Another great Tango DJ... let's discover the secrets of Hans Peter Salzer
From the beginning: I
suppose that your first approach with tango, like for other dj, was with the
dance. What inspired you to get into console and play music? A conscious
decision or was it the result of chance?
It really was a decision! And this is the story:
I started dancing Tango in the
summer of 1998 in the south of Germany, you can say it
was in a provincial region ... fine countryside but not much Tango there. The local Milonga was
once a week and half an hour to drive by
car. All other Milongas were about a one or two hours drive away. I was eager
to learn fast, so I went to this other places. And
there always was a DJ working. I
liked that very much. At the local Milonga
there was a 5-CD-Player „working“ in shuffle-mode. After 6 hard months I had
the wish for organized
music ... So I
packed my briefcase with among 30 CDs and
asked the dancers if they would mind my DJing
there.
This was the start. I did it for a
year for free and made my first experiences
there. I think it's not necessary to say, that my
collection - now we call it library - of my music was growing from
the first day on. Soon Ive got 360 CDs
in two big flight cases.
What was your early
taste of tango? Are there significant differences with your current taste?
In the beginning the taste of the
dancers in my Tango home scene - and to be honest: also of mine - was the mixed format. And so I
started to DJ in this mixed format. Mostly I tried to bend a historical musically bow from my „early“ traditional Tangos (this means from the late 1930s on) in the beginning of the evening to the recent, modern Tangos, World Tangos and from 2001 also
Electro-Tango in the latter night. The longer the night was going on, the more I played modern
Tangos. This was my style 15 years ago. I always played Tandas, mostly 3 tracks of the same style or orchestra - Cortinas came later.
In 2006 there was a modification ... I was requested to DJ for some Crossover-Tango-Nights. The idea of the Milonga organizer was not to create a bow, the mix was during the whole
night, combining modern music (containing a musically relation to Tango) with traditional Tango in a fine way ... the bow got really smaller ... You can say, I did mix in
waves.
Currently I prefer traditional
Tangos, organized in the
traditional format with Tandas and Cortinas in
the order of 4T-4T-3V-4T-4T-3M- ...
It is a other way of dancing, when You are listening and dancing to the musically variations of
traditional Tangos. Tango Nuevo is in some cases a special field.
Especially Electro Tango, World
Tango or Non Tango are serving a stable rhythmical
beat but mostly - and poorly - no or less
varieties, providing a musically floor for steps. For beginners this seams to be easier than the challenge of listening to all the variations of a Laurenz- or Troilo-Tango for example.
Do you remember your
first engagement as a tango dj?
I did some DJ-Sets in late 1999 until early 2000 for
bigger events - but there I was also a member of the organizing team. So I won’t say
this have been real engagements. The first engagement I think was the
Tango-Ball 2000 at the Tangofestival in Ludwigsburg (near Stuttgart). I was
very exited!
One other engagement in the time of the beginning was for
the „La Milonga Tangoweek“ at the end of August at the Hotel Elmau-Palace in a mountain valley near
the Zugspitz mountain. I was the only DJ there for seven nights with Prácticas,
pure Milongas and Milongas with live music … this was a challange and also a good training for me. I think my job was
not too bad, so I did this for five more times.
When do you prepare
or construct your set? A long time before the gig, on the day of the milonga,
or do you improvise freely during the evening?
When I was working with CDs, it was
not possible to prepare a playlist for the evening! I prepared Tandas and saved them with stickers on jewel
cases of my CDs or in a folder. And so I did this in the same way a very long time when I started to work with Laptop - I did my decisions on the fly.
Actually mostly I prepare the
first hour. The rest is a kind of communication. A prepared idea for the
beginning helps me to pay enough attention to the dancefloor.
Sometimes I prepare some nice Tandas for the audience of
a special event - but then often it happens that I don’t play
it there.
Have you ever played
a boring set? Did you maybe understand too late that the milonga could not give
you the right motivation and you could not wait to finish?
I don't remember a boring set.
There is an organiser, an engagement, there are dancers and I am the Master of Ceremony - I think this is the english meaning of „Musicalizador“. That's my job and this is not boring ...
