Editorial introduction
Some records are made in studios. Others are torn straight from the night. Berlin Seite is the latter.
Dave Mech — Dutch producer with years of experience in the European techno circuit — releases on Diffuse Reality an album that asks for no permission and makes no concessions: ten tracks captured live at Berlin clubs Oxi and Aeden, without post-production, without corrections. Just the groove as it happened, with the energy of a packed dance floor feeding directly into the machines in real time.
The title carries its own history. «Berlin Seite» was born from a sampling accident — a Berlin elevator voice chopped at exactly the point where it sounds like a rhythmic mantra, which has since functioned as a sonic signature, a bassline, and now a record name. We spoke with Dave Mech about imperfection as a decision, about the spaces that shape a set, and about what it means to preserve an entire night without editing it.
I. The sample and the title
01 The record’s name was born from an accident: a Berlin elevator voice chopped exactly where it sounds like «Berlin Seite.» How would you describe that moment when it happened, and when did you decide this discovery deserved to be the center of the album?
— A: It must have been about 5 years ago when I was making a lot of «sample & jam» videos on youtube. For these videos I recorded all times of things and places, showed the sample flipping process and then the resulting track. Fore this video I went to Berlin to record samples. This particular sample didn’t even make it into the video but it found its way into one of my samplers. I often try to make leads or bass rumble and bass lines from odd samples and was working with this sample recorded in a Berlin elevator. The elevator voice says «the door opens on the other side» in German. When I changed the starting point of the sample, it suddenly sounded like «Berlin Seite» in a rhythmic way. I thought that was rather funny and created a groove with it that, through some ittirations it ended up being the opening track I used while playing my first ever gig in Berlin. Which I thought was rather fitting. It’s pitched down quite heavily and it doesn’t say the original sentence anymore but I’d like to believe it still must’ve triggered something in the Berlin crowd.
02 The sample appears across the first three tracks and at one point works as a bassline. What does that say about how you work with sound — how far can a piece of material transform before it stops being what it was?
— A: Quite far! But I think it’s actually rather cool that samples can be transformed to be many things. Like creating kicks from kicking a bin, or a shaker sound made from rubbing a bunch of leaves against each other. Basically I simply like to experiment with any sound and destroy it as much as I can to see what happens. I kind of work the same way with synthesizers. While I know the theory, I can switch to my «child mode» and just start twisting knobs until I find something cool and then sculpt it further into its eventual state.
II. The philosophy of live performance
03 You decided not to polish the recordings in the studio — what you hear is exactly what happened that night. When did you make that decision, and what did you have to let go of in order to hold to it?
— A: That’s a good question. Other than extending the beginning and end of some of the tracks, they are indeed raw stereo recordings. The main reason for taking this route was to capture the energy of the live performance of these grooves. In the studio I and when multi-tracking tracks, I can fall into the endless-tweak-spiral. For the grooves that I arrange during my live performances I think it’s much more pure to catch the energy that I got from the club environment, the crowd and the energy, that resonated back from me, into the the club and crowd. I think the most difficult thing for me was to accept their raw nature. Listening back to these tracks I have a million things I’d like to tweak and change to make them polished and perfect. However, the question is, would’ve made that the tracks better? More polished, less raw. I think there’s something to say for both approaches. It was fun to go for the raw route this time.
04 Across the record you can hear elements from one track bleeding into the next — motifs that reappear and morph. How do you experience that porousness between pieces when you’re playing, and what does it mean to find it again in the recording afterward?
— A: I do this even more now then at the time these tracks were recorded. The goal was always to create a 2 hour trip live for the audience. Where the morphing between grooves, moods and atmospheres happens seamlessly and elements come circling back sometimes. I sometimes like to have an element filtered and tucked in the background for 5 tot 10 minutes before I finally reveal it. It’s really interesting what this does to the mind, because at first an element is in the background and other elements are appearing more onto the foreground, but it’s still registered even if it is subconsciously. I then slowly fade that element more into focus and this will result in a bit of recognition because it was already there for some time. It’s fun to hear an earlier version of this effect on the recording.
III. The sound
05 Berlin Seite moves between dub vibes, Detroit groove and an uptempo pulse that feels both nostalgic and forward-moving at the same time. How do you describe the sonic arc of the record — what do you want someone to feel listening to it from start to finish?
— A: The way I selected the grooves was more or less how I’d like to structure live sets that are 1,5 hours or longer. For me it also reflects traveling to Berlin and what it’s like to be there. They anticipation, excitement, warm atmosphere, the rawness and both the freedoms and constraints. For people listening to the entire album I hope they will get a sense of what Berlin is like, the atmosphere and (club) culture.
