{"id":13335,"date":"2018-05-31T18:49:52","date_gmt":"2018-05-31T16:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xceed.me\/blog\/?p=13335"},"modified":"2023-06-07T18:27:50","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T16:27:50","slug":"a-trunk-two-speakers-a-turntable-and-some-beer-cans-this-is-how-off-week-was-born","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xceed.me\/blog\/en\/a-trunk-two-speakers-a-turntable-and-some-beer-cans-this-is-how-off-week-was-born\/","title":{"rendered":"A trunk, two speakers, a turntable and some beer cans; this is how OFF Week was born"},"content":{"rendered":"

20 years ago, at the end of the 20th century,\u00a0S\u00f3nar Festival<\/strong> was THE festival. In June, in Barcelona<\/strong><\/a>, there was nothing else. For three days and two nights, the best advanced electronic music on the planet was meeting in Barcelona<\/a> and nobody dared to compete against it. Not even them. Soulblaster and Dj Gun-J<\/strong> didn’t pretend to be the alternative. They didn’t intend to counterprogram S\u00f3nar. They didn’t intend to take away the protagonism. Actually, they only wanted to attend the festival, but they didn’t have enough money to afford the entrance fee.<\/p>\n

The passion of Soulblaster and Dj Gun-J for electronic music<\/strong> was what united them. A common friend introduced each other and, since then, they were childlike. Both recorded with cassettes their favourite songs when they were played on the radio, but it wasn’t until they frequented more underground clubs (and the occasional after-hours) when they discovered the genres that really fascinated them. \u201cI remember LNR’s Working To The Bone or Lil Louis’s French Kiss\u201d<\/em>, says Soulblaster in an interview with the digital magazine Clubbingspain.<\/p>\n

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Image: \u00a9 Soulblaster & Dj Gun-J<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tickets to S\u00f3nar Festival had a cost around 4,000 pesetas (approximately \u20ac 25). It may seem little now, but at that time it was an amount that strikes the pocket. Our friends couldn’t afford it and decided to stay all Friday night around the Fira Gran Via selling beer cans<\/strong>. With the money obtained, they would pay, at least, the ticket for Saturday. A whole night in silence? No, of course not. Soulblaster and Dj Gun-J got car, trunk, speakers and disks<\/strong>. A very Spanish and Barna<\/a> equation.<\/p>\n

They didn’t sell so much. Well, we could say they sold almost nothing, so that ended up turning into a classic ‘botell\u00f3n’. During the night, some lengthened their entrance to the festival because of it. Our two friends had no intention of extending the adventure so much, seeing their little success, but you know what happens when alcohol and music join forces: the hours passed, and the sun began to rise. The rumble coming from the Fira Gran Via stopped. The clubbers began to parade, and the bravest ones didn’t hesitate to stop and dance around these two young guys<\/strong> loaded with beer. Almost without realizing it, they had become the heroes of the after-hours. That needed to be repeated.<\/p>\n

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Image: \u00a9 Soulblaster & Dj Gun-J<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It happened on Friday. They repeated on Saturday. And, yes, also on Sunday. Three sunrises on the outskirts of S\u00f3nar with Soulblaster and Dj Gun-J. The following year, again. And the next one, of course. The two young Barcelonians had become “the S\u00f3nar after-hours guys”<\/strong>. That had become “the Anti-S\u00f3nar”<\/strong>. A name, by the way, that they didn’t like at all. Soulblaster explained it properly to Clubbingspain: “A true Anti-S\u00f3nar would have consisted of doing something very different from what is done in S\u00f3nar. For example, instead of dancing to loud music, we could meet to read Don Quixote, pray the rosary or sing zarzuelas”<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There was nothing to do. The Anti-S\u00f3nar was a concept that spread throughout Barcelona<\/a>. Every year, S\u00f3nar was just what preceded the street after-parties in a pure rave style. Every time with more DJs friends of the organisers who signed up for the game. Every time with a bigger audience. But always with a similar schedule, which never went too far. 11 o’clock in the morning used to be the deadline<\/strong>. The Gu\u00e0rdia Urbana (the local police in the city) set some fines, but nothing big enough to prevent the viability of these parties. More and more professionals in the sector smelled the temptation to do something similar.<\/p>\n