Sometimes there are just a few dancers/couples, sometimes it is hard work to adjust
the sound for the PA
... but in all this
cases I try to do my best!
Do you accept
whatever gig is offered to you or do you try to select engagements, preferring
a special location or fascinating evening with friends?
It is really great to mix for a special event or at special locations and I am very happy, when I get such requests - indeed! But I don’t ask
for such engagements - I wait for the
requests. Actually I don’t organize
tours, so I can go on in this way.
And no, I don't deny requests, because I think, they won't be attractive enough for me. This is not the way I am thinking and feeling.
A request is a request ... somebody
is thinking that my music and style will be good
for his Milonga and his audience. This is an
honour for me.
Sometimes I have to refuse a request, cause it can't be fixed in my schedule in case of other dates, gigs or I
have some family-days.
Sometimes the money is a reason, or the musical format.
How would you define
your style? Has it evolved over time? Into which direction? What can influence
you during an evening, the audience, the dancers, the acoustics of the
location, the duration of the Milonga...
It is hard to define my style for
myself. But what I try to do is, to create a fine variety of Tandas. Tandas with high energy,
with sublime energy, with fine
harmonies, emotional Tandas, Tandas with some tricky rhythmically elements ... and so on. And then during the Set I try to create an order good
for the dancers, their ears, souls and feet.
Depending on the majority on the
dancefloor it could be more energetic or more sublime or more romantic ...
So I don't know how to define my
style. I try to take care for the dancers and to offer a balanced selection of Tandas - sometimes combined in energetic waves, sometimes combined with some
contrasting changes. And: I try to keep the sound system on a medium level. The music should be well heard, but it
is not necessary that it is roaring loud.
As talked already above, there have been some evolutions
over the years. In the traditional format I can
say, in the last years I took care for more
harmonic, emotional and sublime Tandas.
Influences during the evening could
be everything, the sitting people, the dancing
couples, the talking people, the mood on the dancefloor, sometimes requests from
some dancers, ... nearby everything ...
The acoustics are a special point.
I come along with basic technical equipment to adjust the room acoustic. When I travel by car optionally I bring along an additional Equalizer.
When the acoustic is well prepared the influence for the evening is on a customizing
level.
Do you prefer playing
alone or sharing the night with a / colleague. Do you generally prefer to work
alone, or with friends who you feeling? Or, you love the thrill of
experimenting with a colleague never heard until then?
I try to be a team-player. In
February 2014 I did a DJ-Session with two other DJs. One of the DJs I never have heard
before. This was a very great experience. And the dancers liked it very much too. I never did a DJ-battle, and I think this is
actually not my style.
To share an evening with an other
DJ in two parts, just as for a marathon - I did this just for one time and I think it is a kind of challenge. The first
experience was a little tricky for me because I have got a big respect for the
DJ doing the Set after mine. But it was a
good experience and I have learned a lot more - so for me it is also a fine way to DJ.
If someone asks you
the name of a track, do you give him the requested information, perhaps
mentioning the CD where he can find it, or do you refuse and thus force him to
engage into an adventure of search and find?
This depends on some things: Normally I show the current Orquesta (iPad, second Mac or
projector). So, there are not much questions.
But if there are more questions it depends on „Who“ is asking me and „how“ he does ... for interested people I will
give some informations. But when I am just working on my library or playlist and a grabber comes to me impatiently ...
he has to wait a little. For the first of all I work for the
dancefloor, and then it is time for interrested people.
The audience bothers
you with absurd requests: what do you do? Are you a jukebox?
Thats an interresting topic. What
is an absurd request? When the format is clear, and it doesn't fix to the format, there is no way (for example Electro at a traditional Milonga).
When it is fitting to the format
AND it is possible to create a Tanda and this would work fine in a cycle ... sometimes
I try to do it ... also depending on the
audience. That's hard, cause sometimes you think, the
audience also will like it and at other times you are not
shure ... in this cases the decision
takes a little longer.
Do you like to dance
and listen to your colleagues enjoy the selections and styles of others from
your performances?
