thebunkerny

Like many of us, Brooklyn-based producer Gunnar Haslam has long been drawn to acid. Following two releases on The Bunker New York alongside Tin Man as a part of their improvisational Romans project, Gunnar returns with “Scale No Flam”, his first 12” single for the label. Scale No Flam is both a love letter and a demonstration of why he can’t stop getting lost in the sound. According to Gunnar, “acid is just one of those things that creeps into your life and consumes everything around you - a psychedelic and textural approach to music that is simultaneously intense and smooth.” While acid has come to be defined by the Roland 808 and the 303, the hardware alone can’t define the feeling, and Gunnar believes “You don't need a 303 to make acid, you just need an open ear and an open mind.”

After getting Mike Servito, Justin Cudmore, Derek Plaslaiko, and Bryan Kasenic all running to the booth to see what the fuck was playing at various times when Gunnar was dropping the unreleased “Scale No Flam” in his DJ sets throughout 2016, we had no choice but to press it to vinyl. Gunnar tells us he was playing around with trying to replicate the bass line of Heaven 17’s 1982 classic ‘Let Me Go’ when “things kinda mutated.” The A side is completely Gunnar’s own with a dominating acid line providing the backbone to a flangey work-out that is simultaneously totally crazy and totally logical. On the B side, fellow Brooklynites and co-members of the Hot Mix DJ crew, Mike Servito and Justin Cudmore add their perspective with a remix that draws out the hidden angular funk.

Like many of us, Brooklyn-based producer Gunnar Haslam has long been drawn to acid. Following two releases on The Bunker New York alongside Tin Man as a part of their improvisational Romans project, Gunnar returns with “Scale No Flam”, his first 12” single for the label. Scale No Flam is both a love letter and a demonstration of why he can’t stop getting lost in the sound. According to Gunnar, “acid is just one of those things that creeps into your life and consumes everything around you - a psychedelic and textural approach to music that is simultaneously intense and smooth.” While acid has come to be defined by the Roland 808 and the 303, the hardware alone can’t define the feeling, and Gunnar believes “You don't need a 303 to make acid, you just need an open ear and an open mind.”

After getting Mike Servito, Justin Cudmore, Derek Plaslaiko, and Bryan Kasenic all running to the booth to see what the fuck was playing at various times when Gunnar was dropping the unreleased “Scale No Flam” in his DJ sets throughout 2016, we had no choice but to press it to vinyl. Gunnar tells us he was playing around with trying to replicate the bass line of Heaven 17’s 1982 classic ‘Let Me Go’ when “things kinda mutated.” The A side is completely Gunnar’s own with a dominating acid line providing the backbone to a flangey work-out that is simultaneously totally crazy and totally logical. On the B side, fellow Brooklynites and co-members of the Hot Mix DJ crew, Mike Servito and Justin Cudmore add their perspective with a remix that draws out the hidden angular funk.

Brooklyn-based DJ and producer @antenes has been a regular on The Bunker line-ups for the past decade, playing both ambient and dancefloor DJ sets as well as live. With a record on LIES and a forthcoming release on The Bunker New York, Antenes tells us that all of the tracks on this podcast: "are very personal and based on a space of time and experiences where I have had a chance to connect with people at all different moods and hours...When I produce or play live I usually have a specific concept for each track or piece, but my relationship to DJ-ing is that of an audio journal and marking of a time period; unbound, emotional and without any constraints. I wanted this mix to go through the different moods I experience on a typical day, especially on a weekend that I perform... some of it is dark and foreboding , but it has a hopeful ending . More than one track I've cried tears of joy playing out . So there is a lot of gratitude in this mix too. Starts out at night, but chases the light."

1: Jeff Mills - Indications - Axis

2: Reeko - Lovers and Bandits - Detroit Underground

3: Richard H. Kirk - November X Ray Mexico - Warp

4: Peter Benisch - Part 7 - Fax +49-69/450464

5: Altstadt Echo - Modern Cathedrals pt. 3 (Luigi Tozzi remix) - Modern Cathedrals

6: Stephanie Sykes - Sakura - 47

7: Cio D'0r - Tomorrow was Yesterday - Semantica

8: Modes - M44 - Spazio Disponibile

9: Emmanuel Top - Radio - Attack Records

10: Robert Hood - Bells at Dusk - M-Plant

11: Silent Servant - Dissociation - LIES

12: Adam X - Galactoid - MNX Recordings

13: Neil Landstrumm - Two Stroke - Sneaker Social Club

14: Wild Planet - Hardware Software - Warp

15: The Kosmik Kommando - A - Machine Codes

16: James "Jack Rabbit" Martin - Rabbit Trax I (Peter Black remix) - Electropolis

17: Female - Surrounded By Enemies - Downwards

18: Oscar Mulero - Still The One I Was - Tresor

19: Seraphim Rytm - Sumaritma (Edit Select Rmx) - Silent Season

20: Ivan Dbri - Un Millon De Luces (Matthias Springer Remix) - Blaq Records

21: Shawn O'Sullivan - Free Flight - W.T. Records

22: Voices From The Lake - Velo Di Maya - The Bunker New York

Justin Cudmore has managed to stand out in two cities that are not known for being easy on aspiring musicians: Chicago and New York. He always made music growing up near the small town of Springfield, Illinois, playing drums in different bands and gravitating towards whatever remnants of the 90’s midwest rave scene he was able to find around him. Examining his roots, Justin identifies a move to Chicago in the mid-2000’s as a turning point:

"Figuring out my sexuality in college, I found clubs to be welcoming—I found a community in the music.” ” He naturally became a part of the scene around Chicago’s Smart Bar, eventually helping out with the seminal blog and mix series Little White Earbuds, while deepening his appreciation for the classic house and acid tracks that continue to inspire him even after leaving the midwest for New York City.

