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Modern club culture is probably the last thing that comes to
mind when entering the pub 'Ripper's Inn' in Majorna in Gothenburg.
Dark wood and fake gold painted steel is more associated with
a big glass of Guinness rather than dancing to the latest beats
from the underground. Be prepared for a surprise if you walk through
the pub and two stairs up on a Wednesday night. On the third floor
is where KoolAid is held every second week, and the concept is
electronic music in a variety of shapes and forms. The key word
is personal style, both on the dance floor and in the DJ booth.
For people with a more conservative idea about beats and rhythm,
it would at times sound like there is nothing danceable being
played. However, the playful music experiments leave a charming
feeling, which has become the club's trademark. It is not just
a charming little club, but the atmosphere is friendly, I have
never seen a fight, and the crowd is devoted to the music. To
top it off there is a balcony with a magnificent view over the
harbor and the docks. Towards the end of the night, five minutes
before closing time at 2am, they main lights are turned on but
the people are still dancing. It is as if they don't want it to
end. With live gigs and guest DJ's who have almost a complete
freedom of playing what they want in terms of electronic music,
they fill the club to capacity two times a month.
Stilleben was born after visiting the Battery
Park Music Festival in Cologne, Germany last year, and consists
of 5 young men, and one woman from Gothenburg.
"In Cologne we saw that everything was run by real people,
so when we got back home there was nothing else to do than to
begin," says Ronnie Johansson, AKA Rutherford.
"Real people" is a wide expression, but I understand what he
means. Stilleben is a bunch of real people, with real jobs and
lives that are not just music. But it is the music that has brought
them together and earlier this summer Stilleben Records was launched.
The first single - and they are "real singles" i.e. 7," a forgotten
format in my opinion - has two songs. One side by Rutherford,
and the other by Luke Eargoggle, whose real name is Lukas Pettersson.
The second single entitled "Dirty Power Stalkers" is also written
by Eargoggle and Rutherford. A third one is on its way with songs
by Fukkt, and DJ Lomo, AKA Rickard Almqvist and Sarah Tångelin,
who got married in August and are also part of Stilleben.
"We are not making any profit out of these records, they are
just released because we love music and the sound of vinyl,"
Rickard says.
"We are planning a CD as well where all contributors will
use the exact same samples, but make their own songs," Ronnie
continues.
The music on the two first releases can be described as Electro
with a lot of influences from the 80's synth pop, and modern labels
like Direct Beat and International Deejay Gigolo, and of course
- dare I say their heroes - the Cologne crew with Dr. Walker,
Jammin Unit, Frank Heiss, and New York based Khan. The records
are only made in a limited edition of 200 copies, and if you interested
in getting your own copy go to Blenda,
a new Swedish Internet record store with its headquarters in Gothenburg.
Apart from the label, Stilleben has a lot of plans and ideas for
the future : T-shirts, live gigs with Stilleben Sound System,
a live CD with Stigh Strandh (Rickard's other alter ego) and Rutherford
on the Swedish label Tsunami Productions, and another trip to
the Battery Park Festival in October, and this time Stilleben
are playing live.
"It is almost like a crusade and the music is our religion.
We want to save as many people as possible so they can discover
all this. We are not doing this to be cool club owners, but because
we love the music," says Rickard Almqvist.
The Battery Park Festival in Cologne begins Oct. 8 and runs through
Oct. 17, and some of the bands and DJ's appearing are Kerosene,
Fred Gianelli, The Modernist, Freddy Fresh, Coldcut, Air Liquide,
Dr. Walker, Khan, Mate Galic, Soulslinger, Tina303, DJ Pure, DJ
Scud, and Bedroom Productions. Stilleben Sound System are playing
live Oct. 14. For more information about the festival in general
and lineup, check out the Battery
Park Cologne Web site. Worth checking out are also Dr. Walker's
label Hotel Lotte, and
Liquid Sky Music in
New York. If you want to preview what Stilleben sounds like live
click here. The next KoolAid,
a special birthday party for DJ Lomo, takes place at September
29th at Henriksberg in Gothenburg.
I wish them the best of luck in Cologne, and can only hope they
send me a phat tape of the gig.
Christian
aka the Northwest Hard Steppin Pepsi Can Bashing Swede
October 1999
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