Norman Nodge has mixed Berghain 06, due for release in October.
Nodge keeps a lower profile than some of his fellow Beghain residents: a lawyer and a family man first and foremost, techno is just a part-time gig for him. That said, he's still a linchpin of the Berlin club and the crew of artists who play there. He got his start back in the '90s, throwing parties outside Berlin where Marcel Dettmann and Marcel Fengler played their first gigs. Though he gave up DJing almost entirely between '98 and 2005, he continued going out and buying records, further amassing a collection decades in the making. His years of experience show in his sets, which tend to offset recent atmospheric techno with industrially-tinged '90s fare (plus ambient, kosmische or whatever else suits the mood, as this former Mix of the Day makes clear). For someone accustomed to four-hour sets, Nodge crams a lot of variety into Berghain 06, coursing through experimental bits from Oni Ayhun, '90s techno from New York and recent cuts from Legowelt, Architectural and Ctrls (one half of Northern Structures).
We rang up Nodge at his home in Berlin this week to get a bit more perspective on the mix and the man behind it:
Generally speaking, you've gotten a lot less publicity than some of the other Berghain and Panorama Bar residents.
And that's fine with me. [laughs]
Tell me a bit about how you fit into the Berghain family. How did you first meet Marcel Dettmann?
He was the initial reason I got into the Berghain family, in 2005 when it opened. We were friends for many years, we've known each other since '93 or '94. He was DJing in Ostgut. Before that he sometimes played at parties I organized in the '90s. He gave me an opportunity to give a mixtape to the people at Berghain when it opened, so that's how it went. I started playing there and became a resident DJ.
I understand you scaled back your DJ career in the '90s. Why is that?
I'm sometimes very reserved, that's my nature. I'm not the guy who runs around and is everyone's friend, asking everybody for gigs. I wasn't going to bend over backwards. So, in '98 my first son was born, I finished my exams as a lawyer and concentrated on this, on my family and my law career. But I regularly went to Ostgut and other clubs, and still bought records all the time.
Nowadays you're only a part-time DJ and producer and a full-time lawyer. Are you happy with this balance?
Of course. I'm sometimes asked if I could imagine to stop working as a lawyer and only be a producer or a DJ, but this could not work for me personally. I have both sides. If I did only one thing, I would miss the other.
Do you feel like you live a double life?
No. It's one life, but it's a fulfilled life, with a family and a good job. Maybe this isn't the right comparison, but as I see it, others play football in their free time or sing in a choir. I DJ at Berghain. It's no contradiction in my eyes.
When and where did you record the mix?
It was the beginning of July, in Berghain. I had some time to prepare it, but in the end, like always, it had to be "done yesterday." First I had a rough mix in April or May with a tracklist, then we tried to figure out all the licensing and stuff like that. I had to switch some tracks, take some out, put others in. In two days when we had cleared all the rights, I did the mix in the Berghain sometime during the week.
As with all installments in the Berghain and Panorama Bar series, Berghain 06 features a handful of exclusive tracks that will be released on a 12-inch, due out on the same day as the mix. These come from Mark Broom, Patrick Gräser and Birds Two Cage, all of whom will join Nodge at the official mix release party, taking place at Berghain on November 10th.
Tracklist
01. Birds Two Cage - Gase
02. Oni Ayhun - OAR 002-B
03. Mokira - Manipulation Musik (Redshape Tape Dub)
04. Patrick Gräser - From Foreign Territories
05. Hauntologists - Untitled (B1)
06. Staffan Linzatti - Morning
07. Jeff Mills - Keeping Of The Kept
08. Silent Servant - Untitled (A1)
09. DJ T-1000 - Metra
10. The Nighttripper - Tone Explotation (Planerary Assault Systems Remix)
11. Charlton - Black Slong
12. Architectural - Looking Ahead
13. Mark Broom - Vault 5
14. Ctrls - Socket
15. Chancellor - Roundabouts
16. Tim Taylor & DJ Slip - New York Minds
17. El Gato #9 - Coefficient Of Friction (Monty Luke Back Catalogue Remix)
18. Radioactive Man - Nastyradio
19. Xosar - Rainy Day Juno Jam (Legowelt Remix)
Ostgut Ton will release Berghain 06 on October 22nd, 2012.
