Phase Fatale All Night Long
Still buzzing for the unique opportunity and for having witnessed London’s absolute premiere, we had the pleasure of hosting Phase Fatale’s first All Night Long, last Saturday 22nd June.
Returning to the incredible space that is Electrowerkz, after his first appearance for Unmasked in 2016 for a 4h set, the New York-born Berlin-based artist gifted London with an unforgettable performance, a 7h journey through his extraordinary music selection.
Starting at 11,15pm, he settled into the dark surroundings of the club, whose gritty warehouse feel proved once again to fit well with the type of music that Hayden Payne (real name of the artist) is known for.
Slowly building the atmosphere for a perfect crowd of dancers, he never lost sight of the ones gathering on the dance-floor from the early hours, eager to experience something that until then had happened just at Berghain or Khidi.
Interviewed by Unmasked a few days before his London performance, the artist explained why doing the warm up in longer sets is important to him, so “it can be built from nothing slowly to the peak of the night, then come down”.
For a little longer than one hour, in fact, we eased into an exquisite selection of experimental sounds; we got lost in slower tempos and nocturnal soundscapes, proof of the artist’s unmistakable taste and extensive music knowledge.
Before becoming one of the most interesting voices of Berlin’s techno scene, Hayden played in cold wave and post-punk bands, that greatly “influenced his music choices and style in production”, as he told us.
In his sets, these influences are always perfectly complementing each other and inspiring the music structure in which different types of sound can coexist outstandingly.
From EBM to italo, from electro to techno, he creates something more than a simple journey through genres. What it feels (and felt at Electrowerkz) is a journey through eras.
Groovy is another way of defining Phase Fatale’s sonic output: the story he tells belongs to the dance-floor. Especially when playing longer sets, be it 7h for Unmasked or one of Berghain’s 10h marathons, that connection is never lost.
Constantly flirting with the darkness, his set built a sexy atmosphere, ideal setting for the wildest dance moves, a space where getting lost and find oneself many times.
This is also why he’s often praised as an innovator in the electronics realms: the way he brings raw and inclement EBM to marry gritty industrial and mix them with techno, truly is unique.
Whether playing old tracks whose weird voices describe a dystopian imaginary world, or focusing on percussions and powerful rhythms; whether luring the crowd with the unmistakable Ostgut Ton’s sound or relying on Alien Rain’s acidic tracks, across the seven hours of his set we had enough material to satisfy anyone who has been partying out from 1980 to today.
The strength of his performance at Elektrowerkz wasn’t simply creating a story from zero to peak, but keeping that crowd entertained with a journey through times, artists, labels and genres.
Keeping his signature’s melancholic and sinister atmosphere through the whole night, Phase Fatale made the crowd sweat until the very end, when they asked in unison for “one last one” at 7am.
Written by / Stefania Trinchero
Pictures by / LUXXXER
Published /05.07.2019