A few months ago GLT respondent Cody Smith was able to speak with Max Gardner, one of San Fransisco’s quickly emerging techno producers, DJ and co-founder of the highly curated event series, Direct To Earth. Max has performed at shows with artists such as, Carl Craig, Marc Houle, Heiko Laux, Steve Rachmad, Evil Eddie Richards and Echospace among many others. He’s also released his first EP with Seeder and saw it reach the Beatport minimal charts. Max feels out the dance-floor. He can sense what they want. Sometimes he plays raw, gritty, heavy and experimental; other times it’s more inviting, friendly, funky. While pushing the limits and trying new things, he commonly sneaks original productions into his DJ sets. Direct To Earth describes themselves as, “DJs, producers, party people, ravers, gear heads, bankers, photographers, weirdos, dancers, brokers, bartenders and brewers who find life all the more amusing when the sound system is loud, the drinks are stiff, and the DJ is actually playing what they imagined they would play.” Max told us DTE will be announcing an imprint record label as well as a series of events to finish out 2015.
Tell the readers about yourself; give us some context about you as a DJ/Producer and co-founder of DTE in the SF Bay Area.
I got into DJing right after high school. I started messing around with it and I guess it wasn’t until at least a few years later that I actually started playing out. I was mixing at friends houses and having mini parties and screwing around. When I was in college at ASU I got enough money to buy my own DJ rig; it was two CDJ-200s and a Behringer mixer [laughs]. I got pretty comfortable with that and one day I was sitting in class and this local promoter posted that they had one open slot at an event. I had never played out and I was just like, fuck it and sent him a mix for the contest. So he randomly hit me up in class and was like ‘yo you have the slot’ and I was like so fuckin’ stoked, I had no idea what I was in for. And that’s how I got my first gig and it was pretty dope. And from there I just started playing for this guy a lot, he runs Phat Entertainment in Tucson. So I was opening for whatever headliners and then I started playing a lot of local undergrounds. I was kind of known as the techno guy out there, so it was cool cause for my last few years of college I got used to playing a lot, I was playing three times a week.
Tell us about the San Francisco Bay Area techno scene before DTE came about.
The Bay definitely had a huge influence on me cause I grew up here and I had a lot of friends in the scene out here, mainly my partner and director, Brian Knarfield, he involved from the beginning. It was cool cause I had friends out here who were into this really unique style of techno and I was getting my influence from that. When I was back in the desert [ASU], there was nothing out there. I feel like the scene here [in San Francisco] is unique and before DTE started I feel like there was kind of a transitional phase, there was not a lot of techno; there was a Kontrol party that happened once a month at The EndUp but other than that there weren’t any techno parties. You know, that’s part of the reason why DTE was formed in the first place.
Tell us about how DTE was created.
Totally, so yea I had just moved back here [San Francisco] and this was in 2011. So I’m chillin’ with my great friend Brian Knarfield and we were just in his studio. I didn’t have a job at this time so we were just like getting drunk everyday and screwing around with music and whatever. And I told him, I’m like dude, I’m going crazy, I’m used to playing like three times a week and nobody out here really knows me as a DJ. Brian ran this party before called Sonus, it was minimal techno night in Berkeley, it was really cool, it got a lot of respect from the industry heads but the crew split up and the party fell apart. So he was just kinda hiding out in his studio for like a year. So I was like, ‘dude we gotta throw a party, I know you know what you’re doing,’ at this point I had never thrown a party but I wanted to so people knew who was. When I brought up throwing a party we ran with it. We both had a lot of built up motivation and enthusiasm. We were both just ready to get a night going. So we kicked it all day, drinking beers and writing ideas on the white board for like 12 hours, and eventually came out with the vision that is DTE. Eventually we started DTE as a Sunday night weekly at this bar in east Oakland called Lounge 3411, it was a pretty small night. It was cool cause it was just another night to us, just fuckin’ around getting drunk and playing tracks. We were also able to invite other DJ’s from around the Bay Area that we thought were cool. For me it was awesome cause I got to meet a lot of other people through that, like Brian already knew so many people, he was deep in the scene and I was noob out here. So that was pretty rad and we did that for about 3 months, but it never got too crazy or anything, the most crowded one was probably around 50 people. I never saw it as this thing that would grow into a bigger event, but sure enough we stumbled across the Oakland Art Murmur in December of 2011 and we found this really fucking dope 2 story club over there. So we decided every first Friday at the Oakland Art Murmur we would throw this party at this club and it was an instant hit, it started blowing up, so we found this venue only two blocks away that we could go to at 2 AM when the bar was closed. We could set up our dj gear and keep the party going till like 10 am the next day. So it kinda became a routine once a month thing. We would go to the Art Murmur and then we would go to the after hours till 10am and it just caught on really quick, by the second one it was pretty full. So that’s where our momentum started picking up, it was changing and our group grew and by this point we adopted residents, we had people helping out and bringing speakers cause they wanted to see shit happen and it was really cool. The more we did this, the more and more we wanted to do parties. It became a thing, we were like fuck it lets do an underground, but we wanted to do something different than everyone else; so we would just have free parties and we did a bunch of these dirt cheap/free undergrounds and started building a community that wasn’t there before. It was pretty fucking tight too considering we were doing this so we can play techno, this music that at the time wasn’t that common around here and it was starting to catch on. The only way we could get a crowd was by making it dirt-cheap and it worked. I mean it was fucking fun and that’s why we do it, for the music and to have fun.
