Oliver Huntemann

The Playground is proud to present a night of techno bringing together DUBFIRE collaborator OLIVER HUNTEMANN, the creator of techno JUAN ATKINS, Drumcode artists GARY BECK, GREGOR TRESHER, DUBSPEEKA and Italian live trio Agents of Time.

22 August 2015, THE PLAYGROUND will be leading KOKO Camden into far darker climbs and will be doing so with the sounds of monochrome and utilitarian techno. Stripped back sounds, tightened kick drums, and percussive rattles will be shaking the walls of one of London’s most infamous clubs with aid of some of the most influential names in electronic music.

Headlining the show is German minimal techno maestro and DUBFIRE collaborator, Oliver Huntemann. Since Amon Tobin’s technique of projecting visuals onto three dimensional shapes with his ISAM project, Oliver Huntemann was next to push audio-visual boundaries in electronic music, creating his sets live in full view of the audience through the revolutionary Reactable system. Reactable is essentially a tall circular table with a clear top that reacts – using cameras positioned at the bottom – to the placement and movement of various differently-shaped blocks. Once connected to a musician’s computer, the blocks can be assigned different powers and manipulating them on the table top changes tone, tempo, timbre, pitch, etc. Bjork has also utilised it to perform several songs live from her recent Biophilia album and is apparently a convert of the technology that was designed to make playing live electronic music engage with an audience.

Huntemann has just announced his highly anticipated upcoming EP ‘Schwarzlicht und Filmriss’, which is to be released in June 2015 with a series of events in Ibiza playing alongside such names as SOLOMON, Sven Vath, Dj Koze and Mano Le Tough. His signature sound is revered by techno fans globally; many putting this down to his ability to innovate whilst staying true to the roots of the music.

Joining him is Juan Atkins, a man who has been at the forefront of dance music for 35 years. Having been at the very heart of the scene since the 1980’s, he has created some of the most influential bodies of music the genre has ever seen. Blending techno's nocturnal pulse with ambient noise and heavily layered electro complexity, Atkins continues to prove that he is still at the pinnacle of his career.

Further adding to the bill is Glaswegian DJ and producer, Gary Beck; a regular fixture at the world’s most highly regarded clubs and festivals. Beck has released music on Drumcode, Cocoon and Saved as well as his own BEK Audio imprint. Meandering pulses, relentless drive Beck the perfect candidate for what is guaranteed to be a night of no holds-barred, mind bending beats.

Anyone that knows of Gregor Tresher, who is also set to spin at the evenings proceedings, will know that he is relentlessly focussed not only on beats, but on groove and melody; something which can often be surpassed when it comes to the industrial, German techno soundscape. With an almost unheard of attention to detail, Tresher consistently produces absolute uniqueness and driving intensity.

Further support comes from Drumcode duo Dubspeeka. Renowned for the levels of pure darkness infused in their music, Dubspeeka’s expertly produced, pummelling beats grabbed the attention of industry professionals, earning them the title as “One of the best upcoming acts” by techno icon, Adam Beyer.

Completing THE PLAYGROUND’s pick of in demand underground talent are Italian trio Agents of Time. Together they develop a rare innovative sound, characterized by the fusion of progressive, techno and ambient is distinguished by their unique stage show and use of live analogic instruments. The performance is always unpredictable and never taken for granted. "Nothing is left to chance, all is entrusted to time".

With the above as a line up, it is only fitting that a key focus of the night is mood, atmosphere and a total lack of pretension. The music will speak for itself.