After tonight, what are thoughts of this city’s energy and appreciation towards your music?
Can you please book us as soon as possible again! [laughs] The energy here is amazing! Our first party at Circus was crazy and now Igloofest … you guys are just awesome! The city is also really beautiful and you have a Mac store! We had to buy a charger of course because everywhere we go we always forget it so in every city we buy new Mac chargers!
As they say, a tradition will always stay tradition. Luckily for us, the closing ceremony for Igloofest 2013 had once again been dedicated to techno music. And of course when most of us think techno, we think Germany! Last year’s astral final performance was graced with Berlin duo Ben Klock and Marcel Dettmann, creating the perfect parallel for this year’s finale with yet another heavy banger by uber talented Tommy Four Seven and all-time techno legend Chris Liebing!
Chris Liebing has been a major player in the evolution of techno since his debut in the 90s. With twenty years of producing, DJing and managing a renowned label known as CLR, Chris Liebing has explored different rhythms, speeds and sounds of this musical genre, that has evolved in such a way where it can associate itself to a massive sector of German culture. Here is an up close and personal Q&A with a sacred individual with regards to his massive performance at Igloofest.
Had you heard about Igloofest before?
You know the only thing I had ever heard about Igloofest was to bring some warm clothes and I was like … they don’t really do this outside do they? And somebody told me about half a year ago that it was in fact outside, and I still refused to believe them. And two weeks ago I defi- nitely had a talk with my crew about the gig coming up, and I learned that indeed, it is definitely outside!
How crazy did you think things might get and were your expectations met or surpassed?
It was amazing. I mean I’ve played in outdoor parties in the winter in Austria, but not with this amout of people and probably ten degrees warmer than the weather here. The first moment I got on stage and Tommy Four Seven was playing and I looked out of the stage and I saw all these people on top of each other crowdsurfing going to- tally mental, and I thought to myself, wow this is amaz- ing. They really know how to party! It was really great to play whatever I like to play and seeing everyone else having a great time. Honestly an awesome experience.
On the outside, both physically and through your music, some would say that you might have an edgy, rough and fierce appearance both musically and physi- cally. Is there a soft side to Chris Liebing? If so, in what way?
You know I think it’s funny because I don’t really think I have an edgy side. That’s why I can’t really tell you why the music comes across that way. It might be because I don’t want to make it sound happy, because in my opin- ion music that sounds happy all the time sounds cheesy to me. But I still find I’m quite a soft person actually. I’m
definitely not a hardcore person. [laughs] We also had the chance to sit down with the young and talented DJ, producer and sound designer Tommy Four Seven. His performance at this year’s Igloofest showcased a new breed of techno artists by satisfying our ears with deep and uncompromising sounds. Now based in Berlin, the British born artist had interesting feedback on his very first outdoor winter festival!
Do you find the energy of the crowd in subzero weather is different from playing in warmer weather condi- tions?
The crowd really serves as a mirror for me. They project the mood I’m in, and tonight was just the perfect image that I would have wanted to see at such a super event.
You were in New York last night, was it hard getting here with the snowstorm?
Oh my! The storm was really something! We almost didn’t know if we were going to make it since the JFK was closed. We unfortunetaly had to cancel our show in Chicago but we’re extremely happy to be here.