The story of the Weimar-based Giegling imprint is one that’s difficult to grasp. Starting only a few years ago, the club-turned-label came up with a series of one outstanding release after another. It is is run by a handful of artists who forged their friendship at a Weimar nightclub from which the label takes its name. This band of uncompromising creative minds also account for pretty much all of the releases on the label. They landed on our radar indefinitely after their earth-shattering label night on the mighty Tanzwüste/Tanzwiese stage at Fusion Festival in 2014.
They were also voted the number one label by Resident Advisor for that year, which described the sound, or at least the feeling or the personality of this close group of enigmatic musicians as follows: “[..] with just an armful of records from the label’s old guard, Giegling didn’t do anything radically new, but they did reach a tipping point of sorts. With albums and EPs from Kettenkarussell, Vril, Edward, Traumprinz and DJ Metatron, that feeling they’ve been building for years reached something close to perfection.” They run their label with such an eye for detail that they manually covered every record sleeve from their STAUB series in actual dust from the house that the Giegling crew lived in.
This Saturday, April 11, four members of the imprint will be flying over – some straight from their gig in the Maroccan Sahara – to the NDSM-wharf for a unique showcase. Kettenkarrussel and Edward will be playing their trademark live sets, while Dustin and Konstantin will be DJing – expect a lot of vinyl and failed Shazam attempts. Like the last edition of HENK two weeks ago, the crowd will be consisting of no more than a few hundred people in the industrial, intimate setting of one of the smaller areas in the NDSM wharf. Hopefully a solution has been found for the uneven sound distribution that night. Something that definitely needs attention as the DJ booth will be placed in the middle of the room, creating a sort of 360° dance floor.
Patrice Bäumel performing live at the previous HENK ITW
To be able to describe or prepare you for the music that you will be hearing this Saturday is difficult, because the various artists all have an eclectic approach to making and playing music. There are elements of techno, house, ambient, and hip-hop, but to place the Giegling sound in a genre would be a completely missing the point. There is a distinct, overarching idea behind the music of Giegling, something that you can only understand when you’ve experienced it for yourself.
