Introduction
The super-caldera of Lake Taupō in New Zealand is perhaps one of the furthest location removed from the freihzeit und erholungs centrum in Berlin, however our passion for electronic music and community of people who share the same passion is strong enough to bring these two worlds together. During our seven day trip in 2023 we have tried to capture the essence of the electronic music culture through creating content for the community.
Around the world
Our mission started with thirty two hours of airport transfers, multiple stops and flying between Auckland, New Zealand to the capital of The Netherlands, Amsterdam. From here we would sleep our jet lag off and continue our trip by car to Berlin, Germany to visit one of the most prominent exhibition for modular synthesizers in the world.
SuperBooth is a unique approach to exhibitions. This event brings people together with a passion for electronic music, circuitry design and tech. Founded in 2015 it has grown out to a community of manufacturers, artists and enthusiasts that return each year to present their latests innovation and more importantly collaborate over electronic music.
Music culture in Berlin
Berlin has a prominent techno scene that is well known and acknowledged around the world. The scene is often associated with being underground, dark and exclusive. There is a certain rawness to it that has an appeal to people from all over the world from young to old.
During live performances, which are often in some of the oldest establishments in Berlin, artists use both hardware instruments and music software to create their set. We’re seeing a shifting trend towards live performance with hardware equipment as this is the most purist way to perform on stage. During our trip we have visited one of these clubs in Berlin which is called OHM.
Set between infamous clubs KitKatClub and Kater Blau in Berlin’s Mitte, OHM takes over the same sprawling spot as Tresor’s Kraftwerk venue with a smaller, more intimate crowd. Part of
Tresor (German for 'vault') emerged in the vaults of an abandoned department store. Founded by Dmitri Hegemann (along with a group of investors), Tresor found its original home in the vaults of an abandoned department store in Leipziger Strasse, Mitte, the central part of what was formerly East Berlin.
We were delighted to be part of this little side-step as these place are considered to be the Valhalla of Germany’s illustrious club circuit.
Three days of electronics
The main reason for making our journey overseas was to cover three days of SuperBooth. To provide more context about our project and the event we will discuss the days in chronological order starting with the first day.
The opening day of SuperBooth traditionally is a great experience, the stands are manned and the entrance turns into a busy meeting place with people checking in and gearing up for a day full of exciting meet and greets. For our team, the first day consisted of meeting the team who make SuperBooth happen, after a wonderful welcome we managed to lock in an interview with Andreas Schneider also known as ’Herr Schneider’.
Before the interview could start Andreas invited us to join him in the auditorium of FEZ-Berlin and see the Gesprächskonzerte based on the performance of the Modular Synthesizer Ensemble based on the work of gammon.at and supported by the Miller-Zillmer Foundation.
After enjoying an amazing performance from the Modular Synthesizer Ensemble we continued our journey through the halls of the Freizeit- und Erholungszentrum which allowed us to meet many exhibitors and eventually led us to outdoors area. The combination of indoor and outdoor areas at SuperBooth makes for a very pleasant atmosphere.
The exhibitors are situated in tents which protect them from the environment and you can feel that you’re outside in the forest surrounded by trees amongst the midst of all these modular synthesizers.
The fresh air and bleeps and bloops of the synthesizers provided us with a welcome break before we continued to our interview with Andreas Schneider. During the interview we have spoken with Andreas about the history of SuperBooth, the major milestones as an organisation and the unique workshops, performances and talks that are held over the three days.
Following days
The next day we were invited to one of the many do-it-yourself (DIY) workshops SuperBooth has to offer, hosted by Befaco Modular and Moritz Klein for Erica Synths. These workshops allow people with different skill levels to put together the electronic components of a synthesizer module, and if everything works out, get a working module from one of the above mentioned brands.
The last day of SuperBooth is on Saturday and it generally very busy, we decided to use this day to say thanks to the contributors to the community, our visit to Berlin meant that we could meet and interview a lot of prominent people within the industry which is invaluable to capture the culture of electronic music.
There was no better way to end this visit with our friends throwing a party at the SeeBühne whilst listening to the live performance of Mark Verbos playing over the speakers.
