Page 32 - Zone Magazine Issue 012

The German Queen of Techno
KLAUDIA GAWLAS is DJ, producer and label boss. Her straight Techno thrills her fans all over the world. Since 2013 she has been voted Best DJ in the FAZEMag reader poll three times in a row. Her debut album Zeitgeist was released in 2013 and its single Papillon was voted Best Track and gained cult status. Bookings at Awakenings Festival Netherlands, Tomorrowland Brasil, NATURE ONE, Love Family Park, MAYDAY, SEMF Stuttgart, Amsterdam Dance Event or Echelon Open Air are part of her schedule every year. Furthermore she performs in clubs worldwide like Argentina, Italy, Spain, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Greece, Ireland, Hungary, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Together with Eric Sneo she has been responsible for the label MOD since 2012.
The Sun is shining. Temperatures reach levels like in the Sahara Desert and the only thing you can think of is getting cooled down. So you just wanna go to a beach, have a drink and relax. But if there isn't any ocean near you, you've simply got a problem. Not in this case!
In the announcement it read “Strandliebe at Beachbar” in Bonn... Hmm, Bonn? Beach? Two terms that usually don't go together. So we went there and Klaudia Gawlas was announced. I took the chance to get her for a little Interview.
You were born in Poland and moved to Passau in Germany and then further on to USA where you began DJ'ing. How did this all happen?
Well, I went from Poland to Germany with my mother and grew up on a country side in Bavaria. I've always wanted to make music but no one in my family is into this. My dad first said: There's no money in that. You can't do it. Get into gastronomy and then go to Switzerland and so on... Well I thought this is not my thing.
I wanted to go to a foreign country to improve my English skills and therefore I went to USA. I met some Hip-Hop guys and spent a lot of time with them. One day one of them came to me and said: "Hey, can you play some German Techno"?
There was a record store where I was been nearly every day where they've got a lot of records of all genres and they even had a little box with Techno. I had already bought some records although I never intended to be DJ and so it all started.
So you've had a great career since those days with bookings all over the world, MAYDAY, NATURE ONE, Awakenings, Tomorrowland Brazil and many others. You were voted for best national DJ in Faze Magazine 3 times in a row. How did you feel when you realised that you had made it and that
you are where you wanted to be? Have you finally reached the goals you had?
It's an awesome feeling when you get voted for best national DJ by such a magazine. I've always been reading this magazine even as “Raveline” before and I always read all those stories even long time before I started DJ'ing. Then I was voted for best newcomer. This seemed like top of the hill and I thought WOW! My fan base kept growing on and on and thanks to social media I could do promotions and got closer to my fans. I was totally amazed when I realised, there are so many people standing behind you. For those you really are the best DJ. It is all a matter of personal taste. Everyone has their own favourite. It was an amazing feeling and to make it three times in a row gave me some security but also some responsibility. There is a strange feeling coming up. You are standing on all the big stages at the great festivals and on the other hand it's quiet demanding. I thank God a lot for how this all went.
What kind of events do you prefer playing at?
I love doing both, festivals and club events. It's always a question, how is the stage built, how is the sound system. When all this fits together and the crowd is good, I am the smallest part of the puzzle because it's the crowd that make the party.
On those huge events like NATURE ONE the organization is totally perfect and when I'm feeling comfortable I can push myself way further.
So you prefer the bigger festivals?
No, not really. In summertime I like the festivals more because in this time it's very hot in the clubs. But yesterday I played the first club gig after this year’s festival season and afterwards in my hotel room I thought yeah, finally the club season is starting again. Just two very different worlds. Clubs are way smaller, the sound comes more direct than on a big stage even with the best PA and monitoring systems. On that open air stages the acoustic is sometimes very strange. I am really looking forward to the clubs and really freaking out there. You are more close to the people. I guess that's the point. There are people standing in front of you and even behind you so you are nearly surrounded on all sides. I like this atmosphere.
Is there any special event where you want to play at?
Well, in Germany I would like to play at Time Warp. That would be very interesting because Time Warp really stands for Techno. They really do it well with the whole sound system and decorations. I've heard a lot of good things about it. I would love to have the opportunity to play there
and I hope one day this will happen.
What was your worst, best or funniest experience you ever had on a gig?
I cannot tell you anything about the bad experiences because I always try to forget about those as quick as possible. There are a lot of funny things but unfortunately you do not write them down.
I've had one gig where my Manager stood behind me after a lot of drinks he suddenly fell down like a pole and poured his drink all over his face and hair. Nothing else happened but this situation was so funny that I went down to my knees laughing. I was not able to continue playing.
When someone wants to start DJ'ing, what would you tell them?
Stick to it. When you have a passion for something you must stick to it. Training is the second important thing. The time I started with it I spent almost 6-7 hours every day with training and trying something new.
Some people start DJ'ing because they want to be superstars but that's the wrong way. For me, music was always the most important thing and I wanted to do what I love the most.
Monika Kruse gave me one advice in the beginning: "Buying records is very important".
I want to push this advice. It's important to have a lot of new tracks to gain a good feeling again and again. I buy
a lot of tracks every week. I do not use all of them, maybe about 40% but you have to have fresh sounds.
Where is your journey going? What did you plan for the future?
I've just finished my second Album VISIONandthiswillbeoutinfallthis year. Then I will be at ADE in Amsterdam for sure. Further news can be read on my homepage, as well as on Facebook. A lot of gigs I hope and a lot of nice parties.
Connect: http://klaudiagawlas.de
Words By Pete Van Payne
Pic courtesy of abstract
feature interview [germany]