BnB Interview: Darko Esser
Written by Marijn van Laerhoven
Dutch DJ, producer, label owner and club/festival promoter Darko Esser is based not in Amsterdam but 'all the way' in Nijmegen. Darko is behind the line-up of the Dutch Free Your Mind festival and (club) Doornroosje bookings. Besides he also runs a label, produces records, albums and remixes and spins a track here and there. Clearly Darko is a man who needs more than 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, but thankfully he did find some time for a chat.
Hi Darko, how's life?
Very good, thank you!
For anyone who doesn't know you yet, please shortly introduce yourself to our international audience.
Hi everyone, I am a Dutch DJ/producer/label boss/promoter from Holland. I have been DJ-ing for more then 15 years now, run my labels Wolfskuil, Wolfskuil Ltd and Balans (starting January 2011) and I am the in-house electronic music promoter for Doornroosje, Nijmegen's popcentre.
First things first. Please take us back in time. Where does your passion for music comes from?
The passion started at a very early age for me. My first memories of having goosebumps from music is when I was six, it was U2's 'Sunday Bloddy Sunday' (true story!). My parents didn't buy a lot of music, but I was lucky to be exposed to the likes of Philip Glass, Jean Michel Jarre, Pink Floyd, Django Reinhardt and some great classical pieces at a very young age. Things kinda got out of hand after that.
At what point did you realize you weren't just going to listen to music, but to create music yourself?
Ever since I got piano & guitar lessons, I started to make my own stuff. It seemed more fun then playing other people's music. In high school I made tapes with ridiculous and crazy songs with my best friend. When I started university, I immediately looked for people who were interested in playing in bands. I played in several and we always made our own tunes. I got into electronic music production in 1998 a couple of years after I started DJ-ing. It was hard for me to get into it, because at the time there were no tutorials etc, I had to basically learn it by myself. But after I got passed all the technical mumbo jumbo with a little help, a whole world off immense possibilities opened up.
Many bedroom DJ's are just spinning their tracks at their homes, never to bring their mixes to a big audience; at what point did you decide you would be going for an actual career in the music industry?
The whole DJ thing went the other way around for me. I started DJ-ing at concerts before and after my favorite bands in Vera and Simplon around 1994. Soon after I got hooked by Drum & Bass and played at some of the first D&B parties in Groningen. I didn't even know how to beat match 2 records, I just used breaks and intros to make the transitions. After a while I bought 2 turntables and a mixer and slowly learned how to beat match. I always wanted to work in the music industry ever since I was a kid. My first break came as a dance promoter for Simplon. With that I already achieved that goal. Everything else (like a DJ or producer career) still feels like a bonus.
Do you still remember your first booking/gig? What was it like?
I can't really recall my first actual DJ gig, it was at a concert in Vera, but I can't remember the band. My first dance music gig is a lot clearer, it was also in Vera somewhere in 1995 for a D&B night. I opened and closed the night for a local live act and during the night everybody just went completely nuts. I knew then that I wanted to do that more often.
Do you still remember your first international booking/gig? What was it like to travel abroad and to play to a new audience?
My first international gig was in 1998 I think, in a club called Riverside in Newcastle. I was doing a 4 deck, 2 mixer thing with 2 other guys. The club was packed, the atmosphere incredible and it turned into an amazing memory.
So you now have 15 years of gigs behind you, what were the absolute highlights?
To many highlights.... I'll name a few that are etched into my brain: Lowlands (all 4 times), Berghain/P-bar (all 3 times), Tresor (old location), House Of God (first time), Moog, my first shows at Doornroosje, Simplon, Vera, de Effenaar, de Rechter in 90's and my first b2b with Benny Rodrigues in Club Noa. The party was a flop, but it was the start of something really special.
Not every gig goes as planned, right? In 15 years something surely must have happened. Care to share a story of something out of a bad nightmare?
I had a gig once in a small village in the east of Holland, where I started out with 2 decks and 2 CD players and 15 minutes before the end of my show, they all had broken down at some point and couldn't be replaced. So I ended up with just the mixer LOL.
Furthermore I forgot my computer adapter once for a live show and ended up not being able to perform because the computer wasn't able to do the calculation on battery power.
And one of the most funny (in hindsight) was in Simplon a loooong time ago, where I was so stoned from smoking weed, that I didn't recognize any record in my own record box. I actually thought it was not my record box. Extremely stressful at the time, hilarious now.
So at what point did you decide you actually wanted to produce your own music?
Well, I made music before I was a DJ, but it wasn't electronic music. But I did start DJ-ing first and producing later, that is correct. I would have liked to have started both things together, but I didn't had the funds to do both at the time. Buying equipment then was a lot more expensive, because computers were waaaaay slower then they are now. It was nothing more then a sequencer really. So you needed hardware for the sounds and the good stuff didn't came cheap. It took me a while to safe up some money for a sampler, synth, fx and 16 channel mixer so I could really get started. That's why there's a gap of a few years.
