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KONRAD BLACK

Konrad Black has always had a thing about music with robots. It
started out as a kid in Vancouver, freaking out to the futuristic
vocoder intro on Boney M’s Night Flight To Venus and it’s stayed
with him ever since, on a journey that currently finds him holding
down a much coverted residency at Berlin’s legendary Panorama
Bar.

Time has accelerated ten-fold for Konrad over the last three years in
particular, since the dark, shadowy tones of Draconia and Medusa
Smile enveloped dancefloors around the globe, not only christening
his influencial Wagon Repair label in style but also establishing him
as a highly innovative producer and much sought after remixer (just
check out his work for Tiga, Snax, Audion and Martini Brös if
further proof is required).

His relocation to Berlin has also given him the opportunity to
express himself more regularly as a DJ, resulting in a fast
expanding reputation for sending crowds into a frenzy wherever the
call of duty takes him. Konrad knows it’s about living and breathing
the music, it’s not just a question of turning up, spinning a few tunes
and then disappearing back into the night, it’s about getting to know
the people, understanding what makes the club tick and always
delivering a night of memorable tracks and seamless
transgressions.

In hindsight Vancouver’s laid back way of life was the perfect
environment to patiently prepare for the whirlwind his life has now
become. Free from the restraining influences of established scenes
and trends, Konrad was able to develope his own individual take on
dance music under the guidance of Patti Schmidt’s Brave New
Waves late night radio show. Digging through the junk bins in
Vancouver’s coolest record stores - Basics & Odyssey Imports -
also unearthed hidden gems from artists like Tikiman and Maurizio,
along with early Klang and Perlon releases that had been
shamefully overlooked by the uninitiated.

Although his initial instincts had led him in a Drum and Bass
direction, it wasn’t long before he began transplanting his ideas into
a 4/4 context. Hooking up with Swayzak in 1998 had a large part to
do with this and led to a string of releases on 240 Volts including
the Busting Down The Door With A Shotgun EP and the inspired
Swayzak / Headgear collaboration on In The Car Crash in 2002.
During this period Konrad also relocated to London, producing both
Drum and Bass for Ed Rush and Optical’s Virus Recordings, and
Techno (together with March 21st) as Headgear including a remix of
In A State for James Lavelle’s U.N.K.L.E. project..

On returning home, Konrad finally met up with fellow Vancouverian
Mathew Jonson who was already having massive success
producing on his own It Is What It Is label. Together with Graham
Boothby and Jesse Fisk they founded Wagon Repair, basically “to
do whatever the hell we wanted to do’’ and in a relatively short
space of time it’s developed into one of the most respected labels
around. Konrad’s own approach to music basically sums up their
original mandate – “It’s important to let music mature and resonate.
It’s important to know who you are and to embrace the things that
drive you forward even if they seem strange to others’’.

...like dreaming darkly on a sunny day. There’s certainly a
Byronesque quality to Black, a perpetual struggle between external
light and inner darkness that unearths moments of beauty in the
darkest corners of our collective consciousness. But fortune seems
to favour the brave and it’s with this firmly in mind that he leads the
crowd through the night towards another Berlin sunrise.