Back to bust out the beats – Otago Daily Times

James Barrett has spent the last few years making a splash in the venerable techno scene of Berlin. Now in Covid-ravaged 2021, hes escaped to his homeland and is wasting no time in bringing his brand of dark pounding techno to the ravers of Aotearoa. I caught up with James ahead of his return to Otepoti at Negative Space Club this Friday.

You were in Germany through the Covid times, how was that?

It was mostly just being inside for 15 months, especially in the colder months, which was pretty brutal. Sometimes Id realise I hadnt been outside in two or three days, and time becomes something else, so yeah, it was quite awful having to be inside and not being able to see anyone else for that long. Definitely not a good time.

Obviously the club scene in Berlin is legendary. What do you think it is about Berlin which fosters that scene?

A lot of its sort of historical circumstance, right place at the right time, and sort of the right historical events to make that happen, because on one level its about the fact that its still a city where theres kind of like a lot of abandoned space, which young ravers can move into and turn into clubs, so theres this really amazing industrial environment. So one part of it is that past, and especially that Soviet past as well. But a lot of it is kind of political as well, which is tied in with the history too. Berliners have a very keen sense of what freedom means to them and there is that feeling throughout the whole city and it is kind of reflected in a lot of what you get in the clubs as well, you know once youre in there I mean its not quite a free for all, but it is near enough.

Coming back from Berlin to the Aotearoa club scenes, how do they compare?

Its a good question, and yeah its something Ive thought about a lot. You cant deny what Berlin is and it essentially has the best clubs on the planet, really. You know, these giant sort of industrial places of worship for sort of hedonism and dance music and partying. You cant deny that, but theres also a lot to be said in terms of being a participant within it, on both an artistic and professional level. And I think theres a lot to be said for being somewhere with a lot of potential that has a growing scene like Aotearoa, where you can really leave your mark on whats going on and really help to change things. And theres definitely a difference in terms of satisfaction between that and merely slotting into something thats already very established like Berlin, where you do sort of feel more like a mere participant rather than someone that can really help change things. So thats one big thing I noticed.

How have the shows been so far?

So far Ive had a couple of gigs in Christchurch, those have been really great, Ive always had a good time playing down here. I think because its such a drum and bass town, which in of itself can kind of be sonically quite aggressive, and it also has a sort of sonic similarity to a lot of what I do already. I definitely think audiences have always been quite up to what Ive got to offer here. So, yeah, the only shows Ive done so far have been a couple here in Christchurch and one in Wellington Saturday, and that party in Wellington was kind of really special I have to say, the crew that put it on, Practice, theyre a really lovely crew, they really kind of curated every aspect of that party to a perfect extent. It was a very, very diverse crowd, and they just put together a really, really incredible event that was special within New Zealand.

But, yeah, no, the parties that Ive played so far have been really good, Im so happy to finally be at it again.

Negative Space Club, Friday July 30, at XYZ, 142 Princes Street. Tickets $15 from undertheradar.co.nzListen: havenakl.bandcamp.com

- Fraser Thompson

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Back to bust out the beats - Otago Daily Times