Imagine the only club in town closes. What would you do? First: you don’t give a damn, start a family, build a house etcetera blah blah. Second: your social life dies, you freak out and kill yourself. Third: you pack your passion and your stuff and move to Berlin.
That’s exactly what Naks did. It was summer 2009, when the music enthusiast came down from a small town in Finland, just because of this harsh fact: the only club in town really shut down. But it didn’t take much effort for him to connect to the cities rave scene. Soon, Naks – who goes by the real name Arto – met Vertical67 aka The Coloured Chaos aka Vacuum Systems aka Synthie aus Marzahn (underground alert!) and together they started their label Vortex Traks. Gladly they came together under to the right circumstances (same taste of music and venues) and so they could easily agree on a sound: Electro. By and large, everything they do branches-off into other directions (Italo & Space Disco, Synth, Balearic, Leftfield), but in a broader sense, Electro is the thing. Need proof? Check Vortex Traks’ latest release by Automatic Tasty called “Propaganda“ and you’ll find the it combined with a proper IDM-twist, lots of spaced out vibes and housey moments, too.
Naks’ eclectic taste also comes across with the description of his party series “Dreams of Neon“, a regular night he hosts at Berlin’s Humboldthain club: “Robot grooves and intergalactic disco, pounding sleazy jack traxx and electronic transmissions from a distant past.“ Word. And the keyword for another thing he’s involved in: Intergalactic FM aka “No Station Such Dedication“. It’s probably nothing to come up with just like that to win the heart of IFM’s CEO Interr-ference – we would kindly call him a true music nazi (no offense). Here, Naks is occasionally streaming videos via his own Neon TV channel including party nights as well as home studio DJ sessions.
Next catchword delivered! His DJ mix for TISSUE is not only another great example for his varied selection, but also shows his sense for stretching time and space: the intro is no other than the legendary Chicago House banger “Jump Trax (111 BPM’s To 125 BPM’s)“. The title says it all. What follows is a well-chosen travel route from bombshell Electro tracks, spacey classic dance tunes (“Spys“ by Roni Griffith!) to Acid Techno wrappin’ it up. Ah, ridiculously good mixing skills included. Wanna go on a trip? It’s definitely worth the move.
Cover photo by Kara Souza
Introduction jingle by Meghan Edwards aka Miss M.E. aka Harmony Horizon
Words by Nadja Preyer
TRACKLIST:
01. Duane Thamm Jr. – Jump Trax (111 BPM’s To 125 BPM’s) [Still Music]
02. Mr. Fingers – I’m Strong (Instrumental) [Alleviated Records]
03. The Minister – Second Try Of The First Step Into The Third Dimension [Crème Organization]
04. VCS-2600 – Lie Detector [Rikos Records]
05. Cliff Lothar – Electro Technology [7777]
06. M Jupiter – Turn Of(f) the Century [Käften]
07. Jasss – Gates To Nowhere [Mannequin]
08. Roni Griffith – Spys [Vanguard]
09. Kevin Starke – Trails Of A 303 [Kstarke Records]
10. O’Ho – Nauhafantasia [Freak Out Disko]
11. Im Kellar – Im Kellar [Moustache Records]
12. Fallbeil – Narkose [Hafenschlamm Rekords]
13. Detroit Diesel – Freestyle [Dum Records]
14. Paranoid London – CV Bleed [Paranoid London Records]
15. Das Ding – Emotional Firewall [Electronic Emergencies]
Visitez:
www.soundcloud.com/naks