Get to know: Bordel Des Arts
We caught up with Marcus Schroeder of Bordel Des Arts ahead of their Berlin Berlin debut on Saturday, 29th December...
Berlin’s infamous monthly arty 24-hour 4-floor Techno and House music party Bordel Des Arts make their London debut at Berlin Berlin on December 29th. With a diverse cross-section of Berlin's Underground House and Techno community clamouring for their sultry dance sounds, here we Get To Know Bordel’s Marcus Schroeder from the collective as he takes us through ‘FreudenHouseMusique' their unique musical journey that switches between bass-heavy dubby heaters to body twitching bangers.
Great to meet you Bordel Des Arts’s Marcus Schroeder and can you tell us how you came to choose your name and why it works for you?
Hello lovelies, it’s a great pleasure to meet you guys and being in London for the very first time playing for Berlin Berlin! Bordel Des Arts started as a weekly gallery evening event with different types of art under one roof with a DJ creating an irresistible 5-hour house mix throughout.
The music had to be switched off at midnight but the guests would have still stayed on for hours and then we started our ‘all night long’ events. Our name is French and it also means Boudoir – a special, private room for women to dress in etc but it also means chaos (‘que bordel’) which fits us and our crowd exactly.
You’ve been hosting monthly events for the last 9 years and how and where did you start off and can you describe your journey and about some of the highlights.
I was born and grew up in Berlin Mitte and was ready for when ‘everything’ started in the 90s. I saw nearly everybody that came to play in Berlin coming. And when Bar25 was the centre of Berlin’s underground nightlife I was out every week and became friends with the DJs, who played for a lower fee when I sometimes invited them to play at small but very cool events that friends asked me to promote. This was the very beginning.
A year before Bordel began I started to promote monthly events at the Watergate club as well. For 9 years I did the ‘YES’ parties together with Berlin sound icon Mitja Prinz featuring English DJ legends James Holden, James Lavelle, James Zabiela, Ralph Lawson, Slam, Riton and many more.
For the last two 2 years, I’ve presented the monthly Techno thriller ‘Try Land’ together with The Reason Y which has international guests as well as the cream of Berlin’s underground Deep Techno scene. But my main event and ‘baby’ always was the Bordel.
You’re a collective and how did your team DJ team of Casimir Von Oettingen, Electronic Elephant, Mike Book and Daniel Jaeger come together and how did you decide to call your sound ‘freuden house music’?
All the residents started at the Bordel by playing unpopular slots on which they performed 300% peaking out with their sound, vibe and energy. All of our residents are little genius sound machines who work on every floor and crowd as the temperature in the room seems to change and people just start smiling and dancing.
‘Freudenhaus’ is a synonym for ‘Bordel’ and when we launched our first compilation on Bar25 Music, the subtitle ‘Freuden House Musique’ is a wordplay that includes our English, French and German crowd and just means ‘Bordel Music’.
Now ensconced at Berlin’s Wilde Renate, is there something special about this space that adds to your party and why do you think Berlin’s clubbing environment is so unique & creative?
Our place and home is the Renate and it’s just so special, like a house party, happening on several floors at an unrenovated apartment building in Friedrichshain. The most special thing about it is its art deco setting which is the very best in town! Some of Berlin’s clubbing addresses are still so unique and creative because they still invent original sounds, deco and vibes out of their setting. As ‘money’ is still not ruling the clubs here in town we’re still in a bubble like a protected cultural biotope and the authorities help to maintain and support this special community. They also realise how important Berlin’s infamous nightlife is for the city and tourism.
Tagged ‘a journey through Berlin's underground club culture’ your Bordel Des Arts album series now up to Vol 2 mixed by Mike Book, and are these releases an extension of your club night? What are your future plans on going musically and with your events?
In March we celebrate ’10 years of Bordel Des Arts’ and will have a little tour throughout Europe with stops in Amsterdam, Zürich, Vienna, Spain and Italy and hopefully in London again as well... Alongside our anniversary we’ll release ‘Vol 3’ of our compilation series on Bar25 music. We’re super grateful for all the invites and feel very honoured and can't wait to visit you guys at Egg LDN to introduce our definition of infectious Deep Techno sounds to remember!!