Following a move to Brooklyn, his rise as an in-demand DJ on the local underground circuit, and a widely charted debut single ‘Crystal’ on Honey Soundsystem, “Forget It” is Cudmore’s debut EP on The Bunker New York. Some of these tracks will be recognizable from late night DJ sets and podcasts by The Bunker New York family such as Bryan Kasenic, Mike Servito and Gunnar Haslam (the latter two make up the Hot Mix collective with Justin, and have been playing collaborative all night sets at The Bunker). The white labels of “Forget It” have already been drawing dancers here in Brooklyn to the booth demanding a track ID. “I like old sounds but I don't think I sit down and necessarily try to make retro sounding tracks” says Cudmore, “ When I sit down and improvise my only guide or rules is following a particular sound or vibe I've built in my head.” With steady basslines, vocal hooks and wiggly acid overtones, all four tracks have to be described as floor-fillers that more than capably stand up to home listening.

Mix recorded at Robert Johnson in Frankfurt specifically for The Bunker Podcast, by Oliver Hafenbauer, who serves as the club's resident DJ, booker, and A&R for the in-house label. He joins us for his debut at The Bunker on March 10 at Good Room: http://thebunkerny.com/events/2017-03-10-the-bunker-presents-lag-oliver-hafenbauer-jane-fitz

In advance of the launch of the Planet Giegling world tour at The Bunker New York on Feb 3-4, label mainstay @ateq delivers a stunning mix from his studio. More info on the event at http://thebunkerny.com/events/2017-02-04-planet-giegling-party-at-the-bunker-new-york

Hot Mix is a DJ collective made up of @MikeServito, @GunnarHaslam, and Justin @cudmore. They've recently played two all night b2b2b sets at The Bunker, released a collaborative record on HNYTRX (Honey Soundsystem's imprint), and all three have upcoming releases on The Bunker NY. This podcast is an excerpt from their all night set in the Bad Room at The Bunker on November 5, 2016.

A late-night DJ set by @erikadotnet of @ithqdetroit, recorded live at Unter x The Bunker II in September of 2016.

The Bunker New York is proud to present the second full-length album on our label: Valere Aude, the debut album from Romans, a collaborative project between New York techno producer Gunnar Haslam and Vienna-based acid evangelist Johannes Auvinen (aka Tin Man). Featuring 12 tracks of hallucinogenic , psychedelic techno, Valere Aude is an acid-etched trip to the outer reaches of the mind.

"I just really like listening to albums. I think the popular notion of techno not lending itself to the album format is just a myth," says Haslam, a statement we can't help but agree with. Both Haslam and Auvinen are no strangers to the album format — Haslam has released three under his own name, and Tin Man has released no fewer than six. "The album format allows for more cohesive artistic statements than other formats — it feels like more of an achievement and delivers a filled-out narrative," explains Auvinen. That's a perfect summation of Valere Aude. Building on the blueprint they sketched with Ambulare Aude, their first 12" for The Bunker New York, Valere Aude presents a fleshed-out vision of another world where acid techno falls like rain upon a forgotten civilization. "The album connects to a fantastic fictional history in which we are imagining attitudes lost to the waters of time," Auvinen says. The track titles, in fact, allude to geographic designations in the greater Roman empire, adds Haslam.

Although both Haslam and Auvinen are fully established artists in their own right, Romans is more than a meeting of the minds. "We are discovering a third entity as Romans, within Romans, which is neither he [Haslam] nor I," explains Auvinen, cryptically. "Our decisions as producers become simpler as we get closer to discovering Romans' sound." Haslam concurs: "Our production process is pretty quick — our compositional style is similar. We give each jam all that we have, then, later, sort 'em out and let Providence decide whether it's any good." The finished product is a steamy, moody record, experimenting with atmospheres, tempos, and sounds, designed for blistering hot days and cold, rainy nights. We couldn't be more excited to share it with you.

The Bunker New York is proud to present the second full-length album on our label: Valere Aude, the debut album from Romans, a collaborative project between New York techno producer Gunnar Haslam and Vienna-based acid evangelist Johannes Auvinen (aka Tin Man). Featuring 12 tracks of hallucinogenic , psychedelic techno, Valere Aude is an acid-etched trip to the outer reaches of the mind.

"I just really like listening to albums. I think the popular notion of techno not lending itself to the album format is just a myth," says Haslam, a statement we can't help but agree with. Both Haslam and Auvinen are no strangers to the album format — Haslam has released three under his own name, and Tin Man has released no fewer than six. "The album format allows for more cohesive artistic statements than other formats — it feels like more of an achievement and delivers a filled-out narrative," explains Auvinen. That's a perfect summation of Valere Aude. Building on the blueprint they sketched with Ambulare Aude, their first 12" for The Bunker New York, Valere Aude presents a fleshed-out vision of another world where acid techno falls like rain upon a forgotten civilization. "The album connects to a fantastic fictional history in which we are imagining attitudes lost to the waters of time," Auvinen says. The track titles, in fact, allude to geographic designations in the greater Roman empire, adds Haslam.

Although both Haslam and Auvinen are fully established artists in their own right, Romans is more than a meeting of the minds. "We are discovering a third entity as Romans, within Romans, which is neither he [Haslam] nor I," explains Auvinen, cryptically. "Our decisions as producers become simpler as we get closer to discovering Romans' sound." Haslam concurs: "Our production process is pretty quick — our compositional style is similar. We give each jam all that we have, then, later, sort 'em out and let Providence decide whether it's any good." The finished product is a steamy, moody record, experimenting with atmospheres, tempos, and sounds, designed for blistering hot days and cold, rainy nights. We couldn't be more excited to share it with you.