The Innervisions cofounder reflects on the label's 20-year anniversary, the art of DJing and bringing politics back to the underground.
One of the most popular record labels in the RA ecosystem is Innervisions, and one of its most popular DJs is cofounder Steffen Berkhahn, AKA Dixon. He started the outlet in 2005 with Kristian Rädle and Frank Wiedemann of Âme. Back when RA ran DJ polls, Dixon was #1 several years in a row. We've since retired them, but Dixon's appeal remains as widespread as ever. He made a name for himself in Berlin in the '90s when he was just a teenager, spreading a melodic strain of house and techno that became the Innervisions brand and continues to pull heartstrings around the world.
This year, the label has been celebrating its 20-year anniversary, and Dixon reflects on its astronomical success on the heels of two major anniversary parties at Berghain and fabric. He also discusses how he's kept the label—and his own career—fresh and relevant; his feelings around commercial success; the importance of taking annual breaks from music and production; and his interest in reclaiming underground electronic music as a political space. Listen to the episode in full. -Chloe Lula
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The Innervisions cofounder reflects on the label's 20-year anniversary, the art of DJing and bringing politics back to the underground.
One of the most popular record labels in the RA ecosystem is Innervisions, and one of its most popular DJs is cofounder Steffen Berkhahn, AKA Dixon. He started the outlet in 2005 with Kristian Rädle and Frank Wiedemann of Âme. Back when RA ran DJ polls, Dixon was #1 several years in a row. We've since retired them, but Dixon's appeal remains as widespread as ever. He made a name for himself in Berlin in the '90s when he was just a teenager, spreading a melodic strain of house and techno that became the Innervisions brand and continues to pull heartstrings around the world.
This year, the label has been celebrating its 20-year anniversary, and Dixon reflects on its astronomical success on the heels of two major anniversary parties at Berghain and fabric. He also discusses how he's kept the label—and his own career—fresh and relevant; his feelings around commercial success; the importance of taking annual breaks from music and production; and his interest in reclaiming underground electronic music as a political space. Listen to the episode in full. -Chloe Lula
Sultry low-end grooves from a rising house enchantress.
"What kind of music do I actually want to play?" Every artist asks themselves this at some point in their career. What is a sound? And why do we personally identify with it? For Lea Lang, AKA dj sweet6teen, this question is the guiding force behind her RA Mix.
Born in Aachen, a German spa city close to the border with Belgium, Lang found her musical feet in the vibrant student hub of Cologne. It was while studying social work at the Technische Hochschule that she fell into the nightlife scene.
Finding her sound wasn't an instant process. Lang cut her teeth on breaks-heavy house and prog (think Angel D'Lite), traces of which you can hear peppered across RA.1004. But as she explains in this week's Q&A, the pandemic years were, musically, a turning point.
"High BPMs and short-lived trends became very dominant and I realised I couldn't stand the pace anymore," she writes. "That's when my sound naturally shifted into something more minimalist and timeless."
Nowadays, you'll find Lang in Berlin during the week, and on weekends… well, take your pick. A busy touring schedule means she's on the road almost constantly —this summer she's debuted at Horst Arts & Music, Butik, Dimensions and Panorama Bar (to name just a few).
And her RA Mix? It oozes charm from the jump. Buoyant with gyrating low-end, it's hard to think her sound was ever anything else: vocals twirl around analogue basslines, material à la Eddie Richards and Terry Francis's historic Wiggle parties, as well the kind of bongo action that wouldn't feel out of place in an Apollonia session. Call it waft, wiggle, smooch house—whatever it is, we like it.
@djsweet6teen
Find the tracklist and interview at https://ra.co/podcast/1022
RA Podcast
The Innervisions cofounder reflects on the label's 20-year anniversary, the art of DJing and bringing politics back to the underground.
One of the most popular record labels in the RA ecosystem is Innervisions, and one of its most popular DJs is cofounder Steffen Berkhahn, AKA Dixon. He started the outlet in 2005 with Kristian Rädle and Frank Wiedemann of Âme. Back when RA ran DJ polls, Dixon was #1 several years in a row. We've since retired them, but Dixon's appeal remains as widespread as ever. He made a name for himself in Berlin in the '90s when he was just a teenager, spreading a melodic strain of house and techno that became the Innervisions brand and continues to pull heartstrings around the world.
This year, the label has been celebrating its 20-year anniversary, and Dixon reflects on its astronomical success on the heels of two major anniversary parties at Berghain and fabric. He also discusses how he's kept the label—and his own career—fresh and relevant; his feelings around commercial success; the importance of taking annual breaks from music and production; and his interest in reclaiming underground electronic music as a political space. Listen to the episode in full. -Chloe Lula
