I got together with my friend Benson and we worked together to create a party atmosphere which we would both like. We first decided on music. It had to be something we both agreed on and something people would like. We decided on techno and deep house. The difference between Berlin and the rest of the world is that Berlin doesn't care what the rest of the world is listening to. So the result is they have a very unique, exclusive choice in music. It seems that whenever Berlin starts playing a song, months later you hear it on the radio. It is truly "underground".
Next Benson and I had to pick a location. The cafe Haus Am See is a very popular cafe in Berlin, world renowned. What many don't know is that they recently opened a club in the basement known as Cosmic Kaspar. It has all the chill vibes of Haus Am See plus a moving floor! When we went to see the space I knew it was right. The old school, industrial scene was just what we were looking for. We agreed upon a price point and date and that was that. Everything came together so quickly it kind of seems like a blur. I was surprised how smoothly it went considering Ive never organized a party before. But the work wasn't over. The most important part of any party is promotion. You have to invite the right people. So we got on it and started our massive Facebook invite. The accepted invites started slowly but in the weeks leading up to the party our hearts jumped when we saw more and more were interested in coming. It's sort of funny how things can change in a second. Of course for the next weeks (I was in Boston at the time) I had to prepare playlists, mashups and organize my itunes for the party. Unfortunately my hard drive crashed two weeks before the party so I had to start at point blank. It had been a while since I really and to crate dig on the internet for music. Luckily I really enjoyed it and in the end a lot of the music I found was even better than what I had before. The next obstacle was getting all of my gear on the airplane, I figured if I'm going to do a professional party I gotta bring pro equipment! So I packed and packed and packed, and if it hadn't been for the awesome lady at lufthansa who let my bag go through despite being 4 kilos overweight I might have not gotten the equipment there. I was to arrive a day before the party, and I was sure I was ready, I packed, double checked, made lists. Everything was there, nothing missing.
The flight was short and my excitement was rising, the layover felt like hours though, but eventually I had my feet on the ground in Berlin. I arrived at 8 am which meant I was super jet lagged since I got no sleep the night before. Despite that I stayed awake the whole day, making sure everything was in its place and sort of feeling the calm before the storm. Before I knew it it was 4 pm the next day and I had to get packing. Again I made sure everything was in working order and triple checked the equipment. I had a backup and a backup for my backup, yes this is me. I've found that as a DJ you never know what will go wrong, better safe than sorry. We arrived at the Club after carrying my luggage on the train to which I got some funny looks. It was clear that I was carrying about 75 pounds of equipment in my bag, and I was walking around like someone carrying their home. I struggled getting the bag down the steps to the club but once I was down everything was ok. I greeted Benson who was waiting near the DJ table as well as the manager and audio pro.
During our setup there were a few problems, as there always are. The monitors weren't working, the sub bass wasn't loud enough, but luckily for us we had gotten there early enough to do a sound check. I met the first DJ who was a super cool, laid-back guy who loved techno. I asked him if he'd ever been to the states and he said he wasn't really into the US! First person I met who said they didn't want to go, I liked this guy already haha. He began slowly. He worked his way from slow melodic tunes to pumping club beats and with this increase in intensity came an increase in population on the dance floor. Soon enough he had the whole club bouncing, whistling and grooving. As a DJ I got 30 dollars worth of drinks and during his set I began to abuse my benefits ;). It was great to see his technique, the dj. He cared about every transition, every slight move of the Eq and he really connected with the crowd. I had a high bar set. Sooner than I wanted my name was being called for the transition. I stepped up to the podium, and everything slowed down. I picked my music and the clapping for the DJ began. Next we sang Benson happy birthday and I was up. I dropped my first track, I know you like it (Tchami Remix). After that Boy Boy Boy by Andhim. Its seemed that people were starting to understand the vibes I was putting off, but weren't fully into it. I decided I'd go to my computer for a track. Instantly I knew something was wrong, Track A wasn't cueing out of the mixer. The mixer wasn't cooperating with Traktor. In a little bit of a panic I checked the CDJS to see how much music I had put on the machine. I knew it would be a tight squeeze, but I decided to say forget the computer and work with what I had. About half way through I realized I was running out of deep house tracks and so I was forced to play some electro. I blended it in with the deep house and to my surprise I got a great reaction! People were whistling and dancing harder than before. I guess I had been wrong about the music all along. For the rest of the night I forgot all inhibitions and just died like I used to. People loved it, and in the end I got a great applause. I'm really happy The computer didn't work out in the end because the night wouldn't have been the same otherwise. Sometimes mistakes can lead to the best outcomes. My friend Benson was up next and he had a different style, deeper, more dark techno and I really enjoyed it. I greeted friends of my girlfriend, some of them who I've become well aquatinted with. They praised me on my DJing and as a reward we all danced :). Despite having to lug so much equipment back to the apartment it didn't matter in the end. I had a great night and we ended up having 600 people at the club! I learned that mistakes can be fun and that nothing ever goes as planned. Howl party #2 will be soon, Ill keep you guys updated. Thanks for reading as always!
Josh