I like to dance! Yes, really very
much! And I like to dance to the selections of my colleagues. And I think, everybody is working in a personal way.
So I don't think that there is the same
style by two DJs. But I like similar and also different styles and performances.
Do you believe that
the art of “musicalizador” is
different for geographic areas? Argentina, USA, Northern Europe, Eastern
Europe, the Mediterranean ... or is it similar in every country?
To answer to this question, i did
not travel enough through the continents.
But I think it is a little
different in the Milonguero-Scene, Marathon-Scene and in the Festival-World.
Would you like to
have a milonga just for you, furnish it with the appropriate facility to your
desires, try to create a wave that satisfies you over to play when you want and
create a calendar of events to measure your tastes?
That's a nice dream! Actually we
rent rooms for our events. In one case the room is very good with a very good sound systems (in my ears one of the best installed
system in the region). On the other hand there I make a lot of compromises.
To be the owner of a room ... that
would be great!
The other point: To do, just what I
want to do ... thats a little difficult. If I would live in a capital or in a big city, it could be possible to
create a Milonga just for my personal
style ... but in such cities a lot of people try this for real.
When you are living in a smaller town, there you have to take care for your audience, your Tango friends, your guests ... so the result will
be a mixture of own desires and of that what the
dancers are expecting, because in the end they pay for it.
The most important thing is, that the dancers should
like, what I am creating for them … to create it
just for me doesn’t make any sense.
Three orchestras that
can not miss in one evening.
D'Arienzo, Di Sarli, Canaro
Your three favourite
orchestras, which may also be different from the previous ones.
D’Arienzo, Biagi, OTV
Suggest a tanda of
tango instrumental, a tanda of tango singer, one of vals and milonga.
Tanda instrumental:
D’Arienzo (1938/39)
- Charamusca
- Yunta Brava
- No Me Lo Digas
- Lunes
Tanda with a singer:
Biagi with Duval
- Tus Labios me Dirán
- Hoy Te Quiero Mucho Más
- Caricias
- Pro Tener Un Corazón
Vals:
Caló with Podesta or
Beron
- Pedacito De Cielo (Podesta)
- El Vals Soñador (Beron)
- Bajo De Un Cielo De Estrellas
(Podesta)
Milonga:
Di Sarli with Rufino
- La Mulateada
- Yo Soy De San Telmo
- Rosa Morena
What are the three
bands or singers you can not stand?
Salgan - for some it is good music and with the other musicians
of „Nuevo Quinteto Real“ I must say this
is real good. But Salgan alone for me it is hard to dance and a little bit overcomposed.
Some Singers, when they leave the compas of the
orchestra.
What is the band most
underrated by the general public and which is the most overrated?
„Panta
rhei“ - and so this also is constantly floating …
sometimes a audience likes one orchester more than I and
I like another orchestra more than the audience. At another city and country
they have other favorites. For me this all is a kind of personal taste. I think it is a good thing, when organizers are mixing
the DJs and the DJs are traveling … so they can get
in touch with other tastes and inspirations.
Your top three nights
(in your opinion of course ...)
In the time of the „mixed“ format we had some great nights during the Tangoweeks on Hotel Elmau-Palace.
Since I work seriously traditional, I think this has been
three very fine nights:
- „La Franteña 2014“, DJ-Set at Friday night, August 15th 2014
- „Noches de Invierno“, DJ-Set,
Welcome-Milonga, Friday afternoon, January 2nd 2015
- Antwerp, DJ-Set for „Milonga
de Estar bien“, February 22nd 2015
We are less serious:
Last night a DJ saved my life. Are DJs sexy? Have you ever had a relationship
with a fan or a flirt with a colleague?
What shall I say? I have found my beloved wife in Tango!
I don’t think that she was allready a fan of mine when we met
us the first time - but now she is one of my greatest fans!
To have a flirt for me this is a kind of communication.
And yes, this happens in Tango for shure - also with colleagues.
But: For this all it helps to dance a lot and to meet a
lot of women … and as DJ you don’t dance ;-).
