Berlin has always been a breeding ground for innovative artists. Amidst this vibrant landscape, one name has risen to the forefront, enchanting dance floors and captivating house lovers worldwide – Cinthie. Her journey from a young vinyl collector to an international artist, DJ, label and record store owner has been nothing short of remarkable. Her innate passion for music, combined with the city’s legendary club culture, fuelled her ascent through the ranks of Berlin’s competitive circuit.

Cinthie has an unwavering passion for vinyl and an ear for incredible music, with her sets boasting a plethora of genres and eras seamlessly woven together to create a joyful experience. This passion for physical music has also blossomed into Elevate, a record store based in Berlin, as well as 803 Crystal Grooves and its many branching sub-labels. These platforms have not only propelled her career but have also nurtured a community of emerging talents, adding another layer to her illustrious career.

Back on the road once again, Cinthie brings her live show to Canada ready for this year’s edition of Mutek Festival. We caught up with the Berlin local ahead of her show to talk plans, times and tunes!

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INTERVIEW

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Thanks so much for joining us for Times & Tunes! How has the year been treating you personally so far?
Yeah really well, though it’s been a very busy one, organizing gigs here in Liverpool, releasing that indopan album and the overload release as well as playing in a band. I started a new job working in a Europe-wide pediatric research consortium as well so I’ve had my time very full. Strangely I find I produce more music when I have less time, the momentum keeps me inspired to create more and move forward.

Over the years it seems that fans of yours can check for output from you amidst an array of projects; can you share a bit about the creation of these different facets and how you like to refract through them?
Refraction is a good analogy, as I see it the source and inspirations as the same I still to thoroughly enjoy the same types of music that I loved when I was 16 starting out producing, so it’s been more of exploring new facets of production as I’ve learned and experimented more of the years. As I’ve been DJing a lot more lately I’ve come to appreciate producing the format of the dance track, whereas when I started out I felt I was rebelling against it with my mangled sound and out of time rhythms.

Your most recent LP comes from you under your Indopan alias — what informed you on the making and release of this psychedelic effort?
Actually it was the purchase of a Wurlitzer 206a that inspired a new approach, just jamming on it day after day and tinkering with the electronics inspired me to make something a bit more delicate. The way each note has its own reed and is very slightly off tune means when played softly it evokes such a deep yet loose feeling and inspired me to go a little more subtle than my usual approach.

Aside from your solo work, you’ve also run and curated a few labels at this point: Tape Throb being the former alongside the recently launched Overload Liverpool. Do you find your roles as artist and label owner ever conflict with one another, or are they mainly complimentary?
For sure there is a bit of a crossover and some conflicting moments. Crossover in that it’s sometimes an opportunity for me to put something out that maybe another label wouldn’t pick up, but conflicting when I’m trying to focus on my own projects but need to put the time into promoting and releasing someone else’s. It’s like balancing spinning plates most of the time, especially on top of my full time job.

Through the labels you have released seminal works from talented artists across the globe like Baltra and AL-90. Do these relationships strike up naturally, or rather, what is the process like of working with others to help push their creative ventures in the world?
With the tape throb records it was more of an international online thing, just reaching out to artists across the world whose music evoked a certain vivid emotion in me. The artists were always super collaborative and friendly so it was actually a pretty straightforward process artistically, I just followed their lead. On the Overload Liverpool side it’s been more of a locally focussed thing, with us putting on more events here, I see it expanding beyond the city, but more something budding from the ground up, with me trying to give more of a helping hand.

With MUTEK right around the corner, it sounds like you have something special lined up for attendees. How will this upcoming performance differ from what many might be expecting, say a traditional DJ set or computer-based approach?
Well it’s an updated all-hardware setup, including semi-modular synths, a rhodes electric piano, a whole raft of new effects units and it’s a set spanning 10 years of my music, including newer tracks that I’ve never played live before, unreleased pieces and improvisations. It’s very much focussed on being both cerebral yet very danceable and visceral. So I’m hoping I can bring the crowd to a special place within and outside themselves in the closing hours of the Satosphere.

We’re also tremendously grateful that you took some time to pull a playlist together for Bolting Bits to showcase some of your favorite work to listen to or find inspiration from; can you highlight a couple selections for us?
Alias – Civil Defense (Dub): I’ll be playing a couple of more intimate gigs for the first time in Chicago just before coming to Montreal and I think this tune is an often overlooked moment in the evolution of electronic music and particularly house, that tipping point where weird electro and minimal disco transmuted into house and techno.

