BOOK: MISSING THE CLUB
I proudly present ๐๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐พ๐ก๐ช๐, the book!
One year has gone since my last DJ gig or dance floor action. What started as a mixtape project a few months into the pandemic last year, now turned into ๐ 248 ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐ค๐ . While recording the third and final chapter of this mixtape trilogy and intrigued by the backgrounds and protagonists of the records, I began researching and got into the idea of a book version, where ๐จ๐ฉ๐ค๐ง๐๐๐จ about the mixtapeโs tracks are alternated with a selection of favorite ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐๐ก๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ๐จ from my archive as a music journalist - printed on paper to safeguard from digital expiration - plus a few brand new ๐ฉ๐๐ญ๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐จ. The entirety offers a unique and utterly personal perspective on ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฉ๐ง๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ข๐ช๐จ๐๐, ๐๐ก๐ช๐ ๐๐ช๐ก๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ก ๐ง๐๐๐ค๐ง๐ ๐๐ค๐ก๐ก๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐.
Built on 20 ๐ฎ๐๐๐ง๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ and almost a decade as a ๐ข๐ช๐จ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ง and fully conceived in my own world, this book feels like homecoming. After happily having worked for a number of projects and media, it marks a move towards independent authorship and an expression of my leitmotiv as a ๐ข๐ช๐จ๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ค๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ค๐ง๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ง.
My musical universe and record collection are embedded in the rich history of electronic dance music, from the originators to contemporary sounds, from ๐๐ค๐ช๐จ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฃ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ฉ, ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ค, ๐๐๐จ๐๐ค, ๐ง๐๐ซ๐ ๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ and always with a typical ๐ฝ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ฃ twist inspired by the early heydays of central European rave culture, when I was still a teenager listening to club recordings on my radio transistor during long weekend nights. While exploring the scene, I try to look from various angles, for example by connecting it with ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐จ๐จ๐๐๐๐ก ๐ข๐ช๐จ๐๐ in one essay or looking at the ๐ก๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ online during the pandemic in another.
I have always had a strong appetite to ๐๐๐ง๐ค๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐, to meet people and dive into their ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐๐จ, their best and worst moments and to be allowed and trusted to rightfully portray them with my words. This led to meeting ๐๐ค๐ค ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ, a walking music encyclopedia who worked in a record store before fleeing her native ๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐จ๐๐ and after having spent ten years on the streets and in a refugee center in Brussels, still collects records. This also got me spending time with ๐ฟ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐จ, the producer who conquered the house music scene in 1992 with his club anthem โWhite Lineโ but today lives interned in a ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ค๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ก, recovering from a fierce psychosis due to excessive drug abuse, paying a high price for his brief fame. Or talking with ๐๐ค๐ง๐ช ๐., who is a prolific Japanese house music producer and label owner and single handedly connected ๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ค๐ง๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ ๐ฎ๐ค in the early nineties. Or interviewing ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ค๐ก๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ค๐ง๐ฅ๐๐๐ช๐จ about SSR Records, the Crammed Discs sublabel active between 1988 and the early 2000โs which surprisingly had not been documented on the internet before. And so on...
Last but not least, the book is substantially ๐๐ก๐ก๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ with black and white photography by ๐๐๐ค๐ข๐๐จ ๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ง๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง for Brusseleir Digger, with zoomed in record sleeves, with a unique and coloured photographic essay of Crevette Records by ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ค๐ง๐๐ and with my own pictures.
Get the book here.