If you’ve read anything about America’s dance music scene in the last five years, The Bunker, New York’s vaunted club night, has probably received repeated mentions. Founded in 2003 as “an ongoing night of musical exploration,” the events grew into the most reliable parties in the state, if not the country. The Bunker’s focus on quality sounds (both in their bookings and in the massive PAs they use) instead of flashy gimmicks (don’t expect bottle service) has earned the respect of the world-renowned artists who insist on playing their parties and the audiences for whom the events are like church services. Organized by Bryan Kasenic, the proprietor of Beyond Booking who is known as Spinoza when behind the decks, the nights also feature residents Derek Plaslaiko and Eric Cloutier. Cloutier has been making waves outside of The Bunker as well, having helmed two mixes for mnmlssgs and played Japan’s well loved Labyrinth Festival. In anticipation of their performance at Oktave’s Smart Bar party on January 15th, where they’ll provide support for Bunker favorite Donato Dozzy, Spinoza and Cloutier put together LWE’s 71st exclusive podcast as a mouth watering appetizer.

LWE Podcast 71: Spinoza & Eric Cloutier (67:00)

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When did you start DJing? Who were your DJing role models at the time?

Spinoza: I started DJing when I was about 16-years-old. I somehow managed to convince the fine folks at Carnegie Mellon University’s radio station, WRCT, to give me a show when I was still in high school. I wasn’t really going to parties at the time, as rock and noise shows were more my thing, so I mostly understood the DJ as a radio personality. Ed Um Bucholtz and Eddie Houghton both had radio shows there at the time, and listening to them really opened my ears to the more creative side of DJing and the concept of layering multiple records to create something new. Eventually, Ed Um booked me to play at a few parties he was throwing around Pittsburgh, which were kind of arty raves, and I was hooked. I met Sheldon Drake at one of my first gigs in Pittsburgh, and he helped introduce me to the electronic music scene in New York when I moved here in 1996. DJ Olive and Raz Mesinai were some of the first people I met here, and I was deeply influenced by their music and the events that surrounded it. My first experience hearing proper techno on a big sound system was at these parties, where Khan, Dr Walker, and the crew surrounding Temple Records would regularly play what to this day is some of the best dance music I’ve ever heard.

Eric Cloutier: I first really started giving DJing a positive thought when I was about 15-years-old. I went to a couple raves and was totally captivated by the whole thing, so I was slyly buying records and practicing over at friends’ houses for a long time. I got a set of decks a few years later, and then really focused on it a lot while juggling school and work from then on. Being from Detroit, my role models are almost cliché – Richie Hawtin doing his “Decks, EFX & 909” shtick, Jeff Mills, Robert Hood, Daniel Bell, Claude Young, and the always impressive local, Derek Plaslaiko. I also had a lot of chances to spend time with one of the guys I’ve always looked up to, Christian Bloch, who blew me away every single time I saw him play, so I was pretty much surrounded by influence and motivation from the get-go.

What is your favorite time slot to play during an event?

Spinoza: I really don’t think there is a bad time slot at an event if you just make the best of it. Quite often, I find myself opening my own events out of respect to my guests, and I really enjoying playing my most experimental records at this time and slowly building things up and giving the headliner a nice starting point. I honestly think it is the hardest slot to play, and doing it properly is unfortunately becoming a lost artform. I also deeply enjoy playing an afterhours set, when the crowd is well settled in and having a great time and much more open to whatever I want to throw at them. And who doesn’t like to play at the peak of a party, when everyone is going apeshit?

Eric Cloutier: Heh… that’s a hard one to pick for me. I absolutely LOVE playing the early slot, because I’m a firm believer of warming up the room properly, and not overstepping boundaries when opening for a big name. But moreover I love that slot because I get to play a lot of things I never get to play otherwise, and it’s a chance for me to just thoroughly enjoy playing, even if it’s to an empty room. But, that being said, I also do love the later side of things. As you can probably tell by the influences I listed, I grew up on techno, and, though I hate to use the word, minimal techno. The real minimal techno — not this crap that’s out now. Getting the chance to bend a few minds at 128bpm is always a great time for me, mainly because I get to explore old music I haven’t heard in a while and relay it to people who probably have never heard it.

