Interview: Five Years of Leisure System
16 Aug 2013 — Henning Lahmann
Tonight, beloved Berlin label/collective Leisure System will celebrate its fifth anniversary with the 19th edition of its legendary resident night at Berghain. Looking at the line-up, there's actually not much more we can say: With Jon Hopkins, Clark, and Blondes performing live, and Puzzle, Ikonika, N>E>D vs. Discipline, Barker, Hubie Davison, Jimmy Edgar, Letherette, Jackmaster, and nd_baumecker behind the decks, the word 'killer' will get a whole new meaning this night.
Find out more details about the event over at RA or Facebook.
Yesterday, we had a brief chat with Leisure System member Michail Stangl to talk with him about the label's beginnings and future plans. Read the interview after the break below.
Running Order Berghain
23:59 h - 02:15 h Puzzle
02:15 h - 03:15 h Jon Hopkins LIVE
03:15 h - 05:00 h Ikonika
05:00 h - 06:00 h Clark LIVE
06:00 h - End N>E>D vs. Discipline
Running Order Panorama Bar
23:59 h - 01:30 h Barker
01:30 h - 03:30 h Hubie Davison
03:30 h - 04:30 h Blondes LIVE
04:30 h - 06:30 h Jimmy Edgar
06:30 h - 08:00 h Letherette
08:00 h - 10:00 h Jackmaster
10:00 h - End nd_baumecker
What was the original idea behind Leisure System?
It was actually less an actual idea to launch Leisure System than the right timing. Berlin's electronic music scene had just started to flourish again for the second, third, or probably even fourth time, and there was just more interest for stuff off the beaten track of mainstream underground.
Some of your own projects – such as Not Equal – are more situated within a darker, more experimental corner of experimental music. How does that fit into the Leisure System collective, and what's the process of agreeing on new signings?
We all here at LS are pretty different characters, but we all share a certain eclecticism when it comes to our tastes, reflecting a very broad range. On one side that's complicated as we always end up being completely carried away in our discussions, but it's also very conducive to our decision making process because we look at and assess things from numerous angles and preferences regarding genre, sound, or drums. However, that has also led to the fact that our previous releases are so diverse, as have been the line-ups at the Leisure System nights. There's simply too much interesting music out there, so we definitely don't want to end up listening to the same sound for 12 hours straight.
What's up next for the label? Is it just my own impression or are you starting to increase the release rate a bit?
The release will be Tim Exile's first EP in four years. He's always been part of our circle of friends and I really admire him as a musician. This year's definite highlight will be Dopplereffekt's Tetrahymena EP which will drop September 30, but there nothing that needs to be said about that one. Those will be followed by EPs by Kommune1, one of the best techno acts if you ask me, hopefully a peep from JETS, and Hubie Davison, who will be having his premiere at Panorama Bar tonight.
What can we expect from Hubie's EP? When is that one due, and what do you find exciting about his music?
I don't want to give away too much by categorising and describing his music, but his EP, which should arrive in late October, will probably the most quiet and densest material we've released yet. I will only say that much about Hubie – it was the first-ever demo in our inbox that we all could agree on immediately: this has to be released by Leisure System!