slydex - live at sub:conscious [anatomy 17]

surprise! the 17th anatomy is another live recording of a dj set, this time from slydex.

(visual artist: simek)

slydex hails from athens, greece. as a dj he's shared the bill with sandwell district, milton bradley, claudio prc, nina kraviz and many others. his contribution to the anatomy series comes in the form of an hour-long recording pulled from a recent sub:conscious party at six D.O.G.S, where he opened for andy stott. this set is a bit different from the usual anatomy fare... but read on first:

Who are you?
I am George Papageorgopoulos, a restless young guy from Athens, Greece also known as Slydex when I am DJing.

How did you find techno and what made you want to DJ?
I was collecting CDs and generally music since junior school and I used to play them in early school parties actually without mixing them, just changing tracks from one discman to the other. Its actually cliche i guess but this is the true story. I already had some friends with professional gear so i thought it would be a good idea to start collecting money and take my own professional mixer. I started mixing mostly disco and vocal house music until the time some older friends of mine put me to listen a Richie Hawtin mixed set, actually the BBC Radio1 mix. I still cant forget how socking that was... I made my transition.

What are some of your all-time favorite records?
Having a classic rock background I would say that A Night At The Opera from Queen and Led Zeppelin IV from Led Zeppelin are two of the albums that shaped my aspect in music. From the electronic dance music I would say everything from Prodigy, Daft Punk and Plastikman. These last years some of my favorite albums had been Feed Forward from Sandwell District and Omega from Robert Hood..timeless Techno music.

What have been your favorite records or albums from 2011?
As I see it, 2011 has been a really interesting year for electronic music so far. I got to like many different styles and that something I also try to show in my dj sets. I would easily suggest the whole Blackest Ever Black catalogue so far, it has been my favorite label this year, many different styles of music but always in the same dark aesthetic. Some of the albums I really enjoyed this year were from Kangding Ray, Andy Stott, Instra:mental, Sawf and Emptyset, all of them gave something fresh to the scene. Watch out also for the forthcoming Glacial album on Hotel Costes, a really unique blend of dub techno and jazz sounds.

Tell us about the parties you've thrown. Is there a philosophy to the party?
So far this year has been really busy for me and for our small techno scene in general. I organized alone and with my crew several parties with local and international guests and the main philosophy behind them is the improvement of our local scene and the promotion of a contemporary techno sound that was really missing from the night life of Athens. Of course having fun with friends is also a big factor for me and this year we had good times with great music from DJ's like Delta Funktionen, Milton Bradley, Sandwell District, Sawf, Claudio PRC and many other. Just have to say that I dont consider my self as a promoter, I am just a clubber and DJ hungry for quality electronic dance music in my beloved city.

What has been your favorite party or set recently?
With no doubt the most intense clubbing experience I had lately was the 5h hours set Sandwell District did for our party. Proper techno non stop until 10 in the morning, I think it will be memorable moment for those who witness it. Another great set that i really have to mention was a 6h set from Delta Funktionen last March here in Athens..he played like everything he had in his bag with flawless mixing and structure, has to be one of the best djs ever heard.

What do you think of the techno culture in Athens?
Its really sad to say but techno culture in Athens for years now is mainly based on drugs. Most of the people dont care much about what the hear, they just want it fast and pumping, sometimes they dont even care if its techno or psychedelic trance.

Our scene is quite small right now but used to be bigger and stronger some years ago. Actually I would say that what we have now is not a scene but a small group of people who are trying to build one. All these years ignorant and selfish djs along with irrelevant promoters and club owners took us to the point we are in now but some times I think that only from the point zero you can understand and appreciate some things in life.

At the same moment,the economical and political situation in Greece is quite shitty and rough the last two years but that somehow helped the improvement of all art forms as I see it from my point. People are hungry for new things, a lot of great young producers are rising and more people are getting interesting to techno music probably because its a way to burst your hard feelings and get away from the reality even for some hours or minutes. As for Athens, I would say is one of the most underground places around Europe at the moment and if we work and fight altogether now we can have results that we dont even imagine, not only in music but also in our every day life.

Tell us about the mix. How was it recorded?
This mix is the last hour of the 2.5h set I did for Sub:conscious party at Six D.O.G.S (Athens,Greece) on Saturday 12 November. My friend Theo Lazos who hosted the party invited Andy Stott for a live set and I had to do the opening set for him. I was actually really anxious about what I should play but after talking to Andy I felt comfortable to experiment with my set and deliver a peak hour party atmosphere in the last hour of it. I really wanted to play something different than most times by mixing many different styles, actually I was really bored of the so called droning techno sound those last weeks and I want to give a more party meaning to my set. To record the mix i used a Allen & Heath DB4 mixer, Traktor Pro 2 and a pair of Native Instruments X1 controllers. That night the club was full packed and Andy Stott did one of the best live sets ever witnessed using dirty, filthy techno grooves...never heard something similar like this before, so fresh and unique.

What is next for Slydex?
Well a lot of present and future plans I would say. In 2012 I am going to launch my new record label called Modal Analysis along with my good friends Hiori and Alxp. Its going to be a conceptual thing focusing in every style of modern techno, from industrial and electro to experimental and dub but always with a dark techno aesthetic. Our main goal is to highlight and promote the new techno sound of Greece with major Greek artists and many other friends from around the globe. While focusing on my label I am also preparing a new party series in Athens with a lot new faces,good friends and main target the promotion of quality electronic dance music, it doesnt matter if it will be techno,house or dubstep. If it happens for you to be in Athens during November you can find me DJing with Subjected and Hiori at Astron Bar on 19 november and with AnD (Live) and Zorz for the Habeat Records Night at Six D.O.G.S on 26 November. Habeat is a brand new record store that will soon open downtown Athens with much respect and love for the vinyl and local artists, something that was really missing from our city.





slydex soundcloud link (stream and download)

no tracklisting for this one, but i think george is spot-on in his attempt to create a unique sort of "peak hour party atmosphere" that's definitely unlike previous anatomy mixes - there's tons of delicious low-end workouts so this one might be better at high volume. keep up with slydex via his RA page - and athens heads, be sure to check out that party with subjected and hiori this weekend. thanks again to george for keeping it real. enjoy!