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... kONzePtLOs = DJ D.H + Rainer / lieber auf Deutsch?

Konzeptlos??? The friends D.H and Rainer have been playing music away from the mainstream since the early nineties. Many of the danceable 60s/70s sounds they play are little known outside their region of origin. The Konzeptlos DJs play these sizzling gems at (their) parties in Basel or in clubs outside the city and country borders. In 2014, they launched their concert series ‘Konzeptlos presents’. By 2022, they had organised over 20 amazing concerts on the small stage of the Kaschemme in Basel. The audience experienced great, rediscovered artists, legends and up-and-coming musicians from all over the world up close. Guests included Hailu Mergia, Pat Thomas, L'Eclair, Ebo Taylor, Embryo, Onom Agemo & Ahmed AG Kaedy, ROB, Karl Hector & The Malcouns and many more. Konzeptlos are currently organising and collaborating with various cultural venues and collectives. This is the short version, you can read more below. You contact or subscribe to the maximum monthly newsletter [in german] HERE.

More??? OK - travelling back in time to the 90s: countless city trips to look for rap, funk, soul and jazz records from all over the world during the day, in shops or at flea markets and exchanges. At night at concerts and parties with a short sleep in a cheap dosshouse. As soon as I returned home, the best new tracks were recorded on cassettes (mix tapes) and shared with friends. The sounds were well received, the first private parties followed, then public parties, but rented in premises at their own risk. Then bars and clubs came knocking and booked them. At the same time, a number of legendary parties were celebrated in the open air. Deep funk, jazz, rap, African, soul and Latin sounds were played. The first party without a concept took place in 2002, when they moved out of the ‘underground’ and into the Gundeldingerfeld for a short, official series of events in the premises of Creopolis, now Backpacker Basel. They presented performances by artist friends and then played music. Now it was possible to dance regularly to Konzeptlos, e.g. at Erlkönig (nt*/Areal). For years, they played the basement floor of the Goldfinger Brothers' raucous block parties until shortly after they moved to the Hinterhof (aka Das Viertel). Other clubs such as the Kaserne-Basel also booked them as DJs after concerts.

Nevertheless, Konzeptlos has always been drawn to the ‘public space’. The Konzeptlos DJs have shared a vision for as long as they have known each other: To create a creative place with live music. The opening of Kaschemme with D.H as co-founder made this possible, so they started the concert series ‘Konzeptlos presents’ in 2014. The start was incredible - within the first 4 months, ‘Karl Hector & The Malcouns’ and the Afrobeat/Highlife legend ‘Ebo Taylor & The Afrobeat Academy’ from Ghana were already performing on the small stage. The two bands were at the top of the Konzeptlos wish list. Crazy! The joint DJ activities increasingly faded into the background; D.H concentrated fully on running the venue, looking after the artists, live production and post-production. Rainer worked intensively on the promotion of the joint concert series and continued to DJ regularly, alone or with friends. D.H left the Kaschemme at the end of 2022. In the 8 years, Konzeptlos organised 24 amazing concerts [link] This would not have been possible without the help of the club and helpers from the surrounding area. Since 2025, they have been organising concerts again in cooperation with clubs such as Kaserne Basel or Schall & Rauch, as well as with collectives such as Tarsier... it goes on!

The Konzeptlos DJ double pack D.H and Rainer has always been available individually!

D.H??? The unmistakable Konzeptlos party flyers designed by him have always been the visual trademark of the collective. The artist and DJ has always harboured the desire to create a place, a cultural melting pot to his own taste. D.H set up the Kaschemme with two partners in 2014 and ran and revitalised it until he left at the end of 2022. D.H was the hub of many creative processes and social projects in and around the club. He mediated, facilitated, initiated and also arbitrated. As part of the Rochade project, for example, he created the multi-part audio/visual art project ‘Déjà-vu’ with Vasil Lagos - uncompromisingly direct. One part was presented on the Basel market square. D.H has been running a recording and sound studio for years and has ensured that the creative exchange with artists can be deepened after concerts and that more can be created. Many ‘Konzeptlos presents’ concerts have been recorded (with the band's consent). The recordings can be mastered in the studio on request and then made available to the bands. This is very attractive for new/young bands but also for ‘professionals’. A good example: Onom Agemo & Ahmed Ag Kaedy. D.H mastered the live recording of the track ‘Alghafiat’ from the ‘Konzeptlos presents’ concert in 2018 together with Milan Marti and sent it to the band as a sample. The band asked if they could release the recording on their new album ‘Tartit’ (2022). Sure [Link].

Rainer??? His decades-long passion for funk/soul/jazz-influenced and traditional music from the 60s/70s from all over the world shows no sign of abating, as does his drive to constantly discover new things. Many of the sounds that people dance to at the parties are little known outside their region of origin and outside a small circle of collectors. Unless the old bands are tracked down by international labels and their music is re-released. Rainer supports labels/bands in this work with recordings, pictures and information about the lost LPs and singles. As master tapes usually no longer exist and the band members often do not own any (playable) vinyl copies, the recordings of the old sound carriers from the collections of music lovers and DJs are urgently needed. Over the years, connections and friendships have developed with other music lovers, DJs and musicians. These in turn led to the one or other ‘Konzeptlos presents’ concert. In the mid-90s, Rainer started DJing in bars and clubs in Basel and founded various party series with DJ friends. The clubs pricked up their ears and asked for him, so he teamed up with DJ Pun, for example, and played the new party and concert series ‘Antz In The Pantz’ at the Kaserne Basel for five years from 2009. The programme that the cultural center (S.Bernasconi / L.Munz) put together with the two resident DJs was amazing; funk/soul/jazz lovers got their money's worth for five years. In addition to their instruments or laptops, some acts packed extra records so that they could play with the two DJs after their performance. When the series ended in 2014, DJ Pun & Rainer were keen to continue. They founded the Akiwawa party series. He plays alone as DJ Rainer (Konzeptlos). He is passionate about DJing in his spare time and doesn't force himself on people. Clubs and DJ collectives outside the country have become aware of him and his sounds and are happy to invite him. His DJ sets have been listened to and danced to in Strasbourg, Vienna, Munich, London, New York, Beirut and Dakar, for example.

Fancy a dance or a cosy nod of the head? Party series and projects with Konzeptlos participation are listed below.

Konzeptlos has been sending out a newsletter [in german] since 2002, at most once a month! Interested? Register HERE.

More???

Interview: "Analog Dakar Club" with DJ Rainer (Dakar, Senegal) 2019 en/fr

Radioshow: "Beirut Daze" with Ernesto Chahoud & guest DJ Rainer, NTS Radio (London, UK) 2019 en

Radioshow: "Kulturtipp" with D.H on Radio X swiss-dialect

Radioshow: "SRF Sounds!" with DJ Rainer 2018 swiss-dialect

Newspaper Article: "Tageswoche" with DJ Rainer (online / print) 2017 german

Partner/Projects/Party/Productions:

Tarsier 2025 concerts partner

Akiwawa (DJ Pun & Rainer)party series

Kaserne Basel concerts partner

Plates & Punch (Diego Figueira [Alma Negra] & Rainer) party series

Tropical Souvenirs (Jean et Reno) party series
Jan Hänni (flyer design) partner

Milan Marti (mastering, audio production) production

Flashback Records (music production) production
Kaschemme 2014-2022 party/concert series

Klappfon 2015+2016 concerts partner

Vasil Lagos VasilFX 2014-2022 (audio/visual art, creative production) partner

Antz In The Pantz 2009-2014 at Kaserne Basel (DJ Pun & Rainer) party/concert series

SüdKulturFonds concerts partner