For the second episode of TGMS Nordic Distinct, I’ve invited Clubminimal Sthlm, a Stockholm based crew who focuses on diversity in the club scene, as well as encouraging and lift new talents, always leaning back on the love for music.
Club Minimal Sthlm consists of Gustav (Franck With You), Stefan (Lenok), Axel (Axel Sjögren) and Andreas (Samis303), who’ve hosted clubs at places such as Slakthuset, Little T8ng and Timebar to name a few.
I’ve been curious about these guys for a while, and have listened to their individual mixtapes and really felt like I wanted to gather them all for an interview, talking about them as a crew and their musical experiences together. The interview is accompanied by an interesting, deep and energetic b3b, recorded live from Slakthuset.
Connect with Clubminimal Sthlm on Soundcloud | Facebook
So first of all, how did you guys meet?
Gustav and Stefan are the founding members and we met when we were neighbours way back. Andreas Samuelsson came along a few years later, and we met him on the dancefloor at some rave we hosted. Axel Sjögren is the most recent addition to the crew. Gustav met him at Borderland (co-creation event in Denmark) where they spent almost every minute behind the decks together, he was a natural Clubminimal member.
And when did you start your musical path together, DJing and hosting clubs?
Originally we (Gustav and Stefan) started around 2007 after a trip to Barcelona where we had the bright idea to try and bring the feeling of the underground to “overground-places”. That didn’t work out too well as all the clubs we hosted our parties at were afraid that we’d bring too much attention from the police. After co-hosting open-air parties under the name Park Life, we had to take a break. All of us have also been on parental leave from hosting parties and playing but we always kept the same crew together. We set up a goal a few years ago where we said that we wanted to arrange a festival on an international scale.
How would you describe your sound and style?
Techno that is feeding solely from the energy of the dance floor. Not too dark, not too polished. – Lagom!
Tell us about the concept of Club Minimal Sthlm:
We want to educate people what, we believe, techno is and should be. We are focusing on inviting the local talents as there is so many really good DJs in Stockholm and in Sweden. Regularly we host something we call New Talents Night where new and aspiring DJs can play before an audience. The most important thing we try to teach is that a good DJ MUST know how to dance. You don’t become a DJ because it’s cool or looks flashy, you become a DJ because you have an urge to communicate your feelings to people.
Except for your club, tell us about your favourite clubs / late-night venues in Stockholm.
Slakthuset: Always something interesting thing going on there.
Loftet: The ONLY place in Sweden that has a dance permit (Sweden has this weird rule) from 11 am to 7 am. They do a mix of genres but the atmosphere and the sound system is world-class.
Botanica: Another world-class sound system featuring top of the line artists playing minimal house.
If you could have produced any record in the world, which one would it be?
Gustav: KLF – The White Room
Stefan: Beatles – Let It Be
Axel: Motormännen – Informationstechno
Andreas: Eelke Kleijn – any record.
Last but not least; what can we expect from the mix you made?
Timeless, dance-friendly techno from our favourite artists released during the last 10 years. In this mix, Axel, Gustav, and Stefan are playing a totally unplanned B3B at Slakthuset in Stockholm so, as always, the energy in the mix comes a lot from the dancefloor. We actually quit doing studio recordings as we feel like they’re too bland and boring to listen to. We do this because we absolutely love to communicate with the dance floor (And be on it ourselves).
Thank you
