Telekom Electronic Beats

Click Joe: Prague lacks an area like Kreuzberg

Click Joe: Prague lacks an area like Kreuzberg Click Joe is a seasoned DJ (he’s supported the likes of Rick Wade) with an affinity for deephouse, disco, Detroit, an avid fiend of vinyl records and most recently, a co-owner of a newly opened record store MUAH!, as well as a co-organizer of an eponymous festival. Based in the country’s second biggest city Brno, Click Joe is a firm part of the city’s music scene centered around the cosy club Sklenick.

How was 2011 for you and what are your expectations from this year?
It was a great year – we danced and had lots of fun. If 2012 could follow in a similar vein, I would be very glad.

Can you tell us something about your project MUAH?
Me and some other people got a space in the first floor above Café Sklenick and right before Christmas, we managed to open it officially. It’s our base, sometimes storage, but most importantly a location that we hope will gradually gain its own genius loci. I love vinyl records, record shops with their special atmoshpere. Our guests, who come and play at our parties, bring their latest releases with them and thus we have plenty of items from labels such as Workshop, Smallville, Kann, Uncanny Valley Ortloff and others. We also sell the Playbag bags created by Czech designers, label Tshirts and tees by young local graphic designers. Aside from the shop, we also organize a festival and other activities.

What is the idea and motivations behind MUAH!?
To have fun! I don’t want to criticize anybody but I think that our values and concepts regarding parties are a little different to the others. We don’t give in to the cheapskate tricks of the majority of Czech clubs. We want good coffee, decent sound, DJs, vinyl records and people who behave as humans not as animals.

Do you think it is possible to promote the tradition of the vinyl record in our country? It is symptomatic, that you opened the shop in Brno and not in Prague. What is the problem with Prague when it comes to records shops?
Record shops can tell you something about the scene of a particular city. Prague lacks an area such as Kreuzberg, that people wouldn’t have to leave, have their jobs there, cafés, bars, secondhand shops or clubs and meet up every day. I’ve observed this in Brno for a while, to the north from the city centre. Starting with Sklenick, an area is spreading with plenty of cafés, where you can check your emails, meet friends, move to a different place and suddenly it’s the evening and usually someone will be behind the decks at Sklenick, even off the official programme. After a day like this, you go to bed with a good feeling. I only go to the centre to the post office, otherwise it’s simply not worth it.

Last year, you started organizing the MUAH! Festival. How was it? Are you planning to continue?
We started in July with Sevensol&Bender, had another party in the following month with Julius Steinhoff and topped it off with DJ Polo in autumn. Thanks to MUAH! we have realized that there are people outthere who appreciate if you are doing something with passion and we cannot do it any other way. We are already planning this year’s installment.

The Brno scene used to be quite active. How is it nowadays?
Not sure. I practically live in Sklenick and I’ve stopped keeping in touch with what’s happening elsewhere. I’m on Facebook and get invites from people who interest me. We are a small country, it’s enough to follow three or four crews and you won’t miss much.

Could you specify, which are those crews?
In Brno these are the concerts organised by Prokop Holoubek, the events by the 142bpm crew or the nights at the Boro club. I’d actually rather go out of the country to have fun to Bratislava or Vienna which are very close to Brno, or even Leipzig.

What about your DJing?
I party at Sklenick, several times a week ? It’s hard to play this type of music somewhere else. There’re only a few deephouse events in the country and we occasionally invite each other and that’s enough, at least for me.

Which Czech producers do you like?
Popper-C, Elektrabel, Forma, Subject Lost, Mythematica, Floex. What pertains house music, it’s not so great yet, but it might change with Tom Holic from Brno. I also like Quazidelict and the listening scene.

What do you like most about your job?
I can be my own boss. If I had to sit in an office for eight hours a day, I’d be very disappointed with myself.

Click Joe – WarmUp for Rick Wade in Distillery, Leipzig 20-03-2010, part 2 by click joe

Published January 13, 2012.