessary. Massive change is coming without a doubt. I know global warming is taking place and changing the face of the planet. Life will find new ways to adopt to it but it’s a certainty that it will not tolerate 7 billion people continuing to live the way they are living today, something’s gotta’ give.”

Skrufff: What about the financial crisis?

Patrice Baumel: “We are witnessing the end game of our monetary system – you can’t pay debt with more debt and get away with it. Einstein called compound interest the strongest force in the universe for a reason. Everybody will feel it, also the club scene. Our paper currencies will probably collapse sooner or later, a lot of paper wealth will evaporate into nothing. Many businesses will get wiped out.

But get educated, understand the likely scenarios and prepare yourself accordingly and it’s a great opportunity to get rid of a lot of competitors. Plus a bad economy often means great creative opportunities. I see empty office buildings everywhere with the potential to be transformed into studios, underground party locations or galleries. Focus on the positive side of things and everything starts to look really exciting. But the times of state welfare, job security and perpetual economic growth are over. Instead of striving for MORE, we should aim for LESS BUT BETTER.”

Skrufff: How much do you believe in destiny/ fate generally?

Patrice Baumel: “I believe that whatever happens to you in life is determined by your thoughts. Thoughts materialize themselves, so if you have an optimistic, positive mindset you will be rewarded with a positive life. The opposite is also true. I therefore do not believe in fate or destiny as a passive, predetermined quality but as something you shape with your mind.”

Skrufff: What’s been the biggest stroke of luck/ serendipity you’ve experienced? And the worst luck?

Patrice Baumel: “I have had some incredible luck, for example with how I met  my current partner and I put it down to visualizing exactly what I was looking for in a partner. I also had some close financial calls that miraculously got resolved by an amazing booking or financial stroke of luck. I’ve had very little bad luck, the worst luck for me are moments of mediocrity, the days that don’t leave any memories behind. Too many of those are just draining.”

As well as releasing his acclaimed debut artist album Vapour this year, Patrice recently made the music for a new Nike commercial. Click here to watch and listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY10aH2-lWY

http://www.patricebaumel.com/

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

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Posh people’s lifestyle guide Debretts issued new guidelines for mobile phones and ring tones this week, so Skrufff decided to ask a bunch of DJs about their personal choices, including high tech techno type Dave Clarke . . .

Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): What’s your main ring tone- and what does it say about you? (Debretts’ options include ‘ head-banging rocker, fashion-conscious teenager, gamer, sci-fi nerd, smooth seducer, tv addict, ‘invisible’ – see below)

Dave Clarke: “I would say that 98% of the time my ring tone is silenced as I have the phone on vibrate. It’s been like that for many years; otherwise it’s just an old fashioned bell sound.”

Skrufff: Have you had many customised tones?

Dave Clarke: “I have a few self edited ring tones, such as ‘Susan’s Strange’ by the Furs for my girlfriend, Jah Wars by The Ruts for a friend: and the opening bar of ‘Evil’ by ABC for someone I don’t like.”

Skrufff: Have you ever been embarrassed by a ring tone (yours or someone else’s?)

Dave Clarke: “Nope, though an old road tour manager had the Screech Screech from the film Psycho for his girlfriend, that was always funny.”

Skrufff: How important are ring tones for business?

Dave Clarke: “Not at all.”

Skrufff: What winds you up the most about how other people use mobiles?

Dave Clarke: “That they answer on the car phone without telling you there are other people also in the car until halfway through the conversation.”

Skrufff: Have you ever had a full-blooded row’ on your mobile (ie in front of others?)

Dave Clarke: “I tend to take it away, maybe round the corner, I very rarely argue on the phone, but if I do it also has to be private for the person you are arguing with, they deserve privacy too.”

Skrufff: Debretts say ‘Don’t make calls to people from inappropriate venues; a call from a bathroom is deeply off-putting’: have you ever done that?

Dave Clarke: “Sometimes you can’t help it, just cover your mouth and phone so there are no real delays, or pretend you are testing out a new Lexicon plate reverb.”

Skrufff: Do you have any links where people can buy your ring tones?

Dave Clarke: “I hope not.”

http://www.daveclarke.com/

http://weblogs.vpro.nl/whitenoise/

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

Awakenings- click for more

“We’ve been around for so long that people know that they get value for their money with us. For our latest outdoor festival this year we sold out four months in advance. That was a new record for us and it for this summer it was the fastest selling out dance festival in Holland.”

Almost 15 years after throwing their first party at Amsterdam’s Gasworks, Awakenings has become one of the world’s most popular techno festivals, most recently attracting 35,000 to their latest outdoor bash, one of numerous events they present throughout Holland each year.

Tickets (including for 2 day events and their upcoming New Year’s Eve party) cost less than 50EUR, and as a cursory glance at any of the last 9 years of line-ups listed on their website shows, commercial compromise has never been on the agenda.

“How much of a temptation is it for us to book a David Guetta or Afrojack? No temptation at all,” event founder and Awakenings figurehead Rocco chuckles, “Awakenings is strictly techno!”

While the likes of veterans such as Jeff Mills and Joey Beltram are represented at every party, next generation tech stars such as Luciano, Egbert, and Joseph Capriati also feature prominently, fitting into a formula that’s simple but highly effective.

“The most important aspect still are our killer line-ups,” says Rocco, “Plus our state of the art visual show which includes the best LED, video, lasers, lights and indoor fireworks.”

Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff); What’s your assessment of the state of techno in 2011: how has it been affected by the worldwide recession?

Awakenings (Rocco): “Speaking for the Netherlands and particularly for Amsterdam, the state of techno is really healthy. There is a lot of local talent here but we can also listen to international techno DJs every weekend in the variety of clubs we have and then a few times a year Awakenings puts on the greatest of raves. You can see the economic crisis is having some effect and for the clubs it’s not always easy but we still sell out every single edition of Awakenings.”

Skrufff: What’s been the toughest experience you’ve had?

Awakenings (Rocco): “I’ve had a New Year’s event cancelled a couple of years ago because the owner of the warehouse made a mistake and didn’t apply for the license in time. That will never happen again.”

Skrufff: House and techno have dominated European club culture for well over 20 years now: how likely is it that dubstep, or some other new genre, could come along and sweep most of the old guard away?

Awakenings (Rocco): “We have dubstep parties and also most other genres you can find around here. It’s nice that the people can choose where they want to go.  Competition is positive and healthy for the club scene. We like to think that the techno scene will keep on being creative and putting out great music because that’s what it’s all about.”

http://www.awakenings.nl (Jeff Mills, Marcel Fengler, Matthew Jonson and Sandwell District headine the next Awakenings, on Friday November 25, in Amsterdam)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48NGtFhxas8 (Awakenings on Youtube 2010 trailer)

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff