Events

The Bunker is proud to present legendary Detroit techno artists Octave One for their debut New York City appearance. "Legendary" is not a word we throw around lightly, but believe us, brothers Lenny and Lawrence Burden (known as Octave One and Random Noise Generation) have more than earned it. Their first track was released in 1990 on Juan Atkins' Transmat label, and also appeared on the "Techno 2: The Next Genration" compilation. That same year, they launched their own label, 430 West. 430 West is important not only as an outlet for Octave One's own music, but also for shining the spotlight on other important Detroit artists early in their careers. Rolando's epic "Jaguar" was just one of many classics released by the label, and both the electro-bass Direct Beat label and Dan Bell's 7th City imprint were started as sub-labels of 430 West. Octave One are very prolific artists who have stayed active over the past 19 years, releasing eight albums and countless singles while constantly touring all over the world, playing every huge festival and club imaginable (yet somehow never making it to New York before now). Their all hardware live set is one of the most incredible things we've ever witnessed. We've seen them tear the DEMF to pieces more than once, and are sure they are going to play an unforgettable set at The Bunker.

The Bunker has always strived to present music that is very cerebral yet keeps the dancefloor moving. It can be a tricky balance to maintain, but Birmingham's Tony Child aka Surgeon does it better than just about anyone. His first records came out in 1995 on Ideal and Regis' Downwards imprint, and instantly caught the attention of all of the top techno DJs in the world. It was clear from the start that Surgeon's productions were in a league of their own. His early singles also caught the attention of Tresor, who released his first three albums and gave him a residency at their club (at that time a main hub of the European techno community). In the late 90s and early 00s, techno kind of hit a lull as many producers were unsuccessfully trying way too hard to reproduce Jeff Mills' legendary Purpose Maker series and coming up with few original ideas. During this time, Surgeon stretched out and his records got stranger and more innovative but remained relevant dancefloor tools for all the biggest DJs. With a slew of amazing remixes and new material leaking out over the past two years (with much more to come soon), Surgeon has remained as relevant as ever. Today, Surgeon deejays with Ableton Live, using the software not as a crutch, but as a tool to push things to the next level as he takes advantage of the technology to present sets that span every genre imaginable while maintaining dancefloor momentum. It's a challenging sound, but we think that you, The Bunker audience, are more than ready for something a bit different.

Hrdvsion has been making music for a long time, but first appeared on our radar with his "Gary White" EP on Wagon Repair in 2006. It was immediately apparent that Hrdvsion (born Nathan Jonson) had a very unique vision and was making outsider music that avoided easy categorization. "I Love What You Do" become the Bunker's official "feel good hit of the summer", and we've been trying to bring him in for a live set ever since. In addition ot his solo productions, he has released collaborative records with Mathew Jonson (his brother) and Lee Van Dowski. We think Nathan's mixture of more experimental sounds with danceable techno fits in perfectly with the rest of this lineup, and we're very pleased to have him join us for his debut New York appearance.

Jan Krueger has been involved in the German techno scene since the mid-90's, doing everything from DJing, to throwing parties, to a recent stint as sales manager at the highly respected distributor Word and Sound. He recently left Word and Sound to focus on his DJ career and Hello?Repeat, the label he started with Daze Maxim. Jan has already made quite a name for himself in Berlin, appearing regularly at Watergate, Panorama Bar, and Club Der Visionäre. His rise to fame in North America has happened incredibly quickly. His first North American gigs were in Detroit during last year's festival weekend at the Need I Say More 3 afterparty at the Old Miami, and the Accelerate closing party at The Works on Monday. He made quite an impression at both gigs, and kinda stole the show from bigger name DJs. He's completely torn the roof off of The Bunker all four times he's appeared since then, to the point that we've agreed to make him a Bunker resident DJ. Tonight he lays down some nice house music in the front room alongside fellow Bunker residents Eric Cloutier and Spinoza to help balance the mayhem of the back room.