Between dancing people and trampled grass, laughter from indefinable corners, thumping basses and the soft click of clinking bottles, the biggest bottle of all stands on the Parookaville: the Jaegermeister Giant. 300 square meters full of energy, sleepless nights, shots and moments that last forever.
Somewhere in between Maximilian. The techno scene baptized the 57-year-old techno guru “Westbam” after his North Rhine-Westphalian origins and the hip-hop namesake Afrika Bambaataa. He’s the Michelangelo of German techno, founder of the Mayday Rave, one of the veterans of the Love Parade, idea generator for Marusha’s “Somewhere over the Rainbow” and an essential figure in the Berlin party scene of the 80s and 90s.
Michelangelo is not so far-fetched: “The Catholic Church used to commission large works, such as the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. Today it is Jägermeister who create something new,” philosophizes Westbam in an interview with Musikexpress. The new thing in this case is a unique mix of rapper Bausa and Westbam, united in the track “Everyone is waiting for the drop”coming out today.
We talked to Westbam about the meeting of people, epochs and sounds.
How Run DMC got the party veteran interested in Jägermeister, what techno can learn from rap and vice versa, and why hippies in floppy hats make his DJ heart beat faster: an interview with Westbam and Musikexpress.
Musikexpress: You played two sets at the Parookaville this year, one of them at the Jägermeister Gigant. How was it for you?
Westbam: The Jagermeister giant was great. After my gig I also met Paul Elstak, the inventor of gabba from Rotterdam, whom I haven’t met since 1992. For me, festivals are an experience where I can see young people partying. This is also culturally interesting for me.
Musikexpress: How do young people celebrate today?
Westbam: Throughout techno culture there has always been a tension between overground and underground, the good vs. the bad. A DJ who makes money is evil. What strikes me is that the trend at festivals like this is towards a seamless transition of all pop culture. The transition from intellectual minimal techno to Ballermann is fluid. It is a large range that merges into one another.
Musikexpress: That is also reflected in the people who dance in front of you. How does such a diverse crowd fit together?
Westbam: If there’s one thing about music, it’s that it brings everyone together. Music should not separate. But sometimes I’m surprised: a hippie with a slouch hat practicing expressive dance. I’m fascinated by people like that.
Musikexpress: Such an event brings many people together. Everyone is there to celebrate your music. This almost feels contrary to a social movement in which people increasingly seem to be drifting apart.
Westbam: Exactly! You know that from everyone, from your family, from your friends – people who no longer meet up increase their hatred of others. In a political sense, such gatherings are [wie im Jägermeister Giganten] therefore something very good.
Musikexpress: Does the size of the meeting place make a difference?
Westbam: It is important how intensively we communicate with each other. At the Love Parade there were times when I played in front of a million people and still felt like I was at home mixing cassettes. It was very intimate. The dance floor is a place of communication, a connection between me, the music and the dancers.
Musikexpress: What was it like playing in a giant Jägermeister bottle?
Westbam: I’m a little Jägermeister fan. It was like playing in a spaceship. In the 90’s you would have said that I sold out on this project. But I’ve always been a Jägermeister fan. In 1987 the Beastie Boys and Run DMC came to Berlin. After their gig they celebrated “The Power of the Night” in our party tent, we were the hottest party in Berlin. After a rap performance, DMC and Ad-Rock asked me, “hey, do you know where I can get this Jägermeister?” That was the first time I heard about Jägermeister as a trendy drink.
Musikexpress: You are a walking encyclopedia of music history. At the moment, many influences from the 80s and 90s are being picked up again.
Westbam: That has become stronger. The 80s came back in ’97. At some point I had the feeling that the 80s revival was longer than the 80s. Then it was superseded by the 90s revival, and now it is superseded again by an 80s revival, with bits and pieces from the 60s and 70s. DJ culture is like that too: everything is constantly being reused and is always good when it is revived by a new perspective. Hollowly stealing together in the hope that the kids won’t know it anymore is nothing. Now Gabba is coming back, very fast rave music. There are artists who rap on Gabba with autotune and hit lyrics. I wouldn’t listen to that privately, but as a cultural historian it’s exciting because it recreates the reality of young people identifying with this diversity. In the mix, a formula emerges that describes our time. For better or for worse.
Musikexpress: The entanglement in the entanglement.
Westbam: Exactly, “The Society of Society”, Niklas Luhmann!
Musikexpress: How did “All are waiting for the drop” come about?
Westbam: In the past, the Catholic Church commissioned large works, like the Sistine Chapel. Today Jägermeister comes and says “we’ll take a Bausa, we’ll take a Westbam and something new will be created!” And it’s true. Economy takes over what used to be the Catholic Church. An order pursues its own interest through which new culture and art happens. I provided the basis for the track, Bausa rapped on it, then I continued producing.
The Hook “Everyone is waiting for the drop’ is a principle that has been in place for thirty years. In the ’80s the beat rolled through, and in rave that element was added. This is the moment of the party.
Musikexpress: Combining rap with house and techno is very topical right now. Viko63, Pashanim, 01099 – it’s a new feeling as you describe.
Westbam: I still remember the big bang of all developments: Any DJ could suddenly make tracks on turntables, and house music ultimately came out of that. Techno and Detroit Techno came out of it. Everything comes from the same origin, has moved apart over time and is now approaching again. Techno and hip-hop are twins separated by birth. Sometimes you even have more freedom in hip-hop than in techno because the MC is so much in the foreground. Incredibly interesting structures, interesting beats and loops are created. That takes a back seat in techno, even if it always wants to be very innovative. In the end, it’s always very close to “umtz umtz umtz umtz”. Techno could learn something from hip-hop. However, hip-hop could learn a little from the peacefulness of the techno scene. It’s a social work of art. Sociologically, I’m a firm fan of techno and house.
Musikexpress: Then the cooperation with Bausa was predestined.
Westbam: Absolutely. I always tend to be fateful. My fortune sheet is always very diverse and I am very grateful for that. The next big thing I do is “Westbam meets Richard Wagner” at the Salzburg Festival. A surprising combination. That’s what makes life attractive.
*Author of the Jägermeister giant is Alexander Hamm in cooperation with White Rabbit GmbH.
Please consume alcohol responsibly. From 18
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