The Beirut Groove Collection knew who to bring, teaming up with YUKUNKUN, for its 5th anniversary on Saturday 13th of September: The one & only DJ Florian Keller will be gracing the partyers in White Beach \u2013 Batroun with his awesome set! It\u2019s already looking big, exciting, and surely unique! There\u2019s no doubt Florian will make the night memorable; you\u2019ll be dancing your ass off non-stop since all you have to do is \u2018let it go!\u2019- as he points out with Beirut.com\u2019s quick interview with him:<\/p>\n
Beirut.com:<\/b><\/i> This is not the first time you perform in Lebanon. Is there anything that you think sets the Lebanese audience apart from the others around the world?<\/p>\n
DJ Florian Keller: <\/b><\/i> Actually no. When I DJ-ed at Lila Braun in the early 2000’s it was notable that the crowd championed some oriental Percussion in some tracks over more heavy & slow Drum-breaks but Ernesto chahoud (the Beirut Groove Collective) and the boys from Yunkunkun brought in so much Funk that this is not the issue anymore. And fortunately: other parts of the world know how to seriously party too! \ud83d\ude42 <\/p>\n
Beirut.com: <\/b><\/i> Being an inspiration to all deep funk lovers, who was your inspiration in music growing up?<\/p>\n
DJ Florian Keller: <\/b><\/i> I started to love this music when I was maybe 10 years old, there was no one in my universe who shared that love. It was the early 80’s and I loved James Brown, Defunkt or Alvin Cash and \u2013 if I met someone who was into \u201cBlack\u201d music at all, they were talking about Gap Band and Disco (that I started to appreciate eventually some years later). Later I met Jan Weissenfeldt, who ran a school-band that later became The Poets Of Rhythm who I could exchange with at my first dj-gigs around 1986, and It took until 1988 when I first heared from the \u201cRare Groove\u201d movement that started to appear in London at that time. Norman Jay, Femi (Fem) & Marco as well as I.G Culture & Dodge were the first Funk Dj’s I ever heared in a proper club \u2013 and the first serious Funk-samples showed up in Hip Hop (EPMD, Jungle Brothers, Biz Markie & Beastie Boys) \u2013 that was most inspirational to finally see and hear equal-minded musical tastes around! <\/p>\n
Beirut.com: <\/b><\/i> What is it that differs a good set from an awesome one? What\u2019s \u2018the trick\u2019?<\/p>\n
DJ Florian Keller:<\/b><\/i> I think there’s a \u201ctrick\u201d that makes a set good instead of bad: Take your job serious, be daring, don’t underestimate the audience (by unnecessarily playing hits) and in the same time don’t ignore them (by just presenting your ego or connoisseur-ism). It’s that narrow ridge that makes a night interesting for the clubbers. But an awesome set has no tricks: It happens when the audience\/dancers and the dj can really feel each other and let it go. It needs a good location and a warm atmosphere, a great p.a. and a lot of things that cannot be influenced (spirit?)<\/p>\n
Beirut.com: <\/b><\/i> Is there any ritual that you do before every show? What do you feel mostly before every party?<\/p>\n
DJ Florian Keller:<\/b><\/i> I prepare my records with the location & people in mind I imagine to expect, but that is before I start to travel naturally. Love to have a decent meal (preferably serious local food) and then off to the venue. The only ritual is that I really need is to bring my own beautiful red velvet slip mats, my 45 adapters & Stanton 890 systems, install everything, see where I can put my records comfortably and turn on the special lights for my records (the Osram LEDstixx) \u2013 and then the party can start!<\/p>\n
Beirut.com: <\/b><\/i> What can we expect on Saturday the 13th in White Beach \u2013 Batroun, especially that it\u2019s BGC\u2019s 5th anniversary?<\/p>\n
DJ Florian Keller: <\/b><\/i> I will surely play a wide range of what Funk is all about, from nose-bleeding Heavy 1970 stuff via proper Discofunk to Hip Hop to maybe some Reggae & Jazz \u2013 and all the way back again, definitely 100% vinyl (as always) \u2013 and most likely 45’s only<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Beirut Groove Collection knew who to bring, teaming up with YUKUNKUN, for its 5th anniversary on Saturday 13th of September: The one & only DJ Florian Keller will be gracing the partyers in White Beach \u2013 Batroun with his awesome set! It\u2019s already looking big, exciting, and surely unique! There\u2019s no doubt Florian will make the night memorable; you\u2019ll be dancing your ass off non-stop since all you have to do is \u2018let it go!\u2019- as he points out with Beirut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":630778,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_preview_accessed":0,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"media-embed-type":[],"class_list":["post-35699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"authorship":[29],"yoast_head":"\n