0059 // Gabriella Vergilov

Prior to visiting Copenhagen a couple of years back, my knowledge of the city's music scene was limited to say the least, assuming most of the regions best music would be found on the other side of the Øresund strait, in Sweden. However, after exploring the city, I discovered a vibrant local scene, free from some of the attitudes you find somewhere as oversaturated as London.

One ambassador of the city's music scene I was able to meet over there was Gabriella Vergilov - a regular selector of Culture Box, a club so highly regarded, it has received government support. As she explains however, for many years she only visited as a punter. "My interest in DJing started slowly. Out dancing, I was always in front of the DJ booth, staring at the man playing records. I was intrigued. Two years ago I finally started playing records. It's a man’s world out there and the only way of being comfortable in my own skin was to trust and believe in the music I love and play. I used to DJ at Culture Box while living in Copenhagen. The place actually helped me reshape my taste in techno. It became my school, my second home. I met many of my favourite artists there and made good friendships."

She explains; "I remember the first time I got offered a gig there by one of the residents, DJ Kong. He came to me and said 'Hey listen, I never heard you play but I have a good feeling about you. I see you have passion, sense and dedication. Would you like to play?' It was my first serious offer and it was at the place I dreamt of playing one day. Once I stopped at Culture Box’s office to say Hi to the owner - Kenneth Christiansen - and he was well, very generous giving me twenty EPs from the Echochord catalogue! I believe some of my friends who were also into that kind of music got a bit jealous..."

Currently however, Vergilov is residing in Berlin, pursuing her career as a DJ and producer in a more active manner. "Once I put my foot on the Berlin zebra, I knew I was going to be moving there," she begins when asked on the move. "It happened in a very organic way. At some point I realised I probably have more contacts here than in Copenhagen. I adore its liveliness and the clash between the rational and the irrational. I say irrational because we all know what happens when you go out dancing on a Sunday afternoon and 'forget' to go home!"

Recently, Vergilov has secured a release on Brooklyn-based Thema Records, blending 4/4 rhythms with her own vocal experiments. As she explains, her music is a product of a number of different processes. "As a very physical and visual person I cannot imagine myself writing a song using software alone" she begins when asked on the topic. " Sometimes I sit, listen and try to guess if a track is software or hardware programmed. In the studio, I like to take control over machines and abuse them as much as I can. I’ve learned much more by making mistakes than following the rules. I use vocals with a lot of layering, filter, delay, transposition and so on. My voice is in almost 90% of my productions and the release for Thema will prove that. I made a kick drum by hitting my mattress and I actually used that one of the tracks that’s coming on the release."

Her mix for us covers over an hour of house and techno, in her own words; "I included quality music that resonates with my perception of time, space, sound and experience. I basically improvised and put music that most of all, feels right to be there."

Tracklist

Pittsburgh Track Authority - The Standard [Work Them]
Four Tet - Buchla (Seven Davis JR Remix) [Text Records]
Optic Nerve - One Moment In Time [Puzzlebox Records]
Flori - Unsettling [Secret Sundaze]
DJ Qu - Warrior Dance [Strength Music]
Acid Jesus - Radium [Klang]
Sev Dah - Shaban (Antigone Remix) [Techno Gipsy]
Arthur Kimskii - She Survived [L.A.G]
Hawkinson - Draisen (Mike Wall Remix) [Phunkit Records]
Phillippe Petit - Venus [Ear To Ground]
Antigone - The Toymaker [Children Of Tomorrow]
Damon Wild & Tim Taylor - Bang The Acid Rebanged! (Fanon Flowers Remix) [Missile]
Paranoid London - Machines Are Coming [Pranoid London]
Vladw - Obstacle One [Cryonix]
Levon Vincent - Air Raid [Ovum Recordings]
Fiedel - Wish (Version 469) [Unknown]
Acid Jesus - Move My Body [Exploding Plastic Inevitable]
Hunley - Trench Dub [TUBA]
Art Department feat. Seth Troxler - Cruel Intentions (Fred P Reshape) [No19]
Dennis Ferrier & Damon Wild - Morphing [Unknown]

• Published
• Mar 6, 2016

• Credits
• Words by Theo Darton-Moore