Eventually, adolesecents from Prague's southside (Jizni mesto) overran the place, and not to dance but instead they came stocked with spray cans, marking pens and herb. All the DJs could do was provide a soundtrack to their efforts, ensuring the beats as the kids tagged the walls of the club throughout the night. Over time, layer upon layer of graffitti transformed the sterile dorm club into a kaleidoscope of color and symbols. Kind of like the Berlin Wall, the interior of Big Pohoda was Prague's own (but very secret) urban ghetto oasis.

Big Pohoda closed in 1994, and, shortly after, the club's program manager/musician, a Slovak medical student named Marek Barath, moved to Berlin where he started to DJ in squats and cafes.

Nowadays, Krozome 131's sets are appreciated far beyond the borders of Berlin. His sets are freestyle -- from ambient trip-hop through nu-jazz, afro, Brasil; 2 step and electrobreaks to dubhouse or techhouse. And there are always big chunks of jazz and funk in the sets. Krozome 131 has played Brazil twice, turning the locals there onto his unique mixture of beats. Currently, he is on a European tour with DJ Baroxmix to promote their new release on Duplikat Records.

How did you get started as a DJ in Berlin?

When I moved to Berlin, I was at the beginning lost in the huge techno and house scene which was being played in most of the clubs. So I found ambient, trip-hop and experimental electronic sound as an answer against this movement... I started to buy downbeat records and started to play in cafes, exhibition openings and squats.

When did you start to use the name Krozome 131?

Krozome 131 was founded in 1995. It didn't mean anything special, but maybe with the years of playing as a DJ it describes my own imaginary world. Krozome 131 is the atmosphere of my sets... There are always some slow dreamy parts changing into pumping beats or a fusion between four-to-the-floor sounds and breakbeats. 131 is my number, and I like numbers. This often describes my bpm or the usual length of my phone calls (1 min 31 seconds).

Can you tell me about your new record?

The new record is a collaboration with a friend from Italy -- Michele (DJ Baroxmix), he was the drummer of Negazione, an Italian Minor Threat from the early 80s -- and this is the band we are remixing. We picked a few short samples and made something completely new, something which has almost nothing to do with punk. It sounds more like electrofunk or booty electrobreaks. This is our first vinyl release, a maxi single called "Tutti Felici" and it has four tracks.

Is punk rock -- in the form of remixed tracks -- a new direction for club music in Europe? What is this "new style" called?

No idea about the name for this new style, maybe it can be called "funk-punk," which Tummy Touch DJs are doing worldwide, but I don`t think this describes our release. But many electro, digital hardcore, nu-skool breaks or hard techno DJs are as well influenced by punk...

What is the club and DJ scene like in Berlin?

Berlin has a big underground scene in both clubs and DJs... There are clubs closing and opening almost every day, many of them have no license and they are registered as a gallery or something and they make illegal parties with a unique atmosphere, because it can always be the last time....

People are informed about these kinds of parties via text messages or e-mail. DJs here are playing very freestyle sets, so I enjoy it very much... These kinds of places are very popular for people in Berlin and this is what I was missing in Prague. But OK, the situation here is also changing, with Berlin, losing its atmosphere, everything becomes more "shiki-miki," yuppie scum everywhere, especially in Mitte.

The regular downbeat party night in Berlin is Kaleidoskope by Jazzanova on Thursdays at WMF, and once a month there is a breakbeat party, Dangerous Drums at MARIA.

How do your sets change by venues?

In Berlin I usually to play for smaller crowds, usually 50 to 300 people max. In Italy or Brazil I played for bigger crowds, around 1000 people. Whenever I have this opportunity I usually play more a pumping and funking set, more four-to-the-floor, but I always try to make an experiments to break it down for a while. Open-minded people like it, and the rest usually leave the dancefloor....

Once I saw MixmasterMorris play an open air set, and everybody there was on drugs and wanted to listen to pumping shit. He came and started to play downbeat trip-hop. Maybe 500 people left the floor and in his two hour set, maybe 50 people were dancing.

I was very excited for what he did, but the party organizers were probably very angry and a lot of people as well. In my case, in a small clubs I usually play more eclectic stuff when I have to play alone all night long, ....when it is just a one hour set and people are dancing, I'll try to keep them on the floor with the beats around 120-131 bpm.

What have been your favorite DJ experiences?

For sure I would say the few gigs in Brazil, where people love Music. The first time I played there was in 1997. Before they had only techno parties there. I was supposed to play a one hour opening set and in half hour, they asked me to play more. In the end it was a three and a half hour set and people were dancing from the first very ambient track. After a few minutes the floor was full and people where screaming and dancing like I never saw before...

Later, they booked me for pumping techno parties and I always played break beats and electro and people were usually enjoying the music very much.

Another good club for me is in the Basque country in Spain (a club called Etxekalte in San Sebastian), where I have played once or twice every year for six years and it is always great. In Berlin, my favorite club at the moment is Autobahn and Lovelite where people are enjoying eclectic sets...

Tony Ozuna
May 1, 2003