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How the geek came out of the closet

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:45:43 GMT

Pudding-bowl hairstyles cut by mother. Oversized, thick-rimmed spectacles. Trousers that stop an inch or two above the ankle. Sandals worn with socks. Pencils and pens neatly racked in the breast pockets of a short-sleeved shirt. Being interested in (but in all probability obsessed with) computers, plants, musical instruments, comic books, trains, analogue synthesisers, special effects, video games, trivia or magic tricks. Just about anything, that is, apart from the opposite sex.

All these may seem to be signifiers of a particular breed of person - the geek, the dweeb, the nerd, spod, anorak, trainspotter or any other kind of wonky social misfit. But equally, they could just as well describe the kind of ultra-trendy directional hipster you might see wandering through Shoreditch, falling out of a Kreuzberg bar, or swinging through the streets of Williamsburg pecking on their iPhone, lacing up their Nike Air Napalm Death XVIII sneakers and adjusting their fluoro-yellow Ray-Ban Wayfarers in the glinting eastern seaboard sunshine.

Where once the geek and the hipster occupied the opposing extremes of a social ladder – and never the twain would meet - these days, you’d struggle to put a Post-it Note between the two. In terms of who they are, what they do and how they look, they’re one and the same. And just as how we all became a hell of a lot trendier in the last 30 years, we’ve also become way geekier too. And so have our heroes. Because when you consider the characters who are really driving culture forward today, the ones who make the headlines, write the songs, create the looks and design the technologies that make the world tick tock tick, you‘d be hard pressed not to notice that their unifying DNA is a certain wonky social unease and an obliviousness to prevailing notions of ‘cool’ that has transformed into a form of cool in itself.

From computing to fashion to music to politics, so often pop culture’s new gods are the kind of gawky, sexless, blinks-too-often dweeb whom you used to make a point of avoiding at the school disco. People who stand too close to you when they talk, don‘t notice when their flies are undone, and who, at the merest invitation, will froth on at great, enthusiastic length about the new iPhone, some vintage spectacle unearthed on Taiwanese eBay, or some other speck of weirdness discovered on Google Maps, in a second-hand record shop or deep within the CGI murk of World Of Warcraft. People who you think might smell a bit funny, and probably have parents with strong religious convictions.

This isn’t to suggest that world-beating A-List anoraks, real or fictional, like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Flight of the Conchords, Spike Jonze, Marc Jacobs, Richie Hawtin, Napoleon Dynamite, Ugly Betty, Morrissey or Chloe Sevigny have all the social finesse of a bowl of muesli. But you have to admit it comes to something when the world’s biggest brand, Google, is named after an algorithm (algorithms are the new black, apparently).

It has been predicted (albeit as a joke) that ‘the geek shall inherit the earth’, but it turns out that over the past thirty-odd years, they really have. Nevertheless, they did it in the face of tremendous adversity and often against a cold shoulder the size of the Himalayas. Introspective and bedroomy, misunderstood and ignored, unfashionable and usually downright odd, geeks were society’s natural outsiders, and therefore were forced to define themselves and carve out their own territory against the rich, the beautiful and the powerful. From take-no-shit rock stars and the sexual athletes of Hollywood to the omnipotent deities of Wall Street, the political Alpha Males and the jocks of the sports arenas: they all looked down on the geeks. But the geeks not only broke through the glass ceiling of acceptability, they also forced society to change along the way.

Secret Lives of Dreamers and Obsessives

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:38:37 GMT

Roman Vardijan – FASHION FETISHIST

There are those who claim to be clothes obsessed and then there are people like Roman Vardijan, who are quite simply a few fashionable steps beyond. A student of Apparel Production Technology Roman spends his weekends scouring the Berlin flea markets for vintage garments and items, and shares his one-room flat with innumerable shoes, giant lipsticks and a few sequin cranes in the bathroom. He does let the amateurs benefit from his obsession through Nightboutique though, an event where some of his hard-won treasures can actually be purchased.

› WWW.MYSPACE.COM/NIGHTBOUTIQUE

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Stephen Walter – SYMBOLIC CARTOGRAPHER

Stephen Walter’s The Island is in basic terms a very large map of London with incredible miniscule detail that took the artist over two years to complete and necessitates the use of a magnifying glass to see properly. Geographically accurate with the city’s main landmarks, roads and rivers, the map is a spoof of an historical map, featuring Walter’s selective historical listings based on local stereotypes or celebrity trivia for example. The artist is currently in Berlin and it seems he’ll be here for a while, working as he is on a map of the German capital.

› WWW.STEPHENWALTER.CO.UK

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Robert Henke – SYMPHONIC TECHNICIAN

Better known in music circles as monolake, Henke studied sound engineering and computer science and has had an incalculable influence on electronic music production through his development of one of the most successful commercial music software, Ableton Live. Fascinated by technology as a medium for artistic expression, Henke maintains that technology fuels inspiration and art fuels technological development, and the truth of these claims are well-manifested in the correlation between his creations in music and innovations in technology.

› WWW.MONOLAKE.DE

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Sven Hannes – TEMPLE CONSTRUCTIONER

Sven is a writer/historian shortly before publishing a book on nuclear weapons, but more interestingly a man with a most unusual hobby. Sven has an interest in classical architecture you see, and has created 30 different temples using different types of ‘jenga’ blocks in his own home. The constructions – which can take months to build – are eventually deconstructed, keeping as close to a natural process of deterioration as possible! Temple building is like an addiction to Sven, causing him to forget about time, eating or leaving the house. He’s managed enough time outdoors to meet a girlfriend though, and she has commissioned a temple for their living room.

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Philipp Haffmans – THE BIFOCAL MAN

An avid eyewear collector and designer, Philipp has devoted himself to the art of eyewear couture for more than 10 years. In glass-wear design, where a millimetre can make all the difference in achieving the perfect fit for facial features, Philipp has managed, along with design partner Harald Gottschling, to leave something of a legacy with the design of the screwless hinge, flat metal frame. Not surprisingly these spectacles are very popular with other four-eyes due to the featherweight and modern style.

› WWW.MYKITA.COM

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Protey Temen – GRAPHIC HAPPYTALIST

Precocious Protey became art director at Zunge Design at the fair age of 20. Four years later Protey inhabits a personal world of kiddy-styled graphics. The bright and basic simplicity of his style is wholly individual and manages to make a strong statement that belies his young years. Currently Protey is working on projects based on his notion of Dobrotarizm (translating roughly to Happytalism) and also draws inspiration from idiosyncratic sources like the symbiosis of tasks and feelings, advertisements, life-hacks and popular social self-improvement questions.

› WWW.PROTEYTEMEN.COM | › WWW.ZUNGEDESIGN.RU

The Ultimate Pop Culture Geeks Part four

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:51:42 GMT

Jarvis Cocker

During the mid-nineties pop media circus, where massive ego reigned large (Gallager brothers particularly spring to mind), Jarvis Cocker became a hero for the disillusioned. Renowned not only for being tall, lanky and wearing bookish glasses, but also for his wit and critical observations of the cultural scene; Jarvis famously stormed the stage at the 1996 BRIT Awards in protest of Michael Jackson performing dressed in a white robe and making Christ-like poses while surrounded by children and a Rabbi. VP

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André 3000 from Outkast

Not many hip hop stars start off their musical careers learning to play the violin. Or hang out in VIP rooms wearing a nice sweater and golf pants. Or cite Kate Bush or Aphex Twin as their major influences. After a childhood of bucking hip hop trends, in 2004 yoga-loving Andre Lauren Benjamin was voted the world’s Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity and the World’s Best Dressed Man by Esquire magazine primarily for his mix of psychedelic hip hop and geek chic. Where his partner in Outkast is best known for his blinged out hip hop attitude (he has a shark pool in his mansion for god’s sake!), Andre describes himself as “the most nervous man in the world” and fronts his own label Benjamin Bixby best known for its flair for dandy, seventies style fashion. BR

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Moby

Where do we start? The great, great grand nephew of Moby Dick author Herman Melville started life as Richard Melville Hall. A baldie from an early age, he took first to vegetarianism, environmental activism and Christianity, before finally letting loose to rediscover his naughty side in recent years as a titanic force in electronic pop music. Moby found fame in the UK rave scene of the early nineties through songs like ‘Go’ that paved the way for future coffee table classic albums ‘18’ and ‘Play.’ Another champion of thick-rimmed glasses (there’s a pattern forming here somewhere), he’s almost as famous for his vegetarian café and tea emporium Teany in New York’s Lower East Side, where he likes to share his love of tea with the world, as he is for being a self-confessed bad dancer and purveyor of chart-friendly dance music. GH

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Gaylord Fockerin ‘Meet the Fockers’

Ben Stiller is legendary for the many geek characters he has created, but his most impressive achievement as a writer and actor is Gaylord (Greg) Focker in the two smash-hit films. Gaylord is the accident-prone male nurse who wants to marry Pam, who just happens to be the daughter of retired ex-CIA hardman Jack (Robert de Niro). Like a classic geek, he was never good at sports, yet his parents kept all of his mediocre achievements like coming fivth or sixth place in various sports competitions in a shrine called The Wall of Gaylord that is still on show for all houseguests to see. Other highlights include the fact that his mother keeps his foreskin in The Book of Gaylord. And how Jack puts him through various CIA tortures, like a lie-detector test or injecting him with truth-serum, is painful to watch whilst being hilariously funny. Chaos ensues but true love prevails and geek gets girl. LMG

