Events

Pär Grindvik began contributing to the Swedish electronic music
scene as a deejay and owner of the Illegal Stockholm record store
in the '90s. After being a diligent student of the music for many
years, he founded the Stockholm LTD label and started releasing
his own productions in 2002. Swedish techno superstars Adam Beyer
(Drumcode) and Joel Mull (Inside) both immediately recognized
Grindvik's talent and started to release his 12"s on their own
imprints. Over the years, he's stayed busy in the studio and
released dozens of records, each one maintaining his amazing
sonic signature and sound design while introducing new ideas. In
recent years, Pär has done high profile remixes for Fever Ray,
Tim Xavier, Seth Troxler, and Alex Under, and has been remixed by
everyone from Dettmann and Klock to Len Faki. We've been working
with Pär to get him to The Bunker for quite some time now, so
both camps are buzzing with excitement that's it's finally going
to happen.

Julian Smith aka October is one of the most interesting producers
to come across our radar in recent years. He messed about with
drum'n'bass and breakbeat for a few years before really hitting
his stride in the studio and establishing his own label, Caravan,
in 2007. Aside from his many fine records on Caravan, he's
released 12"s for Ripperton's Perspectiv imprint, and is working
on some slowmo cosmic disco for Ewan Pearson's Misericord label.
His recent productions fit into our favorite genre of all time,
which is to say they don't really fit comfortably into any one
genre. His affinity for Detroit techno, house, idm, minimalism,
and various mutations of UK bass music is obvious, but he weaves
these influences to create a unique sound that's all his own. His
intuitive understanding of what works for an educated dancefloor
has led to DJ gigs at Panorama Bar, Robert Johnson, Harry Klein,
The End, Fabric, and BLOC Weekend. Despite his appearances at
these many fine clubs, he claims that The Bunker has been his #1
dream gig for awhile now, and we're thrilled to present his North
American debut.

Tonight in the front room we celebrate the connection between
Detroit and New York City dance music. It could be argued that
the influence of the highly cross polinated music scenes in late
'70s and early '80s had on NYC's dance music is parallel to the
tremendous influence that The Electrifying Mojo's eclectic radio
shows had on a generation of Detroit's earliest electronic music
producers. The Bunker is not only tied to Detroit through our
Detroit ex-pat resident DJ Derek Plaslaiko, but also through the
many Detroit artists we've hosted as special guests over the
years. The Bunker has provided a NYC homebase for everyone from
headliners like Daniel Bell, Magda, Matthew Dear, Suburban
Knight, Clark Warner, and Ryan Elliott to current stars like Ryan
Crosson, Seth Troxler, and Lee Curtiss (all of whom played their
first NYC gigs at The Bunker), to next generation talents like
Drew Pompa, Josh Dahlberg, Jared Wilson, Carlos Souffront, Luke
Hess, Brian Kage, Chuck Flask, and Rich Korach. Tonight we bridge
our two cities with collaborative performances from some historic
Detroit DJs with legendary New York musicians, bookended by sets
from two DJs with one foot in Detroit and the other in NYC.

BMG, also known as Brendan M. Gillen, has a very unique and
interesting perspective on the history of dance music. A real
historian, he's the kind of guy who can talk endlessly about
pretty much any artist you can think of and offer new information
and insights, no matter how nerdy you thought you were about the
subject. He is perhaps most well known as one half of Ectomorph
and founder of Detroit's Interdimensional Transmissions imprint.
He was an early adopter of Ableton Live, and uses it in his DJ
sets to quickly mix between classic material and newer sounds,
leaving no genre untouched while getting deeply psychedelic in
the mix. The "No Way Back" parties in Detroit that Brendan is
involved in are truly inspiring events that rank as some of the
best parties we've been to. A chance meeting with Sal Principato
has led to an ongoing collaboration. Tonight, Sal plays live over
Brendan's DJ set to celebrate their upcoming "Credit Card" 12" on
I.T. We've heard the unmastered mixes of the new material, and
this stuff is deadly! BMG will have some white labels on hand at
the party.

Sal Principato is best known as one of the original members of
legendary New York group Liquid Liquid. Calling Liquid Liquid
"legendary" is actually an understatement. Although they really
started from an art-rock background, it was the early club scene
that really embraced their sound. This is what made New York's
music scene so interesting in that era, the division between the
avant garde and pop music was fuzzy at best, and collaborations
and cross pollinations were celebrated. One of the early Liquid
Liquid singles was the basis for Grandmaster Flash & The Furious
Five's massive hit "White Lines", and was played by early
visionary DJs such as Afrika Bambaataa and Larry Levan. Much of
the popular "dance rock" music you hear today simply couldn't
exist without Liquid Liquid. Rumor has it that Liquid Liquid is
back in the studio working on material that could see the light
of day soon. As mentioned above, Sal will be adding vocals,
percussion, and other instrumentation over BMG's DJ set tonight.
They have previously performed together at DEMF and PS1.

