Woody Aki: Berlin Revisited

[tamarisk]

Woody Aki: Berlin Revisited

by Mauro Calleja

Woody Aki pic by Aldo Cauchi Savona

Friday, 08 October, 2004

Eight years after leaving Berlin, he stepped in once again? Vigorous experience as Woody explains it to be?

It was meant to be a holiday although having fun sometimes can be tiring. How do you consider it now that you've come back to Malta and contemplated the experience?

- I'm still digesting the damn thing! I'm not exactly the purveyor of commercial sounds that makes a superstar DJ such as Tiesto for example, and the crowds I played to don't amount to what Tiesto pulls either. But...how can I put this? It was perfect for me, because the crowds were

like Kylie Minogue...small, perfectly formed, extremely cool, and sexy to watch!

Why is there such a big difference between clubbing in Malta and abroad?

(Duh!)

- It depends where you are, I guess. There are always similarities, but in Berlin's case, there is an unseen bolt of energy that can be found in every nook and cranny around the city, even in the grottiest of clubs. You can't really explain it, but I can understand why artists like U2, Iggy Pop and David Bowie released amazing albums that were recorded or written there. The vibe's quite austere, but very inspiring.

How did it feel playing three nights in a row in a Berlin that has changed from your previous experience eight years before?

- Bear in mind that when I lived there back then, I never DJed - I just clubbed my arse off. But I do recall that before I left there for good in 1996, I made a mental note to return the favour that Berlin did for me, i.e. the city made me look at the whole spectrum of Art through an

infinitely wide lens for the rest of my life, and incorporating it within my artistic output, as opposed to Malta, which makes me look at art with a capital F prefixed to the damn word! I usually hate to use the

following sentence for fear of sounding like a bloody Kenny G fan, but Berlin enlightened me in a way that I always aspired to achieve, and now that I've played there, I seem to have returned much more than just a

favour!

As for change, I can only compare Berlin then and now from a visitor's point of view - the centre of the city has been taken over by Armani suits, but as a result the bohemian blood of the city has moved East, which has made the whole underground scene even more cooler than my last stay all those years ago. For good and for worse, it looks more like a capital city now.

It seemed that you left a mark on your third performance at Schoenwetter. Do you think it was a once in a lifetime experience that you get to play all that you want to play without exception or without people asking you to change the music?

- The Schoenwetter gig was surreal, for want of a word. Imagine if you had the "Monti" set up near the Upper Barracca in Valletta, and you have to go through the "Monti" to find yourself playing in the Upper Barracca

to people from all walks of life with their children and their dogs, either chilling out on their deckchairs or on the huge sandpit within, or dancing regardless of their age - obviously the setting is in Berlin, not Valletta (dream on!).

Mid-way through my set (which kicked off at 1pm), this guy in his early fifties started asking me where I come from, what do you call this music, and whether I have a mix CD on me to sell to him. I told him that I never bothered to do a mix CD ever in my life, and the bloke gave me a verbal ticking off in return. He was followed by a fair number of people asking me the same questions and giving me the same "shame on you" response for not having a mix CD to sell...

I would have sold around 45-50 CDs that day had I done one, but where the hell did I know that I was going to impress this much? I mean, come on...this is Berlin - I was plankton in a huge ocean here! As for being asked what to play!|no one bothered to ask, and even if they did, I wouldn't change my music for anyone, be it in Berlin or Benghajsa? I'm no one's jukebox!

Are you planning to go back for more?

- If the influential people I met after the Schoenwetter gig stood by their proposals, than yeah - I will be. But you have to be a Doubting Thomas when it comes to the music business, and I've been in this business for 17 years in different capacities. I have no aspirations to take over the world, and my feet are firmly on the ground as a consequence of experiences that stemmed from those 17 years. But I would gladly take any opportunity to play there.

I'm an easy going person when it comes to DJing, and my dream only extends to playing in cities where the vibe doesn't stop at the exit door of the club...the only two cities that give me that vibe so far are Barcelona (I'd love to play there someday) and Berlin, and something inside me says that San Francisco might have that same vibe, but we just have to wait and see when that will happen, if ever...

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