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Quentin Tarantino

One characteristic binds each Tarantino film together: amazing music. From Pulp Fiction to Kill Bill, each of his films is accompanied by an iconic soundtrack advertising his indelible skills as a music selector as well as film geek. And as geeks go, he’s one of the biggest in the business. Tarantino began his film career, not at an expensive film school, but aged 22 in his local video rental shop ‘Video Archives’ in Manhattan Beach, California, where he says his observations of what kinds of people rented different types of films helped inform his future career as a director. His latest project to hit screens, The Grindhouse project with co-director and comic geek Robert Rodriguez, is a homage to seventies slasher movies. Like all of his films, it cuts a thin line between being an original work of film-making as it does a homage to his favourite scenes in nerdy cult classics. GH

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Carrie Munden aka Cassetteplaya

The trendiest fashion geek on the planet. She has dressed MIA, Afrikan Boy, Kano, Dizzee and the rest of the grime brigade, Klaxons and too many other cool cats to mention. She was there at the start of the massive ‘nu-rave’ craze – just don’t dare call her clothes that anymore. She’s moved on, you see. Yes, Cassetteplaya can be hard on the eyes; her neon T-shirts and crazy patterned leggings and trousers are not for the faint of fashion heart – only hardcore daring hipsters with a good sense of humour really get this stuff. But that’s all part of it. Wearing her clothes means you are in on the joke, a member of a small insiders-only club, which after all, is the ultimate aim for every serious fashion geek. Plus the fact that she bears a striking resemblance to Sue Pollard just adds to the genius of it. LMG

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Hot Chip

The very fact that every promotional photo of Hot Chip looks like a portrait of Napoleon Dynamite’s extended family is a sign that geeks now rule pop music. Bestival curator and Radio 1 guru Rob Da Bank claims they’re “accidentally cool” but how did the band go from being bedroom synthesizer obsessives to one of pop music’s best discerning bands? Timing has a lot to do with it. The band’s second album, The Warning, was released in 2006 just as icons like Napoleon Dynamite were enjoying cult status and Europe was drowning in a sea of look-alike indie bands. Citing geek gods Kraftwerk or New Order as influences, the band are the latest in a long line of electro pop bands made up of one part sophisticated grooves, one part hook melodies and one part goofy clothes. BR

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Chloé Sevigny

As the originator and champion of ‘The Chloe Sevigny School of Ironic Dressing’, Chloe made ugly clothes into such an art that she completely inverted people’s concept of style aesthetics, and was eventually anointed a twenty-first century fashion maven, inspiring thousands of like-minded ‘individuals’ to scour the dark corners of second-hand shops for the most bizarre creations available, often with a less favourable outcome than their icon unfortunately. If you still doubt her influence, consider the now ubiquitous Ray-Ban Wayfarer in stark white: first seen on Chloe circa 2003. VP

The Ultimate Pop Culture Geeks Part three

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:45:37 GMT

Michael Cera as Paulie Bleeker in ‘Juno’

Michael Cera has emerged as the cult geek actor of the moment – he played Evan in Superbad and Paulie in Juno to rave reviews. Both roles highlight his natural sweetness, sensitivity and let’s face it, inherent geekiness, and have turned him into an overnight sensation – he is now amongst Hollywood’s property. It was his role as the awkward teenager, who impregnates his girlfriend Juno, that really put him on the map – and specifically his track and field running outfit – the short shorts, the long socks, the vest that hangs off his skinny pale frame and the headband crowning it all off beautifully. Juno was entranced and so were we all. LMG

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Anthony Michael Hall as ‘The Geek’

You may not know the name but if you have watched any of John Hughes’ high-school comedy classics, like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club or Weird Science, you will know the face. In these films Hall was consistently cast as the likable misfit and with his scrawny pale frame, braces, squeaky voice and twitchy gestures became the posterboy of geek for an entire generation. To relive the simple days of true nerdiness, we recommend an Anthony Michael Hall movie extravaganza – too good to describe. VP

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Daft Punk

The lords of dance music began their careers as two spotty teenage geeks in failed French band, Darlin before beginning an obsession with dance music. After handing a demo to Slam’s Stuart McMillan, the duo quickly rocketed to super stardom. Now, just take one look at any Daft Punk endeavour and it’s easy to spot their geek tendencies. Obsession with comics? Check their animated film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem produced under the supervision of cult manga creator Leiji Matsumoto. Collectors of figurines? See their collection of associated Daft Punk toys. Love of science fiction-related paraphernalia? Gaze in wonder at their robot helmets rumoured to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. Obsession with film? See their own Electroma or check out the long list of esteemed directors behind their videos which include Spike Jonze and Roman Coppola. BR

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Aaron Ruell as Kip in ‘Napoleon Dynamite‘

As a wimpy 32-year old still living at home, Kip in many ways outdoes his younger brother Napoleon in the nerd stakes of this film. From rollerblading to his obsession with internet chatrooms, Kip’s geekdom climaxes with the arrival of his internet girlfriend LaFawnduh, who restyles him ghetto, hip-hop style. But even as a pale wigger Kip is entirely casual and comfortable. This blissful ignorance of his own absurdity, or more positively put, complete lack of self-consciousness, should be an inspiration to all. VP

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Dr. Who

The Doctor, who travelled through time thanks to a magical tardis, is also the man who has championed the geek chic look. Many actors have played The Doctor (it is the longest running TV series in history, starting way back on the BBC in 1963!) and some fashion favourites have been the long woolly scarf and the tailed leather jacket. Think absent-minded, eccentric and oddly-trendy professor, and you’re there. Now the latest actor to play him, David Tennant, has said his look is definitely ‘geek chic’ – think pin stripe suits with trainers, glasses and skinny ties as accessories. He could probably be in an indie band or dating Kate Moss if he wasn’t so busy time travelling. LMG

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Maggie Gyllenhaal as Lee Holloway In ‘The Secretary’

If we’re talking about nerd-style you can’t go past Maggie in this dark, but deeply romantic film about the socially awkward Lee Holloway, who is hired by an eccentric lawyer despite her stilted social skills and unprofessional appearance. What begins as frumpy layering of cardigans and pussy-bowed blouses paired with knee-length shapeless skirts turns into this fantastic style of chaste sophistication. Buttoned up – and typing! – was never so sexy. VP

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Viktor & Rolf

The Amsterdam duo, who in their formal and identical dress have continually drawn comparisons to artist-twosome Gilbert & George, exist in a kind of hybrid zone between fashion and art. Known for theatricality and the great sculptural quality of their clothes, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren shared a sense of alienation in their schooldays, but when they met in 1988 at the very start of their fashion studies, recognised a similar sensibility right away. Together they create designs, which are both cerebral and breathtaking, and the clever theatricality of their shows make conventional runway about as interesting as a visit to the dentist. VP

The Ultimate Pop Culture Geeks Part two

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:13:11 GMT

Lisa Simpson

Lisa Simpson is easily the most likeable of all the Simpson Family, which is a victory for geeks everywhere. Not only does she have to put up with Bart for a brother and Homer for a dad (can you imagine?), but she has managed to turn out relatively sane, charming, pretty, oh and with a massive intellect to boot. At only eight years old, she has an IQ of 159, is multilingual and is a virtuoso piano and saxophone player! You don’t get geekier credentials than that. Forget Hilary Clinton’s attempt to be the first female US President –- that job is waiting for Lisa Simpson. LMG

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Kanye West

Before becoming one of the world’s most famous hip hop stars, Kanye started out producing stars like Alicia Keys and Jay-Z. Then a fateful car accident provided the impetus to push him into success on the other side of the mixing desk. Like Andre, he bucks hip hop fashion trends by constantly sporting dorky glasses or rugby shirts and unlike many hip hop stars, he hails from a middle-class background. But how does he like to relax while off duty? By playing nerdy board game Connect Four. “When I was in Europe I would play it for hours and hours,” he says in a blog on his website. “It helped me zone out.” On www.kanyeuniversecity.com, the pint-sized, stadium-mouthed producer/rapper nerds out about photographers, designer cars, furniture, clothes and virtually anything else nerdworthy of blog excitement. BR

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Heather Matarazzo as Dawn Wiener in ‘Welcome To The Dollhouse’

Dawn Wiener will break your heart. Never has there been a more wronged and tormented pre-teen in movie history. The deeply unpopular seventh grader has all the wrong hair, skin, clothes and glasses, is as gawky and geeky as is humanely possible, and surrounded by sadists only to ready to respond to her vibes as a potential victim. Director Todd Solondz’s view of junior-high is brutal and unforgiving, and Matarazzo’s dead-on character Dawn will remind all – whether they identify or now sympathise – that though things tend to work out in the end, being a geek ain’t always easy! VP

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Erol Alkan

If Erol’s black thick-rimmed glasses weren’t enough of a giveaway to his status as one of the kings of musical geekery, then his record collection speaks for itself. The Turkish descendent, London-born DJ first made a name for himself as one of the leading lights of the bootleg scene. Best known for hitching Kylie’s ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’ with New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’ (which was later performed live at the Brits), his love of pastiche record culture spawned an entire scene of bootleggers and buoyed on his legendary club night Trash. But before stardom beckoned, Erol honed his craft deejaying from the age of thirteen onwards, often sneaking out of his parents’ house for as little as a tenner. Although the now defunct Trash ended after a decade of revolutionary parties, it began thanks to some old-fashioned record sleuthing. Even at the age of four, Erol deejayed for his mum, unable to read the covers of the records but remembering each one by their sleeve art. BR

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Thom Browne

In his buzz cut, naked ankles and ultra-narrow suit, Thom Browne looks a little like an accountant from the fifties whose suit got chucked in the drier. But he is in fact an award-winning, cutting-edge men’s fashion designer and the reason an increasing number of male fashionistas are sporting highwater trousers and sockless feet in brogues. His advancement of geek chic comes as a reaction to the hordes of men who can’t seem to move on from their adolescent wardrobe; in a world where T-shirt and jeans are Establishment, he has made the suit both subversive and incredibly snazzy VP

