ECCENTRIK FESTIVAL (Part 1 of 2)

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MAIN EVENT - (Contineing Coverage)
Raleigh, North Carolina
October 12-14, 2007
http://www.eccentrikfestival.com

By: DJ Shrapnel

January 20, 2008

Part 1:

Terrorcouple, Raleigh’s own contribution to the Eccentrik stage, finished out their set to a level of applause that served as clear indication of a growing crowd… the early day’s sparse turnout was steadily blossoming into a well-rounded audience, and it was getting more difficult to steal a spot at the bar. Next on the hit list of beatmongers was DJ Nitrogen, who cruised in from Minnesota to give us his award-winning flavor.

… Minnesota? That’s quite a hike. Unlike too many events whose participants are a closed-door circle of local friends, Eccentrik is willing to reach far beyond its city’s borders to get the people who know how to rock, and its DJ team is no different. To make sure the music kept flowing, first-year Eccentrik staffer (and Washington DC local) DJ Kangal stepped in to as DJ organizer to help select and manage the crew. I caught up with Kangal (once he had the leisure time, well after the event!) to find out a bit more about what their strategy was in picking the jocks to put between the rockstars.

[CARPE NOCTURNE] The bands performing this year showcased a wide array of styles and genres. What sort of horizons did you set when picking DJs?

[DJ KANGAL] Basically with the DJs, I sort of went in the opposite direction. I was trying to offset the eclectic band lineup by giving people DJs who were old hands at putting together Gothic/Industrial nightclub sets that they could be happy and get a groove on with. I was looking for a familiar club atmosphere for in between bands so that people could dance and drink and just have a party atmosphere. At the same time, you don’t want the DJs to be too generic and boring, and the lineup I picked had DJs who know how to inject some original stuff but still keep it a party. The new stuff was definitely up to the bands, the DJs were there so you could get your drink on and move your ass a little.

[CARPE NOCTURNE] Which impresses you more from a submitting DJ - a strong resume or a strong demo CD? What should aspiring Eccentrik DJs keep in mind when submitting?

[DJ KANGAL] I’d have to say that it’s about a 1/4th resume and 3/4ths strong demo. A strong resume can’t be beat – with DJing, there is no better teacher than experience – but most of my decision making was definitely the demo, and the majority of the DJs I had heard spin many times. For me the greatest part about DJing is the skill it takes to mix a set together for great flow, and making an entire set one continuous musical experience. And by mix I mean actual mixing, not just letting software do it for you. The skill involved with DJing kind of gets lost in the shuffle in the Goth/Industrial scene, and that really disappoints me. It’s not surprising – most promoters hire their friends, and computer technology makes the basics of DJing easier than ever – but I’ve found that a lot of great energy and fun gets lost in the process. I think DJs who want to spin for Eccentrik should keep in mind that the festival is run by people who find that truly great music comes from hard work and experience, and having a lot of fun in the process.

Just to add: I think the Festival experience is really great for the Gothic/Industrial scene, period. If every large town or major city in the US could have its own Eccentrik Festival, a lot of the problems the scene has been having lately would disappear. We’re all better off with some big parties every once in a while than we are with small parties on a weekly basis. Spooky promoters should start thinking big, and the peeps will follow.

Although Meg Lee Chin, the final performer of the evening, took the prize for long commutes this year, Nitrogen himself had no small amount of distance to cover. Residing in Minneapolis, he’s been spinning to an audience for over 15 years, and spent most of the 90s as a full time, professional DJ. Plenty of residencies and a handful of awards under his belt (including being in the winner’s circle of the Twin Cities Nightclub award for Best Club DJ the last four years running, with 1^st place in ‘05) prove he’s got the stuff that Kangal was looking for in a DJ, and he looked to be enjoying Eccentrik as much as its audience was enjoying him.

With no less of a respectable history behind them, industrial/darkwave trio Cylab was finally ready to go on and show Raleigh what they were made of. Made up of Percy Trayanov, SeVerina X Sol, and Dre Robinson, they let loose with a damn solid performance of dark and danceable electronica that was by far the most instantly club-friendly sound thus far in the event. Little wonder it sounded so good, too; Cylab’s no upstart garage band. Vocalist SeVerina X Sol brought her voice and production skills from her days as founding member and frontwoman for Diva Destruction and later years in coldwave band Fockewolf. Percussionist Dre Robinson has performed as a live drummer with a ton of bands, including Terrorfakt, Unter Null, Razed in Black, and Haujobb, and though he wasn’t part of the performance lineup this time around (probably due to being based in Seattle), his influence on the music demands mention. Cylab creator and main production wizard Percy Trayanov has worked with and remixed such notables as Collide, Atomica, and In Strict Confidence, and I had the chance to ask the classically trained pianist how the genesis of Cylab came about.. “We originally started the idea in 1999, when I started getting my own stuff [together]. We’ve known each other about 10 years now. I just said ‘come over’, and we just basically laid down the bulk of a song, a lot of my own composition, and seriously, about 15 or 20 minutes later, it sounded like a complete song, so, we talked about it, and a little bit later, we had a whole album done, and we decided to take it to the next level.” He makes it sound so easy… A good bit of polish from these seasoned musicians went onto that first album, though, and it debuted in 2004. Fast on its heels was another release in 2006, and a tour with My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult helped promote it. Although they crawled all over the East Coast on that journey, they’d never hit Raleigh before, and found a receptive audience at Eccentrik. SeVerina, resplendent in eye-catching red dreadlocks, gave an engaging and passionate performance, teasing the audience from behind a blank white mask before tossing it aside as she turned up the heat.