"Tourists are terrorists"
Jay Haze offers Matt Grimble a glimpse of modern day Berlin.
Pennsylvania-born DJ, producer and record label impressario Jay Haze has been living in Berlin since the turn of the decade. In addition to the prolific output under his birth name, he has released records as Fuckpony, Sub Version and The Architect amongst others on Fabric, BPitch Control and Soma, and has been responsible for some of the finest techno and house tracks coming out of Germany and beyond in the past 10 years.
What drew you to Berlin in
the first place?
"The reason I came to Berlin
was because it seemed to be a city that had opportunities I could take
advantage of in a positive way. It was quite cheap, it was very supporting
of sexuality, in the sense that you can be gay, straight, it doesn't
really matter. There's a very hedonistic vibe in that sense, and they're
really relaxed about smoking weed, which is really important for me.
I also had a direct connection with Berlin, because my label distribution
was always here."
Has it had a big impact on
the way you create music?
"My creative process is more
based on my emotions than my surroundings. Of course, one could argue
that my surroundings influence my emotion, but that's at a subconscious
level so I can't really comment on that. I don't think anywhere I've
ever been has such an influence on my music."
As the head of many record
labels, the city must offer some great A&R opportunities...
"Yeah, there's a lot of great
artists in Berlin, so it's perfect for me to have that sort of opportunity.
I've been here so many years, almost 8 years, so I don't really pay
as much attention as I used to to the electronic music scene - I think
my life is more immersed with the city, and building new relationships
and gaining new experiences."
Which Djs or tracks have been
instrumental in your experience of the city?
"Dixon's been a very good Berlin
DJ for me, but as far as tracks I would have to say Easy Lee from Ricardo
Villalobos. Andy Baumacher or Boris, who are both residents at the Berghain
have been great. Boris has been a big DJ on the gay scene for a long
time, and the gay scene is one of the things which, in a good way, remains
unchanged. In Berlin there's a lot of hipsters moving in who just want
to ride off the coat-tails of the electronic stuff, but to be honest
over the last four years they've just been coming and taking stuff."
Have things taken a turn for
the worse then?
"My best days of Berlin are
over. I hope there's more to come, but I think my personal days are
gone where there were no aeroplanes full of tourists coming to go to
all the clubs. We used to be able to go to the club on the weekends,
and we'd have after-parties on Sundays where I would know everybody
there. We would have an amazing time together, and we'd know that although
we don't need to call each other, we'd see each other at this or that
event. It seemed a lot more special, a lot more like our own thing."
"Nowadays, it's just filled
with Italians in Armani, and Spanish plane-fulls who basically just
wanna come and rave on the weekend. Which is cool all the same, but
it's not what I'm into - it's definitely a personal thing. I would never
say its glory days are over, it's just that right now the situation
is very different – all the clubs are filled, almost every night,
and I mean ALL the clubs. Sooo many tourists. And you know what they
say, “tourists are terrorists”. That said, Berlin is a great city
to be in. I think the more people come to visit it, the more intrigued
they are by it. They keep coming back for more, so there's obviously
something very special going on."
Do you have a favourite era
for clubbing?
"Yes! BeatStreet! BeatStreet
parties were legendary. I remember every single one. They were Sunday
daytime after-parties, and they were just crazy. It was filled with
Berlin, gay/straight, it didn't matter, and people just partied their
ass off. That was just amazing. No tourists."
As an American who didn't grow
up in the city, is the East/West divide still apparent?
"I'm in West Berlin right now,
walking into the KDV, which is the big, expensive place where all the
top top top name brands are. It's like walking into a Vogue wardrobe.
In the East you don't have any of that. Berlin still has a long way
to go before it's fully integrated - it needs a lot more colour; a lot
more black and brown people, it's still a very white city. There's lots
of white Europeans, but not very many Africans or Indians, and not even
many Asian people for that matter."
Fabric 47: Jay Haze is out
now
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