BnB Spotlight: Time Warp

Written by Marijn van Laerhoven

Time Warp is a long going series of massive raves in Mannheim, Germany. The happenings in Mannheim are known for its absurd long opening hours; its incredibly loud yet crystal clear sound systems and a dedicated family both back/on stage as the crowd themselves. It is where Sven Vath introduced his famous line 'guude laune'; it was the venue for the Richie Hawtin presents Plastikman 2010 World Premiere; and it is where we saw vast LED ceilings came down onto us back in 2009. Being a big fan of Time Warp ourselves we got to ask anything we ever wished to know about these epic events. In a talk with Robin Ebinger of Cosmopop we talk history, present day and look forward to the coming Time Warp Holland edition of Saturday, December 4^th in the Sporthallen Zuid.

Hi there, first please introduce yourself and Cosmopop.
Cosmopop is run by my partner Steffen Charles and myself. Steffen also founded Time Warp. We are both in the business since the early 90s.

The ultimate drive for the work of Cosmopop is the music. Music is simultaneous for motivation, inspiration and an unfailing source of creativity.

The multidimensional activities of Cosmopop can be devided in to two core competences: One is conception, marketing and organisiation of music and culture festivals such as Time Warp or Love Family Park, to name the best known events. The other deals with services around events and music.

Let's start with a Time Warp history class. Time Warp has been going strong for sixteen years now, a long time indeed. Can you give us a bit of Time Warp history?
It all started in the early days in an old warehouse in Ludwigshafen, a city close to Mannheim. The line up of the first event saw people like Speedy J, Robert Armani, Laurent Garnier amongst others... it's nice to have most of the artists on board ever since. In 1995 Sven Väth, Richie Hawtin, Carl Cox and Josh Wink had their Time Warp debut and was the year we moved to the Maimarkthalle in Mannheim, our homebase.

Since then we have grown in audience size and international awareness. Even more, Time Warp took place in serveral other cities in Germany and abroad such as Vienna or Prague. Since 2008 Holland is our regular yearly party abroad.

What kind of impact did the upcoming wave of minimal techno have on the Time Warp events?
Well the minimal wave had a strong impact on Time Warp as this sound has always been at the core of the Time Warp program.

Some years ago there was a Time Warp in Prague, whatever happened to that?
Good question indeed... let me think. The party was quite good and well visited. However, we weren't on the same wavelenght with our local partner and also the location which was really impressive was lost due to a huge fire.

What are your absolute Time Warp highlights?
Each year the entire event is a highlight. I am happy when the doors open with thousands of joyful people entering the venue and I am glad when the party is finished without any accidents, sending people back home with happiness and tons of stories and memories of a unique experience during Time Warp.

The most special time however are the early morning hours from 6 am... at this time you can feel and experience the special magic of Time Warp and discover the famous Time Warp feeling.

Speaking 2010, where does Time Warp stand today?
Today, Time Warp is a very international brand that stands for an authentic event experience. For a place to get inspired and meet people from all over the world. Although Time Warp is very successful and has grown huge, we are still accepted and regard ourselves as an underground dance event. Time Warp Mannheim is always at the end of March or beginning of April, so it is also commonly regarded as the event to kick off the festival season as it is the first highlight of the year. It's a place where weird and special unique things can happen such as Sven Väth's "guude laune" phenomom a few years ago or Richie Hawtin's Plastikman world premiere.

Time Warp actually takes place a whole week but many only see the big event on Saturday. What are all those people missing out on during the week time?
Quite a lot! Time Warp is the final event of the Jetztmusikfestival, which we have founded in 2007. This festival is a gateway between film, literature, dance and further education.

The most central concern are the points of contact in the field of tension between various electronic-inclined artistic genres including rhythm, dance and other creative forms of expression. By connecting these different elements we hope to achieve new interpretations as well as new perceptions and points of view. We had a project for example where impro-jazz and electronic clubsound met the Mannheim ballett. To conclude there is the With Time Warp lab with which we offer a free work shop program dedicated to the further education and qualification of young music makers.

Could you give us some insights to what Time Warp means to the electronic music scene in Germany specific?
As said before, Time Warp is the first highlight of the festival year, so everybody is looking at this event to get new impulses, etc.

Apart from that, Time Warp is not comparable to any other German event as we have a strong international followship.

And what do you believe Time Warp means international wise? How does it compare to other big events like I LOVE TECHNO in Belgium, or the Awakenings parties in the Netherlands?
It's hard to tell with my inside out perspective, however, I believe that Time Warp is one of the most important events of underground techno. I pressume that Awakenings doesn't have so many people from abroad and is much smaller in size. I Love Techno is a huge event, however, every time I visited their venue I couldn't find the soul of the event nor even feel a special spirit. Its something completely different. Time Warp is close and intimate, you can feel a family atmosphere. We create a temporary space for our audience and give them a present in the form of the Time Warp feeling which they can take along back home and remember again and again.