Metrist – Levan Liver Lever Love: It’s hard to put this price of music into words, but it feels right at forefront of Techno and Electric, the sound coming from Bristol’s Timedance is so mind expanding on so many fronts, but this track has a uplifting element that for md transcends a lot of other similar style of forward thinking techno and rhythmic noise.

Appreciate all your time for us…as we wrap here I’d love to poke around about any upcoming releases that you may have in the works either from yourself or through your label?
I’m currently working on more tracks in the Indopan (think sleeker house) and The Motorist (my tongue-in-cheek UK Garage alias) in works. On the label end I have a 5 track compilation 12″ pegged for early 2024 that’ll include a number electro techno and psych-jazz numbers from artists based on or closely associated with Liverpool, so very excited to get that out there!

Catch The Cyclist on Sunday, August 27, 2023 2:45 am_3:45 am

Interview by Dan.

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Congratulations on the recent release of the Psssh 003! I believe this is the final EP in a trilogy of EPs kicking off the label — how does it feel to let this latest installment loose for the world to hear?
Many thanks, it feels good! Much like having released an album, but without all the fanfare. If you put the tracks together they would make an album, but I think it was nice to give the tracks their own lives this way. It’s not the season finale yet though so stay tuned…

It’s been almost a decade (in some cases over!) since your first records on labels like Pictures and Kompakt; has creating and releasing through Psssh been a freeing experience compared to those outings?
Absolutely, I often ask myself why I never did it sooner. At the same time, I learned alot from having worked with all of those labels in the past, and each one has brought a new audience and dimension to my music. I look forward to invest much of my energy of the next coming years into developing Psssh, and everything I have done in the past lends itself to this future.

Most recently, new and longtime fans alike have been able to catch you at events through African Acid Is The Future; in what ways has that project evolved since you first got involved?
When meeting Maryisonacid around 7 years ago and becoming part of her project, it was a very humbling experience. The vibe, the sound, the approach of presenting a party was so different to what I was familiar with before, but at the same so exciting that it changed everything for me. I had just released a 3rd EP on Kompakt and touring life at the time was very much drawn to that world, but AAITF was something very different and the two worlds could not exist in parallel for me. The project is very much the same since I joined all those years ago; we have experienced a lot, and traveled further than we could have imagined, but the philosophy is the same.

There’s a lot of rumblings across music journalism of a sameness or flattening within larger dance acts. Your output seems to work hard to counter that narrative; do you have any advice for discouraged artists looking for inspiration?
My advice to those who find themselves discouraged by this climate you are describing, would be to observe exactly what it is that seems to be flattened with sameness and avoid. ‘Do you’, if you are honest with yourself the likelihood of that being the same as the others is very slim. I think much of this sameness and flattening is existing in the mainstream, and that tends to dominate our screens, and then dictates trends. But, there are other worlds to occupy and exist in.

What has the process been like preparing for MUTEK this year? Lots of folks are excited about the new live show ‘debuting’ at the event.
I’m super excited to present the live show. It’s very much a presentation of the current Psssh records sound. With reinterpreted ideas of the past releases, with some tracks that will only exist in this live show. It’s a simple set up: drum machine, sampler, FX, Synths… It’s definitely one for dancing! It’s taken some months to get her into shape but I’m really happy where it is. I wanted it to sound good in the sound system, so a lot of time was dedicated to getting that right too.

Can you share anything about what’s next for Psssh on the heels of the completed triptych? It seems like an amazing platform for both new and established artists in your orbit.
I can’t say too much tbh. What I can say is that the triptych isnt quite over, you can extrapolate the rest of the info there yourself… And then after that all I can say is that there will be a lot of collaborative works coming through. A lot!

Can you share a bit about projects (music or otherwise) on the periphery of electronic music that you’ve been finding exciting at the moment?
I’m enjoying how tempo in popular dance music is moving up at the moment. One thing I learned from AAITF parties is that tempo is a tool not a road. There was a period of techno from late 90s to early 00s that was fast paced, very groovy, and percussive… referred to as ‘tribal techno’ (altho I’m not so into this name) there seems to be a resurgence at the moment. I think the modern stuff is missing something but I like the intention, as this sound and groove really has a sense of humor (even with the darker moodier bits) and I’m up for that. For the ‘otherwise’ part, I’ve been watching a lot of UFO videos online, I think it’s getting quite popular these days.

