The first edition of Glitch Festival sees a line-up of top names from the electronic sphere gracing Malta. The Sunday Times speaks to the team behind the event.

Next month, the first edition of Glitch Festival will be bringing together a killer line-up of sun-kissed house and disco followed by darker, disjointed techno, acid and electro which will take the party through the night. Glitch Festival promises an intimate two-day adventure with full focus on a diverse quality line-up.

Where will Glitch Festival be held?

The festival will be held in the atmospheric woodlands of Buskett. The venue will be converted into a house-and-techno fortress for the event. A lot of production and effort is going into it to make it a memorable experience. The decision to choose this location was very simple. We honestly think it had the perfect setting and feel for a day and night festival.

Glitch is probably the biggest techno line-up to hit Malta yet. Is there a local market for this?

It is the biggest techno line-up. The team behind the festival is made up of various promoters which have been involved in the house, techno and electro scene for a very long time, and who have already been responsible for bringing over some of the most exciting names in the business. Most of these events were held at the legendary Liquid Club.

Regarding the market, honestly, the energy you see by the local crowd is very hard to find elsewhere; in actual fact, most of the artists that play here speak highly about the Maltese crowd. They live for these nights, so we were sure people would be very excited to see the line-up.

The team behind the festival is made up of various promoters which have been involved in the house, techno and electro scene for a very long time

How come the move from Liquid?

Quite simply, we wanted to take the Liquid crowd to a bigger scale. Liquid Club has built quite a reputation for itself on the international electronic circuit over the past few years. Back when the promoters involved in the scene had introduced their own events in 2002, they have always booked the artists which they followed and loved, and never really thought about the numbers.

Acts like Legowelt, Bangkok Impact, Orgue Electronique, DJ TLR, Alden Tyrell and The Advent featured in these events, contributing towards building a strong scene and community which never existed before.

Fast forward to 2016, and the roster of artists brought over includes names like Laurent Garnier, Ben Klock, Nina Kraviz, Marcel Dettmann, Boys Noize, Tiga, Jeff Mills, Robert Hood, I-F, 2manydjs, Juan Atkins, Rodhad, Aux88, Julio Bashmore, Erol Alkan, Kevin Saunderson, Space Dimension Controller and Lone, just to name a few.

We thought it’s time to take things to a new level for Malta and Glitch Festival is the next step.

What is the concept behind Glitch?

Glitch is all about the quality of the music, atmosphere and staying true to our original roots. This will be the first proper festival held in Malta with complete focus on quality underground acts from the house, techno, disco, electro and acid sphere.

With more festivals and big names playing on the island, why do you think Malta has suddenly established itself as a location for electronic music?

Contrary to what some of the foreign media reports about Malta, big names have graced the island week in, week out for a very long time. Yet, now with more festivals being held in Malta, and with the support the Malta Tourism Authority is giving for such events, organisations can invest more in order to attract foreign audiences. Malta has all the right ingredients for such events and, if things are done properly, the numbers can only increase.

Glitch Festival takes place on September 7 and 8 at the Buskett Roadhouse, Buskett. The line-up includes Ben Klock, Carl Craig, Dave Clarke, Fatima Yamaha, Gesaffelstein, Jupiter Jax, Kink, Len Faki, Midland, Tom Trago, Virginia, Cain, Manthrax and Bjan-Jensen. Tickets are available online.

https://tickets.glitchfestival.com

Rare appearance by Gesaffelstein at Glitch

It takes a certain brand of confidence to name yourself after two towering intellectual concepts. Gesamtkunstwerk is the German ideal of the total or universal artwork, bringing together music, the visual arts, narrative and more into a single intoxicating vision. Albert Einstein is the ultimate example of human intellect – the man who explained the universe.

Put them together and you’ve got Gesaffelstein, also known as Mike Levy, the Paris-based DJ-producer who reconnected hard techno to its industrial roots – the primal hammering of Front 242, Nitzer Ebb and DAF – and now expands it into a rich and intriguing universe of its own on his uncompromising debut album Aleph.

To mainstream audiences, Levy is known for collaborating with Kanye West on two standout tracks on 2013’s Yeezus album – the abrasive Send It Up and the astonishing glam-punk rap riot Black Skinhead, a co-production with Daft Punk and Levy’s friend Brodinski.

But Gesaffelstein has been building up a name among dance fans since the late Noughties. There’ve been releases on the OD, Zone and Bromance labels showcasing an ever-developing individual style with distinctive ominous undertones. Remixes for Lana del Rey, Justice, The Hacker, Laurent Garnier and heroes Depeche Mode put his unique sound – harsh but beautiful, sometimes brutal but always delicately structured – front and centre.

Gesaffelstein’s vision crystallised on Aleph’s flagship single, the intense and insistent Pursuit, and especially its controversial video. Created by director duo Fleur & Manu it contrasted clinical images of sex, war and machines with gracious neo-classical living and Gesaffelstein’s pounding yet melodic track – an evocation of the dark human impulses connecting wealth, class and technology.

It’s the perfect taster for the sinister pleasures of Aleph, a debut album which refreshed a stale techno scene with the disturbing flavours that ran through Skinny Puppy, pre-pop Human League, Colourbox and even early Kraftwerk.

Levy is almost precisely as old as house music. He was born in 1985 in Lyon and discovered techno music at the age of 15, when he found a CD in his sister’s bedroom. It had Green Velvet’s sleek connection of disco and techno Flash on it.

A neighbour owned a few synthesisers and Levy began experimenting, not so much with music as with pure sound. When he turned 18, in 2003, he moved to Paris and began what he now calls research, releasing singles that felt their way towards the sound he had in his head.

Now, Levy works with great intent on music that is heir to the sounds of Cabaret Voltaire and Clock DVA as much as Derrick May or Derrick Carter. He’s never been a hardcore record collector, or a gig-goer, or even a clubber.

But visual art is a different matter. Levy is equally inspired by the none-more-black contemporary abstract paintings of Pierre Soulages and the severe, 18th-century neoclassical grandeur of Jacques-Louis David, who painted those infamous images of Napoleon on horseback.

He approaches DJ’ing meticulously, playing uncompromising mood-driven sets which have earned acclaim everywhere from Boiler Room Berlin to Electric Zoo in NYC, Sonár in Barcelona and Bestival in the UK. DJing can be difficult, Levy explains, because he’s not, by nature, a clubber. When he goes out to a techno club he can find the music so overwhelming that he wants to sit back andlisten, not dance.

Courtesy of Residentadvisor.net