Okay, okay, so hands up if you like a proper rave? All of you, good. Hands up if you like getting on a plane to Berlin just for its techno… Hands up if you like your parties underground, both physically and musically? Well, well, well, if your hand’s still up and you’re in London this Saturday, we’ve got something for you: VOID. Unlike the others, you need this void in your life! We spoke to Randolph, founder of the night, to tell you exactly why…
So Randolph, what’s your story?
I’m from Toronto, Canada and I’ve been living in London for the last 8 years.
VOID speaks of a love of techno, what are your techno creds?
To be perfectly honest with you, I don’t have a lot! I’ve been DJing over the last 5 years throughout London, but really only have taken becoming a full time producer over the last year.
That being said I’ve made great progress over the last 12 months from my productions getting recognition from Ben Klock, Raiz, and Chris Finke. Having one of my tunes played out at Berghain in Berlin has been one of the many highlights so far.
What’s VOID all about?
It might not seem so but the techno community in London is quite small. In reality it has only several hundred dedicated followers and a hand full of nights available to artists. VOID was created for local artists who don’t ordinarily get the opportunity to truly play the music they love to the right crowd.
What can we expect on Saturday?
A very unique time! The weather forecast is expected to be a very pleasant 22c so the park and outdoor areas by Public Life are going to busy with techno heads.
In all seriousness, expect a warm and inviting crowd. Capacity is barely over 100, and the majority of people who come are into the music so it’s a party for like-minded individuals
Is it an after-party or a pre-party?
Its neither! We’re a day party!
The 1pm to 1am day slot was chosen because Public Life only has a license till 2am. It’s a very good selling point to ask someone, “Are you interested in partying in a former public toilet on Saturday afternoon?”
Tell us a little bit about the people you’ve booked to play…
Production wise, Roberto is the most accomplished of the DJs playing for VOID. He recently had 3 tracks played out in Berghain and has support from artists such as Marcel Dettmann, Ben Klock, Raiz, Steve Rachmad.
Jaded resident Chris Stanford will also be gracing the decks and returning to his techno roots on Saturday while the smallest member of VOID, Feronia will most likely be playing the biggest tunes of the night.
Some of the most interesting acts I’m keen to introduce to the crowd is the emerging talent that will be gracing the decks during the first half of the day. Maker + Meyer who are classically trained musicians will be the thumping out Berlin’s finest techno starting at 5:30pm. Manchester’s Setaoc Mass who is the youngest of us all at just 21 will be playing at 4:00pm and so far has several productions signed to labels and has a seriously bright future ahead of him.
Ed Frost and Simon Brandreth will get things going at the beginning of the day and are seriously keen to invite the early crowd with some mean tunes right from the start.
Finally, give me three words we can associate with VOID to make us drop our day plans and get into the toilet.
Fucking. Mean. Techno.
He’s not lying. We were there for the full 12 hours back in February and the atmosphere was fantastic; dedicated music fans there for all the right reasons. Have some breakfast and get yourself down there, you won’t regret it…
You can check out the event page here for more details. There’s also a promo mix from Setaoc Mass and Randolph’s killer track to get stuck into for good measure:
Setaoc Mass VOID promo mix by -Randolph-
