The Bunker Podcast 228: Blacklauren

This edition of The Bunker podcast comes from our old friend Blacklauren, recorded live at The Bunker at Good Room in July 2022, when he opened for DJ Nobu and Wata Igarashi. Mastered by Russell E.L. Butler. artist statement: "At some point during the late months of 2013, a close friend at the time sent me a podcast mix to listen to from a young Japanese DJ who was completely unknown to me at the time - Wata Igarashi. This same friend coincidentally took me to my first Bunker party a few months prior & I became a regular attendee from that night onwards for many years. In the early spring of 2015, my collaborative partner and I, collectively known as The Long Count Cycle, were asked to do a podcast mix for The Bunker as well as an invitation to play the party following it’s release. For us, this was monumental and just when we thought things couldn’t get any better, we were invited to play Rural festival and Dommune in Japan that summer based on our mix. One of the artists on the lineup was Wata Igarashi. I was excited for many reasons but also because I now had the opportunity to tell him in person how phenomenal I thought his mix was. We spent quite a bit of time together during that trip and became friends. Additionally, I gained a new perspective on techno seeing how he performed and the sonic palette necessary for creating states of psychedelia and euphoria. In the years following, we would cross paths several times at Nowadays, Good Room & Sustain Release. Each time, I left with a deeper understanding of the music and my place within it. So when I was invited to open for him and the exceptional & exemplary DJ Nobu, there was a visceral sense of validation in being entrusted to set the tone for what was to come that night. Please enjoy, listen on headphones or a system that can carry bass weight, “turn on, tune in, drop out”.