1. Ben Klock
Ben Klock is someone who I doubt I need to introduce. He is a well known DJ
and producer from Berlin who is perhaps most well known for spinning at the
legendary Berghain. The Berghain, which I’m sure most of you know, is
extremely exclusive and shrouded in mystery. This is mostly due to the fact
that it is extremely hard to gain entry to the techno Mecca and all photography
is strictly forbidden, meaning the only way to get a peak inside is to go
yourself, and the strict and random door policy makes this unlikely!
Another thing that factors in with the mystery and exclusivity is the venue
itself. The building is actually an old power station and the interior is
extremely minimalistic, reflecting the type of music that is often heard
resonating through the cavernous rooms. There are also no mirrors or
reflective surfaces to be found in the club which add to the atmosphere.
Ben Klock holds a monthly residency at Berghain and has done since the club
opened in 2004. His sets often last for a long time, the longest of which was 13
hours on his own and 16 hours playing back-to-back with friend and fellow DJ
Marcel Dettman. Ben and Marcel have also produced tracks in collaboration,
the first of which essentially gave birth to the legendary record label Ostgut
Ton.
This takes me to bens productions and record label releases. His first record
was on his own label Clockworks; this belonged to the label Jazzanova. This
was back when Ben was a resident at a club called Delicious Donut. At this
stage Ben was looking for what he really wanted and he decided that
Jazzanova was not this and was going in another direction to what Ben
ultimately wanted. A few years later Ben got involved with a label called
BPitch Control, where he was now producing techno tracks, before he ended
up with Ostgut Ton.
Ostgut Ton was the point where Ben finally felt as though he was at home, but
by this time he was also producing tracks and releasing them on his own label
Klockworks. He currently releases on both labels and when asked if it was
hard to choose which records will be released on which label he replied, “It’s
actually quite easy”. He states that he usually has a feeling whether a track is
more a Klockworks thing or a Berghain thing. He states that Klockworks has
more of a “draft” feeling and that releases for Ostgut Ton are more “epic”.
Often people wonder how Ben Klock got into the whole techno scene and if he
immediately began mixing techno or was first interested in other genres. The
2. truth is it didn’t start with techno for Ben. In his early days he would tend to
spin house but he sets gradually developed into something that is described as
more raw and powerful.
There was in fact a time after this when a genre called Electroclash emerged
and began spreading throughout Berlin and dominated the scene. Ben didn’t
like this music or the type of vibe that came with it. Due to this he lost interest
and even said “I almost felt like giving up DJing because I wasn’t enjoying it
anymore”. As soon as he stopped playing Electroclash or cheesy electro
melodies people would start leaving the dancefloor. His best times at this
point was playing at the old Tresor, he said “there were fewer options to play
in clubs like that”.
The thing that got Ben excited again was the thought of playing at Berghain
when it opened in 2004 and it is this that motivated him and encouraged him
to push on instead of pursuing a different path. He still plays there to this day
and is arguably one of the biggest and most well known artists that represent
Berghain.
Ben plays all around the world at different venues and festivals but nothing
can compare to his marathon sets at Berghain. Recently in the past couple of
years he has been playing a lot elsewhere and has had to adapt to playing
shorter 1-2 hour sets as opposed to his longer Berghain sets. He says that it is
different and he tries to fit as much as he can into this short time but says that
his best moments occur in his long Berghain sets.
