vault sessions blog series
An interview with CHAMI and OPH:
THE f2F PRoject
Together with Undisclosed, we invited CHAMI and OPH for an interview about their face-to-face project. They will be performing at our collaboration on 22 June 2024 in HAL25 in Alkmaar.
How does being face-to-face with the crowd affect the vibe of your show, and what sets it apart from other gigs in terms of connecting with the audience?
The setup creates a feeling resembling more to a concert or live show. It is very interesting for the crowd to witness our interaction during the show and our non-verbal communication. We developed a particular sign language over the years to communicate and understand each other’s intentions and needs.
The setup also perfectly transcribes our synergy and our special connection, which makes it more captivating. When we face each other, we are more focused on the flow and each other. Of course, we do throw regular quick looks to the side to observe the effect of our set on the audience.
From our experience we also see that the crowd is captivated by the face to face format, and is often trying to understand what we are doing and how we manage to play with such a setup.
Lastly, as we are both constantly active on stage, instead of taking turns between mixing and waiting moments, we are always in the mix.
What sparked the idea for you both to team up for a F2F performance, and how does this format offer a unique experience compared to solo gigs?
As very long time friends (over 12 years) we started digging music and practicing playing vinyl together. Shortly after moving to Berlin 10 years ago, we started to become more serious about our respective solo careers. As newcomers with similar style and crowd, it was easier for promoters that knew us to book us back to back because they did not have two slots to offer us separately. Our b2b journey started there.
After playing many back to backs together, we often realized after our shows that there were many moments where two layered tracks were perfectly matching and creating the ideal blend. We felt frustrated by the fact that as we play strictly vinyl we had to remove one of the tracks to give the booth back to the other DJ which was killing the moment.
First we thought of adding a third turntable when the Xone96 came out, because it allows us to have two different cues for two different headphones. While trying, we noticed it was inconvenient for us to be using the same mixer. We then got inspired by the old versus from Underground Resistance, the digital double setup and the side by side vinyl only setup from Sunil Sharpe and Hector Oaks.
During covid we had time to think about our setup. The idea of facing each other made sense for us to have a constant look on the other mixer. This forced us to communicate non verbally to avoid talking to each other in the booth and rely more on our feelings and eye contact.
We got asked to do a five hour live stream from our living room, which was the perfect opportunity to try this new format. We then recorded another set, that lead to our first booking for a festival in France.
What makes this format really unique is that it offers the opportunity to layer grooves and textures and merge our sound together even though playing strictly vinyl.
The dynamic of the sets and the intensity is never lost, even if we want to play certain tracks that would sound low energy in solo sets. We create a certain continuity in the storytelling hard to achieve with only two hands and one brain.
How do you prepare for a F2F set compared to going solo or doing a more 'traditional' B2B?
When going solo it is usually just about preparing your record bag to know where all the records are and having an intention of what you want to do artistically speaking.
As we are constantly layering tracks on top of each other to keep the dynamic, we have to align on the progression of the set so that the next tracks are matching in terms of intensity or artistic direction. We don’t want to break the moment by going too hard or too different in terms of style.
During the selection, we like to play loopy tracks, with mostly bleeps or drums, that allow us to create interesting blends. They bring a solid foundation to the set. From that, we then can bring more interesting textures and explore different atmospheres to elevate the set and make the show more diverse sonically speaking.
The preparation is much more intense than a regular B2B. This show requires more precision and consistency.
The most important aspect of a successful F2F is a coherent and well prepared selection that fits and creates the expected result. The record selection is the key before the show starts.
During the show it is very important to avoid any ego feeling as we are constantly shifting the leadership. Some moments Chami has the lead and OPH follows and other moments it's the other way around. When one of us has the lead and decides the direction to give, the other can adapt and enrich the sound with additional layers. This performance is based on trust so to ensure that the synergy and the flow is maintained during the whole performance. We need to constantly trust each other no matter what is happening in the moment. Our long time friendship combined with our special relationship makes it easy for us to do so. We know each other perfectly so we are able to react in the best way possible to any of our actions.
Something that is important to understand is that the main point of this show is not about showcasing our skills. We are not constantly layering 4 tracks at the same time as it is important to let some tracks breathe during some moments and not overwhelm the audience with too much sound information. We then alternate between intense and more minimalistic moments. The goal is to make people dance and dream at the same time.
What do you think makes a successful F2F set, and how do you ensure that synergy and flow are maintained throughout the performance?
When playing F2F the first time live, we both did a fader cut on each of our mixers at the same time, which first of all made us laugh but also showed we were really connected during this live experience.
Of course we have to mention the first time we played with this project in Berghain, which is a place where we both evolved a lot musically and as persons.
A more recent moment is our 11 hours closing at Bassiani, that pushed this project a next level. This challenge taught us a lot.
