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Circuses, School Discos and Police Raids: Oliver Huntemann's First Club

The German techno powerhouse walks us through a hair raising trip into the past.

My First Club takes us back to the beginning, transporting DJs and producers back into the depths of their memory, asking them to take us on a trip to those pivotal first nights in clubland. Following entries from the likes of Michael Mayer, Herve, MK, Slimzee,and Hudson Mohawke, we caught up with German techno luminary Oliver Huntemann for a walk down memory lane.

For as long as I can remember I've had a pair of twin affinities: one for discos, and the other for the circus. I think there are parallels between the two. Think of the weird people who hang around both, the music, the lights. It's there, if you think about it. When I was nine years old I decided to visit a club for the first time. Maybe club is a grand word for it because, really, it was just a big barn next to school that occasionally opened for the odd disco. Still, when someone told me that there was going to be a party soon I ran straight to my best friend Olaf's house and told him the news. My parents, however, had other ideas about our attendance. I was told, unequivocally and with a serious expression, that children still in elementary school had no place being in such an establishment. So much for that, then.

It took six long years to finally step into those hallowed halls of clubland, full of Saturday night fever. The coolest club in town was called Novo and it opened on Sunday afternoons between 4-8pm, especially for 16 year olds. I was only 15. It was worth a try. I dressed in my best and gave myself a centre parting and rode my bike towards the city centre. I'd commandeered a crew of friends and we stood there, a cluster of excited teenagers, each of whom had nearly pissed themsevles with nervousness. We were ready for a passport control experience. Everything went very quick, all of a sudden. No passport control, no queuing, no being chucked out. We paid up and were in.

There I was, stood on the edge of the dancefloor, beside the DJ booth. Madonna told me to get into the groove and I followed without hesitation. I was clubbing! Two minutes later: music off, lights on, this is a raid! I dropped to the ground. One minute there was John Travolta, the next total madness. It was chaos. Dozens of police officers streamed into the club but, luckily, I went unnoticed. I snuck towards an exit and made my escape. I had to get out because my dad was a police officer and if he'd been there, then I was in for it.

A few days later the subject of the raid came up over dinner at home. I denied any knowledge of it. It was safer to just become a DJ. So that's what I did. The DJ booth became my second home.

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