Friday, November 17th • Bar opens 8PM, Green Room 9PM, Club 10PM.
Benjamin Damage is UK techno personified; his sound draws on many of the sounds the nation has been critical in cultivating (jungle, early rave, etc.). He was the first artist signed to the (now defunct) much lauded 50 Weapons label, and was responsible for its final release.
Exos is arguably the most experienced and respected techno figure in Iceland. Active since 1997, he has released three albums and more than twenty singles as Exos on labels like Thule records, Mosaic and Force inc. He’s collaborated with and shared remix duties with artists like Steve O Sullivan, Ben Sims, Mark Broom and Dj Rush, and boasts the support of influential figures like Nina Kraviz.
No table service on FOCUS nights.
Advance Tix: residentadvisor.net/events/1018821
Benjamin Damage [LiVE] ( Ten Thousand Yen, 50 Weapons | DC )
soundcloud.com/benjamindamage
Exos (X/OZ, трип | Iceland )
soundcloud.com/exos
residentadvisor.net/dj/exos
Benjamin Damage ( Ten Thousand Yen, 50 Weapons | DC )
soundcloud.com/benjamindamage
Damon Bradley ( TechnoFist | DC )
soundcloud.com/technofist
Green Room:
djmeegs ( Souled Out!, Cider House Mules | DC )
soundcloud.com/djmeegs
J Swink ( USB | DC )
soundcloud.com/j_swink
Nick Flynn ( USB | DC )
soundcloud.com/nick_flynn
Flash Bar: Sous La Terre
Soso Tharpa ( DC )
Josie ( DC )
Based Traxx ( DC )
Saad Ashraf ( DC )
Ovid ( DC )
BENJAMIN DAMAGE:
Benjamin Damage’s roots lie firmly within the UK’s underground. Drawing from early rave to jungle to nineties house, Benjamin’s non-purist approach to techno produces an energy and emotion rarely found in modern electronic music.
Teaming up with fellow Welshman Doc Daneeka for the 2010 underground hit “Creeper” in 2010 caught the eye of Modeselektor, who quickly offered the project a home on their renowned label 50 Weapons. Working together in Berlin, the duo fused UK bass, techno, lush ambience and haunting vocals to create the critically acclaimed album ’They!Live”. This album solidified Damage as an innovative mind in electronic music, and saw him relocate to the techno obsessed German city in 2011.
Through 50 Weapons, Damage releases teamed brutal indulgence with moments of atmospheric tension and tenderness, culminating in the release of his stunning debut solo album ‘Heliosphere’ in 2013. Hailed by critics as a return of soul and warmth to the cold industrial world of Berlin techno, ‘Heliosphere’ was hallmarked by a contrast very present in the artist himself. Punishing tracks like ‘Delirium Tremens’ & ’Swarm’ found their home reverberating in Berghain, while the beautiful melodic moments in ‘010x’ became the soundtrack to summer music festivals all over the world. It is this complexity and journey within Damage’s music which makes his powerful DJ sets a favourite in both his adopted home and abroad.
Creating the live show for ‘Heliosphere’ saw Benjamin return to his roots, combining machines of early electronic influences with the latest in music technology. Abandoning the stage laptop, Damage delivers a truly live electronic techno performance, taking elements of his original tracks and recreating them in a new form for every show. His all hardware setup premiered at Fabric in 2014 and tours internationally.
Benjamin Damage’s second solo album “Obsidian” was released to great reviews and was the last artist album to close 50 Weapons.
Obsidian is an album of fragmented memories of musical influences, distorted and restructured into a full length techno record. A purely personal project, shaped by machines and finished in the old Soviet area of Marzahn in east Berlin.
As 50Weapons closed, RA included the label in their top of 2015 and concluded “The real gem, though, was an album of teary techno from Benjamin Damage, one of the label’s best and longest-serving artists. R.I.P. indeed.”
Benjamin continues to play and refine his innovative and original live setup and work on new material for 2016 and beyond.
