Interview

Three question interview: Bar None

Once upon a time, Bar None launched its first party in ‘De Ruimte’, a restaurant on the top floor of a travel tower in Amsterdam Noord. Ever since they kicked off, their events went like a rocket and they quickly found themselves a recurring group of visitors. The founders, Maarten Brijker and Fedor Oduber match low-key vibes with experiment and participation, whilst expanding our understanding of cultures on the dancefloor. Creating a club night that feels relevant to our time. For this edition, Bar None has curated a line-up that makes one let go of gravity, presenting sounds from across the cultural spectrum.

When we asked Maarten Brijker and Fedor Oduber to describe the making of the line-up they said the following:

“We wanted to create a rave-y line-up, leaning against a science fiction spectrum. The latter means that we are consciously curating based on the flow of the night. We really spent quite some time in thinking about the time slot and how potential synergies could develop between the different music styles, ways of DJing and performing. This method gives us the chance to create a greater narrative capturing the entire night. In fact, the visitors are travelling in a musical time capsule from 10 PM till 3 AM. Every DJ is creating and narrating a part of that unrepeatable journey.

Bar None is really about bringing global undergrounds together in one space in a surprising, yet soothing way. Our dream is to create an evening which flows from live performance into a dedicated rave, in just a short amount of time. These acts together are the perfect symbiosis to collectively set off into space.”

In order to softly land on the same headspace as the DJ’s, we dropped three questions in their mailbox – a bit like a rocket launch.

DJ Leeuwmaai

How do you get into space and how do you feel then?

I read youtube comments. Particularly those on old UK hardcore tracks. It’s usually people in their 40s & 50s complaining about their children, jobs and mortgages. When looking back, they come to realise that, taking drugs at raves to this music, was the best time of their lives. Reading this always gets me hyped, in a sad kind of way.

A tracklist to get you into another headspace?

Hard trance with a pinch of gabber.

Cherrymoon Trax – The House Of House (Original Mix)
Dj Marco Bailey – Scorpia
Jones & Stephenson – The First Rebirth
DJ Skinhead – Extreme Terror

A visual to describe this mood?  

Rave fingers, always.

Golin

How do you get into space and how do you feel then?

When I have a destination and someone drives me there.

A tracklist to get you into another headspace?

Susumu Hirasawa – MOTHER – 救済の技法
KAKU P-MODEL – Big Brother
m.o.v.e  – Romancing Train
Yuki Kimura – Love & Joy
Perfume – コンピューターシティ

A visual to describe this mood?  

Detente

How do you get into space and how do you feel then?

This winter I’ve got a crush on smooth and woody sounds. A sort of sad pastoral chamber music that I find very regenerating. Fueled with innocence and bliss. Also, this defintiely sounds corny, but I’ve got a big passion for the song as a format (music with lyrics, of any genre). It’s the ultimate emotional database. A song can carry my feelings for me, keep my fantasies and secrets safe, bring back memories, get me daydreaming…There’s a song for anything.My heart literally gets stirred up by songs I love.

A tracklist to get you into another headspace?

I made a playlist with songs and sad pastoral chamber music

A visual to describe this mood?

Dis Fig

How do you get into space and how do you feel then?

I get there by vibrating out into the void, as it allows me to sink softly into its memory foam. It’s comfy and I don’t want to move.

A tracklist to get you into another headspace?

Oren Ambarchi – Girl With The Silver Eyes
Celestial Trax – Drowning In A Dream
Kali Malone – Glory Canon III
Scattered Purgatory – Maudgalyayana
Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement – Chiles Crimson Tide
Funkadelic – Maggot Brain
Leonard Cohen – Famous Blue Raincoat

A visual to describe this mood?  

Yon Eta

How do you get into space and how do you feel then?

When I am preparing for radio shows I can really get on a different plane. Going over all the music I saved and downloaded in the last month, looking for synergy between tracks.

The feeling when a track with a poly-rhythmic pulse blend with a track that has an uplifting melody at its core… is just pure bliss.

A tracklist and visual to get you into another headspace?