A staple of Berlin’s nightlife, the famous queer party and community GEGEN celebrates its 10 year anniversary this Friday with a series of high power live stream DJ sets with Philipp Strobel, Alienata, OCD & Mar/us from its Berlin home the KitKat Club.
The queer collective has established itself through the years as an important home and space for many artists and individuals who attend the bi-monthly parties, longing to meet again on the dancefloor, party after party.
The queer collective has established itself through the years as an important home and space for many artists and individuals who attend the bi-monthly parties, longing to meet again on the dancefloor, party after party.
MUSIC REVIEWS
BYSOPHIE KUBLERGEGEN BERLIN – 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY LIVE FROM KIT KAT CLUB BERLIN
Before the lockdown we got to meet Fabio Bocchese, also known as XIK, one of the founders of Gegen, to discuss the challenges faced in organizing the iconic party in a podcast special for Community Effects coming out in early February.
NSNS Magazine: “What challenges has Gegen brought you to face as an event organiser and as a person.”
Fabio: “10 years of events is a long journey and to be honest, it was not always easy to manage such a complex event, especially in today’s social media age. Like the city of Berlin evolved over the years, we also had to face several changes, due also to the fact that we had to reinvent and evolve ourselves. This means, for example, a musical change, based on a continuous search for new artists, new approaches to communicate on new media platforms, like, for example, the birth of our music label, which we released our first vinyl last June and made us very proud of it. Now, unfortunately, we are no longer active as a physical event since January last year. Because of the pandemic, we were the first event that decided to cancel while it was still possible to organize events. From that day on, everything became a daily challenge because the certain became uncertain, and still today, we still don’t know how or when we will be able to resume our journey. We however try to be present as we can, spreading our messages, but clearly, the situation atm is quite complicated. Managing such a large project requires a lot of work and dedication, and more and more over time, especially if it is constantly evolving. Recognising myself as a human being, with different lacks and limitations. Thankfully I have the support of people close to me, who are giving me strength and at the same time, believe in the project, beside helping me to take the right decisions in moments of weakness. Thanks Marius and Laura, I love you!”
Fabio: “10 years of events is a long journey and to be honest, it was not always easy to manage such a complex event, especially in today’s social media age. Like the city of Berlin evolved over the years, we also had to face several changes, due also to the fact that we had to reinvent and evolve ourselves. This means, for example, a musical change, based on a continuous search for new artists, new approaches to communicate on new media platforms, like, for example, the birth of our music label, which we released our first vinyl last June and made us very proud of it. Now, unfortunately, we are no longer active as a physical event since January last year. Because of the pandemic, we were the first event that decided to cancel while it was still possible to organize events. From that day on, everything became a daily challenge because the certain became uncertain, and still today, we still don’t know how or when we will be able to resume our journey. We however try to be present as we can, spreading our messages, but clearly, the situation atm is quite complicated. Managing such a large project requires a lot of work and dedication, and more and more over time, especially if it is constantly evolving. Recognising myself as a human being, with different lacks and limitations. Thankfully I have the support of people close to me, who are giving me strength and at the same time, believe in the project, beside helping me to take the right decisions in moments of weakness. Thanks Marius and Laura, I love you!”
You can hear more about the story of Gegen and enjoy its sound by tuning in for our 6th February Community Effects show, inviting Fabio/XIK for an interview and exclusive mix.
©photo (bottom) by Gili Shani / illustration (top) by Stefan Fähler
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