So what was the turning point for DTE into becoming what it is now?
So the turning point for DTE was when we threw Pool Jam on 4th of July, 2012; it was pretty nuts, we threw this party at a mansion in Piedmont [Oakland, CA] and we had Dustin Zahn and Raíz (Vangelis & Vidal Vargas) along with a lot of our friends who were local DJs at the time and it blew up. It was one of the coolest parties we had to date. It was the first time we put up money to get headliners. Brian asked me, ‘ho should we get? who do you want to book?’ and I was like, ‘dude I’ve had this Dustin Zhan podcast in my car for like a week lets book him; and the next day it I booked him. So ya it just happened and we had the turnout we wanted and that put us on the map. And from there we started thinking like, “shit man we can book these artists that we have always wanted to see a here in Oakland or SF, we don’t have to travel all the way to fucking Berlin just to see them.” That’s really when everything changed. We dabbled and experimented doing some SF club nights, we had a few shots before they became successful. And they eventually started working and we realized, “fuck dude this is more than just a little house party or whatever you know, this is a thing we can do.” We have this community and we have these artists we have always wanted to see play and we have them playing our fuckin’ party, its pretty cool. And the fact that people are supportive of that have allowed us to play the music we want to play and bring the artists that we want to bring has been really fucking rad.
Would you say that many of these artist that you brought out in those early days had their US or SF debuts?
Ya we were definitely responsible for a lot of bay area debuts that’s for sure. Names such as Mike Dehnert, Octave, Monoloc, Dimi Angelis, John Templeton, The Missing Link, Shiva and a lot others.
Lets talk about the main curators for DTE, is it a collective decision making process? How does DTE go about that?
We try to get together and toss ideas around from time to time, sometimes Pat will be like “ya I wanna book this guy” and I’m like, “cool sounds dope lets do it” or sometimes other people take initiative. But the majority of the time I’ve been the curator, I’ve handled a lot of the bookings, a lot of coordinating with agents and what not. But it is definitely a collaborative effort in terms of whom we have booked over the years. You know, sometimes I may be driving a bit more, I guess its safe to say I drive most of the time, but I really do appreciate everybody’s contribution. A lot of these people that we book, we have been friends with for a while, like John Templeton. Some of them are artist we have always wanted to book, like Monoloc, he was somebody we always wanted to book when we started DTE. Or guys like Heilko Laux or Steve Rachmad? These guys are fucking legends, its kind of a no brainer. When we have an opportunity to book these guys, we gotta make it happen. Its pretty dope shit, and it’s certainly a collaborative effort in a creative sense. I think that is something that makes us special, we have our own visual artists, and they take pride in their work and any money they make from this industry they put it right back into it buying a new tool to improve their work. It’s cool because were always looking for new artists to book, or decorations or things we can do to make the parties better.
What direction do you see DTE going in the future? Do you see DTE as an artist collective, a label, artist management?
Yea definitely, we have talked about actually doing all of the above at different points, but realistically, the record label is something we keep coming back to. Especially because we all make music and we have all been sitting on a lot of content for a while now. We are getting close to the time where we need to make this label happen. I think it is safe to say that we will do the label. As far as parties, they’ll keep happening but they might happen less often. But we will end up putting more money, more energy and more work into them and make them a bigger deal. One thing that has changed is that now were able to throw these nights at clubs in SF where we are able to bring out these artists that we want to bring and decorate the venue and create our own vibe. Doing it that way is a lot safer financially to do so compared to finding a warehouse in Oakland and throwing a party on a night where there is now all these other promoters in the area, which has changed a lot. I feel like we have been doing more clubs nights and by doing that we have freed up some time which will be available for us to work on the label. But I mean dude, ultimately the dream would be just to own a big ass plot of land and throw a crazy festival once a year [laughs].
Talk a bit about partnerships you have had in the past like with The Shuffle Co-op, Lips & Rhythm, Robot Ears, etc.
Ya totally, we have collabed with a few people. I think out of all of them my favorite colab was probably with Craig Kuna from Kontrol for our second year anniversary. Actually he was under Techno Kitchen at the time. We brought out Echospace and they played live at Public Works, it was really fucking rad. Collaborations can be tricky you know, we have our own vibe, we have our own ways we like to do things and we work as a team. And other promoters have different ways they like to do things. So sometimes heads can butt and it can make things tough, but I have had some great experiences collaborating as well. You know, The Shuffle Co-Op, they’re fucking amazing, I think they are doing a really great thing for Oakland and I support them to the fullest for sure.
Talk about your experience DJing at events with these world-renowned artists. Do you have any stories that come to mind?
