Tour Diary: Egyptrixx Part Deux

Our pal, Egyptrixx has just come back from doing some European dates  and was kind enough to do a tour diary for us. For all you Spring Breakers, this will be right up your University alley. It’s full on existential and a little dreamy.

European tours can be like Miroslaw Balka’s How it is, the current Turbine Hall installation at London’s Tate Modern.  Balka’s piece – a 4-story tall steel box with a ramp entrance – is evocative and complex.  Viewers are faced with a moment of indecision when staring into the pitch black space from the top of the ramp. Which is kinda how I felt before this tour, after some last minute organizational drama and a major portion of bullshit at home. But when in life are things ever completely stable? Fuckit. Once inside the box, viewers are subjected to partial sensory deprivation and an overwhelming sense of confusion and claustrophobia.

KRAKOW

During soundcheck in Krakow I blew up a bunch of gear. I thought I was using an appropriate adaptor/convertor…obviously not. A piece of advice for anyone planning a trip to Europe; be absolutely sure!

After the initial fear subsides, a certain comfort and camaraderie emerges. An impromptu micro-society forms as viewers begin reverting to their real-world roles. The chivalrous protect the elderly from over-caffeinated middle-schoolers; teenagers giggle in huddled packs, using smartphones as a light source and operating with a general sense of characteristic awkwardness; earnest twenty-somethings try to muscle the experience into some ongoing search for identity and meaning.

BERLIN

I took a few days off in Berlin for some downtime – it’s one of my favorite cities. It’d been a hectic few months leading up to this tour so I was really looking forward to some doners and techno, both Berlin essentials.  My friend Jon and I caught Detroit House Legend Omar S at Panorama Bar and he dropped the track below at 10am (peaktime in Berlin). What a fucking moment, it was like perfect techno synergy or something, we just about jumped one another…does Panorama bar make people gay?

As the viewer ventures further inside, there is a growing sense of anxiety with the realization that ‘no, this steel box does not go on forever,’ and ‘yes, I will probably walk face first into the back wall very soon.’ This is where the piece is most disorienting.

PARIS

I played my first gig in Paris on this tour and it was also my first time in the city. I had a few days to hang out and explore but felt like a total boob for having such shitty French. I hate not being able to communicate properly. The gig was cool though, I got to play at the famous Paris Social Club with DJ Zinc (the legend!), Riton, and the very cool Forma.T crew. I also Macgiver’d my socks in the hotel sink.

Once the viewer has walked into the (curiously soft) back wall, the reflex is to turn around and stare at the opening, which with the comparative glare of ambient light, is immediately comforting and surprising. Imagine drifting in the ocean on a lifeboat and finally seeing land…Yea, it’s kinda like that.

MANCHESTER

My last gig was in Manchester, which I’m convinced is one of the coolest cities in Europe. Everyone is great, the fashion sensibilities are very hip and yet unpretentious, their taste in music is impeccable, and sometimes there are sexy girls in tiger costumes loitering at afterparties. Can’t wait to get back.

Egyptrixx “Battle for North America” EP is out TODAY. buy 12” or Mp3 at Juno/Beatport