On 4 September he returns to the Monnom Black with System Collapse, eight tracks built for warehouse rooms rather than for the drop: hypnotic groove, industrial pressure, acid sequences on ‘Corrosive’, warped vocal fragments closing the record on ‘Reversed Alignment’. Long-form tension instead of short-lived impact.
The summer in between has kept him more or less permanently in the air: St. Petersburg, Mexico City, Montreal, Calgary, New York, Atlanta and Toronto through July, then Bogotá, Armenia and Malta, where he closes the run back to back with Dax J at Glitch Festival. Ahead of his tour, he stopped by to give his essential tips for survival.
1. Strymon blueSky Reverb
I love to create it to build up some tensions during the transitions.. I also often use it on a second track where I leave it on the mix for the whole track, maybe 30% –just to add some atmospheric layer.
2. Elacin custom hearing protection
These do three jobs: djing, standing in the crowd, and sleeping in hotels with a bar underneath. They are moulded to my ears, so they actually seal, and the filter pulls the level down without eating all the top end. You still hear what the room is doing. It is just quieter.
3. Sennheiser HD 25
Everyone knows them. They are light, they are loud enough to cut through a system that is fighting you. Every part is replaceable. Pads, cable,…I have swapped all of them multiple times and it is still the same headphone..
4. Mini wallet with an AirTag
Min wallet. Cash, Payment-Card, Hotel keycards,receipts,etc.. Very compact plus an AirTag inside.
5. Swimming goggles
Touring is not good for the body if you don`t keep yourself fit. I will find a pool almost anywhere. Hotel, public bath, etc.. 60 minutes in the water and the jetlag becomes manageable. The goggles weigh nothing, and having them in the bag takes away the excuse.
6. Sleeping mask
Every hotel curtain in the world has the same two-centimetre gap in the middle, and it always points at the bed. Add cabin lights that come on for breakfast at 3am your time…This is probably the most important object in my bag.
7. Balenciaga 3XL sneakers
Walking terminals for hours and standing behind the decks for three sets a weekend, and they are the most comfortable thing I have ever put on my feet. The sole absorbs what my knees and lower back would otherwise absorb.
8. Travel pillow
This is the eighth one I have bought. Seven are gone. The problem with the standard U-shape is that it holds the back of your neck and does nothing else, so your head still tips sideways and you land with a neck that will not turn for days. This one closes all the way around and supports from both sides, so there is nowhere to fall.
9. MagSafe power bank
It clips onto the back of the phone and that is the whole interaction.
10. 2x Travel adapter
The adapter handles whatever the country decided its sockets should look like. The power strip is the part people forget, and it is the one that actually matters. Everyone hates it, when the Mac-Power Adapter falls off the wall.
11. One big bag and one small bag
The big one is the flight bag and also for longer trips. The small one is for the walk to the club: phone, wallet, plugs, USBs, keys. Nothing else fits, which is the point..
Quick Fire Tips For Touring And Living Life On The Road
- Two or three USBs, all prepared identically
- If the flight out is before noon, book the hotel near the airport, not near the club. Sleep beats the twenty minutes of atmosphere.
- Eat low carb before the gig. No carb-fatigue, but a full stommach.
- If you don’t have washing service at the hotel, keep one clean set of clothes untouched for the way home.
Lars Huismann’s System Collapse (MONNOM041) lands digitally and on vinyl via Monnom Black. Grab it here.