Playing with a lot of these artists has been an awesome experience. Being into the music and playing these dudes tracks and seeing a dance floor go nuts to it, then being able to bring this person out and play on the same lineup as them is definitely pretty rad. Some of them I’ve become really good friends with, I keep in contact with them and they give me feedback on music and stuff. Other people I meet just for one night and that’s the only time I’ve talked to them. But it has been a great experience; it has definitely given me a lot of insight into how the industry really works and what their lives are really like. So many people think it would be so cool be a well known artist, they get to travel all the time. But they don’t really know what its like and they don’t know how hard of a life that is. You know, I’m chillin’ with these guys and they’re like, ya I haven’t slept in five days cause I played here, here and here and here, and it just adds up, its just not always what it seems.
Tell us about your DJing style. What artists have you been following lately?
Ya definitely, well obviously me and Pat are tagging, were playing with Deadbeat at Monarch this month so I’ve been listening to a lot of Deadbeat, he’s fuckin’ rad. But you know other artists I’ve been following would be Bleak, he’s really cool, he’s been putting out some really cool tracks and I’ve been watching his sound develop and change through these different styles of dubby techno. I’ve been really into a different type of vibe, a bit more housey. Move D is just amazing, he’s a great all around DJ. He will play deep techy shit; he will get into disco or even Rnb funk soul type of shit. But ya I’ve definitely been expanding my horizons and listening to a lot of other types of music. But in terms of what I play, it’s hard to pigeon-hole but I guess you could say its always trippy. You know, deep spacey shit [laughs]. As I’ve been expanding what I listen to I’ve also been expanding what I play, obviously I’m gonna like the track enough to buy it if I’m gonna play it. I guess I’ve always played tracks that are out there and odd, so I’m tryna just take it even further. You know if I’m playing hard techno I’m tryna get harder than I’ve ever played before. The further you can go in each direction, the more exciting the mix is for me.
Where would you say you look for the new music the most?
I hate to say it cause they rob the artists but I spend a lot of time on Beatport, ill admit it [laughs]. I also use Juno Download or whatever. A new one is called trackitdown, people should definitely check that one out I think its cool.
Lets talk about how you got into the production side of things.
Ya, so I have been DJing much longer than I have been producing. I really got into it right when I moved back here [From ASU] and over the last few years my sound has really been changing a lot. I did dabble with it when I was in Arizona but not seriously really. Things have changed, before I was just using Ableton and my laptop clicking around. Now I use mostly analog synthesizers and track everything with Ableton. And I have a lot more fun that way, for me this way makes it move a lot more and feel more natural. So that’s kinda what I’ve been doing, I’ve been expanding my studio. I’m pretty much at the point where I can do everything outside the box and just record to Ableton. I’m not ready to do a live set or anything but I am feeling pretty confident about all the content I have building up.
Talk about the essential tools in your studio. Tell us about your favorite synths to use.
Definitely man, ya lately I’ve been loving the Micro Brute. Its super small and cheap but an awesome synth. Its very useful, you can make some fat basslines with it. I have that running directly into a Moogerfooger which is a 104m analog delay pedal and that sounds really fucking cool. You know, other than that I have two reverb pedals that I like to route things through. I just got a Roland TR8 drum machine, which is like blowing my mind; it is way to fun to play with. But ya I have some other toys too. I have a Korg MS20 mini, you can get some really trippy shit out of that.
Lets talk about your releases that you have had lately.
Ya so the latest release I’ve had was a remix I did of El Gato #9 from this dude Christopher Leath who’s this old school techno DJ out here in the Bay area. He asked me to do it and I was like of course I’m down. But really as far as production goes I’ve just been focusing a lot on developing my sound and building content. You know, I’ve got hundreds of tracks built up over the years but I haven’t been sharing much of it cause it keeps changing. In my mind it is getting better and in other peoples’ minds according to the feedback as well. So I am getting to the point where I’m gonna start putting some tracks up soon and its gonna sound a lot more developed than my old content. But I don’t know, I don’t have anything for sure lined up yet.
Lastly could you talk about the rising popularity of this sound in the United States and especially in the Bay Area.
I guess I’m kinda indifferent on the matter. You know, I think it’s both good and bad. Its really cool that there’s a lot more people into the music and a lot more artists that haven’t been able to travel here and play here are able to because the fan base is growing. But you know, there is another side to it. Like how I was telling you earlier when we started DTE there weren’t many techno parties at all; and now it seems like there is a new techno party every month, there is always a new promoter popping up. I was talking to my friend Craig Kuna from Kontrol the other night and he was telling me back near the end of Kontrol right when DTE was starting, the people who had money or venues were really supporting the groups of people who were doing really creative and artistic shows, supporting the people who were booking cutting edge talent and being really progressive with music. And now a days it’s kinda different, its over saturated with promoters. There are gonna be multiple techno parties on Friday and Saturday night and they are gonna compete with each other. Now instead of people going and supporting a local event, collective, label or whatever their into they just say, “fuck it, ill do it myself.” And that is definitely a big change. I see these guys who are playing all the time and they have never really blown my mind or impressed me with their DJing, it’s just that they have a lot of money and they throw parties and keep playing. I can’t say its okay for this person to throw a party and not that person, more power to them, thats fucking rad, but I also think if they are gonna do it, it will end up hurting other parts of the scene that have more integrity and creativity behind the concept.
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