What does Darko's studio look like? What kind of equipment/software do you work with?
At the moment everything is computer and software based: Ableton, Maschine, loads of plugins. I use the Maschine controller and APC40 for hands on control. I bought a 303 replica last year from Acid Lab, but still have to get into it. I am currently in the process of changing my studio setup. I re-installed some old hardware and am planning to buy a few new machines. And I want to upgrade my computer with a state of the art soundcard from RME and UAD-2 card for power plugins and mastering tools. I also picked up my Fender Jaguar guitar again. I wonder where that will lead to.
In 2003 you started your label 'Wolfskuil Records', what made you start your own label and what does it stand for?
I started the label with Ger Laning, my predecessor at Doornroosje, because it was just something we really wanted to do. In 2008 I continued solo, because Ger moved to a different city and didn't have the time anymore. Wolfskuil is a neighbourhood that is typical of Nijmegen, but is also a synonym in 'old' Dutch for breeding ground. I like to give new talent a platform, besides the more well known artists.
It's also a window to parts of my own taste. That's why I never ever want to pinpoint it to a single genre or style. If I like trax that are send to me, I will put them out. It's basically as simple as that. I don't care about hit potential, fashionability, trendiness and all that. I am looking for a timeless sound, at least timeless for me. I always ask myself if I will still like a potential release after let's say 5 years and if the answer is yes, the choice is simple.
In November 2009 you released your first artist album named 'Balans', can you tell us something about how it came together?
To keep things fresh in the studio and not get stuck in the dance floor format, I started to make more and more tunes that where further from the floor. No limitations but my own imagination. At some point there were so many of them and I didn't know what to do. Friends of mine that knew those tunes, told me I really should do something with them. That's how the idea for an album started. Because I didn't want to make musical concessions, I decided to keep matters in my own hand and release it on my own label. That way there was no deadline: it was finished when it was finished.
How does the process of producing a complete album differ from a single record?
It's completely different for me. With an album you have the chance to do different things, because it's not meant for the dancefloor perse. A platform to show a different side of yourself. It's more personal, to me at least. I am currently working on a new album and by the looks of it, it will be completely removed from the dance floor. I am experimenting a lot in the studio at the moment. I also have an alter ego for that output, the first releases under that pseudonym will see the light of day in 2011...
Next to an international career as an artist and label manager you're also doing the programming of Free Your Mind festival and Doornroosje in Nijmegen. Where do you find the time to do all these things when a day has only 24 hours and a week only 7 days (and as far as I know they do)?
Discipline and an agenda ;-) I'm struggling sometimes to find time, but somehow I always manage to find a way to keep it all going. And I have stopped some activities last year, to focus more on what I am doing today.
Do you have any time for things unrelated to music? What would that be?
I watch a lot of movies and series when relaxing. Would love to find more rest to read some books. Got quite a few nice ones lined up. I try to spend as much time as possible with the people close to me.
Doornroosje is a venue in Nijmegen. Can you tell us something about what Doornroosje means for you personally and what it means for the scene?
Doornroosje is my favorite club in the whole world and basically my second living room. So many memories... I have been working there for more then 10 years now and to my surprise it never ever gets boring. The club and city challenge me constantly and there is a very healthy local scene with a lot of talent and initiatives.
Nowadays anyone out there can easily get a copy of Traktor/Reason/Ableton installed and get going 'creating music'. What's your take on this 'digital revolution'?
I think it's a good thing, because I haven't heard as much good and original music as the last few years. And that's mainly because producing electronic music is now affordable for a lot of talent. That was quite different 10 years ago, when a proper studio setup would have cost you a fortune.
Ofcourse there's a lot of crap, but there as always been a lot of crap. I tend to focus on what I like and not on what I don't like. That's just contra productive. And I have a hard time as it is to listen to all the great music that's being released nowadays.
From techno came minimal and now minimal seems to move more towards house. What's your take on the current electronic music scene? Where do you think we'll be in a year or two?
There was an interesting article on RA where they called the phase we are in 'Permaretro'. The most interesting and groundbreaking music nowadays is more then ever based on what is already out there. And it still makes for amazing new music. Look at what dubstep (if you ask me, the biggest musical revelation since minimal) has done for crossing borders musically and binding totally different genres together: it's nothing short of stunning.
We have talked about a lot but is there anything we haven't talked about and you find worth mentioning to our readers?
Follow your heart, try to keep an open mind and be happy for others.
That's it for our talk with Darko Esser. Do keep an eye out for mister Esser in 2011! Thanks Darko.
