Falhaber is one of The Hague’s hometown heroes. After getting international recognition with his track Rock the Beat he started doing shows for sold out warehouses. Besides producing and DJ-ing he also works at PIP Den Haag booking artists, so it was about time to catch up and ask him about some of his favourite tracks, and what his secret weapon is on the dance floor.
You’ve said before you discovered electronic music and techno at Dour festival. What were some of the performances that stuck with you from that festival?
Yeah so I went to Dour festival 9 years ago when I was 15. Before that time I already discovered some electronic music by going out with friends to places such as PIP but it was after this festival that I really got into it and started to create my own taste in music, instead of just blindly joining friends to parties.
The performances that really stood out for me were Gesaffelstein, Brodniski, Karenn and Len Faki. There is this Youtube video of Len Faki playing Ø [Phase] – Further Trials while everyone is screaming ‘Dourehhh’. I still get the chills every time that I watch that video as I can recall that exact moment so well. Standing there in that huge crowd when that happened was really the moment that made me think yes, this is exactly the music that I have been looking for all my life and as soon as I get home I want to get to know everything about it.
Also have to mention that besides these electronic acts that got me into this music that I really enjoyed seeing Wu Tang and Jurassic 5. Before getting into electronic music I was all about hip hop and seeing these legendary acts was something that I cherish until this day,
You’ve worked at Tresor in Berlin, a true institute in the electronic music scene. What is the most important thing you’ve learned working there?
It definitely is a true institue in the electronic music scene indeed! The fact that I had the chance to work at Tresor’s booking department and that I was able to host my own night there is still insane for me to think about. Working there with such an amazing team was really a blessing. I think I learned the most important/inspirational thing there while speaking with the owner Dimitri Hegemann during dinner as he told me about the whole history of the club. All these stories about how they started out really convinced and inspired me to truly do what you love and to follow your passion.
Besides that I obviously also learned a lot while working in the office and doing artist care during the nights. Especially hosting my own event there is an experience that I’ll take with me for the rest of my life. Planning the whole thing and taking care of all the artists during the night + the whole crew that joined while I also did the closing downstairs, which turned out to be my longest set ever, was very intense but definitely also very educational.
Have a weird / funny / crazy Tresor story to share?
I definitely have had plenty of weird, funny and crazy experiences there but I think it will be best if I keep those to myself hehe 🙂
Playing a lot of warehouse parties in France, what do you think is the biggest difference between the French and the Dutch party scene?
I think that in France everything is so much less polished than it is over here in Holland. Over there they just find a crazy venue, throw down some speakers and go for it. That does sometimes result in some difficulties but really those types of gigs are most fun to me. I’m just a huge fan of this do it yourself mentality. Holland definitely has a lot of exciting venues, festivals and what not but I think that this new age scene in France is really refreshing and inspiring.
Which scene do you enjoy more?
Both scenes have something unique in their own way but given the fact that I have had more gigs in France, so also more crazy experiences, combined with this do it yourself mentality I’d say France. But I definitely don’t want to downplay the scene over here in Holland because that one is very exciting as well. Especially initiatives such as you guys (and lots of others) are really a refreshing addition to the scene that I think was much needed.
Tell us about your Secret Weapon.
So this track is not that big of a secret and I’ve also really thought about if I wanted to be that guy that chooses his own track for this, but in the end it is really the one that I either play as an encore after my set or during my set when the moment is right or when I need to get the crowd to go with me again.
Even when I don’t play the track it happens a lot that I either get phones shown to me asking to do it or I have people telling me after my set that they wished that I would have played it. Besides it being my most famous track it is also the one that I’m most proud of so far. I will even get the track title tatted on me in two weeks, haha.
I made this track in one night while living in Berlin. I just came home from clubbing and ended up having a chat with my roommate about how special the old Love Parade events were and about the beauty of the whole open minded scene in Berlin in general. He was from Romania and he told me stories about how people over there (and sadly still at a lot of different places as well) get harassed just about the fact that they are being themselves really made me think. I think it’s really something special that music connects people the way that it does and that it makes them forget about reality for a moment. I mean, the world that we live in is far from perfect but when you’re connecting with the people around you while dancing to music does make it seem like that’s the case, at least for that moment.
I wanted to convey that exact feeling in this track and because this conversation started about the Love Parade it was only logical for me to use footage from those parties for the video clip. Sadly the original upload got deleted from Youtube after hitting almost 300k plays but I’m glad that everytime that I play this track I still get that magical feeling on which the track is based.