Jonty Skrufff's Blog

This article was written by Benjamin from Mauritius’ Four Aces after the gig….

Buddah Club, Grand Baie

Berlin DJs Jonty Skrufff and Fidelity Kastrow performed at Buddah Club in Grand Baie last weekend and delivered exhilarating sets of Berlin style electro and techno, the likes of which have never been experienced in Mauritius before.

As well as DJing at many of the world’s biggest superclubs, Jonty is an acclaimed producer and  founder of press agency and blog Skrufff.com and also works as a moderator/ consultant for leading music conference the Amsterdam Dance Event. An expert on all aspects of international club culture, we chatted to him after Berlin Konnektion to find out his thoughts on both Mauritius and club culture in general.

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Jonty & Agathe

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For more information on Berlin Konnektion (including details of future parties) click here; http://on.fb.me/ijQCaX

Fidelity Kastrow and Aga

Berlin Konnektion (Benjamin Bolton): What did you think of Mauritius?

Jonty Skrufff: “I loved all the obvious attractions; the scenery, wildlife, natural beauty, ocean and climate; and also met loads of interesting people who made me feel immediately welcome. There’s also definitely a special energy that’s almost tangible on the island; I’m impressed.”

Berlin Konnektion: How did you get involved with Berlin Konnektion?

Jonty Skrufff: “The Berlin Konnektion came about when Skrufff DJ Fidelity Kastrow (http://tinyurl.com/yjhlcmt )and I met Mauritian promoter Agathe last August at a festival in Sweden called Secret Island. The party is presented by a Berlin promoter who transports 200 or so Berliners and 300 Swedes to the island each year for four days and nights of nature and outdoors techno. Everybody sleeps in tents and swims or strolls around the island by day, dancing by night.

The island is in the North Sea and is totally deserted with no trees or buildings anywhere, so it’s a total back-to-nature experience. Agathe loved Fidelity’s set and they made friends afterwards, we  then spent the next two days sunbathing on the beach and that’s where the idea first popped up to do parties together in Mauritius. We all met again in Berlin after that (particularly at Panorama Bar) and the plan became solid fairly quickly.”

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magic hearts

Berlin Konnektion: Who was the lady sprinkling stars and glitter on everybody’s faces?

Jonty Skrufff: “That was our good friend Kalina who is one of Berlin’s most colourful creative characters in the night-life scene. Kalina brought some of the magical vibe she always sprinkles round clubs such as Berghain and Salon Renate whenever she’s present and when I say ‘magic’, I mean magic literally. For this particular party, she added loads of glitter and silver stars to my face, specifically forming a band across my forehead, which looked lovely. However, when we saw some of the photos were uploaded afterwards on Facebook, all you can see is shining love hearts.  The camera mysteriously captured the invisible energy of the party and depicted it as glowing love hearts on, and around my head: c’est incroyable!”

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Kalina in action

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Berlin Konnektion: What did you think of the Mauritius crowd?

Jonty Skrufff: “The Mauritian crowd? Wow, what can I say . . . Oh My God they were wonderful! To give you some contrast, I was playing in Russia a couple of weeks ago at the Sochi Winter Music Conference where I was struck by how crazy the Russians are. Everybody- male and female- were total party animals and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Mauritians are equally, if not even more crazy. Hearing everybody on the dance floor screaming was fantastic and totally euphoric. The Mauritian clubbers made the party truly special.”

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