#EXCITING PLACES: BERLIN

This time in our section #ExcitingPlaces we wanted to go to the heart of Berlin and we couldn’t find a better way to do it than with Viktor Talking Machine (Monaberry/Superfriends) and Dompe (Get Physical/Jackfruit) to tell us about the clubber city cause they know it really well.

Could you introduce two clubs in Berlin?

Viktor Talking Machine: Berlin has so many great clubs, so that it is hard for us to choose two. Each club is special and has its own eligibility. But to name clubs we played often the last year, we would like to mention Sisyphos and “Wilde Renate”. Sisyphos… Each time we played here the crowd went nuts doesn’t matter which slot we had. The venue is awesome with a lot of áreas to chill and it easy to spend the whole weekend there.

Dompe: Well… Berlin is a wonderland regarding it’s clubs. My favorite venue to play is Sisyphos where I also enjoy hanging out as a clubber very much.The vibe and the locationis incomparable to anything else. And the whole crew there is simply amazing. And not to forget they do the best pizza of the city! Summertime is truly something special there. Another really nice club is “Salon zur wilden Renate”. A location that is also outstanding by being an old apartment building with many small floors and a really nice out door area. The sound is amazing in all those places but the best thing about them is that the clubs them selves are the stars. A definite plus is also that both clubs are in a walking distance from my home.

How do you think about current club scene in Berlin?

VTM: The club scene is full as always with some big players, some fresh stuff and some clubs that should be closed.We believe in self-regulation and that is mostly what happened with the clubs. The biggest problem is that the spaces for clubs are gettings maller and smaller, because Berlin is selling the ground to investors who like apartments more than party people.

D: I think there are not a lot of cities around the world where you can party 24/7. There’s a high fluctuation rate there are always new exciting clubs coming up as well. One club need to shut down and shortly after two new ones are opened. New people with their own ideas and visions. So there are always new places to explore.

What is the best and the worst?

VTM: The freedom in Berlin to do what you want and live your life the way you want is the best thing. You can’t be too crazy for Berlin. The worst thing is that Berlin feels like a big sello ut for club culture. A lot of people just want to earn money with the scene and don’t have any respect for the music and the people who live for the music.

D: The wide range of different clubs is the best and also the worst I think. There is something to enjoy for everyone but at times you can get the feeling that there’s simply too much choice as well.

What do you think about the current situation that not all clubs are surviving to pay their bills in Berlin?

VTM: We think now, days there are two ways of doing a club… Doing it with dedication and just for a short time or doing it as a business for a longer period. A good club always can pay the bills, because you have people who take care of the finance sand you have a concept that your club is full with people. Another fact is, that doing a successful club a is mostly just a short period; than the scene changes and the people helped the club becoming famous are no longer part of the team.

D: To open your own club may sound great at first but it’s super exhausting. In big metropolis, especially in Berlin, there is a lot of competition of course. You always need to offer something new therefore the club is doing well.  The cost of running club are tremendously high. And I am speaking from my own personal experience. I’ve been running an underground club in Cologne for two years. And to make it even harder Berlin is not exactly standing on the side of it’s own club culture. The city would rather sell the ground for ridiculous prices to build some shitty apartments or more business sites no one needs.