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Clark Kent

What was so unique about the Clark Kent character was that he gave geeks a never-had-before mystery and sex appeal. Because the core message was that hiding inside every bespectacled, awkward geek there just might possibly be a Superman. It served as a great reminder to Lois Lanes everywhere to take a closer look at their geeky buddies or work colleagues: take off those thick-rimmed black glasses and ruffle that hair and you just might notice something you didn’t see before. LMG

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James Zabiela

Progressive house star James Zabiela is proof that constant practice does pay off, even if you’re as far removed from the typical DJ superstar stereotype as is possible to be. The UK twenty-something DJ broke through the ranks after impressing Sasha with his skills and earning a slot on his Excession agency. Few nerds can claim to be real geeks without a lifelong devotion to Star Wars. James was bitten by the George Lucas bug at the age of three. Now he spends his off duty time in cities around the world collecting sci-fi memorabilia from films like Star Wars or Doctor Who (his house contains a life-sized Storm Trooper and two life-sized Daleks). His first single was naturally called ‘Robophobia’ and he’s currently sponsored by Pioneer thanks to his inhuman skills on CD players and effects units honed after hours and hours of daily practice as a young hopeful. And despite being introduced to dance music by his raver parents, James, apart from a one off wayward beer from DJ Nic Fanciulli, is famously teetotal. GEEK! GH

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Carlton Banks

Carlton Banks was the academic, well-spoken and über-rich character played by Alfonso Ribeiro in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Carlton became a preppy geek icon with his amazing wardrobe of spotted bow-ties, cashmere jumpers knotted around the shoulders, knee-length shorts and well-shined shoes. But Carlton was also special because he was a black man and a geek, who didn’t want to conform to the more stereotypical alpha male, lady-killer, hip-hip type that Will Smith’s character embodied. Therefore watching the two characters interact with each other was really interesting and often hilarious (remember when Will would catch Carlton doing his freaky dancing?) and the show became a smash hit of the nineties. Kanye West had even recently said that his new line of shoes for luxury brand Louis Vuitton is inspired by the character Carlton Banks. LMG

The Ultimate Pop Culture Geeks Part one

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 10:38:00 GMT

It’s time to really get your geek on! In case you ever wondered who are the greatest geeks from the worlds of fashion, film, music and TV look no further because we have gathered them all together in our Ultimate Pop Culture Geeks List! From Chloe Sevigny and Jarvis Cocker to Kanye West, Lisa Simpson and Erol Alkan - you will love this list. Then Kevin Braddock has written a slamdunk of an article (which makes him a bit of a geek too actually) detailing how the geeks have come out of the closet over the last four decades taking us up to where we are today, which is basically that it’s a nerd’s world – we just live in it.

The importance of the geek’s role in pop culture cannot be underestimated. Infamous fictional geek characters from the worlds of TV and film have always been around us as we have grown up. In the late eighties and nineties everyone knew that Clark Kent was the superhuman geek who could never tell Louis how he really felt or that Anthony Michael Hall would always play the awkward scrawny geek in films such as The Breakfast Club and that Carlton Banks was the unlucky-in-love nerd who would never be as cool as his cousin Wil - who was of course The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. And so geeks pervaded the popular consciousness but were always portrayed as characters that were somehow a tad pitiful: they were unlucky, they were insecure, they didn’t ever get laid or get taken seriously by their peers. They were losers in the big game called life.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when the stereo-typing of geeks stopped, but suddenly things definitely started to change. There were still geeks around, sure, major major geeks, but somehow public opinion was shifting. Instead of derision and pity, the public began to see geeks with a touch of admiration. Look at the Lisa Simpson character - she is a major nerd yet she is undeniably great and cool. Her deadpan handling of her dysfunctional family is hilarious. Surely her character was drawn for all those real-life geeky kids, who escape difficult home lives by diving into their books. Or perhaps it was confident and intelligent actress Chloe Sevigny, who has always worn what the damn hell she pleases - even if it has been sitting in the back of her grandmother’s closet for 50 years? No matter, suddenly that was the height of cool. Or was it Daft Punk? - Two music wizkids so nerdy they never appear without their robot heads. The hipsters roared with appreciation and made them superstars. Or was it Tarantino, with his encyclopaedic knowledge of obscure film genres such as slasher horror and kung fu? The public stampeded to the cinemas and made them become blockbuster hits.

Who knows when we all got so geeky, but you only have to see how new films such as Juno handle the role of the geek so wonderfully (the Paulie character is basically the hero of the film) to realise that the geek has changed beyond all recognition from his eighties guise. Here is our list of the Ultimate Pop Culture Geeks (25 of them in no specific order) to help you see just how the geek has transformed. All Hail the Geek!

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Steve Urkel

Steve Urkel is the god of nerd-style: high-water trousers yanked just a little too far up his butt, bright braces clashing with buttoned up shirts in glaring colours and multi-coloured cardigans and then, of course, the must-have windscreen-style glasses. This may now be the height of style and many a trend conscious fellow could glean fashion tips from Urkel, but remember that it was his embodiment of complete ridiculousness that became the main draw of the 1980s-1990s sitcom Family Matters. VP

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Richie Hawtin

He might have a reputation for being a blonde-mopped techno troubadour these days, but minimal’s brightest talent wasn’t always the coolest kid in clubland. Throughout the nineties, Hawtin was the posterboy for the stereotypical techno baldie, sporting a shaven pinhead and black thick-rimmed glasses. He discovered techno not in a club but from his bedroom while listening to classic radio shows by techno’s other famous geek, Jeff Mills. It wasn’t until a break up with his long-time girlfriend inspired first a move to New York and then Berlin, that the rock star Richie Hawtin emerged, sporting first his infamous blonde combover and current shaggy stubble look. But Hawtin’s inner geek is still as strong as ever. Inspired by his technology-loving Dad, from 909s to Traktor Scratch, Hawtin has long been associated with dance music’s newest technologies. The latest of which, the Cube, if you believe the Minus PR blurb, is a Borg-like communications device that has inspired much derision in the techno community for the sci-fi inspired photoshoots that adorned advertisements. Shame then that the Cube is actually a glorified information server. BR

The future of transport

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Designing transport is how humans dream of the future. From the Wright brothers’ early planes to Michael J Fox riding a hoverboard, fellow Homo sapiens moving in novel ways are singularly arresting. Be they real or fictional, such endeavours are almost too seductive. Transport is so proficient a vehicle – as it were – for the imagination that futurologists, filmmakers and journalists are tempted into wildly inaccurate predictions, both optimistic and pessimistic. Da Vinci’s helicopter sketches took half a millennium to take off, Victorian Londoners feared growing horse use would flood the streets with dung and Bladerunner author Philip K Dick thought cars would fly by 1992. These futurists are balanced by realists, of course. The “Where is my flying car?” phrase beloved of technology cynics is a generalised swipe at the empty prophecies we are continually fed.

As concisely rhetorical as that phrase may be, it distracts from very real progress. Next year, Virgin Galactic will begin public space flights. Plucky tourists will be whisked beyond earth’s atmosphere six abreast. At $200,000 a seat it’s still a little dearer (just) than a TFL Zone 6 Travelcard, even if the dollar keeps falling. So, if you feel like cashing in on the Mustique pad, you can buckle up next to William Shatner, Paris Hilton or Stephen Hawking, each of whom has signed up. Those of you without an offshore should be heartened to hear that Virgin frequent flyer miles can be used instead of cash, and you’ll only need two million of them. Personally I’d need a break from the in-flight meals. Like all new forms of transport, Virgin Galactic will begin as an elitist jaunt before the price falls to more accessible levels. Richard Branson plans to offer $20,000 tickets after the 500th passenger has flown. Space travel will lose attractiveness as it gains familiarity, just like long-haul flying. As with conventional planes, your first experience will be a frightening, exhilarating coming-of-age. Before long you’ll bemoan weightlessness over deep vein thrombosis. Space flights will become a means to an end – no more exciting than a rush hour commute.

Space travel sounds futuristic, but it’s as old as the EEC. Sputnik 2 carried a stray dog named Laika into space in 1957. She died after four hours in orbit. Luckily, teleportation isn’t ready to be tested on sentient beings, but scientists are making steps in that direction. In 2006, researchers in Copenhagen teleported a light beam half a metre. Trekkies will have to wait a while longer for the pimp-my-flying-saucer version, but the Enterprise’s hyperdrive may be closer to realisation. The US military (who else?) is investigating a 2005 proposal to power a spacecraft using anti-gravity. The device would use vast magnetic coils to propel itself into another dimension of space-time. It could leave Earth at lunch and land on the moon in time for dinner, Mars in less than three hours and, most tantalisingly, reach a galaxy 11 light years away in only 80 days. This concept is based on the brilliant theories of late German scientist, Burkhard Heim.

Heim’s quantum fiddling could usher in a huge leap for science. Theories are being liberated from blackboards as physicists become truly physical. Inevitably though, historically familiar forms of new transport are more immediate and evocative. Solar sails are a fledgling technology which harness rays of sunlight like wind to manoeuvre spacecraft. They’ve been used numerous times by NASA and other agencies but sci-fi, as ever, is one step ahead. A space yacht rigged with solar sails features in Planet of the Apes the novel, while Disney’s Treasure Planet movie thoughtfully updated the Treasure Island book with an intergalactic schooner and a cyborg Long John Silver. Simpler still is the delightfully named space tether: a cable from Earth to the heavens, presumably transporting an astronaut called Jack to a celestial giant. “Fee! Fi! Fo! Set lasers to stun.”

