DJ Einkaufswagen

What inspired you to choose these particular 7" records for the mix? Is there a story or theme behind the selection?

Not really. Sometimes I like to start off a bit downtempo in my live sets if I have the time, these records are all in and around 100bpm. As you know, you really don’t much time to mix in sevens, maybe just a bar or two, so I tend to categorise around tempos rather than genres to give myself a head start. This set bounces all over the place musically but thats half the fun of it, trying to make it work. Most of the time was spent programming, the mix itself happened pretty quickly. Actually I just noticed they’re all B sides, which was completely accidental. B sides are a definitely an infatuation. It's kind of like being at the seaside and turning over rocks to see what’s underneath, the A Side could be horrendous but then the B Side might be gold. The Sylvester tune I’ve been totally obsessed with for a while but I’ve never recorded it in a mix, so that was a good place to start. ‘Filthy' which doesn’t sound like anything else St Etienne ever did, I’ve treasured that since I taped if off the radio in the 90’s, so nice to close with this.

Were any of the records in this mix particularly difficult to find?

Nothing particularly rare or unusual here. I try to watch the budget when I’m buying and not go too crazy. I’ve never spent more than €60 on a seven and it has to be an absolute must have gem at that price. I don’t find much in Berlin record shops, the second hand bins tend to be well picked over. 

Good tips are Flea markets and the further out of Berlin you go, the better.

Berlin has such a rich music culture — how has living there influenced your taste in records or the way you approach building a collection?

It does, but it's mostly obsessed with one sound and one sound only and this gets quite boring to me after a while. Maybe my stylistic direction was influenced by my reaction to this. I’ve been collecting for over 30 years and DJing for about 20. I’d say the first 10 years DJing I didn’t really know what I was doing, but moving to Berlin made me sharpen up.

I had a brief residency in a local dive bar and there for some reason I found my sound. This led later to the crazy idea of the Einkaufswagen, that took on a life of its own. So I’d say the last 6 years of collecting has been very focused and a lot of hard work has gone into it because I have a purpose to it and an idea that I’m following.  

Do you have a go-to record shop or market in Berlin where you usually find the best 7" records? What makes it special?

I’ll always go check the sevens rack in Soultrade, mostly House or Acid re-releases get me excited at the moment. Oye is worth a look too but most of my time is spent endlessly trawling through stores on Discogs. Theres much more chance of stumbling across something unknown or unusual there that I’d never find in a Berlin record store. So I don’t find Berlin that particularly special. Maybe I’ve been here too long, I find other cities much better for digging, Hamburg for example is a great spot. 

Have you ever had an unexpected discovery or surprise while record shopping in Berlin, like stumbling on a rare or unique find?

Best find was a box of rare disco 12”s in great condition outside an antique dealer one day, I think I filled my bag for a tenner and maybe sold a couple on Discogs and bought a load more off that.

Are there any specific genres or artists that you tend to gravitate towards when selecting 7" records for a mix? How do you balance the flow between different styles?

Most of what I buy is some variation of Disco or House or Funk going off in all sorts of weird and interesting directions. So I have a decent enough collection building up now that I can dig through and find an idea. It will never be straight out Disco or House in a mix though, I like to chop and change it a bit and keep it interesting.  Trying really hard not to use the ‘J' word...

I try to look more for, how the tunes will mix together, maybe theres a drum break or a bassline or a sound that mixes nicely into something else, that tends to be more the approach I take rather than sticking to one musical idea. I can be quite accidental and sometimes you’ll only find it by experimenting and trying stuff out.  

How does spinning vinyl, especially 7" records, differ from digital DJing for you? Do you feel like vinyl offers something unique in the experience or connection to the music?

It can be total nightmare mixing sevens live sometimes, all you need is one little record skip and its car crash central, you’ve no time to recover it, but mostly it goes to plan so it's a lot of fun. I usually want to beat mix from one tune to another which is pretty tricky on flimsy sevens and with maybe a wonky drum machine or live drums to cope with. 

So it's a real tightrope walk. 

Its definitely sharpened up my mixing skills though, you have to be constantly on your toes. Also people really get off on the strictly sevens thing or ’seven inches of pleasure’ as I call it. They come up to my tiny plastic decks mounted on the shopping trolley and just lose their minds, its pretty funny. 

Digital is a totally different experience of course.  I turned up with two USBs for a gig recently and spent at least an hour going back and forth to the decks and someones laptop trying to reformat the bloody things and I ended up borrowing someone else’s. The gig itself was good craic in the end, its just a totally different experience. I know it's all just music in the end but theres something about the physical object of a seven inch that is just beautiful. I bought my first seven inch aged thirteen and I still have the same awe of them now, that I had back then.