After five years of operations, Scuba is to wind down his well-respected SUB:STANCE residency at Berlin’s legendary Berghain club.
Since 2008, SUB:STANCE has made intermittent trips to the house/techno-centric club, and stood out like a sore thumb on account of its eclectic, dubstep-orientated booking policy. Founded by Scuba in association with Paul Fowler, the night has subsequently made appearances further afield, including a supplementary residency in New York. The event also spawned a mix CD on Ostgut Ton in 2010, which featured appearances from Joker, Joy Orbison, Ramadanman and Surgeon, amongst others.
In a valedictory Facebook post, Rose and Fowler have described their desire to “quit while we were ahead”:
“It’s not exaggeration to say that there have been some truly special nights and we never wanted to reach the stage where the vibe faded and lost it’s shine. So after 5 years we have decided that now is the right time to bring SUB:STANCE to an an end”.
Two more nights are in the offing before Rose and Fowler cut the lights for good. Machinedrum and Pinch will be on the bill for a show on February 15, and the big final farewell will take place in July on the night’s fifth birthday. [via Resident Advisor]
In their post, Rose and Fowler also go a-waltzing down memory lane, describing their initial butterflies when setting up the night:
“In July 2008 the first SUB:STANCE party was held at Berghain. Everyone was nervous. It was a Dubstep party, and Dubstep parties didn’t happen at Berghain. On the lineup were some of the most forward thinking artists pushing bass frequencies at that time (as well as Scuba!): Mala, Shackleton, Appleblim, Distance and T++. But no-one knew if this music could work in such an iconic space and on such a scale in a city whose club scene was at that time almost exclusively focused on house and techno music. Well, as you all know it was an amazing event and since then we’ve had many great nights in Berghain and also in the Panorama Bar which we have sporadically been invading since the 1st birthday”.
