DZDZWRWR: December 2019
Meet this weekโs artist: ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐
Our favorite work from ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐: SF.MIX.11 - Stasya
Why we love ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐: ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ are a DJ and producer from Lisbon and are a member of the Rรกdio Quรขntica, as well as co-founder of LGBTQ collective Circa A.D. Their sets combine hard melodies and pummeling dance-floor percussions. This year, theyโve released a debut EP on Alp and released with Boiler Roomโs Hard Dance series. ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐โs sound spans multiple genres from gabber to glitch, creating massive impact.
Where you can find ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐: Soundcloud, Instagram, Facebook
This weeks sound
Sets
Glitchy, trancey, and fun best describe this cute mix
A borderline-hardcore mix with heavy, pounding tracks
Tracks
Sir Speedy - Amor Con la Ropa (Buzzi's Bootleg Remix)
A hard, ravey interpretation of a classic reggaeton staple
Devastatingly aggressive with epic pads and a harrowing kick
Articles
Discover The Extreme Hardcore-Fueled Sound Of Rising New York Producer Kilbourne
An in-depth article about one of New Yorkโs hardcore staples, Kilbourne
An Interview with Damon Bradley (TechnoFist)
Damon Bradley is the founder of TechnoFist, a group dedicated to techno and electronic music lovers. The group currently has more than 2,000 members and has been active since 2013. There are daily postings of practically anything related to techno from tracks to videos to even live watch parties. In addition to being a community, the group has expanded to a podcast series featuring artists like Sugar, Viscerale, and Juana. More recently, TechnoFist recently started a party series based in the U.S. called Katalyst. We had a few words with Damon on the community and how he continues to run it.
How did you decide to start the Technofist Facebook group? Did you have a particular goal in mind when you first created it?
I started TechnoFist on August 6, 2013. Around this time, I believe I had just visited the Output Club with some dear friends from Brooklyn for the first time. We already knew each other for a number of years, and I was already frequently visiting NYC for techno, trance, and progressive house parties. I got the idea to start the group while leaving Output and wanting to share music efficiently with all of the new people I kept meeting every time I visited the city. Since I donโt live in NYC and Iโm terrible with names, I figured starting a Facebook group to share music with folks would help. So I guess the goal was, and always has been, to share quality techno with as many people as possible. I started adding friends from home in DC and Baltimore around the same time, and the community grew exponentially after I started adding people I met at my first Movement Festival in Detroit in 2014.
As the moderator and admin of the community, how do you go about addressing conflict when it arises?
The group now stands at nearly 3k people, spanning 10 countries. The demographics of the group are vast, and as such, so are the diverse opinions and perspectives of people in it. So first and foremost, I try really hard to keep folks focused and on topic โ music first. Itโs the music that attracted people to the group and generally this is the value that people get out of it. Second, I aim to let folks voice their own perspectives, until things start to get personal. If the discussion veers off topic and degenerates into a typical Facebook argument, personal attacks of any kind, character defamation, or the like - thatโs when either I or my moderators intervene. My hope is for folks to come to the group and learn the breadth of techno and connect with each other in constructive ways that add to the community. We also abide by standard rave ethics โ no โisms of any kind.ย
I feel like the success of these communities is largely dependent on the members and their enthusiasm for certain genres and artists. How do you continue to encourage members to stay active in the community?ย ย
This is probably one of the most rewarding aspects of the TechnoFist community โ members themselves stay active and self-regulate. There are about 20 members who have consistently posted new music, podcasts, or shows and sort of act like catalysts for further discussion. This is truly grassroots. Sometimes I donโt interact with the group for days, and it remains very active with lots of music shared and lots of subsequent fruitful discussion.
I personally use the group like I always have โ by posting tracks I personally like a lot and I think folks may find interesting. I do the same for events. TechnoFist has emerged inadvertently as a haven for promoters also, so the events normally generate great discussion as well. When SEQUENCE DC was started in 2016, I used TechnoFist as a promotions platform to quickly spread the word and eventually attract New Yorkers to DC. When NYC heads started coming to DC for parties, I looked at that as a huge achievement for TechnoFist because NYC is rife with great techno and great crowds. TechnoFist became sort of a techno-cultural exchange between the two areas, and itโs been extremely fruitful for both areas. The TechnoFist Podcast helped along with this as well โ elevating local artists so they could be heard by a broader audience and eventually booked outside of their home areas.
Currently, Technofist has expanded to a podcast series and more recently, a party series called Katalyst. Do you have any plans to further expanding the community? I've heard some rumors about potentially starting a label.
So the TechnoFist Podcast is about 4 years old now actually. There was a time that Iโd post a new mix every week, but because of scheduling and just being really busy all the time, I post mixes on an unpredictable and irregular schedule now. The goal of the podcast is to highlight the artists in the community. Every single person whoโs been on the podcast is actually a part of the group. Thatโs been my strict requirement. For the community to stay fresh and relevant, everyone needs to participate. So I invite folks who I encounter who happen to be artists to put their artistry on display on the podcast.
I started the Katalyst party on March 9, 2019 as a result of getting restless after retiring from SEQUENCE DC after its first 2 years. I wanted to do a party that could fill in the gaps of unexplored sound here in the U.S., channel the extreme inspiration I received from getting to know and playing for the folks in Copenhagen, Denmark, and actually help tear down the Berlin-esque wall between techno and trance music and communities. Many folks Iโve known in the techno community for a while only see me from the techno perspective, but are surprised that Iโm just as much into trance as I am techno โ particularly classic trance. Same for house music. I actually run a House Music Appreciation Group, as well as an OldSchool Trance group โ both significantly smaller than TechnoFist. Katalyst is an opportunity to share my own unique perspective of techno and trance with the broader community and keep pushing the music forward.
As far as expanding, after a long talk I had with Emmanuel Beddewela, who runs the ARTS label, I decided not to start a label. ARTS was one of my favorite labels at the time, and I wanted to run a TechnoFist label with the same standard of excellence that Emmanuel runs his label. But after learning the sheer amount of time and energy that Emmanuel poured into it, and the stress that came along with it, I decided against starting a label. I simply donโt have the time to do it.
On the other hand, I have considered starting an artist agency. I think given where we are with the podcast, and the joy I receive from connecting people and ideas, an artist agency might be the next logical step to expand TechnoFist. Iโm also brainstorming ideas on how to expand the podcast to a broader audience. There are also other party ideas Iโm currently exploring as well.
Lastly, do you have any advice for people who are interested in starting or finding their own community within techno?
If I was deliberate with starting a new techno community, I probably wouldnโt have named it TechnoFist because of the obvious hilarious puns. That is to say โ the community grew into existence in a completely organic and grassroots fashion, starting from a small group of friends who all loved the music as much as I did. I didnโt start the community deliberately, but as it grew quickly, I grew with it, immediately realizing how it needed to be cultivated and maintained. So for folks wanting to start their own community, start from your own passion, love, and circle of friends. As far as finding your own community within techno, thereโs a lot of places to go because techno is extremely vast. TechnoFist spans the gear-fetish heads who love to crank industrial noise, the Drumcode types who are making the transition from modern trance and tech-house to techno, folks who spend their Sunday evenings as speaker creatures running around Berghain, nerdy track-IDโing heads who keep up with more conventional underground techno, to the trance revivalists and everything in between. I just say explore and get lost in the music. Thatโs worked for me for nearly 3 decades. The music will take you where you need to go. Just be adamant about your own taste, and donโt allow anyone to dictate your taste for you while also keeping an open mind and humble spirit about music you may not have heard yet or that others may be passionate about.
Links: Facebook
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Edited by Anastassia Gliadkovskaya