MILTON BRADLEY - Paris / Berlin : 20 years of Underground Techno

PARIS/BERLIN : 

20 Years of Underground Techno 

A documentary directed by Amélie Ravalec 

Les Films du Garage 

SARL au capital de 207 360 euros – RC N° B 394 070 304 (94B01081) 

SIRET 394 070 304 00016 – TVA intra-communautaire FR 47 394 070 304 000 16

Contents 

Synopsis 3 

Note of Intent 4 

CV 5 

Featured Speakers 12 

PARIS/BERLIN : 20 YEARS OF UNDERGROUND TECHNO • 2

"This is what techno was about, this is what it should be about, 

and hopefully this is gonna stay this way for a while now.." 

Synopsis 

This 52-minute documentary tells the story of an underground movement, from its beginning until 

now. Born in Detroit in the late 80s, techno met its audience a few years later in Europe, as 

the UK, Germany, France and many others countries started to host the foundations of a 

techno scene. 

It is mostly focused on Paris and Berlin. Two different cities, two different tales, but techno grew up in 

both, from secret underground parties to huge clubs, from a small faceless movement to an 

etablished business, and from vinyl to digital. 

The documentary features those in the scene who kept it true to its original spirit. About twenty 

people trace the evolution of techno over the years. They all have different profiles - dj, producer, 

label manager, promoter, record shop owner.. but all share a common passion : techno. 

3 • PARIS/BERLIN : 20 YEARS OF UNDERGROUND TECHNO 

- Adam X (Sonic Groove)

Note of Intent 

I started to direct my documentary, Paris/Berlin: 20 Years of Underground Techno, in early 2010, a 

few years after discovering techno for the first time. The idea came to my mind after watching 

some films on that subject: Universal Techno, Global Techno, etc., and realizing that there hadn’t 

been any good movies in the last few years, whereas the techno scene has changed a lot since 

the early 90’s. 

This documentary tells about the evolution of the underground techno scene since its beginning in 

Europe in the early 90’s, focusing especially on Paris and Berlin. 

Nowadays, the word ‘techno’ is used everywhere: radio, commercials, mainstream newspapers, and not 

many people really know what it means anymore. A bunch of well-exposed people represent 

the mainstream electronic music around the world, but the underground techno world stays 

relatively closed to the non-belongers. 

I chose to focus on the people that, for me, today still represent the spirit of techno, and know how to 

keep that state of mind where music always come before the self-gratification of the artist, 

where money is less important than keeping its integrity. 

Choosing Paris as a subject in a documentary about techno can surprise some: lots of people tend to 

think that the city isn’t much for alternative things, because of the prohibitive prices, the narrowminded 

Parisian spirit, and the lack of political flexibility. However, an underground scene 

existed, and still does today, in a small scale, thanks to a bunch of collectives. 

Berlin, in the other hand, is, since the fall of the Wall in 1989, a most favorable environment for the 

development of techno: huge spaces, low-cost living, and permissive government. This is why 

most of the ‘techno people’ settled there, and why the mass clubbing tourism also developed 

since around 2000, thanks to low-cost airlines. 

The documentary shows how techno grew up over the years, eventually becoming a mass 

phenomenon, being taken over by the major labels, and how, aside from that, an underground 

scene had been able to recreate itself, by staying away from any commercial attraction. 

About twenty people are featured in the movie: artists, djs, producers, record label people, 

journalists, etc. They all have different profiles, but all contributed in one way or another to the 

techno scene. 



Amélie RAVALEC 

22 Avenue Adolphe Schneider 

92140 Clamart, France 

+336 99 43 59 95 

amelie.ravalec@gmail.com 

vimeo.com/amelieravalec 

QUALIFICATIONS SUMMARY 

Video and audio editor, with wide knowledge of Final Cut Pro 

Camera operator, able to work with a lot of different professional digital 

video cameras, alone or with other operators 

Compositing with After Effects CS5 

Able to assist a photo director on a shooting, or to work alone on a 

3-point configuration. 

