The Brvtalist is pleased to premiere a track off the new v/a compilation from DREAM BABY DREAM. One of our favorite bars and spaces for cocktails, music and community in Berlin, is set to release a massive various artists compilation to support the bar during this difficult period. We at The Brvtalist could not imagine Berlin without DBD and the space its created for all different forms of music, art, fashion and more. So many others feel the same and as evidenced through this huge, eclectic v/a that has contributions from even outside the city.

Today we are thrilled to bring you “Isolate” by Front 313 (aka Alan Oldham). The Detroit techno legend and regular at the bar, Oldham had this to say,

Before the pandemic, you could play a techno set anywhere in Berlin. But what if you wanted to play a shoegaze/postpunk set? Or an old school, non-mixed industrial set? Not only is Dream Baby Dream a great space filled with all us expats and misfits, it is a needed venue for diversity of musical (and visual) expression, and it's very important that it survives this current situation. I was glad to help, and would again.

Out May 26, the v/a includes 23 tracks from so many great artists and you can support by visiting BANDCAMP. We also had the chance to speak with the bar’s owner Andrew, and ask him about the bar, what he misses and what’s next for the label. (see below).

The Brvtalist: First and foremost - tell us why and how this DBD compilation came together.

Andrew Jigalin: We have a lot of artists and producers DJing and curating the music we hear at the bar every week and I had the idea of making some kind of release as an alternative outlet for the artists to maybe collaborate or produce something they normally wouldn't release. Most of these tracks are one offs written specifically for this record and because the bar is not a massive club it can take some pressure off the artists to cater to a certain demographic and maybe spill into a different one which i hope comes across on the record.

Then the pandemic hit and we had to close the bar for a couple of months. We lost a lot of money and we had a fundraiser going(which is still active!- https://gofund.me/fc15219d ) and there was talk of quickly putting together a VA and rushing it out. This is not how i wanted it to be plus that first 6 months was chaos, with different laws and rules coming in every other week. Fast forward to the start of this year and Berlin was in full lockdown mode and there was no end to this in sight. Now was the time to go for it with the various artist compilation. We are still very short just with covering monthly bar costs so we (Anka Zielina and I) got to work. Anka is my partner in the label. It was overwhelming how quickly the artists agreed and how many that were willing to donate their time and energy to be part of this! All in all it still took us almost 6 months from inception to release.

TB: Music and artists have always been an integral part of the bar. Is that something you set out to do or just happened that way?

AJ: It's definitely something I set out to do from the very beginning of taking the bar over. Me being a musician and a part of the industry for many years, it was important for me to incorporate this directly into the fabric of the bar to the extent that I name cocktails after artists and collaborators like The Brvtalist!

TB: Apart from economic reasons, what do you miss most about the bar being open?

AJ: I miss watching friends and strangers meeting up and having a great time. I miss the excitement of not knowing what or who the night may bring and the fucking wild tunes being morphed and pumped into the night by some the most skilled producers and dj's anywhere and my wonderful team helping to make the night carry on and fun for everyone!

TB: Do you have more plans with the label?

AJ: Yes absolutely. We plan on releasing a VA compilation at regular intervals in the future. It would be great to be seen as being somewhat of a reflection of what is happening at the bar and Berlin at the time.

TB: What's coming up next + anything else you want to mention.

AJ: We have just started work on DREAM BABY DREAM volume one PART II. there were so many artists that couldn't go on the first one or didnt have time then or we didn't even ask that we decided to make a prt II just to catch up the last three years. Hopefully that can be released in a few months and then we can put out one per year after that on double Vinyl as well or something.