JACKIE O BERLIN
Berlin Summer Air VII – Sammy D
Reggae, dub, boogie, disco, house, pop… In the Pillow Talk signature production or in the mixes which Sammy D is dropping in clubs, one discovers references to all of that and beyond.
We grew up listening to what our parents listened to. But then you rebel and try to find your own identity and start to listen to whatever alginates your parents.
Subjective heterogeneous time... A moment of sorrow does not equate with a moment of joy. The latter flies much faster in your mind. Mind is all that matters. The mechanical time measurement does not really apply to human condition comprised of innumerable personal experiences – all incomparable. One's lifespan does not square with that of any other individual. Henri-Louis Bergson has coined a special term for it, in opposition to the notion of homogeneous time, chop-chopped, standardized, used by hard scientists, assembly line managers, robots, et cetera – la durée réelle. It translates as "internal stream" in English. International gypsies conspiring at Jackie O for the world without boundaries want to know how this French concept translates into German. Anyone? That's the title for our Berlin Summer Air VII which this Saturday, among other things, celebrates the 36th birthday of our friend Hazy Pockets. From the point of Bergsonian philosophy of vitalism, the stated number, as any abstract number, means wonderfully nothing with respect to human subjectivity. We wish you the same.
Submerge and hear the throbbings of your abyssal soul.
We cannot be happier having our Hazy Pockets back from behind the decks of Garbicz and seeing him virtually unimpaired. A few scratches here and there, which we like to think just make him stronger... Sturdy and sound enough to withstand all the funship of his birthday we celebrate this Saturday. For it's never you who dance to Hazy Pockets. On all occasions, it's Hazy Pockets who dances you – always plural, and often very plural. It's a tall order. But just to make sure, we have Sammy D (not to confuse with Sammy Dee) to bolster Hazy's standing in the critical moment and to pillow him off stage. Joining them, meet the one and only Siobhan Prior. I tell ya... If you know what you want, you either know very little or you most certainly want DJ Siobhan!
Say hello to a new adventure.
Sammy D has been in music for decades, as a prominent DJ, prolific organizer, booker and venue host in his native San Francisco. To the rest of the world he is however better known as a vocal part of Pillow Talk. Implicating also Mikey Tello and Ryan Williams, the combo was formed in 2011 to amalgamate a good dozen genres, in some cases incongruous, testing and pushing the limits of each outwards. The overlapping areas of those which did not explode under the increased experimental pressure coalesced into something else, a form unheard of and largely unanticipated.
The musicians now could claim the new sonic territory as exclusively their own domain. And so they built upon it – or rather were just getting helluva kick out of it sliding freely in all directions. "We grew up listening to what our parents listened to. But then you rebel and try to find your own identity and start to listen to whatever alginates your parents. So we went from classic rock, soul, funk, jazz, disco into hip-hop and punk rock; and further into new wave, industrial, acid house and techno..."
Paging through interviews, one may figure their loose method has been well hammered up by the wisdom of nihilism which demands the negation of all existing values and destruction of old paradigms. But it's clearly of a generative kind, which does not succumb to the nothingness that ensues. It annihilates blueprints and formulae in order to make space for new practices, meaning and appreciation. Wipe the slate clean and lay down your own interpretations: "We approach music from a non-genre perspective. If there is even a hint of genre we would destroy it. DAG which stands for "destroy all genres" is our motto..."
Reggae, dub, boogie, disco, house, pop… In the Pillow Talk signature production or in the mixes which Sammy D is dropping in clubs, one discovers references to all of that. But these are either epiphenomena or employed to break the continuity of a particular genre that tends, revamped (properly with a hammer), to take precedence in the sets.
Music is not the only source from which Sammy D is drawing his inspiration. Places, travels, everyday encounters, world current affairs, different climates, various environments, interpersonal relationships, the lack thereof… Berlin is one such source – Sam's base for years in the past: "In Berlin you can get away with way more… In California you will be ashamed at some point." Wonder why we are still finding him here today?
► SoundCloud: Discolovers Podcast
The musicians now could claim the new sonic territory as exclusively their own domain. And so they built upon it – or rather were just getting helluva kick out of it sliding freely in all directions. "We grew up listening to what our parents listened to. But then you rebel and try to find your own identity and start to listen to whatever alginates your parents. So we went from classic rock, soul, funk, jazz, disco into hip-hop and punk rock; and further into new wave, industrial, acid house and techno..."
Paging through interviews, one may figure their loose method has been well hammered up by the wisdom of nihilism which demands the negation of all existing values and destruction of old paradigms. But it's clearly of a generative kind, which does not succumb to the nothingness that ensues. It annihilates blueprints and formulae in order to make space for new practices, meaning and appreciation. Wipe the slate clean and lay down your own interpretations: "We approach music from a non-genre perspective. If there is even a hint of genre we would destroy it. DAG which stands for "destroy all genres" is our motto..."
Reggae, dub, boogie, disco, house, pop… In the Pillow Talk signature production or in the mixes which Sammy D is dropping in clubs, one discovers references to all of that. But these are either epiphenomena or employed to break the continuity of a particular genre that tends, revamped (properly with a hammer), to take precedence in the sets.
Music is not the only source from which Sammy D is drawing his inspiration. Places, travels, everyday encounters, world current affairs, different climates, various environments, interpersonal relationships, the lack thereof… Berlin is one such source – Sam's base for years in the past: "In Berlin you can get away with way more… In California you will be ashamed at some point." Wonder why we are still finding him here today?
► SoundCloud: Discolovers Podcast