Sci-fi aside, some mass-market transport changes are already beginning to bite. Toyota has sold over a million hybrid cars with electric batteries. Brazil has produced ethanol for 29 years, and the sugar cane-derived alcohol now powers one third of its vehicles. Ironically, this shift from petrol to sustainables may have more impact on 21st century development than anything space-related. If the West can kick its oil habit, global geopolitics would be inverted. OPEC would be relegated from heavyweight trade group to irrelevant old boy’s club. Stripped of economic importance, the never-ending Iraq war would become unpalatable even for neocons. Texan oil barons would wallow in self-pity and Alaska’s census would be decimal. Hydrogen is even cleaner than ethanol, emitting only air and water from the exhaust pipe. So promising is the technology that BMW, Mercedes and Ford now make hydrogen fuel cell cars.

Through reduced emissions, renewables could reduce global warming without having to compromise on the car culture so deeply embedded in the Anglo-American psyche. Though solving one problem, new fuels like hydrogen produce others. I rode a prototype hydrogen-powered motorbike two years ago that was whisper quiet. With no internal combustion engine roaring under the bonnet, hydrogen cars are a potential death trap for schoolchildren and the hard of hearing. According to BT futurologist Ian Neild such safety issues will be offset by automation from 2020. He predicts that cars then will be fully automated, with a small black box acting as your personal chauffeur. General Motors demonstrated an automated car (dubbed ‘The Boss’) at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in LA.

Removing human error would make road deaths flatline, but there is something a little spooky about relinquishing total control to HAL. Horror stories of sat navs gone bonkers are commonplace. Dirt tracks, one-way streets and farmyards – all have cropped up as obstacles for drivers following their gadgets. Visitors to the Yorkshire village of Crackpot were directed to the edge of a 100ft cliff. One woman nearly drowned writing off her £96,000 Merc in a river. Technology bermuda triangles are also a worry. New York cabbies complain of a black spot around the Empire State building caused by the radio masts atop the skyscraper. Stalling engines, faulty horns, doors that lock themselves – plenty of gremlins have crept out of the dashboard. The problem has been exacerbated by radio masts relocated from the World Trade Centre, yet mention of 9/11 brings to mind an even darker threat for cyber cars: remote terrorism. A street full of web-enabled cars is a hacker’s playground. With every vehicle a potential missile, Grand Theft Auto would be videogame no more. A safer civic alternative is the Personal Rapid Transit system: an on-rails network of taxi pods which fizz around the city, dropping off passengers at designated stops. The world’s first model is being built at Heathrow and is scheduled to be up and running in 2009, probably before Terminal 5’s baggage system.

Road and rail-based private transport lacks the social interaction common to buses, overland trains and tubes. Public transport remains one of the few social melting pots in otherwise segregated cities, bringing together everyone who can’t afford (or doesn’t want) a car, taxi or bike. There’s something comforting about shared journeys and the scale of public transport networks, particularly in an age of cocoon-like office cubicles and shoebox flats. It’s arguably the most acute contemporary evidence of society; a reminder that we are one cog in a much larger system. The tube is trumped by big boats as a way to experience the sublime, however. Freedom Ship is a vast floating city, as yet unbuilt. If constructed it would dwarf the world’s current largest ship, Knock Nevis – itself so large it can’t navigate the English Channel when fully loaded. With 18,000 apartments, 10,000 hotels, a hospital, high school and subway system, Freedom Ship is a touch ambitious. Its 1,400 metre-long hull would be over five times Titanic’s length, and just 30 metres shorter than the Great Pyramid at Giza. Freedom Ship is conspicuously large, but invisibility is a far more attractive prospect for military transport. Sea Shadow was a stealthy looking ship built by Lockheed for the US Navy in 1985. Its angular hull reflected radar, although not well enough for it to have entered production. Proteus is an even weirder-looking boat currently in development. It resembles a giant water boatman insect, with four spidery legs descending to catamaran hulls. Its lightweight design reduces fuel consumption, making the craft ideal for biological studies in areas sensitive to pollution.

Whether spider-shaped boat or sledge, bicycle or magnetically levitating train, transport has an enduring power to outline human achievement. Forms of transport are the most tangible milestones of human evolution. The algebraic miracle of space rockets, a TGV in full flight, the transition from four limbs to two – each is proof of man’s dominance of technology and environment. More profoundly, transport is a godlike way to escape the mortal constraints of time and space. Tea clippers, steamships, and planes have successively shrunk the world. Where once it took months to traverse the globe, now a few hours and a credit card is all that’s needed. Although the modes are new, the impulse to travel is as old as the id. “Our nature lies in movement,” wrote Pascal, “complete calm is death.” Dreaming of futuristic transport, too, is innately human. We believe that generations to come will improve upon our technology, finding solutions to today’s insurmountable problems. This self-awareness marks us out from all other life: we comprehend our own evolution, and our power to change its course.

TEXT BY DANIEL WEST | ILLUSTRATION LEONA LIST

My inspirational journey: Ronke Osinowo

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

RONKE OSINOWO

“I had an unusual upbringing - I was fostered before the age of one to a white working class couple in Tilbury, Essex. My foster mother was a chronic asthmatic and couldn’t have children of her own due to her condition. My birth mother had me fostered so she could work as my biological father was studying and would soon enough return to Nigeria. I ended up staying until I was 18.

Anyone who’s ever been to Tilbury from the seventies to the nineties would’ve known or felt its edginess - a kind of menace hung around the town and it was famed in the local areas for violence, poverty, illiteracy and an air of racism. Being black, a girl and a child in this environment was a daily challenge. My book ‘I Bring You Tilbury Town’ is a collection of thoughts and images as I remember them of a particular time and place.

There have been many trips that have influenced me, but the one that affected me most profoundly would be the train journey from Tilbury Town to Barking when my foster mother used to take me to see my biological mother in Hackney.
I dreaded going to see my mother in London - the fear that she would decide one day to take me back was always with me. Tilbury station was right by the docks and a famously violent pub, The Ship. It was a Skinhead haunt and they would regularly beat up anyone ‘foreign’ that had the audacity to walk the streets. The station was littered with graffiti like ‘paki go home’ and ‘wogs out’.

Once on the train, the scenery soon changed from heavy industrialism to open fields, to wasteland, to tightly packed council houses and high rise flats, to concrete sprawls and eventually the city. The thing I remembered most about the journey was a bridge just past Barking station which had a huge NF logo painted in white on it. It always gave me a sense of fear, even though I didn’t know what it meant. To me it meant that I was unwanted, that I wasn’t welcome - that I shouldn’t be here. It always made my chest tight going under that bridge.

Even though I didn’t want to be separated from my foster parents, the trip to London filled me with a sense of possibility – that there was something other than my life as it was to experience. It filled my mind with possibilities, with the sense that there was something more out there, even though it was far beyond my reach at the time. This stretched my mind and my imagination, as a lot of the people from Tilbury had never been to London, even though it was just a 45-minute train ride away.

Travel to me is a crucial part of my mental development; it allows you to see difference without being threatened by it. It allows you to experience the ‘other’ without your own sense of reality being disrupted. It allows you to extend yourself as a person, to tap into pieces of yourself that are latent. Of course, physical travel can also be breathtaking, fun and challenging but mentally travelling is also very important. I travelled abroad alone for the first time when I was 18, but I felt that I had been far and away so many times before because of a strong capacity for daydreaming. I often imagined myself in certain places and though the reality was often different, my mental travel preparations still held strong sway as to where I wanted to go and what countries I gravitated towards in later life.

I’ve always wanted to experience living high up in the mountains like a hermit, or a monk on a quest to reach a total state of Zen in some remote region of China.”

Ronke Osinowo is a poet living in London. Her book ‘I Bring You Tilbury’ is out now on Author House.

My inspirational journey: Beardyman

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

BEARDYMAN

“I recently toured New Zealand and Australia with Bacardi. I travelled on a train for two days, up the South East coast of Australia from Melbourne to Sydney, stopping off to play two gigs a day. It was crazy. The bands I was touring with were all really safe and I loved the music and the vibe. That trip has definitely left a mark on me, really taught me a lot about how to handle myself around press, and being able to do interviews - and in all sorts of professional situations. I definitely became a bigger person. A long trip like this also made me determined to be true to what I want to do, more than ever before. I was inspired by the bands I met, one band called Pnau specifically - the way they record is to turn long jams into tracks. Also seeing how so many different bands conduct themselves, their ability to relax and talk about their work to journalists. Witnessing this made me more determined to make whatever music I feel like making and to be as industrious as possible.

I will always remember this trip, not just the laughs and the experience, but the smells and the sounds. Also the effect it has way after you get home. Travel makes you wiser as it shows you how other people live. I’d get on a plane every day if it meant me seeing a bit more of the world. I feel richer for having had experiences all over the world, seeing how different cultures respond to the same material. For instance, in Finland, they say ‘thank you’ after a gig. Not ‘well done’ or ‘that was amazing’, but ‘thank you’. I loved that. I want to experience as many cultures as possible. It’s all about getting as broad a perspective as possible. We only know what we’ve experienced, everything else is mere conjecture.”

Beardyman lives in London and is the current reigning UK beatbox champion.

My inspirational journey: Snax

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

SNAX

“I’ve been on some very memorable journeys in my life so far. But it’s more the places than have meant something to me, rather than the journeys themselves.

