Berghain holds a somewhat mystical place in the collective clubbing consciousness. Those who have been struggle to explain exactly what it is that makes it so unique, those who have not often see it as the last bastion of clubbing hedonism.
Whatever your own personal perception of the Berlin club, the fact is that there have been number of people who have played instrumental parts its inexorable rise. One of these is Nick Hoppner, a one-time journalist and wannabe philosophy teacher who has personally shaped the fortunes of both the club and label it spawned in Ostgut Ton.
Now, with his new Panorama Bar mix imminent, Defected’s Ben Lovett caught up with him to discuss origins, family and that infamous door policy...
Nick Hoppner laughs when asked to describe what a typical night at Berlin uber-club Berghain is like. Hoppner, a Berghain resident since the club first opened eight years ago, really doesn’t know what to say. A thoughtful pause follows the chuckle and then he speaks: “I don’t know what to say because there is so much to say. I could talk to you about Berghain for hours and hours because, at the end of day, it has operated as a different space year after year. It has evolved dramatically, so I can’t give a specific answer.”
Suffice to say, Berghain – which, generally speaking, accommodates a dark, eponymous main room space for techno and, upstairs, the Panorama Bar for house – has become an electronic institution, as famous for the quality of its close-knit DJ family as its label Ostgut Ton (which Hoppner has run since its birth in 2005) and infamous door policy. Its influence is palpable.
“Our decision to focus on local talent in the early days was a good one. And, more or less, we have always kept things that way. That has helped make Berghain unique. But the wider Berlin landscape should also be considered. So many other great clubs have emerged in the city and made it this cool destination. We’re all interlinked, all part of the same musical fabric.”
Hoppner’s new mix album, Panorama Bar 04, offers something of a window into Berghain’s soul – an upper window, naturally. Following convincing entries to the Panorama Bar series by fellow residents Cassy, Tama Sumo and Prosumer, episode four flows smartly from the melodic grooves of DJ Gregory and Andres (string-swept masterpiece New For U) to deeper, darker, dubb-ier cuts by Matthew Styles and Gary Martin, to slick, funky, US-flecked house workouts via Swan and Whirlpool Productions, to irresistibly percussive surprises such as DJ Emanuel (his lick is untitled). It’s another winning blend of house, techno and the indescribable vibe that permeates the club within which Panorama Bar is based.
“I didn’t have the best feeling in the world when I was finishing the mix” Hoppner reflects. “But that is the same for any artist or creative person. You’re always asking yourself what you might have done better. Once the mix was submitted and I had a little distance from it, I felt good. It has a strong flow, incorporating records across a number of years that I love. It reflects the club, it offers new and exclusive music, which we will release on our label, and it reflects my own personal tastes.”
Hoppner grew up in a small German town outside Hamburg with little or no access to music. “I was an analogue child, an Eighties teen. But there was only the one shitty record store and my parents’ crappy record collection; they weren’t musical at all. My first real inspiration came via the radio and Jon Peel, whose show [on BBC’s Radio 1] was syndicated. Older friends would also offer me tips... I discovered The Cure and Joy Division, post-punk and indie.”
In time, the early Nineties in fact, Hoppner would relocate to Hamburg, with its superior line-up of record stores, clubs and radio stations. “That was the beginning, I was 19. I was able to establish myself in electronic music and pave the way for everything else.”
Hoppner had started studying to become an English and philosophy teacher but he was also DJing in small clubs and bars, recording basic tracks in his bedroom, and interning with music magazines. One such internship, on Hamburg’s Groove title, led to him becoming editor and then, at the end of the decade, setting up offices in Berlin. Hoppner started to play at Ostgut, Berghain’s predecessor, and “it just kind of happened.”
In today’s media and brand-savvy world, previous experience as a journalist must hold him in particularly good stead? “Not really” he answers. “Back in the Nineties the journalism was different; it was more low-key. There wasn’t the access to the internet we have now and less talk of brands and brand-building.”
What does Hoppner think about such talk? Undeniably, it echoes the work of many promoters, clubs and artists within contemporary clubland. “The interviews some people give today are ludicrous,” he says. “You’d think they were the CEO of Apple or something like that. I’m all for people in the industry being organised and looking after their businesses but there’s too much inflated talk about brands and it starts to drown out the music, which is an absurd situation.”
The irony can’t be lost on Hoppner that he is working closely with one of electronic music’s biggest brands; Berghain, too, runs the obligatory ‘big club’ fashion and accessories store, and its resident spinners work hard, almost systematically some consider, to plant the Berghain and Ostgut Ton standards abroad. In a move straight out of the marketing maestro textbook, Berghain ensures that its various operations all demonstrate a strong, unified visual and artistic agenda.
“We are absolutely aware that Berghain is a brand but, for us, it really did just happen. Some of these things really are just a result of the time in which we live” Hoppner explains. “We took advantage of this climate, for sure, but the notion of the team having 200-page business plans, and a pile of graphs and statistics, is a crazy one. Our family is tight, sharing the same musical values, and that’s it.”
It follows that Hoppner gives little consideration to his own career image. “I don’t look that often at what gets written; I don’t think about those things because they’d make me insecure. I’m quite a shy person; I like to lose myself in the music. It was actually a relief when I abandoned journalism for DJing. I just wanted to play the music instead of endlessly talking and thinking about it. But that isn’t to disparage the media because there is still worthwhile writing out there. I simply came to the conclusion I wasn’t providing any myself!”
Hoppner’s career has advanced impressively since the respective births of Berghain and Ostgut Ton. He doesn’t DJ incessantly – protecting time in the studio and with his young family – but still maintains regular appearances in front of a number of key global dancefloors. He has forged the beginnings of a promising discography (his 2004 debut EP alongside Error Error, Design, giving way to assured Ostgut releases like Makeover - atmospheric dub-techno; Brush Me Down – off-kilter, jazz-smoked funk; and, last year, A Peck And A Pawn – rugged ‘n’ pumped house), and his confident, progressive management of Ostgut Ton has ensured its position as essential underground house and techno bellwether.
“The label has evolved much like Berghain... in a hands-off manner” he says. “It started socially... like DIY. It was intended as an infrastructure for our resident DJs to use whenever they needed it. We grew a close-knit family around us; we didn’t do a label like the big dogs because that wouldn’t have been interesting. It meant we could prioritise passion over economics and maintain the freshness of our output. We have opened up to a few others in recent times, on the basis that we like what they do, and that they understand the stock we put in close friendship and cooperation. There’s also a gut feeling; you can just tell if something will work or not.”
And what of that aforementioned door policy? Does the club ever worry that it, as portrayed by others, might contradict its growing accessibility outside of Germany – especially through Ostgut Ton? “I think there is the notion of a misunderstanding” Hoppner suggests. “We don’t like to talk about the door and perhaps that amplifies it. We prefer to concentrate on the music; we just want people to enjoy the fruit of our labours, come down to the club for themselves and listen to our records. Embrace the music. That’s all.”
Words: Ben Lovett
Nick Hoppner: Panorama Bar 04 is released by Ostgut Ton on July 2.