Grading with Color, After Effects, Colorista 

Ability to make a pre-mix on Protools 

Dynamic team-player, strong ability to work independently, professional 

Proven high abilities as an efficient, multi-tasking, dependable & reliable worker

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR: 2009 - 2012 

Paris/Berlin: 20 Years of Underground Techno, 52 min (Les Films du Garage, Paris, FR) 

VIDEO EDITOR: 2010 - 2011 

LEG Agency (Paris, FR) 

Audio/video editing and footage research for broadcast and advertising 

Clients include SFR, Nike, INPES, Playtex. 

FOUNDATION CO-PRESIDENT: 2010 - today 

Fondation Sonore: Organisation of multidisciplinary events and performances 

received the label of Public Utility by the SPF Justice (Belgium) 

RECORD LABEL MANAGER: 2012 - today 

Fondation Sonore 

CLIPS DIRECTOR: 2011 - today 

Claudio PRC - Clear Depths (Prologue, 2011) 

Claudio PRC / Terence Fixmer - Planetary Phase (Prologue, 2011) 

Makaton - Sleepers (Rodz Konez, 2011) 

Northern Structures - Powertools (Sonic Groove, 2011) 

Tomohiko Sagae - Deburring (Rodz Konez, 2011) 

Death Abyss - The Black Book (Rodz Konez, 2011) 

Gears X - Nerviolence (Tijjera, 2011) 

LIVE, PERFORMANCES AND FESTIVAL REPORTS (Camera Operator/Editor): 

Test Festival - (Torreblancas, Spain 2011) 

Stroboscopic Artefacts Showcase - Sonar 2011 (Barcelona, ESP) 

Mute - Prologue Showcase - Batofar, 2011 (Paris, FR) 

ANBB live - La Cigale, 2011 (Paris, FR) 

Grounded Theory - Arena Club, 2011 (Berlin, DE) 

Sandwell District - Social Club, 2011 (Paris, FR) 

The Best Place To Be Naked - Dimuschi, 2010 (Paris, FR) 

Correspondant - Rex Club, 2010 (Paris, FR) 

Jungle Juice - Cabaret Sauvage, 2010 (Paris, FR) 

Play (wet dance floor) - La Villette, 2010 (Paris, FR) 

Republique of Kittin - Bataclan, 2010 (Paris, FR) 

Get The Curse release party - Social Club, 2010 (Paris, FR) 


VJ - LIVE PERFORMANCES : 

La Fondation Sonore Pilote 1 - 2011, (Bruxelles, BE) 

FACE DOWN! Pilote 2 - 2011, (Bruxelles, BE) 

Sonic Dimension - Berghain Kantine (Berlin, DE) 

Sonic Groove - Suicide Circus (Berlin, DE) 

TRAINING : 

Movie director/Journalist: 2010 - 2011 - EMC (Malakoff, FR) 

Formation Ableton Live + MAO: 2010 - Technopol (Paris, FR) 

Bac L, AB: 2010 

SOFTWARE: 

Final Cut Pro, Adobe Suite including After Effects CS5, Photoshop CS5, 

Illustrator CS5, Modul8, Resolume, Pro Tools LE, Ableton Live, Colorista 

MISCELLANEOUS: 

French: native speaker 

English : written, spoken and read 

Spanish/German: spoken 

7 • PARIS/BERLIN : 20 YEARS OF UNDERGROUND TECHNO

ADAM X 

SONIC GROOVE 

SONICGROOVE.COM 

Adam X is a sonic techno onslaught – 

crossing the parallels of the many styles of 

underground Techno, Broken Beat Electro, 

Industrial & EBM genres of electronic 

music.His history dates back to 1990 in 

New York City, where he teamed up with 

brother Frankie Bones in running the first 

all-techno record shop in America entitled 

“Groove Records,” – later named “Sonic 

Groove Records”. At the present time Adam 

X calls East Berlin, Germany his home base, 

where most of his time is spent in between 

traveling across the world to perform. 

KAREEM 

ZHARK BERLIN 

ZHARK.DE 

Zhark Berlin's hard-line revisionist doctrine 

holds no hostages – rejecting the myopic 

conventions of the electronic/club medium, 

with its caustic amalgam of minimalist 

electroid-components savagely dismantled 

into an extreme free-fire zone of depravity. 