Most strikingly for me was when I saw the Berlin Wall on my first trip to Berlin from New York in ’95. I was stumbling out of Club Tresor when my guide nonchalantly pointed it out to me. I couldn’t believe that what was then just a thin graffiti-covered wall had once before stood as a monument to cold war fear and paranoia. Ten years earlier I could’ve been shot in the exact same spot where I had fallen out of a hip techno club. I cycle past that wall every day now and it still blows me away.

Another incredible trip was when I travelled to Paris with Tara Delong and a handful of friends. She was my partner in the group Bedroom Productions when we lived in NYC and we were in Paris to play at the Andrea Reich gallery. It was our first time there and it was a wild time full of desperate partying, glamour and music. We were invited to dinner at a mansion belonging to the grandson of Pablo Picasso. We did bad drugs and someone smacked me on the head on the street for no apparent reason. A couple of years later, two friends from this trip died in strange and mysterious circumstances.

The most memorable moment from this bizarre trip was when we were on the way to our dinner at the mansion, Hillary and I started singing ‘The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan’ by Marianne Faithful - the part where she sings about riding through Paris in a sports car. That was what was happening at that very moment - we were riding through Paris in a sports car! So that, quite rightly, became the theme song of the trip. Paris was blurring past us while we were insulated in our cab singing at the top of our lungs.

I grew up in a hum-drum suburb of Maryland, so being somewhere I’ve never been before, seeing new cultures and meeting new people is hugely important to me. I feel like a different person. Through travel and seeing the world one is able to get out of oneself and gain new perspectives.

I’d like to see more of the Middle East. I’ve only been as far as Tel Aviv but I want to go further in and see what it really is like as opposed to what we’re fed on TV day in and day out. Also Japan, because I hear that visiting musicians are treated brilliantly!”

Snax is an American electro-disco-soul artist living in Berlin. His new EP ‘Trouble’ is out now on defDrive Records.

My inspirational journey: Danielle Moore

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

DANIELLE MOORE

“My first trip away from home was when I was 18, back in ’89. I went to Berlin on a netball trip - we stayed at an army camp and also got to visit East Berlin. We had an amazing time and after we got home the following week the wall came down. I felt totally inspired by such an historic moment and the emotions that ran through me still stick with me today. It made me think about other people rather than myself. I found the city striking: the art, the no bullshit attitude, the bike rides, the gorgeous forests... Just outside the city centre the majestic architecture blew me away, such creativity really inspired me as a musical person.

I had never been affected by history before. I remember I had a real moment - I was standing at the wall near the athletic stadium where Jessie Owens won his five gold medals. The sky was grey and surrounding colours industrial. We were all very quiet and feeling sensitive to the place - there was a fence bearing the names of people who had died trying to cross the wall and the river to get to the West. I recall us girls peeking over the wall and spotting a German patrol boat on the river. Thinking about it now send shivers down my spine.

I will never take for granted the travel that I do in the band. Being able to visit new places offers a whole new perspective as well as making you appreciate home. For me, travel gives me confidence. Being thrown into unknown situations where you meet new people sheds light on yourself, shows you a reflection of yourself. But home is where the heart is, and there’re plenty of adventures to be had right there on your door step.”

Manchester lass Danielle Moore is the enigmatic lead singer in Crazy P, whose new album ‘Love On The Line’ is out this October.

My inspirational journey: Marcas Lancaster

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

MARCAS LANCASTER

“I’ve never been a fan of ‘touristic’ travel. I prefer to visit countries when I’m working or to be with people who live there. I’ve never developed an interest in ‘places of historical interest’ just because I’m on holiday. I find being a tourist alienating. Having said that, I visited India recently and loved it. What I find fascinating is how different cultures occupy different time periods simultaneously - in parts of India you can experience first hand how life was lived a thousand years ago, with the same pre-occupations, tools and religions.

I went on an incredible three-day train journey across India, from Mumbai to Chennai. I’ve never experienced a journey like it in my life. At one point we were woken up at four a.m. by the police, as we were travelling through a territory where the trains were attacked by tribes throwing spears. The police had to pull down all the hatches throughout the carriages to protect us. Over these three days, what was fascinating was the procession of different people getting on at each station. At one point, the carriage I was in was inundated with Indian hermaphrodites. They were extorting money out of men by coming onto them. People were so terrified of them they didn’t question handing over their cash. One of them even looked like Naboo from the TV show ‘The Mighty Boosh’ - he flashed his withered weird tits at us and was really camp. Very surreal. It made me realise the world is weirder than I thought it was. This trip didn’t change my life, but it was the best adventure, ever. But what did deeply affect me was seeing a five-year-old girl playing and begging next to a motorway, whilst looking after two babies. She was playing amongst the dirt, the fumes and the heat, and seemed to be genuinely happy. She was oblivious to her predicament and I think of her often, especially when people complain and moan about their shit. These people have no idea what being in the shit really is.

To be honest, the most meaningful journeys I’ve had have been internally, through taking drugs - which is why people like doing them. A ‘trip’ is more enriching than any package holiday to Benidorm or seeing the Eiffel Tower. On LSD, one goes to another universe, yet physically you haven’t moved. It’s the same with dreams. You can have insights and understand how the world relates to each other, on acid or ecstasy you can realise how you feel about your parents and how it affects you. These experiences can be far more enriching than riding on a knackered old elephant in a national park in India. The idea was romantic, but the reality was tragic.”

Marcas Lancaster is a producer and remixer, living in London. His remix of Soft Cell’s ‘Say Hello’ is out now on ‘Heat: The Remixes’.

My inspirational journey: Jazzie B

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

JAZZIE B

“Most of the journeys I’ve made over the last 15 years have been to Antigua, where I travel to at least five times a year. All my brothers and sisters live in the UK, but I’m related to practically everyone on the island. My mother used to send me and my siblings over to Antigua when we were little. I went back on my own when I was 20. I appreciate it much more now than back then. As a youth I had the wrong attitude and was always looking over my shoulder thinking some cousin was spying on me. Now I have a house there, run my business from there - it’s like a second home to me.

I always get a knot in my stomach when I’m heading out to Gatwick from my home in Camden. The closer I get to the airport, the more butterflies I get fluttering away inside me. It’s a 12 hour door-to-door journey and these feelings are a mixture of excitement to be back in Antigua and general travel anxiety. Things like who I’m going to be sat next to on the plane or whether I’m going to get any grief about my luggage. As the car nears the airport, all the memories and feelings I have about Antigua come flooding back. I close my eyes and think about the smell of roast corn, frying fish and that fresh sea breeze mixed with humidity. Also the sounds of the birds and the animals.

As soon as I arrive at St. Johns airport in Antigua, I get bombarded by the locals. I get a welcoming call from the Baggage Handlers through to the Customs Officer, all telling me about the last party they went to. I always give them CDs, which they are eternally grateful for. The drive from the airport to my house only takes 20 minutes, but it takes me an hour - I always do a few stops on the way. First up is the vendor who sells coconut water, delicious. Then I stop at one a few miles down where they sell English stuff like Heinz Beans and Walkers Crisps - here is where I place my order for my stay, which they deliver later on. Further down the road I stop at my cousin’s gas station where I get the lowdown on what’s been happening since I was last there - y’know, all the local gossip - and then I drive off to my house in Half Moon Bay. For me, this trip to my house is a way to acclimatise to being back - the island wooing me back in again.

I like these journeys, it’s a down time, an isolated time to reflect on life - accept who I am. I use the time on the flight to write lyrics, create plans, doodle and make notes. I find it encouraging, having this time to be creative and the space to read back through my ideas and make sense of everything.

All these journeys to Antigua over the years has definitely changed me as a person. Without them I would’ve been bored and more intense that I am now. Antigua and the time spent travelling there has chilled me out a lot. And what’s nice is that my kids are starting to love it as much as I do, which is important. The path has been made.”

Jazzie B barely needs an introduction. Famed for being the Soul II Soul ringleader back in the nineties, Jazzie has just released ‘Jazzie B Presents School Days’ which is out now on Trojan Records. Look out for new Soul II Soul material next year.

TEXT BY LULU LE VAY | ILLUSTRATION BY LEONA LIST

Trans-Siberian tales

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

To begin to understand the monumental nature of the Trans-Siberian Railway it helps to know some facts, although it is hard to ever really describe how stunning it is. It is the world’s longest continuous railway network, which leads 9,297 kilometres from Moscow to Vladivostok, crosses 89 cities and 16 gigantic rivers and can still claim today to be the pinnacle of train travel, taking in as it does such majestic, raw and breathtaking landscapes. The first plans for this insanely epic undertaking started back in 1870 and the actual construction dragged on for 22 years with overall costs exceeding 1,455 billion rubles. Altogether, workers numbering 90,000 struggled against the challenging conditions of the Siberian environment: landslides, floods and snowstorms paralysed their endeavours again and again.

Acclaimed movie director Brad Anderson, who gained rave reviews for his last movie The Machinist, deployed the frosty atmosphere of this man-made wonder for his dazzling thriller Transsiberian, in which an innocent American couple becomes tangled up in the smuggling intrigues of the Russian mafia.

For this issue of Electronic Beats we spoke to Brad Anderson and his leading actor Sir Ben Kingsley about the phenomenon of journeys, shooting movies on trains and, of course, the metaphorical journey we all face as we go through life.

“THE TRAIN ATTENDANTS ARE BAD-ASS, TOUGH-AS-NAILS WOMEN”

Mr. Anderson, what’s so fascinating about the Trans-Siberian Railway that you actually decided to base a whole movie in that environment?
I was always really fascinated by train movies and Russia itself. I mean, I studied Russian at college and took the Trans-Siberian back in 1988 after I graduated from school. That experience very much kind of informed this movie and ultimately years later writing the script. The idea of setting a kind of paranoid movie on a very kind of isolated, very claustrophobic environment like a train seemed to make a lot of sense. There are not a lot of places one can hide on a train, not a lot of places to gather if you are trying to flee or escape. That seemed like an interesting contrast. But I also wanted to create a little bit of the experience that I had back in 1988.

