Guest of honour: Ben Klock about his crazy weekends and breakfast meditation

Guest of honour: Ben Klock about his crazy weekends and breakfast meditation

Mar 8, 2012 |  by  |  Music
About the author
Born and raised in Amsterdam, lives to dance and dances to live on electronic music, has a small vinyl addiction, appreciates a little sarcasm now and then, thinks musicals are annoying and loves those moments where you lose track of time completely.

He’s one of the resident DJs of legendary club Berghain in Berlin and part of OstGut Ton, but he has his own label named Klockworks. When I last saw him he was playing at Time Warp, and now he’s back playing at the Melkweg this Friday during 5 Days Off. I absolutely can’t wait!, as he’s one of my personal all time techno heroes. I’m talking about none other than Ben Klock, obviously! I recently had the privilege to ask mister Klock himself some questions.

You were one of the closing DJs at Amsterdam Dance Event last year. You also played at the Melkweg, Studio 80, and Trouw before. You are definitely no stranger to Amsterdam. How would you compare the crowd in Amsterdam to the crowd in Berlin?
“It really depends on the party, on the crowd, whether it’s a festival or a club and so on. I experienced crowds in Amsterdam that were a bit more reserved than in Berlin and I experienced other parties that were simply amazing. Like the ADE party last year. That was one of my absolute highlights of the year. A party to remember.”

How is German techno different from Dutch techno?
“There’s such a wide range of producers in the Netherlands, as well as in Germany. You can find so many different sub genres and many different influences in both countries. So I would not compare nationalities here. The differences lies between individuals more. I don’t see a German way or a Dutch way to produce techno.”

Are there specific Dutch DJs that you like?
Steve Rachmad for sure. I play a lot of his music, especially the older stuff. Then you have Speedy J, and ROD who released a 12″ on my label Klockworks. I also respect Steffi as a DJ very much. If you still consider her as a Dutch DJ, because she’s practically a Berliner now.”

You have your own label Klockworks, and you released on labels such as BPitch Control, and OstGut Ton. Do you adjust your style to each different label?
“Klockworks has a more work in progress sort of touch. That also reflects in the graphic design. It has a first draft feeling and I always liked that. To say something with just one line of a pencil. Tracks which are more like tools go to Klockworks and tracks that are more ‘epic’ or musical go to OstGut.”

How do you (mentally) prepare for a set? Do you have special rituals to get yourself ready?
“I go through my records and CDs. Usually I know the one or two records I want to start my set with, everything else is just improvisation. I think the mental preparation happens automatically on a subconscious level in the background. At some point you get a professional routine. I don’t mean in the sense that you don’t care anymore but you just know what you’re doing. So you start the evening with a nice dinner and that’s actually where the mental preparation starts; by having a good time.”

What does a typical day of Ben Klock look like?
“There are two different types of typical days. The crazy weekend days without sleep, sitting in planes, clubs, festivals and all that. If we’re talking about week days they look like this: 20 minutes of meditation in the morning followed by going running in the park or some other exercising. Afterwards going to a coffee café, because I almost never have anything at home. Then having meetings at the OstGut office or going to the studio. In the evening meeting friends for dinner.. So nothing extraordinary.”

You were elected in the top 10 of the best DJ of 2011 list from Resident Advisor. What other achievements can we expect from you in the future? Do you have plans or goals?
“Yes, there are plans and goals but I can’t talk about most of them yet. For the next couple of months I agreed on a lot of remix requests so I’ll be busy with that. We’ll also have some Klockworks showcases in some places this year.”

5 Days Off Day 3: OstGut Ton Label night with Ben Klock

When: March 9th, 2012, 22:00 – 05:00
Where: Melkweg
Tickets: €22,70 (including service charges), €4,- festival membership
Website: 5 Days Off

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