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What were your staple music artists in your DJ sets in the 00s and 10s? Would you like to share some of your current favorites?
I have some well-worn records from the past 20 years for sure, some staples would be Orlando Voorn, Shinedoe, my UR and Electrofunk records, and some early 2000s records by Polish artist Digital PrinceZZ. I would still play these today, but more recent staples include Bézier, Archivist, Analog Tara, Nikki Nair, Sepehr, and I’ll include Shinedoe here again ;)

Can you describe your current workflow for music-making? Do you have any special concept you try to explore and develop before making and recording beats and sounds?
I’m more drawn to process (rather than concepts) as a starting point. For example, my osc.jamz EP was made from a series of improvised recordings of a simple homemade oscillator sequenced through the Electribe ESX-1. I like to spend time just exploring and working through trial and error with different setups. I probably started off this way because I have no formal music training, and part of what I love about making electronic music is that there’s always so much more to learn.

You are now making music with hardware instruments instead of pure software. How much do you think your compositions have changed? What are the most important changes in your compositional process with this change?
Working with hardware was new to me a few years back when I was building my new live set, and I really liked the learning curve, and the different constraints of each piece of gear. I found I had more focus working this way, and live jams have now become my main creative practice. Then at some point, I decide it’s time to record and arrange in the DAW. Right now these two workflows – creation and arrangement/refining – are separate, but that is really just a limitation of my home studio setup. So I hope eventually I can better integrate these parts of the process.

You sang in Social Factory Reset, your latest release. Is this your first exploration of having acoustic signals in your music? How different and new was listening to your voice and lyrics in the context of your music-making?
I’ve used my recorded voice in other releases, usually just as small samples. Dream-Life Cycles is the first track that I’ve recorded lyrics for, and it wasn’t really something I planned to do initially but the track just seemed to call for them. I don’t consider myself a singer or know very much about recording vocals so my first instinct was to hide my voice behind a lot of reverb, which I then had to scale back to make the words more comprehensible. Now I’ve gotten used to hearing my voice this way I’d like to learn more about recording and mixing vocals so I can try it again.

How different is it for you to perform as a dj rather than a producer? What are the differences, for you, in each context?
I’ve been djing for much longer than producing, and I think that experience has definitely influenced the way that I put together my live sets. So even when playing live I think about timing and transitions and how to sustain/build energy in a continuous way between tracks. Performing a live set can be more complicated than djing, there’s a lot that I have to manage at the same time – machines, sequences, effects – so I sometimes have notes with me to remind me what is where. It always feels closer to potential chaos than a dj set, so I’m really focused and immersed in what I’m doing. I get immersed in djing as well, but there are more opportunities to step back and just enjoy the music for a minute.

What are your thoughts on recent initiatives to diversify representation in festival/club lineups?
I’m glad it is happening because it indicates that wider awareness is growing about the systemic inequalities of the electronic music industry that have resulted in white male dominance of the field. Looking at representation in festival/club booking, label rosters, and the music press gives us a window into the power brokering behind the scenes that influences what we hear and see. In some ways representation offers the most direct and public-facing site of critique, so it is a good starting point. But the critique needs to go further than this, and the pandemic for example has highlighted a lot of systemic issues related to nightlife and labour that are critical to sustaining artistic communities.Related to this question, I want to add that a new FACTS survey of gender representation in electronic music lineups will be released on March 8, 2022 by female:pressure (full disclosure I joined the volunteer survey team in 2021).
All FACTS surveys can be found online here.

Imagine the perfect party of the future. What are the musical features of the music at that party?
Hard to imagine a party of any kind at the moment, but we have to dream right? Musically, I’d love to hear a night of bangers I haven’t heard before ;) I’m less interested in hearing music I already know, unless it surprises me somehow, which has definitely happened and I love it! I’m especially happy when djs/performers can take some chances musically and the crowd is open enough to follow them in different directions. The crowd is a big part of what makes a great party for me, when people are absorbed in the music and in the collective experience then it is really special.

