Features
Playing differently: Richie Hawtin and his DJ super-team
We rounded them up at the Amsterdam Dance Event to talk tech, techno and taking performance to the next level
Old-skool in spirit, new school in attitude: Loco Dice’s hip hop roots have never strayed too far from his forward-focused style.
“I’ll always be hip hop. I love that dirty, rough style,” he grins. “I don’t always mix on the one, I’ll often mix on the two or even the three. It’s how I feel the groove, not how it’s musically written. So when I’m looking at developing my DJ set-up, it’s important anything I add doesn’t take away from my style. If it optimises my groove, bring it on. If not, move on.”
Dice’s groove-optimising tools include four Traktor decks (on turntables), a Cycloops and Boss digital delay unit. A mix of old and new, it’s a fitting formula for a man of Dice’s mettle. The MODEL 1 mirrors his ethos in a similar way.
“It’s bringing back that old-skool, hands-on feel. Those big knobs. The rich filter from the legendary Rane and Bozac mixers that guys like Carl Cox inspired us with back in the day where you can play with the frequencies to make it your own sound. Add extra drive for a harsh feeling, soften it with a big swooping filter. There are many options!”
The Dusseldorf DJ also believes MODEL 1’s double-cueing flexibility won’t just encourage creativity for multiple DJ sessions but will also prevent the one thing technology has hindered with its endless options: clumsy switches between DJs.
“Everyone is carrying some serious shit around now,” he says. “If you have a set-up where two DJs can both link to the mixer and check their music without affecting the performing DJ then that changes the game. The changeover can be a total nightmare. The guy who comes after you comes with their own set-up, it starts to get hectic, there’s a commotion and the crowd see this, and they know it’s unprofessional.”
Dice, meanwhile, remains a consummate pro. And now he’s looking to add more kit to his armoury; the only problem is finding something that suits his style. “There are a lot of options for DJs and for non DJs to mix two songs together. Instead of making another plastic controller that plugs into the computer, give us more hardware, more analogue stuff, more samplers. Shit we can press, shit we can fuck with. Shit that people can see you actually doing something live on stage with.”
Want to know how fast-rising Italian Florido switched from an exclusively live performance set-up to the dynamic DJ hybrid he rocks now? Dial 999 for the long-running techno haven in his home town, Prato, where he was resident and where he developed his unique set of machines and performance style.
“I tried turntables but knew they weren’t for me because I want to play more than one track after the next,” says Fabio, a producer long before he became a performer. “Ableton let me play all my own productions. But when I became a 999 resident I had a problem: the crowd was mostly regulars. I couldn’t play the same live set every weekend.”
Fabio quickly built his set-up to keep the crowds coming and his residency in place. First Traktor, then a Maschine Mikro for drum layers, Traktor remix decks and two Xone K2 controllers, now brought together by the MODEL 1.
“We have an important role to find inspiring ways to keep the music entertaining, moving and interesting,” he says. “The original DJs and pioneers did the hard work getting everything accepted. It’s so much easier now: promotion, connectivity and acceptance of our culture as an art form. We can’t sit back, relying on their work. We have to take this to another level for the next generation.”
Techno’s new generation already considering the next generation? The future is safe in Fabio’s hands. Four years after auditioning as a street team PR rep for Richie’s Ibiza party and he’s a major component in ENTER., using tech to chase that elusive DJ holy grail.
“It’s about that moment when you realise you’re doing something that may never happen again,” he says. “Different layers, highs from one track, bass from another, live drums and FX… You’ll be deep into it and suddenly realise you may never have that exact combination ever again. It’s inspiring.”
