it seems that the new generation landed in vienna. and nobody can stop them.
so here is some spotlight action with the promoter of viennas newest hot nite out.
please introduce yourselfs to our readers:
wendelin: i´m wendelin amtmann and from fürstenfeld, and thats my partner
matthias: my name is matthias papst, and i´m from southern styria but since one and a half year, i´m living in vienna.
what was your intention to launch the “strom club”?
w: at the moment, i´m doing my civil service time at the red cross. that means that i´m having so much free time. so i´ve tried to get in touch with bands and the shitdisco management answered and told me that they only will do a dj set. then, the strom club was born. the main intention is to host a great party and to get people dancing. just to have a great time.
m: the whole idea and concept came from wendelin. but he still lives in styria, so i´ve offered him my support. first i was skeptical. for a short time. then i get the knowledge that it could pay off if we work hard.
(wendelin with a gorgeous t-shirt at strom club launch)
the strom club launched in style with shitdisco. did you expect it to be so successful? and was it a hard work?
w: it was really stressful for me to drive that often to vienna to do the whole grassroots campaigning for the club and meet people there. and i´ve worked 4-6 hours a day for strom club. adding myspace friends to build a big fanbase before the launch party was held. but i didn’t how many people would actually come. i only knew that my headliner is a well known and popular act but i´ve booked them only for a dj set. and that was the big question. all of us were totally excited on the 14th of march. but after we´ve seen the big crowd at the entrance, we got a focus on the party and it was an excessive and ace nite at all.
(party people @ strom club launch)
both of you are very young. 19 and 21. do you have any promoter role models and what feedbacks have you gotten?
w: yeah. 19. so i´m nearly an adult now. haha. and no. i haven´t any role models. probably macguyver & chuck norris. i mean, at least, chuck is able to divide through zero. haha.
we´ve got some feedback. but not that much. anyway. it was very positive overall.
m: role models aren´t important for us. we wont copy other viennese clubs. for myself it was more the idea from wendelin. to have some great partie nites and to help vienna to become a well known spot in the club scene a little bit. it was a good feeling for me to be able to do all of these things if you are not a part of the scene for years.
for 2 years, the club scene in vienna grew very fast. many club nites are around and most of them are in trendy locations. the whole gürtel area isn´t trendy anymore and strom club choose the badeschiff for a residency. what was the intention for that and do you have some plans to expand and leave the venue then?
w: first of all i´d like to thank the badeschiff crew because it´s like a wonder to host a club there if you aren´t part of the scene. so we are satisfied with that venue as it´s well known for excessive nites. certainly we wanna change the location for something new. but only for a one off thing. our home is the schiff!
your philosophy – to host nites with international djs and austrian popular and upcoming acts. is it hard to get the international acts?
w: some of them love the idea of a very familiar thing, others only like to play big venues.
m: i think that it is hard if you´ve just started out. we aren´t able to show them lists with 20 international djs which have played at strom club. and the badeschiff doesn’t have the same status than the flex has. but we are up to change that;)
native acts like korrelator are something like strom club residents. how important is it for you to give austrian acts the opportunity to play at strom club as support of acts like shitdisco or data etc?
w: korrelator aren´t our residents. but they aren´t many styrian acts in that scene around as they are producing their own amazing stuff. same as you, stefan, they are from our hometurf. so it´s a special wish for us to help and push them.
m: most time, the promoter of the club nites are also djs and residents at their own clubs. but we aren´t. so, we really like korrelator and thats the reason why we support them.
graz has spring and the elevate festival. vienna doesn’t have any electro festival. what do you think is the reason for that in vienna?
w: thats a good question. i think in vienna it´s not that easy because of the distance of the venues. and, i´m not sure about the promoter like flex etc. would he be a part of it? i don´t know.
but probably strom club will do a tour someday.
in june, we are hosting the campus rock aftershow party. it´s our first step to an austrian wide strom club domination.
m: i really like the spring festival and it would be great to have something like that in vienna. i think we are very open for that idea.
tell us something about your shopping mindset and fashion/styling.
w: i really like the uk style with skinny jeans, leather jackets. but i haven´t one. so, mostly i´m buying my stuff at h&m or frontline.
m: sometimes, i have some phases where i´m totally into a style. then, i´m buying 10 t-shirts a week or 5 pairs of sneakers. but there isn´t a straight shopping mindset.
most vienna club nites have the same audience. is there hard competition or is it something like an ideal world?
w: no, it isn´t an ideal world. we didn´t know the other promoters. certainly, there is a competition because there are only 4 fridays in a month and it is a shame if there are smiliar events on the same date. but for vienna it´s good thing as a party city.
m: i wouldn´t say that it´s a competition because if there are only one or two clubs with something like a monopoly, that would be boring. but there are many club nites and every one has their own character. so people can choose a different party every weekend.
grassroots campaigning is very important for the generation 2.0. would you say that extensive pr work isn´t
in case of broadband media isn´t that important nowdays? and what about flyers?
w: flyers are still our main campaign. but i am also on myspace, add friends and doing all the digital stuff. matthias doing the street stuff. thats worksharing 2.0
m: yeah. thats true. i´m in vienna so it´s my job to get in touch with all those people who aren´t around in myspace.
(matthias on the left side. he also doing some VJ stuff)
in which “off club” venue would you like to do a one off strom club nite out?
w: i don´t know that much “off club” venues in vienna. but a subway party would be great.
m: the semper depot. i´m not sure if there were parties ages ago. but i really like the whole area.
otherwise, the hochspannungswerk or wasserkaftwerk would be good ones. but we won´t threaten our audience.
matthias, you are working at gotv and you are also vj at strom club. is it a possibility for you to be creative. something different to your daily job and as a future reference?
m: haha. yeah, thats true. it´s not possible to be creative at gotv as their is a straight policy. so as for the visual part at strom club, it´s possible to be very creative. but i wouldn´t say that it isn´t so important for my future. probably in a circuitous way.
so at last, tell us something about your future plans.
w: next strom club is held on may 2nd with data and on june 6th we will do our last one before the summer break happens. in october, i´ll move to vienna and some new strom club nites. atom strom. and then, we probably will do a tour. wait and see.
m: yeah, as wendelin meant, the last club before summer break happen in june. so let’s see what autumn brings.
more about the upcoming strom club, soon at stylishkidsinriot.
WE <3 IT, WILL BE THERE TO GET ELECTRIFIED!!!!!
strom club @ myspace