Interview by Gabriel Vigliensoni

A/Visions 1 – Ryoichi Kurokawa, 404.zero

Set inside the pleasantly air-conditioned atmosphere of Théåtre Maisonneuve, the A/Visions series got off to an auspicious start with two mind-bending world premiere performances by Japan’s Ryoichi Kurokawa and the Russian duo 404.zero, the former artist’s pre-rendered approach creating an interesting contrast to the generative processes later employed by Kristina Karpysheva and Aleksandr Letsius.

The first piece, subassemblies, was nothing short of mesmerizing. Standing on stage behind his laptop, a blank projection looming large in the background, Kurokawa slowly introduced his first audio element. A dry crackle of static came through the speakers, followed a short time later by a slowly-meandering shot through a 3D-rendered forest at night, giving the viewer the impression of passing like a wraith through an ethereal, digital ecosystem.The gentle, exploratory quality of this opening sequence was not to last, however, as sound and image both ramped up in intensity. Rhythmic percussive elements expressed as frenetic jump cuts in point of view (or vice versa) created the dizzying sensation of being out-of-body and toggling through a myriad of perspectives, the viewer loping through the woods at fox-level one millisecond and crashing up through the tree canopy like a soul in flight the very next.

As the piece progressed, this forest imagery was interspersed with renderings of concrete ruins and abandoned interior spaces, the natural and man-made colliding together, morphing, and becoming deconstructed against sporadically revealed 3D grids. Sonic elements were so enmeshed with the seemingly random and endless novelty generated onscreen that, even when the visuals faded to black at one point, it felt as if one’s mind’s eye continued to fill in the blanks based on information still coming in through the ears. All in all, it was about as powerful a synaesthetic experience as this reviewer has undergone without the aid of something ingestible.

404.zero were no slouches either when it came to commingling the senses. Eschewing a standard cinematic aspect ratio for a tall, narrow screen resembling the looming monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey, the duo explored an eerie, psychedelic universe of generative sight and sound using modular equipment. 

Opening with cloud imagery and fugue-like synthesizer drones, the main visual component was then introduced, what appeared to be a single enormous eye staring back at the audience and mutating in just about every conceivable way imaginable to the sound. Was this some kind of synthetic one-eye symbol for the digital age? Something to repel evil, or the eye of evil itself? One thing was certain: the atmosphere created was forbidding and oppressive. Like a bad mushroom trip which concerns itself primarily with endless dreary hallucinations, each one a dreadful spin on the last, the performance, entitled Jetlag, was a kind of meditation on terrible beauty. I’m just glad I was sober. 

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Nocturne 4 – CMD, Lotus Eater (Lucy and Rrose), TM404, Veronica Vasicka

Unable to catch the warm up set of local techno luminary CMD, Nocturne 4 began for this reviewer with the low rumbling sounds of Lucy and Rrose, who, together, form the live act Lotus Eater. Impressive sounding from the get go, the duo made ample use of Metropolis’s powerful sound system, beginning with bass-heavy, throbbing ambient and working their way up to full-on analog techno of the highest order. Sweeping white spots, which illuminated the dance floor at the peak of their performance, seemed to encage the many dancers under their spell.

TM404 was the next to take the stage. Coming on all swagger, he hip-swayed his way through a brilliant set, stepping up the energy in all the right places with crowd-pleasing organ parts and rubbery acid lines. The background visuals, a mixture of projection mapping and LED lighting designed around cube structures, looked variously at times like Japanese screens, night time skyscrapers, and smoke-filled stripper cages.

Last but not least, Veronica Vasicka closed the night out, stepping in, last minute, for Blawan who had to cancel. Wonderful as always, Vasicka introduced some welcome vocals into the mix, alternating between EBM, industrial techno, some wavy numbers, and even a couple of Chicago jack tracks. What could have been seen as a disappointment was, in actuality,  the perfect cap to a great party. 

 

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Review by Erik Faulkner.
Photo Nocturne 4: Vivien Gaumand.
Photo A/Vision 1: Bruno Destombes.

Label boss, selector, musician, performer – the list of talents continues to grow with Johanna Knutsson. A DJ’s DJ that lets her record collection speak for itself: even starting a vinyl only imprint Zodiac 44 to share the taste she’s refined by years spent planted near a Berlin booth since 2008. Whether it’s her picks on a given night or her and Hans Berg’s releases on their own UFO Recordings, she never ceases to bring wonder and excitement to every moment of her creations.