What kind of experience are you talking about exactly?
The sort of raw interesting experience of being on a train, the characters you meet along the way, the cultural differences. And to put a couple of Americans, who tend to be so untravelled and inexperienced, in these unusual circumstances and see what happens. It was a good way to create some interesting suspense and drama.

Was it clear from the beginning that you wouldn’t set the film in the Soviet Union as it was when you travelled there, but in the present time?
Well, I wanted to have it in the here and now. But oddly enough that train, the actual experience of travelling with the Trans-Siberian really hasn’t changed. We took the train a couple of years ago when we were doing research for this movie, and in the 20 years since it hadn’t changed at all. The trains were exactly the same. The experience was very much the same, even the same kind of people. It was a little bit of time warping.

A great deal of train movies have already been made. Did you benefit from them when you were preparing your movie?
We looked at train movies as we were preparing this film. I like a lot of those 1940s-type Hitchcock movies: The Lady Vanishes, Strangers on a Train, Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. I like the feeling of those movies and we watched them to get a feel, partly to sort out the tone, but also to find out more about how to shoot in such a claustrophobic environment. Where do I put the camera? How can I make the experience feel as kind of cramped as it is? So in watching those films, we came up with an approach for this movie.

How would you describe this approach to someone who hasn’t seen the movie yet?
We wanted this physically to feel as we were on that train, cramped in amongst all the people in those tiny cabins. That’s the complicated technical side of making this movie. Fortunately, we had a really good production designer who built a really good set for us where we could put the camera where we wanted to. But in general we were gathering in there with the cast and the extras and just pushed our way through with the cameras and tried to make it feel real. The movie Das Boot was another kind of reference point. It is a similar experience shooting on a submarine and on a train. There are not a lot of places you can go, except forward and backwards. You see the way he moves the camera in that movie, it is unbelievable. We didn’t get that experimental, but certainly the experience of trying to find creative ways to shoot a movie in which over 70 per cent is set on a train was part of the challenge. At what point do you get out of the train, at what point do you get on it? Another movie was Runaway Train which I thought was a movie that certainly... that cold, metallic look of that movie was something that informed our movie a little bit as well. There haven’t been a lot of train movies recently, so we were just trying to do it our own way.

You shot on an actual train. Did you move compartment walls to have more space, did you control the colours?
Like you said, every wall could be removed, so we could place the camera where we wanted. The most complicated thing was that everywhere you look is a window, of course. So we had green screens outside of the windows and put in the landscape later on in the post-production. We just wanted to make it feel as real as possible. So we decided to shoot the whole thing hand-held, with a raw, in-your-face look to it. The production designer took real compartments, disassembled them and rebuilt it on a set, so it was the real walls. So we made it more comfortable for our crew once in a while. But in terms of the look, we didn’t want to do some flashy work with the camera, we wanted it to feel as if we’d just gotten on that train with these guys.

The movie was shot in Lithuania. Why didn’t you shoot on the real Trans-Siberian Railway?
We thought about that idea and we did scout in Moscow and St. Petersburg. We wanted to shoot the movie in Russia, but from a financial point of view it was cheaper not to do that. We needed a country that was part of the EU, and also there were a lot of logistical complications with shooting in Russia. It was easier to get a train to work with in Lithuania where we ended up shooting the movie. Important to me was the authenticity and the realism of the look and feel. It would have been great to do the actual movie on the Trans-Siberian, but it would simply have been too complicated.

You portray the Russians as a dangerous, rough and violent nation. Was that image reflected in your personal experience during your travels?
The Russians don’t come across as the most affable people in the movie, that’s right. No animosity against Russians in general, once you get to know them they are incredibly soulful people. I spent some time there after college and it is just that there is a certain kind of mask, that at least at that time and even when we were over there recently, there is not a typical, warm American embrace-everyone-the-moment-you-meet-them atmosphere. It takes some time for them to open up. There is a certain cool Russian feeling. Again, this is probably a stereotype, but often in movies we don’t have a lot of time, and so we work with those kind of stereotypes a bit. But there is a certain coolness that I think is pretty accurate, especially on that train. The women who are the attendants on the train, they are bad-ass, tough-as-nails women. You don’t want to mess with them. They will just toss you off the train. So I think it is a little bit of an amped up movie version.

The alternative route

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

COUCHSURF THE WORLD

What’s the concept? Forget about forking out for an overpriced hotel or racing to bag that final dirty dorm bed in some smelly hostel. Thanks to popular community sites like couchsurfing.com, travellers from all corners of the globe can find a free sofa and, usually, a friendly host waiting for them.

How does it work? The first step for any wannabe surfer is to sign-up with an online ‘hospitality network’. It’s free to register and members build up their profiles à la Facebook. The only obligation once you’ve enjoyed some gratis hospitality is that you have to repay the favour to any couchsurfers that come your way.

How crazy do you have to be? All travel junkies tend to be a bit nuts, in a good way. Couchsurfers come in all shapes and sizes, with the majority around the 25-40 age group. The US is the most popular couchsurfing nation, closely followed by France and Germany. Some get involved to meet new people, others are professional travellers and others just want the inside track on their chosen destination.

Surely it can’t be safe? Although the idea of inviting people into your home or crashing on a stranger’s sofa seems a bit risky, all reports are favourable. Strict safety measures are in place on the various websites and users can publicly rate each other. There’s also the slightly hippie notion of ‘karma’ which appeals to traveller types – the idea being that if you shaft someone, you will get shafted in return.

What to pack? Going armed with a ‘gift’ for your host is always a good idea and helps break the ice. Aside from that a Blackberry or any other portable web device is always handy so you can log on and decide where to make your next pitstop.

There must be the odd horror story? Nothing more severe than the occasional host pulling out at the last minute leaving the unlucky surfer to find an emergency alternative. Most surfers you speak to go slightly glassy-eyed when singing the praises of this caring-and-sharing phenomenon.

Any celebrity surfers? Funnily enough most celebs are more interested in staying in five-star pads than getting down and dirty with the locals. But there is the odd surfer who grabs the public’s imagination like 27-year-old DJ Adam Schofield who packed-up his Manchester life and set off to couchsurf for five years. This nomadic multi-tasker runs a popular blog, hosts couchsurfing club nights and plans to write a book at the end of it all. Phew!

SWAP YOUR HOUSE

What’s the concept? No, this has nothing to do with reality TV. Back in the days before Wife Swap et al cluttered up our TV schedules, the idea of the house swap was born.

How does it work? Happy-swappers register online filling out information on their homes and adding enticing pics. First contact is made through the site and after that it’s up the individuals to iron out the details of the swap.

How crazy do you have to be? It’s less a case of being bonkers and more about trusting humanity. Yes, it requires a slight ‘leap of faith’ to invite strangers into your home but the key is to find people you can relate to and whose lives mirror your own. House-swappers tend to be either families, young couples or older people enjoying their retirement. Backpackers tend not to have many material possessions, let alone houses, so the chances of you ending up with a bunch of smelly crusties are minimal.

Can you make sure your pad is safe? Ok, so accidents happen. But there’s ways of protecting yourself and the biggest tip is to take out full house insurance before you leave. For the little things – like watering the plants and replacing broken plates it’s a good idea to sign an exchange agreement.

What to pack? Men everywhere will be glad to hear that, this time, it’s more a case of what to leave. A small gift displayed in a prominent position can help kick a swap off on a positive note. But make sure you mug-up on the swap family’s likes and dislikes - the last thing you want to do is leave a bottle of vino for a family of teetotal vegans.

There must be the odd horror story? Well, there was the legendary incident portrayed in ITV’s 2002 drama ‘The Swap’ where a family exchanged their £1 million home for a spacious beachside Australian pad, only to have their house, its contents and their car sold while they were away. To add insult to injury it was Christmas.

Any celebrity swappers? Top of the celebrity freeloaders is one Mr T. Blair and family who’ve camped out everywhere from Cliff Richard’s Barbados villa to Silvio Berlusconi’s Sardinian mansion. None of the swaps seem to have been that successful though, as he never invited any of them to take over 10 Downing Street in return.