How many visitors does Time Warp Germany attract each year, and do you have any details on the international aspect (how many from NL, from Italy, etc.)?
There are more than 15,000 people coming each year. About 1/3 is from abroad. We have many guests from Italy, The Netherlands, UK, Ireland, Spain but also from Eastern Europe and far away places such as Canada or Japan.

While fans will be happy to see their favorites (Sven, Richie, Ricardo, Karotte) return each year some critics will say Time Warp always has very similar lineups, Do you have anything to say about this?
This is the famous quadrature of the circle. We have many people playing for us each year. It's not just that they supported us and we support them in all those years, it's also that our guests want to see these artists and these artists are still very very relevant to the scene and have been innovative ever since!

Sven Väth is more present than ever after all these years, Richie has just presented his Plastikman alter ego and is constantly pushing the technological frontiers, Karotte's international awareness has been constantly growing over the last few years and with his radio show Karotte's kitchen he offers a weekly instititution for clubbers to hear the latest releases, bizarre topics and studio guests.

But also bear in mind that we bring new talents each year! We were the first huge event who presented Raresh from Apiar or the Brasilian wizzard Murphy. We had the Mannheim guys from Oslo and Cecille playing at Time Warp long before their labels got the acceptance they deserved.

The sound system of Time Warp alone is a reason for us to travel from Amsterdam to Mannheim each year. Can you give us any inside information on how you manage to put up sound systems (especially in the main rooms) so loud yet at the same time so amazingly clear? What's your secret?
I am no technical guy (laughs...). This is possible due to modern technology and experience of the guys we are working with. We have a very talented and experienced sound engineer. He is setting up the systems for hours, which means he is configuring the system using software from different angles in the room and uses the sound we play during the night to do so.

Speaking behind the scenes, how big is your team and how long does it take you take to prepare the Maimarkthalle?
We start about 10-12 months before the event with the initial planning phase. Our core team in the office is about 10 to 15 people, however, for the event itself, we have many companies working for us and many passionated helping hands. Without our team we would not be able to produce Time Warp. Many thanks to them!

Do you have any nice anecdotes to share with us on what happens backstage and/or on the VIP deck?
Certainly there are but nothing to share ;-)

How did the idea of a Time Warp event in Holland came about?
In 2007 we decided to do 3 Time Warp club nights in Italy, Holland and Switzerland in order to promote Time Warp Mannheim. The atmosphere and feedback in Holland was overwhelmig, so we decided to lift it to another level.

For Time Warp Holland you teamed up with the Dutch Evotions, can you perhaps give us some insight on your collaboration with them?
We are happy that we met the guys at Evotions. They are really nice and reliable and do a great job in Holland with their own events. For Time Warp they are mainly responsible for the local marketing and the site coordination. However, everything that happens is mutually agreed own.

The first Time Warp Holland nights took place in Rotterdam, was it an instant success?
Yes, it definitely was.

The coming Time Warp NL (4th of December) will take place at the Sporthallen Zuid complex in Amsterdam, what made you move to a new city/location?
The event in Rotterdam has been sold out in 2008 and 2009 and so we were looking for a larger location to give more people the Time Warp experience. Also we thought that Amsterdam might be a nicer city to plan a trip to Time Warp as there is a lot to see.

The Sporthallen Zuid has quite a history in Dutch raves, are you aware of this? What are your expectations on the venue?
Yes, I heard about this.

What can we expect of the night?
As always, expect the unexpected. People can look forward to lots of interesting artists, special sound and light show and the best audience in the world.

Time Warp Holland will last until 7:00. One of the appeals of Time Warp in Germany is that it lasts all the way into the Sunday afternoon. While many like to believe Holland is a more open minded country it seems the events in Holland can last nowhere close to those in Germany. What's your take on this?
This is something typically for Time Warp Mannheim and obviously not really possible in this form in Holland. However, in Amsterdam we will offer several after parties for our guests. So you can party on until Sunday afternoon.

Are there any plans to bring Time Warp to other countries like Italy perhaps?
Watch out for the huge 20 year anniversary of Time Warp...

Any news on Time Warp Mannheim 2011 line-up?
All news will be online by the middle of December.

What else can we expect of Time Warp Mannheim 2011?
We will launch an entire new website by December and will share all the news about Time Warp Mannheim there. We will definitely present an interesting musical program with some surprises, new artists, old friends, technological innovations and off course what I would call the best audience in the world.

Any other cool premieres or interesting features you would like to share with our readers?
Please also watch out for our work shop programme Time Warp lab wich is free of costs for participants. More on this by December on www.jetztmusikfestival.de.

We would like to thank Robin for his time. Time Warp Holland 2010 will take place in the Sporthallen Zuid on Saturday, December 4th from 20:00 to 7:00 with an incredible lineup of Sven Vath, Chris Liebing, Speedy J, Marco Carola, Loco Dice, Karotte, Laurent Garnier, Dixon and many more. Get your tickets through www.evotions.nl or www.time-warp.de. Time Warp Germany 2011 will take place in the Maimarkthalle in Mannheim on Saturday, April 2nd. If you're even somewhat into this music we strongly suggest experiencing these nights yourselves. For what it's worth, Beats and Beyond will surely be there!

 

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