Founder of Zhark Recordings Berlin, Kareem 

has been presenting heavy armoured track 

material since 1996, challenging the 

conventions of sound, pushing them deep 

into the abyss. His definition of the 

Zharkesthetic lies in conveying a 

claustrophobic state - an atmosphere of 

threatening sound architecture and almost 

static soundwalls. 

REGIS 

DOWNWARDS 

WHERENEXT.TUMBLR.COM 

Karl O'Connor AKA Regis is England's 

reigning heir to the throne of electronic 

incognito. Working solely within Britain's 

arm of industrial might and decay in the 

Birmingham borough of Halesowen, 

O'Connor and Peter Sutton (Female) 

launched Downwards Records in late 1993. 

Magnetic electronic thunder cut dark 

swathes through the big parties for the first 

time with O'Connor’s instantaneously 

recognizable black envelope of deep 

atmosphere and suffocating basslines. 

Shirking conforming compromise and 

defying media darling status never 

sounded so good. 

FUNCTION 

SANDWELL DISTRICT 

WHERENEXT.TUMBLR.COM 

One of techno's true underground heroes, 

Function, real name Dave Sumner, has 

been DJing and making music for over 15 

years. Hailing from New York, Dave started 

to produce music and from the mid-90s 

onwards, put out music on Damon Wild's 

Synewave and his own Infrastructure 

imprint. Together with Karl O'Connor aka 

Regis he worked as Portion Reform, putting 

out uncompromising music on Downwards 

and becoming the only non-Birmingham 

producer to release on the label. More 

recently, Dave moved to Berlin and, still 

working with O'Connor and J. Mendez, set 

up the acclaimed Sandwell District imprint. 

ANCIENT METHODS 

AM/DOWNWARDS 

ANCIENTMETHODS.COM 

There’s something about the fearsome 

crunch of Ancient Methods‘ sounds that 

defies dry technical description and 

demands that you go over the top, whether 

in talking about it or moving to it. Whether 

they’re a leap forward or a consolidation of 

techno classicism though, is not really 

relevant once you’re plugged into their 

sound – immersed in the noise in a dark 

room with smoke and strobes, they 

represent electronic music at its absolute, 

most direct, straight- into-the-back-ofthe-brain 

best. 

LUCY 

STROBOSCOPIC ARTEFACTS 

STROBOSCOPICARTEFACTS.COM 

Lucy: producer, DJ, founder of Stroboscopic 

Artefacts. That’s probably how you know 

him. But there’s also Luca Mortellaro, a 

published author, experimental sound 

designer, and the man behind the Lucy 

moniker. There’s no doubt that the two are 

linked, but it’s certainly the hidden facets of 

Luca Mortellaro that are responsible for the 

dynamic output of Lucy. As he delved 

deeper into electronic music, Lucy made 

the essential move to Berlin. It was here he 

launched record label Stroboscopic 

Artefacts, a platform that illuminates 

pioneering electronic music. 


LAURENT GARNIER 

FCOM 

LAURENTGARNIER.COM 

One of the pioneering DJs of the dance music 

scene, Laurent Garnier experienced firsthand 

the euphoria of the Acid House 

movement in Manchester. He then went on 

to Wake Up and shake up Paris nightlife, from 

La Luna to the Palace, not forgetting the Rex 

Club. As one of the leading lights in French 

dance music at the end of the 1980’s, he then 

spread his message across the planet, from 

raves to warehouse parties, clubs to festivals. 

All of this musical journey is written down in 

the book Electrochoc that Laurent Garnier 

and the journalist-writer David Brun- 

Lambert wrote together and came out in 

2003. In this biography, Laurent Garnier tells 

the epic story of electronic music through his 

experiences and memories. 

TAMA SUMO 

OSTGUT TON 

OSTGUT.DE/BOOKING/ARTIST/12 

Tama Sumo started playing regularly at the 

legendary Techno-Club Globus/Tresor in the 

beginning of 1994 and became a resident 

DJ at this location for the following years. 

Since 2001 Tama Sumo also played regulary 

at the “Dance With The Aliens“ party at the 

old OstGut, the predecessor of Berghain, 

which eventually opened the door to a 

residency at the new 

Panoramabar/Berghain. 

