hurrengoa
berlin zitty: traveling in time with makala makala dj   I  courtney lasseter 1987 - Before wall

Our flight arrived at 20:15 on the 31st of December at Tempelhof Airport, which is no longer there. We were coming from Dusseldorf, our mother's city. My brother Kike and me, I was 17. Our plan was to spend New Year's Eve with our sister Rita. A great surprise: Tolosa beans for supper. After supper we went to the prison in the Spandau district of the city and threw fireworks, crackers and stones against the windows in solidarity with the prisoners on the last day of the year. After a few minutes green Polizei vans arrived and we had to hop it. We ended up at somebody's house getting drunk on Becks beers. I'll never forget that night.

1991 - After wall

I'd just celebrated my 21st and I set off to Berlin in July with the excuse of spending a couple of weeks with my sister Rita. The city I found was completely different. At that time my sister's boyfriend was the New York photographer Courtney Lasseter. I got to know Berlin through his eyes. The wall had fallen two years before and the east of the city was a huge desert. Young people from all over the world were squatting there. There was an incredible energy everywhere. That was when I heard real techno for the first time. A treasure chamber created by the legendary dj Juan Atkins.

1995 - Firts dj Makala experience

Summer arrived and, four years later, I went back to Berlin. My sister Rita had just started living with another boyfriend: the Slavonic Marek "Krozome 131 dj", who is now her husband, and who invited me to dj with him in a lot of clubs. I'd spent five years playing records in lots of bars in Zarautz, but this was an incredible challenge for me. On that trip I made up my pseudonym. Marek had to do some flyers and the name Makala came to me straight away. I can't forget that it was that year that I heard real Drum&Bass and Jungle sounds for the first time. We ended up as residents at Yaam club.

2001 - Camping Gaz & Digi Random BlüBox Tour '01 + Makala plays Novophonic

At that time I decided to leave my job at my family's printing press and try to work as a musician. Three years before that trip I started working with Javi Pez and Txarly Brown at the Novophonic record company in Donostia. We decided to go on a tour to promote the "Blü Box" record. Before reaching Berlin, we went around Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria. Berlin was completely changed. It had started to look like any other European capital. I'll never forget that our friends from Jazzanova invited us to the party at WMF club. The US dj Spinna was there. We were amazed by his technique and the sound he created in the club.

2002 - Makala plays Novophonic on Tour 2002

I was given the chance to dj at Barcelona's Sonar and used the name "Makala plays Novaphonic". In the end we took songs from Novophonic's second period (98-02) and published a CD mix compilation. And, of course, I went back to Berlin. On the whole of this tour I dj-ed in small clubs: in the Box Club in Friedrichshain only 15 dancing people could fit in the club and there I was playing music for them.

2005 - Makala Hondartzan Tour 2005

Metak record company, now no longer, took a risk bringing out my first studio recording, "Hondartzan". It was winter when I went there. Kaffeburger brought out a disk and included my "Bizi Pozik" on it. Those of us who had contributed to the disk gave a short recital. As an anecdote, Gipsy.Cz, the charming Czech musician who took part in the 2009 Eurovision, contributed to the disk.

2007 - Makala Boom Shaka Laka Berlin Tour 2007

I called the disk by the same name as the radio show I'd had some years before: "Makala Selects Boom Shaka Laka" . And I set off for Berlin with the singer Konsul and with Marek. First we went to Brandenburg and the next night we gave our most beautiful show at Friedrichshain's Lovelite club. The next day we played at the Kaffeburger club again and presented The balde magazine there. The interview that Don Rispetto did with us on Multikulti radio was hilarious.

2008 - La Regla & Terrabeats invites Makala

These two collectives invited me to their parties to dj. The Terrabeats party was at Friedrichshain's Rosi club and lots of Basques came. Resident dj Pepe and I enjoyed a fantastic party. The next night dj Maria Mandarina invited me to her collective La Regla's party to dj in a ship called Hopetosse. It was an incredible experience dj-ing on a ship from the 50's on the river.

2009 - Txarly Brown & Makala present Más Achilifunk Tour 2009

This year is Catalan Rhumba year. Txarly Brown ́s “Más Achilifunk: Gipsy Soul from 21 Century” compilation is out. World-clas djs and producers have remixed rhumbas made in Catalonia. Some of my productions are on it and, with that excuse, I've gone on a European tour with Txarly. And, once more, I returned to my beloved Berlin. 22 years have gone by since my first visit. I try to go every year, the musical things this city has given me are indispensable. It's right there that I've discovered the electronic sounds on different innovative scenes that make the city's heartbeat special ... Makala definitely loves Berlin!