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Music

This Saturday Cityfox is Creating the Nightclub of Your Dreams

With Maceo Plex, Ten Walls and a projection-mapped warehouse to boot.

Enclave

Ever dream of experiencing nightclub atmospherics in a place that, well—isn't a nightclub? Sure, we've all been to enough warehouse parties to qualify us as card-carrying members of a shipping union, but there's a Brooklyn party that's been going strong for two years that's succeeding in merging eye-candy of a mega-club with vibes that are anything but. It's called Cityfox. For the last two years, the party, put on in conjunction with event-throwers Listed Productions, has been throwing events that manage to seamlessly connect the dots between the no-frills, open-format gems of a warehouse get-down, but with the type of sensory-overload that's usually reserved for the Hakkasan's or Marquee's of the world.

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"We had a club in Zurich where we worked to establish high standards for quality on every element of production. We were preparing to build a new club, but there were delays and eventually didn't work out, so we sought to bring our vision to New York City," Billy Bildstein (the creative director at Cityfox) tells THUMP. Since coming to the Big Apple, Billy and key team members members like Simar Singh, the head of operations at Listed Productions and Cityfox, have been working tirelessly to develop parties that transform whatever space they land in, creating a party that's an all-encompassing journey through the senses –  one that you don't quite want to exit even when 9AM rolls on by. "We wanted to create pop-up clubs for one night that would reflect our aesthetics and what we think would make an ideal nightclub we've always dreamed about. Since our first event in November 2012, I think the sophistication of the production has gone up as we've evolved and been able to do more."

Cityfox usually tends to throw their parties not as one-offs, but as a series that presents a bit of a narrative for patrons, each one either varying in design or the brand of beats they choose to feature. "This past summer, we had the Enclave series that were very similar to one another. But we tried to vary the lineup and music, moving from huge headliners to lesser known artists that we greatly respect. We seek to design the 'entire experience' around the building or environment we move into. We've looked at dozens and dozens of spaces throughout the city and select the most ideal, blank canvases on which we can build something spectacular."

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"It's a mix of what makes the dance music community so great," Singh says in explanation of the vibe. "In the last two years, we built our own community and following by working with other promoters in the New York scene whose followings and community we respect. When the attention to detail in production and audience comfort is noticed, it's appreciated." The efforts by Simar, Billy and the rest of the team has even captured the attention of some international labels who have expressed interested in Cityfox producing label showcases for them in NYC. This Halloween they'll be throwing a party in conjunction with the Italian powerhouse, Life and Death, as well as another massive event in the coming months: "We haven't yet announced this publicly, but on December 20th, we'll be producing an event for and with Diynamic out of Hamburg with many of their heavy hitters - again, very exciting! Both will be collaborative efforts to create productions that match all of our sensibilities."

This Saturday on September 27th, Cityfox will be once again setting up shop in Brooklyn for what is arguably one their biggest event yet, with some of the most buzzy names in techno and euphoric deep house, from the likes of Maceo Plex, Ten Walls, and David August—the latter two of which will be performing live sets. "We sought to bring together artists that we know many New Yorkers would love to hear, but also give a platform to artists who may not be as well known, such as Nuno Dos Santos from Amsterdam." With their bone-shattering sound system courtesy of KV2 Audio, which brings in a 3D surround sound configuration, and Projektil, who specializes in brain-melting projection mapping. Studio AV One will bring their latest space to life for a true visual and sonic adventure. "We don't want to give it all away, but the space is massive, and due to the combination of the lighting elements we've set up in addition to  the projection mapping installation we co-designed with Projektil, we don't think the audience has seen anything like this," says Bildstein.

Click for tickets to Cityfox - Studio AV One, going down this Saturday, September 2th in Brooklyn, New York

David is an associate editor at THUMP and will be shaking it at Cityfox alll night long—see ya there. @DLGarber