NICK HÖPPNER 

OSTGUT TON 

OSTGUT.DE/BOOKING/ARTIST/14 

Currently residing in his home of choice and 

calling, Berlin, Nick Höppner skillfully 

balances, explores and contributes to a 

dramatically wide range of musical 

professions, proving him to be one of the 

backbones of today's house and techno 

underground. Be it through his monthly 

residencies at the inimitable Berghain/ 

Panoramabar and Watergate clubs, his solo 

releases for Ostgut Ton, his expansive DJ 

touring, his acclaimed co-production and live 

performances alongside Lee Jones as MyMy, 

or indeed his creative involvement and 

management of the Ostgut label since its 

inception, Nick stands out as a unique, longserving 

and truly dedicated 

figure in today's electronic music world. 

DASHA RUSH 

FULL PANDA 

DASHARUSH.INFO 

Russian-born, well-travelled Moscovite, 

Dasha has spent most of her time between 

Paris, London and Japan, combining her 

activities as techno producer and dj with 

multi-artistic collaborations alongside 

artists and dancers. She now runs her own 

techno label Full Panda Records and more 

experimental sub label Hunger to Create. 

Nowadays Dasha Rush performs Live PAs 

and DJ sets all over the globe. Full Panda 

slogans perfectly describe the musical 

focus of Dasha Rush and related labels, no 

need for more words: "All you need is ears." 


TERENCE FIXMER 

PLANÈTE ROUGE 

TERENCEFIXMER.COM 

Icon of the electronic north of France, 

Terence Fixmer is one of France’s most 

treasured protagonists of the techno scene, 

of which he has been at the forefront for 

over 10 successful years. Respected by his 

peers and adored by fans of radical overand 

underground electro, equally at ease in 

the club or at a pure techno festival as he is 

in the so-called “dark” scene, Terence 

reached this respected level without ever 

succumbing to excessive promotion or 

pandering to the mainstream. Terence 

leaves in his wake the aggression of EBM, 

keeping it rough around the edges. A 

pioneer, he above all preserves an original 

style, at once recognizable, that beats at the 

heart of contemporary electro-techno 

production. 

TOBIAS RAPP 

BERLIN, TECHNO UND DER EASY JET SET 

RESIDENTADVISOR.NET/FEATURE.ASPX?1434 

Tobias Rapp, a music journalist, has been 

living in Berlin for over 20 years now and 

obviously spends a lot of time roaming 

Berlin by night. His book is a portrait of 

Berlin’s world-famous techno scene and the 

people who contribute to making Berlin 

what it is, from DJs, club owners and urban 

planners, to people who fly to Berlin just 

for a weekend of clubbing thanks to cheap 

intra-European flights.

ELECTRIC RESCUE 

SKRYPTOM 

ELECTRICRESCUE.COM 

Few French electronic music artists 

combine experience, avant-gardism and 

guaranteed success on dance floors as 

Electric Rescue does. This artist, coming 

from the first French raves, is able to rock 

any party with his ultra- dynamic techno 

and sensual flights of tunes. Promoting his 

own labels Calme Records and Skryptöm, 

Electric Rescue is truly passionate, flushing 

out big tubes and new talents. His 

reputation is well-established in France. 

Resident at the Rex Club (Skryptöm parties) 

and organising «Play» rave parties in Paris, 

he invited and played with the most 

famous international DJs. 

HEARTBEAT 

DEMENT3D 

DEMENT3D.FR 

With a righteously chosen deep-into-life 

pseudonym, Heartbeat is a vital organ of 

DEMENT3D, where he officiates as an artist, as 

well as co-founder. DEMENT3D is a Parisbased 

record label, designed to let its artists 

freely express the most of their creativity. 

Techno is his milestone, with a deep and 

industrial background inherited from the 

Detroit / Chicago roots, and Berlin/ New York / 

Birmingham blossoms. Through his spiritual 

and versatile DJ sets and off-beat productions, 

he's an explorer of all the boundaries techno 

shares with Deep House, Dub, Bass Music and 

Dubstep, Ambient/ Noise, Krautrock, Avant 

Garde/Experimental, and even Jazz. 

