The Latest at Goethe

He drank copious amounts of vodka and jammed on the Trans-Siberia Railway, in Hanoi he was pelted with beer bottles. In the interview, DJ Hans Nieswandt talks about his travels with the Goethe-Institut and why misunderstandings are so appealing.

Mr Nieswandt, you have been described in the papers as “Goethe’s trophy DJ.” Is that a compliment to you or a taunt?

I do have enough self-confidence to see that I am really good at this kind of cultural representation. Today, I am still doing what I was doing twenty years ago. That’s why I can do a lot to mediate between the generations. No Goethe-Institut director, ambassador or person in administration needs to have reservations with me because I’m close to them in age. But neither does a young DJ have the feeling they’re dealing with some cultural official who hasn’t a clue what’s it all about.

How did your cooperation with the Goethe-Institut begin?

It was in the early 1990s. I was still a musical editor at the music magazine Spex. My topics were techno, electronic music and the DJ culture. During this time I was contacted by Alfons Hug, who was already the institute director in Rio de Janeiro at the time. He was in Germany and had experienced the Love Parade and the Berlin Tresor club. German techno was just becoming a real trademark. Hug was planning a cultural exchange project and he wanted me to bring German techno to Brazil. On the phone, I started to explain to him what kinds of music is played in electronic music. He said, “Wait a minute, can’t you fly to Brazil and explain to your colleagues there what you just told me? And bring some records with you?” That’s how it all began. By now, I’ve journeyed to almost every continent for Goethe.




Is your way of playing electronic music typically German?

No, that’s another thing that distinguishes the electronic culture. You can reflect regional tastes, but there are no folklorist elements. As an old song said so well, “House music is a universal language, spoken and understood by all.”

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You can find more about “60 Years at Goethe” at our anniversary website.

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When travelling the whole world as you do, surely cultural misunderstandings happen, as well. What was the most bizarre thing to happen to you during your travels?

I had some performances during the German culture weeks in Hanoi. One of them took me to Hanoi’s biggest disco, New Century. They were playing Hong Kong techno, which is incredibly fast and loud as mortars. I got an announcement that the gauge on my system had to be in the red zone or it wouldn’t be loud enough. But after 20 minutes, something hit my back and I felt wet – someone had thrown a beer bottle at my back. I looked around and saw that there was a wild brawl going on. I made use of a proven remedy: I pulled the needle across the entire record; that makes a deafening noise. Suddenly everyone in the club stood still and I dashed out.

Can the staff at the Goethe-Institut offer any help in such situations?

No, not even my manager could help me. But, in the end, that’s all the more exciting and interesting. It’s what makes Goethe journeys to remote and strange places so appealing. There’s always a risk that misunderstandings will arise. That is how intercultural communication begins. In don’t consider situations like the one in Hanoi to be an insult to my art, but enriching. You never know what it will lead to next. Who knows? Maybe there was a young Vietnamese person there at the New Century on that wrecked evening who produces wonderful music today.

What was your most positive experience?

In 2009, the institute director from Novosibirsk invited me to curate the newly created genre of Elektrostancija at the SIBSTANCIJA arts festival. I was asked to think up a project related to the keyword “station” or “train.” Novosibirsk is still a relatively young city and only was built because the Trans-Siberian Railway was built. I didn’t need to put much thought to it: take the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Novosibirsk together with five German and Russian DJs. We reserved two four-passenger compartments and took along all of our equipment, from hardware controllers, to bongos, cowbells, even a slide whistle. We spent 48 hours in the train and jammed. In order to adapt to the national customs we also drank the locally common amounts of vodka. Our music was correspondingly inspired and spiritual.

You’re saying the vodka made the project so special?

No, not just the vodka; this relaxed encounter between musically like-minded people across all borders made it all so special. That unites people very quickly. My grandfather was a prisoner of war in Siberia; he was in the Gulag. My parents had to flee East Prussia from the Russians. And today I’m sitting with Russian DJs on a train and realize that we are pretty much alike. I thought that was great. It was the same in other countries I travelled to with Goethe. We beat and bomb one another and yet in the end, we all make music together.

Maren Niemeyer held the interview.