IV. The spaces: Oxi and Aeden
06 The album was recorded across two different clubs — Oxi and Aeden — and the vinyl EP selects tracks from both. How did each space shape what you played that night? Can you hear the difference?
— A: The X floor in Oxi is a very a dark and cosy space with a very impressive sound. the vibe is there even with only a small crowd and simply becomes better when the room fills up. Aeden is a bit lighter and a bit more raw. For the performance it automatically influences me, but honestly I would not know how to explain this with words. Best would be to just come and listen to me perform at any place really haha.
V. The release
07 The record comes out in both digital and vinyl EP format. What changes between listening to Berlin Seite on a streaming platform and putting the record on? Is there something in the physical format that completes the idea?
— A: It has been a dream of mine to get a vinyl release and for this release it kind of feels extra special because a lot of sounds where taken from the physical world and sculpted into music.To then have it press on a piece of physical media to maybe be sampled again by another artist, completes that cycle.
VI. What’s next
08 You have a packed schedule this year — Oxi, About Blank, the Off Sonar showcase in Barcelona. How do you experience the relationship between this recorded material and what happens every night on stage? Does the album change anything in how you prepare or how you play?
— A: Yeah it has been a busy year so far with definite highlights being performing at the Hammahalle at Sisyphos Berlin and my week at off week Sonar in Barcelona. To me the recorded material was a moment in time and since then I’ve shaped and changed the live performance further so what you would hear now if you come to see me perform is very different from the album. Same energy but lots of different material and sounds. The album release has helped me pursue this way of performing further. To the point where I am now that I blend so many different elements form different grooves together, that it would actually be very difficult to do another album recording like this one. Which has made me think of how to do future releases. Definitely an interesting thing to be working on.
09 Berlin Seite documents a very specific way of understanding live techno. What do you want someone who doesn’t know your work to take away after hearing the record for the first time?
— A: Probably that techno can be much more than the very polished thing we often hear nowadays. That it’s okay for music to be raw and even a bit compromised. Just like us humans really. Techno to me is about groove, energy and interesting rhythmic structures and atmospheres. It may be polished, it may be raw, and everything in between. The most important thing for me is that the sound ignites a fire in you and people around you to let loose and live in the moment. And hopefully, it will inspire someone to also embrace rawness and imperfection.
Editorial closing
Berlin Seite is a live performance studio album; but it goes beyond that. It is the live performance itself, preserved without filters. With this release, Dave Mech delivers a statement about what techno can be when captured from the inside: imperfect, organic, alive. A record that smells like a club, arriving exactly when it matters most to remember that the dance floor is a place to connect, not to consume. Out June 26 on Diffuse Reality.
Label: Diffuse Reality Records
Artist: Dave Mech
Title: Berlin Seite
Format: Digital Album & Vinyl EP
Catalogue: DREA027
Distribution: LabelWorx, Clone
Domain Label diffusereality.net
Domain Artist davemech.live
Release Date: June 26th, 2026
Support & Buy: Bandcamp
Tracklistings
1. Berlin Seite Part 1 (Live at Oxi Berlin) A1 Berlin Seite 3
2. Berlin Seite Part 2 (Live at Oxi Berlin) A2 Roots
3. Berlin Seite Part 3 (Live) B1 Concrete Jungle
4. Roots (Live at Oxi Berlin) B2 Sledgehammer
5. Inner City (Live at Oxi Berlin)
6. Concrete Jungle (Live at Aeden Berlin)
7. Sledgehammer (Live at Aeden Berlin)
8. Off Into The Woods (Live at Oxi Berlin)
9. Deep Into Woods (Live at Oxi Berlin)
10. In Between (Live at Oxi Berlin)
Vinyl EP
A1. Berlin Seite Part 3 (Live)
A2. Roots (Live at Oxi Berlin)
B1. Concrete Jungle (Live at Aeden Berlin)
B2. Sledgehammer (Live at Aeden Berlin)
Upcoming Shows
ATR – OXI Berlin – 7-5-2026
Depot – OXI Berlin – 11-6-2026
Union Audio Live Showcase (Off Sonar)- CutOff Store Barcelona – 18-6-2026
Open Forms Utrecht 27-06-2026
ATR – About Blank – 30-7-2026
ATR – About Blank – 16-10-2026 (as Control // Modify)
ATR – About Blank – 12-12-2026
Dave Mech
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