In Conversation: Rødhåd Discusses The Things That Became

Word of Berlin native Rødhåd's DJing talents have spread thick and fast in recent years. Having spent his formative years organising raves in the outskirts of Berlin, the establishment of Dystopian – a collective run event series was where things began to really take shape, developing the events whilst simultaneously honing his craft as a DJ. Nowadays he is considered as something of a local treasure, his extended sets well known for their diversity and hypnotic appeal. Dystopian has also seen rapid development across its three year lifespan, evolving from its origins in events to release a series of dark, mesmeric techno records as well. With an appearance in Room Two alongside DVS1 scheduled for October 25th, we caught up with Rødhåd to discuss the gig, Dystopian, and the lifestyle of a touring DJ. So first off how are things? You had your second 12” with Belgian label Token out fairly recently – do you feel like you've found a regular home for your productions with Token? What was the first contact you had with the label? All good here, the club season has just started and after some holiday time I'm busy with playing a lot of club gigs these days. I met Kriz in the beginning of last year for the first time. More or less in a traditional way he asked me if I'd be interested in releasing an EP on Token. As A was always a big fan of the label I was happy he asked me to do a release for them. We became good friends and I really like to work with them. And of course you feel good when you found a label which supports your ideas and music visions. That was exactly the reason why we started DYSTOPIAN RECORDS nearly 3 years ago (after we did already the party series and events even longer, for 5 years)… I really wanted to have a home base and creative pool and platform for my output, so to have DYSTOPIAN as a label was just the right idea. So for me my home base will always be dystopian but if you want you can call token my second techno home. Do you find yourself thinking about how a track will be used/received in the club when you're composing or is this less of a concern? I don't try to think in terms of "working in clubs or not" when I am producing. Normally it's just the mood of the day when I'm recording. Of course the stuff I'm releasing at the moment is more club orientated but I also have a lot of drones/soundscapes and other stuff which will maybe released in another content in the future. So, I really try to produce free and without pressure. The same goes for remixes etc. limiting yourself keeps the fun and the freedom away! Was it a hard decision having to stop your work as an architect to pursue the music? What was it like when you were having to juggle the two pursuits? For a few years I tried to do both at the same time but coming back on a Sunday evening and going to work on Monday or Tuesday and then flying out again on Friday didn't worked out well. It would be also unfair to my company and at the same point to the people who coming to my gigs… everyone should have 100% of RØDHÅD… That's why it was a right decision to focus on my artist life now. You're playing alongside DVS1 with us on the 25th - will this be the first time you've visited fabric? Anyone else on the bill you're particularly looking forward to seeing? Yes, yes and yes - first time fabric… I can't believe that I haven't played there before…honestly, I have no idea what I should expect - the line ups always look quality and playing with my friend DVS1 will be fun as well. And seeing long time residents like Terry Francis who's spinning records in fabric since the opening will be also inspiring! Do you find the experience different playing in the UK compared to back in Germany or are the crowds to be fairly comparable? Do you end up playing shorter sets here for example? Actually, I always thought that I needed to play shorter sets in the UK, but the last few times it's turned into longer sets.. but yes, in a way I have the feeling that dancers from the UK sometimes have a more direct way of reacting to techno music. But in the end I wouldn't say the Germans are more like this and the people from the UK are more like that. It depends on the night, the club and the atmosphere. That can be totally different from one gig to another. From reading previous interviews it sounds like you buy a lot of vinyl. What are your favourite spots for buying records? Have you managed to explore many of the stores in London? I used to buy a lot when I still spent my weekends home. I was working around the corner from Spacehall here in Berlin so I was a regular buyer there. These days I really need to concentrate on 1 or 2 days per month to go shopping. when I am travelling, I am on the road more and more with USB sticks plus an effect pedal I bought. I also try to go to shops in cities where I'm travelling - always looking for used records and from time to time you find some records you've been searching for for years in the last corner of the shop. That's always the best moment. Things seem to have really stepped up this year with your imprint/night Dystopian, releasing four records over the year so far. Was there a particular point at which you decided to start pushing the label more? Not really. When we started the label it was just me working on music. With time it became a natural platform for me and my friends of DYSTOPIAN. New members joined and at the moment we just have more good material to release. That's the reason why we have more releases this year, there is not a big plan for the releases and normally we try not to plan to much in advance to keep everything a bit spontaneous. How did you first meet the other people involved in running Dystopian and what were the first events you put on like? We've known each other for many years now and they already supported me when I was still spinning records in clubs for 20 people… it's like my second family, with love and sometimes stress included. We did our first event in 2009 here in Berlin at Arena Club, since then we having our parties in irregular intervals. The next Dystopian Party will be on 21st November... Finally, what is next for yourself and Dystopian? the next DYSTOPIAN-EP 009 is by our friend DISTANT ECHOES and the number 010 will be a compilation by 8 different artists (including myself)... for more news about my stuff and releases and art and whatever, you should check www.dystopian.de thanks a lot!