Around the world in 80 electronic beats

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

ALL ABOARD, ALL ABOARD
1. Happy Mondays: Step On
2. Wham: Wake Me Up Before Your Go Go
3. The Rolling Stones: Start Me Up
4. Led Zeppelin: Stairway To Heaven
5. Jamie Principal: Baby Wants To Ride
6. The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour
7. The Fifth Dimension: Up, Up And Away
8. Frank Sinatra: Come Fly With Me
9. Alex Gaudino: Destination Calabria
10. Spiller: Groovejet

WE HAVE LIFT OFF
1. Michael Jackson: Thriller
2. Joey Beltram: Energy Flash
3. The Doors: Break On Through
4. Carole King: I Feel The Earth Move
5. The Prodigy: Out Of Space
6. Beastie Boys: Intergalactic
7. Stevie Wonder: Higher Ground
8. Jackie Wilson: Higher and Higher
9. Diana Ross: Upside Down
10. Goldfrapp: Strict Machine

WARP FACTOR 5
1. Air : Surfing On Rocket
2. The Rolling Stones : Get Off My Cloud
3. Digitalism : Zdarlight
4. Joy Division : Transmission
5. Hawkwind : Silver Machine
6. Mylo : Sunworshipper
7. Gustav Holst : The Planets Suite
8. Echo & The Bunnymen : The Killing Moon
9. Skream vs Hijack : Babylon Timewarp
10. What Planet You On? : Bodyrox feat. Luciana

THE 5.000 MILES HIGH CLUB
1. The Brakes : All Night Disco Party
2. Orbital : Orbital
3. Daft Punk : Around The World
4. The KLF : 3 a.m. Eternal
5. Kiss : Crazy Crazy Nights
6. Orion : Sunset People
7. Klaxons : Gravity’s Rainbow
8. MARRS : Pump Up the Volume
9. Sun Ra Arkestra : Space Is The Place
10. Fiction Factory : Feels Like Heaven

DEEP SPACE NINE
1. Lou Reed : Satellite of Love
2. Extra T : Extra T’s ET Boogie
3. Air : Kelly Watch the Stars
4. Interdimensional Frequencies : Space Invader are Smoking...
5. DJ Godfather : Aliens Ate my 303
6. Josh Wink : Higher State Of Consciousness
7. Foremost Poets : Moonraker
8. Chemical Brothers : Galaxy Bounce
9. John Williams : Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
10. Layo & Bushwacka! : Nighstalkin

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM
1. Led Zeppellin : Communciation Breakdown
2. Andy C : Valley Of The Shadows
3. Gnarls Barkley : Crazy
4. Black Sabbath : Paranoid
5. Basement Jaxx : Red Alert
6. Adonis : No Way Back
7. Public Enemy : Fear Of A Black Planet
8. Pink Floyd : Dark Side Of the Moon
9. Marvin Gaye : Trouble Man
10. The Doors : Riders On the Storm

TOUCHDOWN
1. Hot Chip : Ready For The Floor
2. Coldplay : A Rush of Blood To The Head
3. Supergrass : Sun Hits The Sky
4. The Beatles : Across The Universe
5. Joe Smooth : Promised Land
6. Talking Heads : This Must Be The Place
7. Steve Miller Band : Fly Like An Eagle
8. Elton John : Rocket Man
9. Brian Eno : ‘Music For Airports
10. Belinda Carlisle : Heaven Is A Place On Earth

HOME AGAIN
1. Lionel Richie : Hello
2. Axwell : I Found U
3. Kanye West : Homecoming
4. Roy Ayers : Love Will Bring Us Back Together
5. Justice : We Are Your Friends
6. Lynyrd Skynyrd : Sweet Home Alabama
7. Stardust : Music Sounds Better With You
8. Kylie Minogue : Wow
9. Rui Da Silva : Touch Me
10. Fatboy Slim : You’ve Come a Long Way Baby

TEXT BY KEVIN BRADDOCK | ILLUSTRATION LEONA LIST

Web 2.0

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Times are changing. The Web2.0 revolution has substantially altered how we talk, work and live online. A new paradigm has taken the burden of thinking about technology from the users. If you want to start a multi-lingual fanzine written by contributors around the world without ever meeting them in person, there‘s no technical reason not to start today. The Internet has finally become a social entity; you can build relationships here, which are purely online and couldn’t exist anywhere else. The times are indeed changing.

And yet, Europeans, Americans and Asians approach all of these innovations and the opportunities they open up quite differently. Tech savvy Indians have successfully embraced information technology to help their booming businesses become connected with the insatiable markets of the Western world. The United States has of course always been the centre of web modernisation with Presidential elections now partly dependent on infectious viral videos and ample facebook juice of the candidates. Talk about e-government.

But where’s Europe? While the vision of a borderless society is being realised in a somewhat tedious process it is merely non-existent on the net. And from the lookout in Brussels, there is no new Silicon Valley or European Bangalore in sight.

It looks more like China actually. Just as the People’s Republic is known for its notorious product piracy, Europe’s software manufacturers have a strong reputation for copy/paste innovation. Copycats are happily programming away clones of successful US competitors. While the difference between Chinese toys and the originals is getting increasingly hard to spot, this doesn‘t apply to European software production. Granted, there are some noteworthy companies with original ideas like Skype, Kelkoo and DailyMotion – but doesn’t the exception prove the rule? There is more than enough venture capital for fresh ideas, but the investors just don’t buy into Europe. Chances are slim that the next Google, Youtube, Facebook will be from Europe.

So much for the business side. The user‘s side is even gloomier: Korean students are forced to hand in their homework via their own website, for US citizens blogging has become a national hobby and the cell phone novel is replacing traditional literature in Japan’s bestseller lists. In the meantime Europeans still debate whether computers in classrooms are helpful at all.

While there is a digital élite – sometimes called digital bohemia for their idleness – in the cultural centres of modern day Europe, people not living in Berlin, Barcelona or Budapest are clearly left out. Television has become a somewhat fundamental human right. Why not have universal Internet broadband instead? Why not include blogging and wikis in the curricular of European grammar schools. The EU needs citizens who know how to handle a keyboard, not a remote control. Children all over the globe are proving that they are more than ready for this.

Again and again, politicians call for a European public. The second evolutionary stage of the internet, the Web2.0, has got all the tools at the ready; all that’s needed is a little education and encouragement to make the blogging public happen. Who says we can’t realise the decade old dream of Europeans having an actual dialogue? It doesn’t matter whether it’s online or offline - everything is better than non-line.

TEXT BY KOLJA LANGNESE

The European exchange

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Dance music, as we know it, may have been forged in the white heat of America’s discothèques, but it was the early electronic experiments of Europeans that laid the foundations. Russian inventors like Leon Theremin, French and German avant-garde composers/musique concrete practitioners like the three Pierres (Henry, Schaeffer, Boulez) and Karlheinz Stockhausen all played an integral role; and it was ultimately a German band – Kraftwerk – that really kick-started our dance-music revolution.

These days, Europe still boasts the most diverse scene in the world. We need only think of a handful of genres – Italo disco, Nordic cosmic house, ‘French Touch’, German minimalism, Dutch gabber, British trip hop and drum & bass - to see that Europe has been the most hardworking of blacksmiths, forging electronic music into the different shapes and styles we enjoy today.

After exploding in the US underground, dance music gained commercial success first in the UK, then throughout Europe. The key instigators – Britain and Germany – still dominate the scene today, leading the way in the European exchange of ideas, while absorbing new sounds and ideas from their multi-cultural centres and from outside.

A tale of two cities: the London-Berlin connection
“In the last few decades, a lot of bands and artists have moved periodically from London to Berlin and vice versa, in search of inspiration,” remarks techno producer Alex Tsotsos, a.k.a. GummiHz. “So a great amount of influence has developed between the two cities. Both have a lot to offer and also nurture a big creative community. Berlin is a bit more relaxed as it’s not as corporate as London still is, so there is a lot more space to think, which makes it a great place to develop your material. On the other hand, London offers such a wide variety of choice and cultural interaction. In my eyes, the two cities are quite opposite extremes, and opposites tend to attract.”

“Berlin is the avant-garde,” claims Alec Empire. “London takes the ideas and tries to make the ideas fit for a wider, more pop audience. When you work in Berlin, you always export; so does everybody in London, but because the UK is a much smaller country it offers the chance to let things cross over into the mainstream much more easily and more quickly. One increasing problem though, in my opinion, is England’s island mentality. A few decades from now, historians will look back and say that the UK should have probably moved towards Europe faster, rather than keep looking towards the US.”

DJ, journalist and publisher Jonty Skruff also sees the focus moving towards Berlin: “With gentrified New York and its neutered nightlife no longer the world’s capital city for the world’s artistic, alternative and ambitious individuals, London has filled the gap, though it’s increasingly edgy, expensive and dysfunctional, and is fast following Manhattan’s downward cultural spiral. Berlin, on the other hand, remains amazingly cheap and cheerful, with hordes of new arrivals eager to hang out and make friends. Many of these new Berliners are Brits; the Independent [Newspaper] recently estimated 10,000, and many of them are DJs, musicians and party people from London, though not necessarily British, bringing London energy to Berlin’s already bubbling pot. Toss in six London-Schönefeld flights a day from Easyjet, Skype, Jah Jah and laptop wireless connections, and you have a perfect storm of mutual musical confluence and action. Berlin is the new global nightlife city, and it’s only just begun.”

European circus

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Of course, everyone’s familiar with the big names – Cannes, Venice, Berlinale – but what’s behind these trademarks, hardly anybody knows. Reason enough to take a closer look and answer the question of why three of the most important festivals are held in Europe. “We are European” it says on the cover of this edition of “Electronic beats” magazine. Pretty cocky, you think? Well then, take a moment to learn about the power that Berlinale, Venice and Cannes wield on the international market.

The basics
There are over 200 film festivals in Europe alone. The main focus can be on all kinds of things: young film makers, short films, animation, gay-lesbian topics, web movies or good old Bollywood. During the last few decades, though, Berlin, Cannes and Venice have achieved enough strength to outrival even the big US festivals in New York (Tribeca), Park City (Sundance) and Los Angeles (L.A. film festival). But what turned them into this mighty force that outshines everything and lures – like Cannes does – up to 20 000 journalists, film fans and stars into a little town on the Cote d’ Azur even though the prices are totally OTT? And what for? It all started in Venice with the decision to enrich the city’s diverse cultural offerings with a film festival. To this day, the oldest film festival in the world takes place each year in late August on the Lido, embedded in the large art exhibition “La Biennale”. The red carpet with its golden lions is impressive, but in spite of being the first in terms of time, the prizes awarded there every year – the “Golden Lion” (best film) and the “Volpi Cup” (best actor) – have only been second on the ranking list of the most important awards for some time now, thanks to the fascists! They were the reason the French minister of education staged a counter event when the worldwide film industry registered with horror the growing influence of the German and Italian fascists at the ”Biennale“. After the premiere was interrupted by the War and postponed until 1946, the Cannes film festival quickly established its reputation as the most influential and prestigious festival, conveniently held in May.