What inspired you to start the Bunker events? When did you throw your first Bunker event?

The very first edition of The Bunker was in January 2003. SubTonic was my regular hang out at the time. DJ Olive and Toshio Kajiwara did a Thursday night event there called Radical Anxiety Termination, and Timeblind and Mike Wolf did Polar Bear Club on Friday nights. I was the guest DJ at one of the final Polar Bear Clubs, and Timeblind told me PBC was ending but he wanted to continue doing Friday nights under a new name. The Bunker was an “ongoing night of musical exploration.” We did it primarily to create a space where we and our friends could hang out and play records. There was no admission fee at the door, and we were paid $100 flat, no matter how much the bar made. From what I can remember, we spent all of the money on cabs, fliers, and slices of pizza to soak up the alcohol at the end of the night.

Did you have any other events’ models in mind when starting the Bunker?

As mentioned above, it kind of grew out of the Polar Bear Club and Radical Anxiety Termination, both of which had very open and experimental music policies. I had been going out to electronic music events for seven years in New York at that point, and I guess all of those experiences really fed into it. I loved the idea of a weekly event with cool music that we could build a community around.

Do you have any job besides running Beyond Booking?

Beyond Booking actually takes up all of my time. It’s hard for me to imagine having another job and still doing everything Beyond-related up to my standards. It started as a hobby, but became very much full
time around five years ago.

Who all does Beyond Booking represent? What inspired you to start the booking agency?

At the moment, it’s primarily The Bunker residents (Derek Plaslaiko, Eric Cloutier, and myself). About a year ago, I really scaled back the number of artists I represent full time. At this point, I often help artists who come over from Europe to play The Bunker find other gigs in North America, and occasionally handle all the details for them. I did this for Donato Dozzy and Function in the past year.

What was your favorite Bunker so far and why?

We’ve had well over 300 editions of The Bunker. It’s really impossible for me to pick a favorite. At any given moment, I’m always most excited about the next one.

What are some of your goals for Beyond Booking/The Bunker in 2011?

My goal is always to continue to produce my events to the best of my ability. Every event is a learning process, and ideally, each event is better than the one that came before.

How did you first get involved with The Bunker?

By being a pest! When I moved to NYC, I always would go to Bunker, and since I’ve historically been the early bird to parties because I love watching them evolve over the course of the night, I just eventually asked Bryan if he needed help setting up every week. Loading in the decks and sound system, setting up the booth, and general prep for the night. That eventually turned in to more and more chances to play, and that eventually led to me becoming a resident a few years ago.

I understand you’ve been working on music yourself. How’s that been going?

It’s… going. I definitely didn’t spend my time wisely years ago, unlike my peers who I grew up with in Detroit (Seth [Troxler], Shaun [Reeves], Ryan [Crosson], Lee [Curtiss], Matt [Dear], Ryan Elliot, et al.), so I’m way behind everyone and learning now what they’ve known for about a decade — so its been a bit of a struggle. I get frustrated because I have ideas in my head that aren’t coming out right away, but I’m working through that. I’ve gone from trying to be super flashy and creative to working on some simpler, more functional tracks, and its getting me more success in the studio. Theoretically I’ll have an EP out this year, and I’ll finally finish my remix of Chaton’s “+91 Ahead Sessions” that was due about two months ago. Sorry Chaton!

Who are some of your influences in production?

Daniel Bell will always been one of the biggest influences. It’s impossible for me not to mention him. Christian Bloch will always be up there, too. But outside of that… that’s one long list of names you’re asking me to rattle off. The short version? Donato Dozzy, Delta Funktionen, Claude Young, Jeff Mills, Mike Huckaby, Basic Channel… this list could go on forever.

What’s one record you own that could be pulled out during any DJing gig and always work?

I don’t want to drop a cliché here like “Deep Burnt” or “Groove La Chord,” so I’m going to go with “Changling” by Tan-Ru.

What was your favorite Bunker gig you’ve played and why?

Honestly, this one’s too hard to answer. Every Bunker is a total blast for me, regardless of when I play them or not, so I can’t even narrow that down in the slightest.

What are your goals for 2011?

Finish some damn productions, try and travel more overseas on gigs, potentially make something of this as a career and a real job, and explore some new sounds and take some interesting chances with my sets.