Hello Thristian, thank you for your time, I can imagine how busy you are… So, how are you?
Hey, yeah this year’s been extremely busy. It’s healthy though…
If you don`t mind let`s go straight to the thing which is associated with you the most – Boiler room. How did you come up with the idea of Boiler room? I`ve read that it all started as a simple streaming from the office where you worked… but when did you decide to make it bigger?
Yeah, Blaise invited myself and Femi (founder of NTS) to come into the Platform Magazine offices and compile a mixtape. We chatted about it a little and decided to do it live using UStream. The first session (Office Jam) was really fun and the next day we met and decided to invite mates to come down and play records, hang out and drink some rum. That was it really, we never made a conscious decision to make it “big”. We continued with what we were doing, and made additions as we went along and it’s popularity grew.
Boiler room has its residency in London, Berlin and Los Angeles. If you compare those cities, what are the differences? What about the crowd for instance or the technical background?
Erm…. It’s quite hard to put my finger on any specific differences. It’s all about local scenes getting together and representing themselves online by creating a good party. The energy is great wherever we go, and the response that everyone has seems to be one of love. The essence and energy surrounding underground music is universal.
Recently the whole Boiler room thing became like “on the road”. Last stop was Texas, right? How was that?
Yeah, it’s great. The session in Texas was unbelievable. It’s weird to think that we can go somewhere as far removed from where we’re from and the appreciation for creativity is so recognizable. When creating something in a small room in London, it’s hard to imagine that other people are getting down to it in their own environments wherever in the world they are. We’ve now been to places like Madrid, Barcelona, Krakow, New York, Amsterdam and now Vienna. The whole idea is to explore whats going on with underground independent music in these places.
I think you mentioned on Twitter that you have turned into a Vegetarian in Texas. Could you tell us what happened? :)
Too much meat. The cows in Texas must be huge. The servings were unbelievably big. I’m the kind of person that loves meat with my meal, I very rarely have a vegetarian meal. However, in Texas I was relieved to not not have a huge slab of meat in my plate at times.
Which cities are on the list for the next BR session? Are you planning to stream some festivals for instance?
Yeah, we’ve got loads of plans… but due to the way in which it works it’s hard to confirm anything. There’s been chat about doing sessions places like Moscow, Stockholm, Tokyo, New York, South Africa, New York and loads of festivals including Bloc, Sonar, Melt… and a bunch of others that I can’t remember… none of this 100% confirmed as far as I’m concerned until we’re live and broadcasting. It’s all about finding people that understand what Boiler Room is all about and creating a good session.
How are the parties in Berlin? I know German party people… they can`t leave their home before 2 or 3 am and ending on 11pm can be pretty tough for them, right? :)
We haven’t had any complaints. If anything, they’re thankful that they can be in bed by 1am.
And what about after parties? Still not on the plan?
Nah, not really into it. The sessions turn out to be pretty hectic most of the time. There’s usually something popping, whether that’s a house party or a club. It’s nice to have the choice of whether to go to bed or continue the party. Boiler Room is usually in the middle of the week, and so it’s usually quite important to have some kind of present and correctness in the morning.
How does the party work exactly? You have “to know” people who can get you in there or…?
Yeah… anyone that really wants to find a way to be there will get in…. but you do have to be on the list. The spaces we do it in are usually quite small, and it’s more about the broadcast that getting 1,000 people in. We never charge on the door, so we’re not in it to make money from the door take.
How do you choose artists? Is this like they contact you by themselves or do you know exactly who will be invited and you approach them?
We listen to a lot of music and just ask people to send through and keep us in the loop with their activity. We approach people, they approach us. We just figure it out somehow…
I noticed that the broadcasting is not only about DJs but also about bands (like Little Dragon f.e.). How do you handle their technical requirements?
Somehow… it’s quite stressful. But we get there somehow. We’ve just brought in a sound engineer that can translate all the specs for us.
Boiler room is getting more and more fans. Which can bring some technical issues with streaming. How do you handle that? I noticed a couple of blackouts during streaming…
Yeah, it’s something we’re continuosly working on. It’s a new platform which is changing weekly. We’re about to start working with the guys at Hellicar & Lweis. They’re helping us to build our own broadcaster. However, sometimes there’s nothing we can do. For example we were in Berlin a couple of months ago during the Boyz Noize, Joey Beltram show and the Internet Service Provider went out, which is similar to a full power cut in internet terms. There was no Internet.
You will appear on sound:frame festival as a DJ. So, for those who don`t know you as a DJ, could you introduce yourself a little bit? And another important thing – will there be a sound:frame stream of your set?
Erm…! Hello. I play other peoples music. I’m not sure how else to introduce myself. I love music, listen to loads and know how to have a good party. Nope, don’t think we’ll be streaming my set. Jus gonna have a straightforward party.
Do you think that Boiler room can be the symbol of the future, something like a “clubbing at home”? Partying with friends, drinking and dancing around the screen with streaming…?
Maybe, we’ll see what happens suppose.
Thank you very much Thristian! Be well and good luck with your future Boiler room sessions!
Thank you, see you this week.
www.boilerroom.tv
www.facebook.com/boilerroom.tv
www.soundframe.at
Interview by Simona Hypsová