This year MUTEK has invited her to Montreal bring everything to a live set for Circle Of Live and show us why she’s one of the most talked artists in our world today. No stopping Ms. Johanna Knutsson.

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INTERVIEW

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You’ve spoken a lot about your experimental/brave move to Berlin about a decade ago. How you became a fixture at Panorama Bar and started building your collection. Very metaphysically. Did you have a vision or see a version of yourself deep into the future that you wanted to realize? Did that experience reinvigorate your imagination?
I mean, I never imagined to tour around the world doing this for a living, of course. Reality has surpassed imagination several times around to be honest. I get more and more excited for every year that goes by and I also think that I become better every year. I’m still learning and developing because it’s my biggest interest in life. Since last year I’ve started to play live too, which is what I’m doing at this years Mutek

Do you see DJs as rebels of sorts? If you were to only DJ do you think someone may wake up to a mix of yours in three decades and be like “WTF IS THIS?!”
Haha, yes i’d hope so. Something that keeps me doing this is that I don’t want it to feel generic or bland, I’d rather people reacting with wtf then meh.

Yor craft is definitely reminiscent of great DJS like Tama Sumo, .capture the moment..keep it moving, keep it live.. That makes me so happy to hear.. Tama was one of my first influences moving to Berlin and I think that stays with me, all of those incredible nights i’ve had to amazing musicians. So much dancing, which is great for ones mind. Best way to meditate and get out of your head.

Are you ever having more fun than when you’re in the midst of a set?
Not really! Everything can be terrible up to stepping in to the DJbooth but if the equipment works and the sound is good, there’s nothing that can bring my mood down. The first five tracks are the most important, can I get them right then I can play for hours and hours without even thinking about it.

I saw you were commenting on stale mixing or DJs that stay in one wavelength for entire. Can you pin point anything that separates a “vibe person” or a “Dj’s Dj” in experience or expertise?
Uhm,well it depends, I can also play straight but I’d bore myself to death if I wouldn’t have any little excursions to keep it interesting. I believe you can DJ because you fucking love music or you can DJ because you love the attention and dancing on stage and get all of that attention. The two doesn’t necessary go hand in hand. I can vibe if I am really vibing with the crowd and the music but I won’t be so busy that I forgot what I came here to do: make other people have an interesting musical experience.

You’ve also said (with misplaced shame) that you pull based on labels aesthetics while records shopping and love finding that one track with three obscurities you’d never play.
Yes, those are my favorite records haha. I don’t know why but I’ve always been very careful to not play hits, I want to find old stuff that haven’t been heard in ages, or brand new undiscovered artists/underrated labels.. I don’t want to take the easy way out, I’d rather build a journey with highs and lows where we almost do a workout together the audience and me. Having said that, I’m sure I’ve played famous hits without realizing it…

How vital is surprise to a performance and do you think imperfect mixing can contribute to the energy?
Very vital for me! Imperfect mixing can do both, it can piss people and myself off or if it’s just a little and because a perfect mix can’t be made between certain tracks, I think it’s still worth to play it if the track is amazing but breaky 170 bpm.It also has to do so much with the crowd and what kind of night it is

You seem to have devoted equal time to each end of being a DJ..dance, produce, collect, start an imprint.
Everything to keep it interesting. It’s become like this very organically,not because I’ve had to do anything but always wanted to try different things out. Benn like this with everything in my life but these things are the interests I hold on to.

What activity outside the booth keeps you motivated or inspired to continue on in such a steadfast manner?
The every day life from day to day, the .Nowadays there are no free time, being a freelancer and doing all of these things means that you either have to love it because it eats up every waking hour (it still don’t make me rich but i am superhappy), or you burn out. I’ve now warped into being what I do and I love it.

Have you ever thought the path you chose way back then was, in fact, the most difficult one?
Yes for sure. It hasn’t always been easy, but I’m not questioning it anymore because I know now that even if i’d get out of the game I’d still keep on doing it for my own sake. I don’t care about the do’s and dont’s anymore, and that has made a huge difference. The only thing one can keep on doing is to continue exploring and practising and everything else will work out eventually.

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Interview by Michael Neumann