Mike Clark is one of the oldest of the old-school heads from
Detroit. Trying to uncover his involvement in the history of
Detroit dance music is somewhat difficult, as he's always been a
behind the scenes "man in the shadows" who hasn't made
documenting his role a primary concern in life. But he's been
there through it all: as a part of the Underground Resistance
live show, as a DJ mentor to everyone from Jeff Mills to Kyle
Hall, as a contributor to endless studio productions (both
credited and uncredited), and as a DJ at many key Detroit
parties. He founded the Beatdown Sound movement with Delano Smith
and Norm Talley, as a way to make Detroit electronic music's
connection to soul much more vivid. The pitched down Beatdown
house sound has reached a wide audience primarily through the DJ
sets of artists like Kenny Dixon Jr and Theo Parrish, in addition
to the founders. Tonight Mike performs with another living
legend, Leroy Burgess.

While it's possible that many of you don't really know who Leroy
Burgess is, you've probably heard one of his many classic tracks
at a party. Inner City's "Moment of My Life"? Produced, written,
and arranged by Leroy. Black Ivory "Mainline"? That's Leroy on
vocals. Aleem's "Releases Yourself"? Leroy on vocals again. Class
Action "Weekend"? Yeah, it's the first record on Arthur Russell's
Sleeping Bag records, and Leroy wrote the original track.
Universal Robot Band "Barely Breaking Even"? Leroy! Aside from
these and many other contributions to the Harlem disco sound
(seriously, the list is endless), he's played and collaborated
with Rick James, Herbie Mann, and many more legendary artists.
Tonight Leroy sings and plays keyboards over Mike Clark DJ set.

Mike Servito is a DJ's DJ – a lifelong music fanatic with a truly
unique ability to move a dance floor. Fearless in his seamless
transitions from one style to another, Servito has an
unpredictability and a deep trust in his music knowledge that has
garnered him a cult following and made him an in-demand DJ the
world over. Although Servito is an NYC transplant, his DJ style
is unmistakably Detroit. Inspired by Detroit radio the '80s and
the city's local DJs in the '90s, Servito came of age in a
flourishing electronic music scene, making his debut in 1995 and
immediately gaining the attention and respect of his peers and
local techno heroes. After a brief hiatus, Servito was lured back
into the game through the vigorous encouragement of his close
friend Magda, and returned to the DJ realm in 2002. Servito
redefined himself, finding inspiration in the new generation of
electronic-music producers and DJs. Mike Servito was among the
original UNTITLED residents, whose ranks include Matthew Dear,
Derek Plaslaiko, Tadd Mullinix, and Ryan Elliott. He has played
multiple Detroit Electronic Music Festivals and has held court
with some of the best talent in the world. In 2008, Servito
became the newest addition to Ghostly's DJ roster, and has
happily returned to DJing and traveling the world playing his
favorite music.

Let’s be clear — Secrets is a dirtbag. A dirtbag and a burnout,
in fact. Truth be told, the only thing separating Matt Abbott
(aka Vacuum and Secrets) from your run-of-the-mill, drug addled,
lowlife, redneck, hoodrat motherfucker is that he is the owner of
a laptop computer and a stellar record collection. With these two
resources, a good ear, and a brain wired for weird, Vacuum turns
out quirky, funky, techno and house jams, as well as disco
re-edits and the odd yacht rock/coke rock compilations. Matt
Abbott’s got more pseudonyms than can be listed here
(snaps+handclaps-shank-vance hattaway-etc), is part of 2 shitbag
groups (G.O.D. (Guys On Drugs), and DEATHSQUAD) and has remained
a bright light in Detroit’s on-again, off-again, party scene
since the mid 90’s as a DJ, live act, and party promoter. Keep
Vacuum on drugs and out of the gutter. Matt lived in Brooklyn
from March through August 2009, after flying in to play a gig for
Derek and Big Bully and not using his return ticket. In that time
period he played an amazing set at Seze's Kiss & Tell party,
which became a wildly popular Bunker podcast. Now he's stranded
in Detroit and we're flying him here for The Bunker with no idea
where he's gonna end up.