You're celebrating 30 years of DJing with a 30-hour set. What can the audience expect from this event?
Orkidea: People can expect the best electronic music from the past 30 years combined with the best Helsinki people from those 30 years. These combined should be an epic and unforgettable night, day and night. There will also be a photo and flyer exhibition to spark cherished memories from all these years in Helsinki nightlife.
You are inviting some of your friends in music to join you at this unique event. How do you feel about the DJ community: is it unified, or is DJing a lonely career?
Orkidea: It is both. Thanks to the long travels and nights at hotels, DJing can be pretty lonely in the end. But at the same time you belong to various different communities of clubbers, DJs, promoters, music makers etc. So at the end it definitely brings a lot of social life to you.
When did you fall in love with DJing?
Orkidea: Instantly when trying it for the first time at a school disco (aged 14) and then at my first rave gig at our own illegal party at Oranssi squat house (aged 15) back in 1992. I have always loved searching for new music and sharing that with other people. Electronic music culture excited me immediately thanks to its community and peace, live, unity & respect ethos.
Can you remember how your first gig was, in 1992?
Orkidea: Yes very well! It was this illegal all night rave Oranssi in Munkka. The party was called “Techno Rave” - very original! Event took place on two floors with techno upstairs and dub reggae downstairs. Music was a combination of techno, trance, house and uk breakbeats. Crowd was an eclectic mix of Helsinki nightlife. There was a strong sense of excitement around this new emerging techno sound. I had only just about learned how to beatmix so I played all my records in tempo order haha
Thirty years later, are crowds experiencing clubbing differently?
Orkidea: The essence is the same: people want to get together and enjoy the best dance music out there at the moment. But everything around it has changed dramatically with digital music, social media, show technology and communities around the music changing the experience very much.
What was the most remarkable gig you ever did?
Orkidea: It is so hard to pick just one so I’ll name a couple: the 23 hour set at Redrum was such a unique experience both musically and socially. Sunset at Cafe del Mar: playing at the iconic Ibiza location was a dream come true. Unity The Island at Uunisaari: our Club Unity has been the most important part of my DJ career and the Uunisaari parties were extra special. Transmission in Prague: DJing for 15 000 people was something I will never forget. All of them were amazing but in very different ways.
How do you look into the future of clubs and live events?
Orkidea: I believe that after two years with so few live events we’ll see a renaissance of clubbing soon. Also a big change is that the underground scene has become an even bigger part of the scene - which is only a good thing as creativity always thrives underground. I am also expecting real life and digital life to connect even more in the future.
What would be your dream event to organise if everything was possible?
Orkidea: The line up would be Vangelis & Jarre together live, Sasha, Solomun, Yotto, Jose Padilla and Paul van Dyk as DJs while visuals would be created by United Visual Artists collective UVA. Location would be somewhere in the most beautiful Finnish nature. The crowd would be my best friends from these 30 years.
In your opinion, how can we create a more diverse cultural sector?
Orkidea: We need to bring diversity to the top of mind in all discussions and forums, we need a change in attitudes and we need great examples of diversity. We need to remember that most cultures (like club culture) are born from creativity and communities of minorities and we need to build on that. More diverse group of people will always be better for both the culture and the community <3
Advance tickets for the 30-hour DJ Set at Ääniwalli are now available exclusively at Eventual. You can get your tickets here.
Discover more about Orkidea: http://djorkidea.com
