Gregor Tresher and Zenbi to Play Sullivan Room in NYC, 2/16

By: Feb. 02, 2013
Get Access To Every Broadway Story

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click.




Existing user? Just click login.

Gregor Tresher and Zenbi will play Sullivan Room NYC on February 16, 2013. Doors open at 9:00 PM; concert starts at 10:00 PM. Sullivan Room is located at 218 Sullivan St, New York, NY, US. For tickets, click HERE. And for more about the Sullivan Room, click HERE.

GREGOR TRESHER: Subtlety is not the first word used in connection with most DJs, but there is much more the metier of Germany's Gregor Tresher than simply playing records, as Lights From The Inside attests. In fact, after he completed pre-production on his third full-length, Tresher actually stepped away from the decks for six weeks to clear his head. "DJing is my first profession," he admits. "It's what I love to do and what I have been doing for almost twenty years now, even before before I started to write my own music." In the past two years, the producer of 2008's best-selling Techno track on Beatport ("A Thousand Nights") has aspired to make music he would want to play out. "But for this record, I had The Feeling that this shouldn't be my priority." While Lights From The Inside features several songs sure to find favor with Tresher's nightclub colleagues-"Frontline", "Breaking Routines," the giddy "As Days Go By" (recently issued as a single on Josh Wink's Ovum label)-this twelve-song odyssey operates on multiple levels.

Just as a painting or photograph appears to move if one stares at it long enough, with close listening the stratified grooves and melodies assembled on Lights From The Inside reveal an organic universe of shifting sound. Meticulous attention to the latter element-melody-was of utmost concern to the Frankfurt resident. Not obvious, eight-bar earworms that would quickly exhaust their welcome, but musical lines that could repeat and intertwine in different patterns, "melodies that are more subtle and develop as you're listening." In this regard, Lights From The Inside harks back to Tresher's earlier releases, even as his aesthetic continues to evolve in new directions.

Tone color was also a key consideration. "Most of the music was written in two months, but finding the perfect sounds and putting them together took much longer." Listen to the interplay of slow-moving tones and twinkling sounds on the title track, or how muted snare hits reverberate against the chilly lower registers of "Leaving". It's no coincidence that the almost-tactile crackles, clanks and pops animating the whole album sometimes recall Depeche Mode's Construction Time Again; the 35 year-old producer cites that 1984 classic as a longtime inspiration, alongside work by other electro-pop iconoclasts from that era.

The album's play of light against darkness and its pervasive mood of melancholy, both underscored by its title, betray a more specific influence on Tresher's latest offering: The Cure's Disintegration. As on that 1989 landmark, he aspired to create an all-encompassing sense of atmosphere, as well as a comprehensive album that covered varied emotional terrain. Towards that end, specific set pieces guide the shape and flow of the record: The menacing opener "Shadow Layers"; the concise, ebullient interlude "If Only"; and "Destroy," a metallic, rumbling closer that concludes the album with an air of questions yet-unanswered. Tresher aspires to create what another producer once sagely called "music that makes you dance and cry at the same time." With its simultaneous, synchronized appeal to the feet, head and heart, Lights From The Inside succeeds.

Gregor Tresher began his career as a DJ in Frankfurt in the early '90s; today, he can be found plying that trade at venues around the world, from Berlin to Tokyo, Sydney to Los Angeles. Following two critically-acclaimed albums credited to his Sniper Mode alias, Tresher broke through as a producer under his own name via his 2005 releases Still and Neon, his remix of Sven Väth's "Komm," and his contribution to Cocoon's Compilation F, "Full Range Madness." In addition to releasing tracks on countless other esteemed labels, including Intacto, Great Stuff, Rebel One, Ovum, and Moon Harbour, Tresher launched his own eclectic imprint, Break New Soil, in 2009. Lights From The Inside is the third Gregor Tresher studio album, following his debut A Thousand Nights (2007) and The Life Wire (2009).

ZENBI: Raised in Philadelphia and based in Washington DC, ZENBI is quickly becoming one of the hottest names in America's burgeoning house music scene. With newly minted residencies at two of the hottest dance clubs in the US, and a handful of recent top ten tracks to back it up, ZENBI is establishing himself as one of the most in-demand DJ/Producers in the industry.

ZENBI started spinning vinyl in the mid 90's in Philadelphia - being heavily influenced by the music culture pioneered by local Legends Josh Wink and King Britt. ZENBI's signature 'Good & Beautiful' sound [Zenbi translates as Good and Beautiful in Japanese] has evolved into an infectious blend of sexy house, tech house, latin, and tribal grooves.

On the road, ZENBI has packed crowds from Boston to Budapest, Milan to Miami, and performed at major dance music festivals including BPM, Miami Music Week, Winter Music Conference, Groove Cruise, SodaPop Milano, and ADE (Amsterdam Dance Event). At home, Zenbi holds monthly residencies at two of the premier house clubs in the US: Lima in Washington DC and Rumor in Philadelphia - where he shares a rotation with the likes of Chus & Ceballos, Morgan Page, Saeed Younan, and Oscar G. In addition, ZENBI is a resident of electronic music event production company AOE, where he has performed at large scale events with acts including Aviici, Alesso, Bingo Players, etc.

The past year has brought a whirlwind of success for ZENBI's studio works, which have caught the ears of a Who's Who list of labels including Skint, Hotfingers, Great Stuff, Twisted, Vendetta, Disc Doctor, Low Kik, SK Supreme, among others. A handful of ZENBI releases have graced the Beatport Top Ten - including Stefano Noferini's remix of Double Trouble, which claimed the number one position on the Tech House charts for over a month.

ZENBI'S releases have received massive support from an ever-increasing list of talented producers including Moby, Mark Knight, Marco Carola, Stefano Noferini, Roger Sanchez, Umek, Danny Tenaglia, Wally Lopez, David Herrero, Erick Morillo, Dubfire, Paco Osuna, David Penn, Satoshi Tomiie, and Uner (to name a few!).

Open for over a decade, New York City's Sullivan Room is a Manhattan club that prides itself on maintaining an "underground" house and techno sensibility, playing host to both upcoming DJs and international touring stars. Featuring a sound system from Core Audio, the club seeks to establish a relaxed, easygoing atmosphere for its clubbers, where parties rarely get going before 1 AM.



Videos