Techno Tuesday: Adriatique on artistic expression and working with Diynamic and Cityfox
Techno Tuesday is a feature on Dancing Astronaut documenting the culture of underground dance music. We’ll bring you exclusive interviews, tracks, and narratives from artists within the techno, tech house, and deep house world in an effort to shed light on some of the best talent outside the world of mainstream dance music.
Hailing from Zurich, Switzerland, Adrian Schweizer and Adrian Shala, or Adriatique as their collaboration goes, are well-versed in the art of DJing and boast an impressive array of original productions and remixes. The techno mainstays have grown to be a staple in The Cityfox Experience’s parties throughout New York, and are no strangers to playing five-hour sets on the regular. In fact, both Adrians are so heavily inspired by the label and its esteemed event series that “Space Knights” materialized in July 2014: a production influenced by Cityfox’s “Space Knights” themed soirée about one year prior. While one naturally gravitates toward the booth and the other the studio, it is evident that Adriatique’s synergy is responsible for not only their authoritative stage presence, but their impressive output. The duo’s most recent releases include remixes of WhoMadeWho’s “Dreams” and Of Norway’s “Spirit Lights.”
With careers deeply rooted in Cityfox and Diynamic, Adriatique dish on how the influential imprints have shaped the artists they are today.
Both were kind of there since we started our careers not only as Dj’s but also as producers. After 2 years of trying and not being satisfied with anything we did, we finally came up with something we actually liked. So we got it to Diynamic as we were following the label and their work. They took it in to consideration for a possible release, which was a big answer for us of course. After the first 1,2 releases on Diynamic, Cityfox approached us and we sat together and talked about a possible EP and Gigs at their parties (back then still in Zurich). Step by step we got closer and worked more often together. The parties were a good thing for us to show our range as Dj’s, extended sets etc.
With every release, Diynamic Showcase, entry to the booking agency DIY we became more and more part of the collective. The same goes with Cityfox. From being residents in Zurich to headlining Events in New York.
We always were and are eager to know everything, not to miss anything but we definitely learned a lot of stuff from both sides. Diynamic & Cityfox are 2 totally different Labels, different philosophies and different methods to approach things. As we are a Duo that fits quite well to us. It seems we don’t have this one path, which leads us to the ultimate satisfaction. We are kind of diverse but with a clear vision of what we want and what we don’t want to do.
Both Labels are a great platform to express your self musically. Also something we learned. At the beginning we were way more influenced by trends or upcoming trends. Now a few years later we are more confident in what we really like and they appreciate it.
And that patience is indeed a virtue.
Patience. Patience allows yourself to grow, in every kind of sense. Both Labels also have a very natural way of growth, as have the artists which are part of them. This progression doesn’t happen because of big media pushes or name dropping. Nowadays Artists have a management before they even finished their first track. Especially Diynamic with their no contract policy is a very rare thing we think.
Both labels, in addition to The Cityfox Experience, have formed the backbone of Adriatique’s history.
At first there was this one track on a various compilation released via 2DIY4, which was the second record on the new sublabel of Diynamic. Now 4 years later we not only became a big part of the Label itself but we developed friendships and also are involved in certain decisions regarding the Label and its future. We grew with and thru both imprints, complementing each other very well. With all the Diynamic Showcases, the Festivals, Ibiza or the Events during ADE, BPM or Sonar you have big platforms to show yourself as an artist. We remember very well our first “maintime” slot at our very first OFF Sonar Gig. We just have released our first full EP and very looking forward to this event. That’s how our backbone got built with time. We had the chance to use these platforms but also did it.
When it comes to Cityfox, that’s a really special New York story for us. Their first ever “The Cityfox Experience” was our first appearance in the US. What happened since then with these Events is just great. We gain a lot of inspiration as we get surprised over and over again by their productions. We even named our Track after the “Space Knights” Party.