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Venue

Superordinary

175 MacArthur Ave, 4007, Hamilton, QLD, Australia

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Doors open: 17:00

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Booka Shade biography

Booka Shade is an electronic musical duo consisting of the members Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier. The group formed in Frankfurt, Germany and is closely associated as pioneers within the Frankfurt electronic music scene.

In the early ‘90s Merziger and Kammermeier were in a synth pop group labeled Planet Claire, but the group soon saw their music starting to evolve into a direction that favored club and house music. After releasing some music under the name Degeneration, the band renamed themselves Booka Shade in 1995 and released the single “Kind of Good”. The next year the group released the single “Silk”, which followed the style of traditional club music. After the release of their two singles the group decided to step away from their club music sound and started composing music for movie soundtracks as well as working as musicians for hire.

In 2002 the group moved to Berlin, Germany and co-founded the record label, Get Physical Music. The label was recognized by DJ Magazine as “Label of the Year” and Pitchfork has compared the label to early Warp Records. In 2004 Booka Shade released their debut album “Memento” under Get Physical Music. The album contained the singles “Vertigo” and “Double Identity” and follows in the traditional house music sounds.

In 2006 the group released their second studio album “Movements”, which contained the singles “Body Language” and “Mandarine Girl”. These two singles helped Booka Shade gain more attention in the world of electronic music as these two singles were popular hits in dance clubs throughout the world. The electronic music publication “Resident Advisor” referred to “Body Language” as “one of the biggest releases of the year” and the pop sensation will.i.am used the song as a sample for his song “Get Your Money”. The album contained chilling synthesizer lines and rattling bass groves in the Euro dance fashion.

Booka Shade’s third studio album “The Sun & the Neon Light” was released in 2008, which contained the hit single “Charlotte”. The album conveyed the group continuing in the style of down tempo music presented in a minimalistic fashion, and received praise from such publications as “Clash Magazine”. Each album Booka Shade releases shows them experimenting with new electronic sounds as well as sticking to some of the fundamental house music sounds that they are so respected for creating. In 2010 they released the album “More!” and in 2014 they gained notoriety for their single “Love Drug”.

Apart from composing original music, Booka Shade has also found success with remixes. They have remixed several songs by many respectable artists, which include: Moby, The Knife, Hot Chip, and Depeche Mode. Booka Shade is also a sensation with their live performances and has played many notable festivals such as the Brooklyn Electronic Festival and the Stereosonic Festival in Sydney, Australia.

Live reviews

I had first heard of Riva Starr with his collaboration with the one and only Fat Boy Slim on the track ‘Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat’ which made waves at the start of summer last year and even drew a remix by Calvin Harris. Riva Starr aka Stefano Miele the DJ/Producer has been positively praised and raising a few eyebrows over the past few years combining his unique mix of relevant remixes, bouncing grooves, brass-heavy interpretations to a dance and house seen that can often seem cluttered; Riva Starr adds colour to rooms with all white walls.

From the moment he walked on stage the huge crowd let rip an uncurtail-able roar, the roar had its own sustaining power and from the first beat dropped the audience turned into a lively mass of movement, reconfirming their energy and life with every move made, made easier and easier as Riva puts out a cheeky remix and a divine bootleg.

Whilst Stefano has been praised by the heavyweight likes of A-trak and Annie Mac he remains humble and modest, regarding his own music he has said ‘Music is all about freedom, inspiration and fun, and the one sound I never tend to turn to for inspiration is… well… my own…!’ Even if he doesn’t find the music he produced particularly inspiring I sure as hell do, and I can’t wait to dance an evening away with him again.

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nicky-preston

Never having experienced the music of German electronic dance duo Booka Shade, what better place to experience them than in their own backyard – a converted industrial space in the German capital of Berlin? That’s where I first saw the guys, but after the performance they put on I’d recommend you grab any opportunity you can to see them live. Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier have been making top-notch house and techno music since 2004’s Memento and they seem to have gotten better and better as the years roll on. It’s easy enough for the duo to record with banks of keyboards and percussion rigs in the studio when there’s computers and ProTools about, and that’s why records like More! sound completely impeccable, but to do that live is some feat. So to see Kammermeier leap around his drum set like a man possessed, while Merziger conducts the crowd to the point where everyone’s hands go in the air at just the right time when the drop comes in on a track like ‘Body Language’, it’s the very definition of euphoria. Our hands don’t leave the sky for the rest of the show as one banger after the next comes thick and fast: ‘Love Inc’, ‘Night Moves’, ‘Darko’ all pulsate and throb like the best house music should, and the light show alongside it mesmerises and blinds in equal proportion. Sure, they’re on their own patch so Booka Shade are bound to have the crowd in the palm of their hand but this communal experience would translate to any club, anywhere.

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