I don’t live in Berlin either

A couple of weeks ago the makers of  “Speaking In Code” got in contact with me asking if ISM would like to have a look at their documentary. Myself and Tom decided that it would be interesting if we both watched the film and wrote about it from our own perspectives, seeing as one of us lived in the US where the makers were from and the other in Europe, where the filmmakers believed a  more viable  techno lifestyle was obtainable.

Just to re-cap, the film follows David Day and his wife Amy as they travel to Europe to meet artists and djs and experience their life while alternately trying to create a hub of techno-related activity in their hometown of Boston.

Except for some time spent in Barcelona, they focused most of their attention on Germany, in the cities of Koln & Berlin and a small town called Jena (the base for The Whignomy Brothers and their label). Having lived for a time in Germany myself – mainly in a small town outside of Frankfurt, and for a couple of months in Berlin – I’ll say that it can be a pretty great place to live and one with a healthy respect for and dedication to electronic dance music, but I would still disagree  with their insistence in glorifying it. I can understand the frustrations of hearing of these cities and their communities that can seemingly live techno, but those hubs of activity didn’t come about by wanting to be someone else or somewhere else. The odd bit might have been taken from here and there, but their own identity was firmly stamped on it.

I live in Dublin now and for a city it’s size it has a pretty healthy scene. But it shares some similarities with Boston in that it too has archaic opening hours; we can’t go clubbing all night long and once clubs close it’s back to someone’s house, not some disused warehouse. We do get a large amount of big names coming through, but at one stage there was nearly too much going on. A lot of people love the music in the city, but there was an over abundance of promoting going on. During the film David may have lost his arse on a Modeselektor gig in Boston but what did one expect, flying two people in from another continent and putting them on in a tiny venue . At least it sold out. Many big names have come through Dublin and played to pretty empty clubs. We’ve no record shops like Kompakt and there is no distributor like Forced Exposure (the distro company David worked for) bringing music in. There is a fine regard for electronic dance music in the city, but people who work on making it all happen have frustrating limitations that they have to work around and some do it well. There aren’t really that many attempts to recreate an ideal from another city, and any attempts are usually pretty cringe-worthy. The better parties don’t try and make it like it is somewhere else.

I don’t really see why the makers of the film had to break the bank flying to Germany and then driving to a small town to hang out with The Wighnomy Brothers to witness a techno community/family working together.  The people who forged the techno scene in the 90s in Berlin didn’t have the money to fly around to see how it was done in other places, they just went ahead and did it their own way. I can understand Tom’s bemusement with the filmmakers being so enamoured by whats going on in Europe, as if it can’t be done in the states. Yes, it will be different and more difficult due to how techno is perceived over there, but surely it being different is a good thing. And it has been done in the past.

It’s different in Dublin compared to London and it’s different there than it is in Berlin. The culture of these places and their enviroments mean that they have their own identity. It’s easily noticeable on the dancefloor. Throughout much of the film David seems frustrated that he can’t have it like it is in Koln or wherever, but we can’t have it like that in Dublin either, we just get on with it. Gladly, in David’s case he did too, the more the film went on. But at huge personal and financial costs due to his obsession with what goes on abroad. It didn’t feel like the trips to Europe had a real impact on what went on back home. I could be wrong. It could be a failing of the narrative of the film that I perceive it this way.

If for the sake of the film they wanted to show a techno community and/or big festivals I don’t understand why they didn’t visit Submerge in Detroit or go to the Movement Festival up there. Taking away their own personal preference for the music emanating from Germany both would have still been perfectly fine examples of what they travelled to Europe for. Having said that  I understand from the film that the whole project was maybe more personal than that and that they wanted to document communities built around music they love such as Kompakt, but it just highlights a – for me –  somewhat bizarre dismissal of techno communities in America. But Tom has touched on that already, so I won’t discuss it any further. But I did find it ironic that the head of Forced Exposure and one of the members of Modeselektor were sporting UR tee-shirts at different stages.

As someone living in Europe and one who’s witnessed various different cities scenes I think the film would have been more interesting if there had been more focus on what David did in his hometown. Too much of it was focused on him being tired and drained, with much of the story behind that being filled in by voice-over. Too often it would cut back to superfluous footage of some European producers living this supposedly grandiose life style, that was so much better than theirs. I know producers and label owners in Ireland and abroad in Europe and it ain’t all happy smiles and joy. (And anyways, I’d swear Robert Henke was born with that goofy grin that he permanently has on his face). Some of the contrasting footage got a bit heavy handed at times, I presume with the intention of making Europe seem like a distant dream and home being grim and unrewarding. There’s no denying that Boston doesn’t have much going on, but I feel it is more important to really look at what options one has in ones own area and going from there. Or looking at what is happening in cities closer to home to see how they do it. Not going over and gawking in awe at Kompakt’s record store. Stores like that – especially now – are not the norm.

The aim of the film was a bit muddled at times. This could be due to the personal issues that arose between David and Amy. Were they trying to highlight to Americans how it is in Europe, were they just trying to show themselves? I didn’t find it too insightful as a European. As the film progressed it seemed that David was putting on successful parties in his home town, and so what if they are small. Having bigger parties won’t necessarily legitimise what you are doing. Having big names from across the water play won’t either. This music does not need to be legitimised, no matter where you live. It is what it is.

It wasn’t a bad film; it did meander at times but other parts were interesting. There is something very lovable about The Wighnomy Brothers and they also went some way to dismiss the idea that everything comes up smelling of roses over here too, which was certainly needed. Earlier on Tobias Thomas also talked about how he is dismayed by the whole thing at times. I did admire David’s commitment to what he loves – many of us have made sacrifices for this music – but I never really empathised or sympathised with what they went through, I was more perplexed.