The extravaganza
What Cannes doesn’t have, no other festival has. The non-public festival presents a large number of categories, among others the ubiquitous main category of almost every festival: the “In Competition” section in which up to 20 films vie for the favour of the international Jury and the “Golden Palm” award. And here comes the subtle difference: it’s not uncommon for a niche product to find its way to a worldwide audience having won this coveted prize. Highly esteemed, the Cannes festival generates a one-of-a-kind contingent of media and industries. The sparks, of course, in our celebrity-penetrated perversion of society are the stars. If they’re nominated, they’re tempted not only by the walk across the most famous of red carpets – accompanied by classical film symphonies and hailed by thousands of fans – but also by the shortly following Formula 1 in Monte Carlo, and a three-day stay in luxury hotels like “Le Majestic”, the “Carlton” or “Martinez” (with its two helicopter landing places). First class flights included, of course. There are, of course, high returns – a normal apartment already costs 2200 € for those ten days in May. You can buy champagne for 36 000 € in normal restaurants – nevertheless the most expensive hotel in town, the “Majestic”, is fully booked 300 days in advance. And whoever wants to stay there has to be recommended by the festival. With all those superlatives, the press hype is a natural follow-on. Besides, the jet set likes to stage itself: Jerry Seinfeld sails on a tightrope from the tower of the “Carlton” to a private beach dressed like a bee. Naomi Campbell, as usual, celebrates her birthday to the max with star guests, and U2 (no, please...I know) give a late night concert on the red carpet. Speedboats illuminate the “Croisette” with fireworks, the world’s biggest yachts lie at anchor here, and whoever hasn’t been invited to the SoHo House Party in the little castle or to the Sharon Stone AmFAR Aids Dinner in the “Mougin” mountains is already a has-been. They don’t dig with spoons. In Cannes it’s all about pomp, exclusiveness, seeing and being seen. The principle is simple: in order to keep some of the so-called arthouse quality that is so important (as anchored in the original charter) for the cultural demands of a festival during all that hue and cry, the blockbusters are moved to so-called “Out of Competition” sections. A trick that makes the impossible possible: art and commerce celebrate together. “Star Wars”, “Da Vinci Code” or “X-Men” are far too important to be missed in the art trade. The film studios are generous: rumour has it that six digit sums are finding their way back to the festival. After all, Cannes offers global media coverage. That’s priceless – even for Hollywood. And because money attracts those ones who pull the strings, the film market is close by: distribution rights are put up for worldwide sale. Another rumour suggests that about 20 percent of the annual film deals are closed in the lobby of the “Majestic”. True or not, it’s business on a large scale. And to jolly the press along, they get the stars thrown at them during the day for interviews, or are invited to one of the countless society parties seething all over this city of 70 000 inhabitants. Up to 35 interviews in 11 days, 20 films, sleepless party nights and friends having sex in my bed or alternatively on the porch of my apartment. Cannes = state of emergency. I like to call it “festival mode”. No wonder that the allied forces wanted to bring some of that zest for life with a cultural touch to war-stricken Berlin. They called the capital a “window to a free world” after the liberation and tried to revive its former reputation as a European cultural metropolis with a vast cultural event. Well, they succeeded. Since its creation in 1951, the Berlinale opens the annual merry-go-round as Europe’s first A-list festival. More than 200 000 sold tickets establish its status as the largest public festival of the world. It’s been on a continuous upswing these past years, with visitors from 120 countries since festival (entertainment) boss Dieter Kosslick with his Berlin how-modern-am-I charm brought back some glamour to the capital. Everybody speaks English, the Wiener Schnitzel at the “Borchardt” is delicious, and the thick red carpet keeps the high heels warm even when it’s cold outside. What more could the international stars ask for? A pretty good position that the three A-list festivals in Europe are in now! But why not America, you might ask. Isn’t the American film industry usually ahead of us? Why do they let it happen? Because they have to. And because their own system makes it impossible for them to do anything about it.

European chicness
In Hollywood there’s always been the rule: what doesn’t work on the American market doesn’t work at all. As a consequence, American film festivals mainly take into consideration what might be said in their own press to achieve a good position on the US market, or give them the necessary buzz for the all-dominant opening weekend. Europe, they think, they can ftake care of later, and this arrogance destroys every chance of an internationally accepted and attended festival – and thereby of being part of the A-list ranking.

Another reason may be that most of the culturally challenging movies that normally dominate the main program come from countries in which the art of film isn’t measured by box-office charts and gag rates yet. That Europe has always been dominant on the arthouse scene is a well-known fact. That an A-list festival is held in a place where most of the participating films are produced just makes sense.

Last but not least, the advance in terms of time with the European festivals having been launched early turns out to be a great advantage over the otherwise dominating industry. Venice and Cannes happening in spring and late summer secured themselves dates for a Mediterranean festival climate that Berlin has also been lacking for years. By evening out this wet and cold disadvantage with its unique multicultural flair, the capital bravely managed to maintain its position among the most popular festivals of the world. Whether you try to explain the advantages of the location Europe with structures, timing or history – what’ll always be there is the culture clash that turns European film festivals into very special events that make everybody, once infested with the virus, want to come back.

Are we European? What do you think? I’d say as far as A-list festivals go, we clearly have to answer this with a resounding “Yes!”

TEXT BY JOHANNES BONKE

Am I European or just confused?

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

When Mark Reeder arrived in Berlin from Manchester on a dreary night in 1978, he might as well have landed on another planet. Aged 28 and in Berlin as a representative for Factory Records - the label that gave the world Joy Division, New Order and The Happy Mondays - life was by no means easy. Berlin was a crazy place, split down the middle by a wall and full of draft dodgers, artists, crazies, gay men and grannies. “The corner bar on my street was owned by a big burly transvestite,” he recounts, “outside, a fat, one-legged hooker sat daily on one of those boxes that control the traffic lights.”

His flat had no telephone but luckily was opposite the “fernmeldeamt” (the main telephone exchange of west Berlin) in Schoeneberg. “Not everyone had a telephone in their homes back then, we all just accepted the normal channels of communication: phone, letters or if it was urgent, a telegram.” A letter to the UK would take almost a week to arrive, and a reply maybe two more. Getting from Manchester to Berlin by train or car took a minimum of 24 hours, or three hours by aeroplane. Phoning was all a question of being able to collect enough coins for the phonebox, which only took 10 pfennig pieces (about five eurocents) or one mark coins (50 eurocents) for a phone call to the UK that could cost up to 10 marks.“If you were unlucky,” says Mark “you would get cut off mid-sentence, which could drive you to the brink of despair.”

Fast forward to the Berlin of 21st century Europe. Like Mark was back in seventy eight, I’m a recent arrival in Berlin except this time it doesn’t feel like I’ve landed on the dark side of the moon. A lot has changed since the seventies. Sure I don’t use a hover board to go to the shops, and teleporting home after a morning at the Panorama Bar is still annoyingly some way off, but it’s a fact of life that most of my wildest sci-fi dreams as a child have come true. I communicate with the world via a handheld tablet that allows me to send emails, store music, take pictures, record videos or pull down googled addresses from the cloud of information that makes up the Internet that is now as much a part of the atmposphere as carbon dioxide. Speaking to my friends is done face to face through a computer screen thanks to the wonders of Skype or iChat. I use intercity travel by plane more often than I take a Berlin bus and I now live in a futuristic Europe where national boundaries mean nothing and my Myspace friends list defines the geography of my social life. Confused? So am I.

It gets worse. Last Christmas I went home three times. Once to England, where I’ve lived for the past ten years before moving to Berlin in October. Once to Ireland, my birthplace where I spent the first nineteen years of my life. And finally back to Berlin, my new home, where I now live a very exciting but confused experience of feeling like I’m everywhere at once. My work has a lot to do with it. I split my time between producing, DJing and freelance music journalism from my studio in Friedrichshain. Despite the fact I’ve moved six hundred miles, as far as my social and work life goes I might as well still be living in East London. Most of my day’s business is conducted in my boxer shorts, sipping English tea (a box of which is flown in every time one of my UK friends arrives via Easyjet), and if the weather is scheisse I may not even brave the streets of Berlin at all. At the age of 29, my friends and family are all over the place, Barcelona, Ibiza, London, Manchester, Dublin, Boston, India or Thailand, but thanks to Myspace and Facebook we maintain our friendships just fine. I get a message when one of them finds themselves “in a relationship” and my memory for remembering birthdays is a damn sight better than it used to be thanks to social network reminders. I video call my girlfriend in Leeds with Skype usually every night. We talk at length, we flirt, we smile, we frown, we laugh same as usual. Thanks to Easyjet, we see each other usually once a month or more. She’s a DJ too, so being apart means we have time to focus our energies on our respective professions and getting together is an adventure usually taking place in a European city somewhere we’ve never been, rather than the chore it seems to be for some of our friends in traditional relationships.

Its easy to forget how quickly these changes have taken place. “Before the nineties, a mobile phone was something you only saw on TV, or locked behind the unbreakable windows of a chauffeur driven Bentley,” remembers Mark Reeder. “I remember being told in the early eighties by a military friend about this amazing secret system of instant electronic computer communication being used by the US military for sending messages, but I had absolutely no conception of how it worked.”

“Email was a closely guarded secret. Getting it was akin to joining some kind of secret society, no one could tell you how it worked or how or where to get it from, and what exactly was the world wide web? Today, life is unthinkable without it.”