LAURENT BAYLET / 

PATRICK BAMBERGER 

DIMUSCHI DIMUSCHI.COM 

Dimuschi is a limited series of private 

parties, in existence since 2004. Each 

edition begins with the search for a space 

never before used as the site of a party and 

in contrast to the preceding venue. This 

space is then transformed in keeping with 

its character, as well as with the visual and 

musical theme of the event. The aim is to 

surprise an audience with a refined taste 

for electronic and amplified music. The 

spirit of Dimuschi is a result of the synergy 

between artistic and technical skills. A 

strong sense of unity and harmony works 

to catalyse fusions of music, images and 

visual art in unexpected venues. 

CHRISTOPHE 

TOOLBOX 

TOOLBOXRECORDS.COM/FR/ 

Christophe created Toolbox Distribution 

back in 1998, which focused on electronic 

music and vinyl autoproduction. He also 

worked at KGB at Puces de Clignancourt 

from 1995 to 1997. Created the 

“démothèque” (home-taping in 1990), and 

is DJing since 1994. 

REMOTE 

KILL THE DJ 

KILLTHEDJ.COM/ARTISTS/REMOTE.HTML 

Black sleeve, ironical title and suitable 

sound. With a voluntary opaqueness, 

against the tide of trendiness, Remote play 

it heavy and slow, the exact opposite of the 

light fluffy minimalist clouds. This is a 

storm we are talking about...and Carpenter 

is not far off. Dark but not cold. Hard but 

not insensitive. Remote sounds like the 

result of mutant dancefloor generated on 

a sinister night by Plastikman at the time of 

Consumed and an intensely blasé 

Smagghe. 

HENNING BAER/ 

MILTON BRADLEY 

K209 / GROUNDED THEORY 

K209.NET 

Henning Baer is a man on a mission who's 

slowly been building his name in Berlin and 

beyond. As one half of the team behind the 

Grounded Theory Berlin project, they’ve 

hosted names such as Marcel Dettmann, Ben 

Klock, Function, Redshape, Traversable 

Wormhole, Perc, Pattern Repeat, Terence 

Fixmer to name a few. Back in the late 80ies, 

the upcoming of Acidhouse marked the 

beginning of Milton Bradley’s passion for this 

kind of music. First he was a record collector, 

but in the end of 1991 he started spinning 

records and since 1994 he played in different 

clubs. After years of DJing all around Germany 

he started the independent label DO NOT 

RESIST THE BEAT! to release his own material. 


LUPO 

DUBPLATES&MASTERING 

DUBPLATES-MASTERING.COM 

Lupo has been mastering audio and cutting 

master-lacquer discs since 1999. He’s also a 

mastering engineer and co-owner of the 

cutting and mastering facility Dubplates & 

Mastering, one of the most well known 

mastering studios in Berlin. 

MATHIEU GUILLIEN 

PARIS III - SORBONNE 

/INTRUDERS.TV/FR-MUSIC/2010/09/ 

13/MATHIEUGUILLIEN/ 

Born in 1983, Mathieu is a musicologist 

specializing in electronic dance music, who 

wrote a PhD on minimal techno last year. 

In 1993, while being trained as a classical 

pianist, he discovered Parisian radio station 

FG, still a gold mine for fans of authentic 

techno and house. Mathieu was 

immediately captivated by the philosophy 

of DJs like Laurent Garnier and DJ Deep, 

their fabulous music selection but also their 

respectful knowledge of this music, which 

history's Mathieu now shares through his 

university course. 


FABRICE GADEAU 

REX CLUB 

REXCLUB.COM 

Fabrice Gadeau is involved with electronic 

music since more than 20 years : after 

discovering techno in the early 90's, he 

organized his first event in 92. Working 

with computers at this time, he decided to 

let everything down to focus to its new 

passion. He organized rave parties for a 

while before starting to do D-clib, then 

Automatik nights, at Rex Club. When 

Christian Paulet, previous boss of the Rex, 

quit his job, Fabrice became the new boss 

of the club.

Director 

Amélie Ravalec 

amelie.ravalec@gmail.com 

+336 99 43 59 95 

Website: paris-berlin-20years.com 

Trailer: vimeo.com/23252955 

DESIGN & LAYOUT: SHELDONDRAKE.COM

MILTON BRADLEY - Paris / Berlin : 20 years of Underground Techno

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