SING LIKE A BIRD BONZAI

A record label that becomes a music style of itself: it’s rarer than it sounds. Cast your mind back to 1992, when in a small corner of the Blitz Record Store in Antwerp, Christiaan ‘Fly’ Pieters was on the verge of creating a record label that would take the world by storm. He wanted to create a place for DJs and crate diggers to not only find new records, but to release and record their own music, which would ultimately be distributed all over the world and put Belgium on the map as leaders in the rave scene. Bonzai Records was born.

Literally hundreds of releases followed, success came fast, and various sublabels were formed to cater for the different genres on offer from the multitude of artists queueing up to be signed, to be part of the Bonzai momentum. Bonzai stands for a blend of what is now known as trance and hardcore, with some psychedelic soundscapes sprinkled on top; and what we now have difficulty describing in contemporary terms made perfect sense in its day, when electronic music wasn’t so ‘genrefied’ yet.

Even today, some of the biggest names in electronic music explicitly cite how much of their present success they owe to Bonzai Records. Some of the big names coming out of the immensely creative pool of talent were Yves Deruyter, DJ Ghost, Franky Jones and Jan Vervloet, who soon dominated the rave scene, bringing with them this fresh new sound which they pioneered.

Throughout the nineties and into the early 2000s, the Bonzai brand was responsible for defining an era and bringing to life new genres of music. They were at the forefront of the trance explosion and lifted the acid techno scene right into the new millennium. So there you have it: a small company of like-minded souls that defied all marketing logic and stood the test of time, going back to the future at Tomorrowland with a retro sound that nevertheless feels fresher than ever.

Wnboss Paul Kalkbrenner

CRYSTAL GARDEN | 22:00 - 23:00

Listed by One World Radio as one of the twenty most promising artists of 2022, Brazilian producer Eduardo Zaniolo aka Öwnboss loves his rhythm and bass and nowhere is this more audible than in his own productions. The aptly named ‘Move Your Body’ rocked global dancefloors in that same year and we can’t imagine Eduardo not playing the banging tune for you during today’s romp in the Crystal Garden. He is also an avid remixer, with reworks of Tiësto’s ‘The Motto’ and David Guetta ‘Crazy What Love Can Do’ being some highlights of his recent output. Being his own boss, it is his own remixes that Eduardo loves playing out to crowds the most. You’d better be ready for them!

THE LIBRARY | 21:30 - 23:30

Paul Kalkbrenner was playing live techno sets when that was still an unusual thing to do, and it still defines his approach to performing today. By not taking any DJ bookings, Paul feels he’s able to fully concentrate on what is most important for him as an artist: his own production work. “One of the biggest advantages of not DJ’ing is that I don’t have to keep up to date with the latest music,” is what he told Tomorrowland Today about this before. With all of the music coming straight from Paul’s heart, you can feel the soul and emotion in every single beat and melody – live sets by Paul Kalkbrenner are one of a kind.

Tale Of Us Todd Terry

FREEDOM | 22:30 - 00:30

Berlin-based duo Tale of Us have slowly but surely crafted an incredible career around their deeply emotional strand of pulsating, hypnotising techno. Citing artists as diverse as krautrock legend Holger Czukay, neo-jazz group Cinematic Orchestra and Italian singer Paolo Conte as their influences, Carmine Conte and Matteo Milleri approach their own music from lots of different angles. Having initially released on world-famous techno labels such as M_nus and R&S, they are now most widely known for ruling their very own sonic imperium. Their imprint Afterlife, hosting the Freedom stage today, has become the go-to place for anyone looking for new cutting-edge music for the spaced-out dance floor.

RISE | 19:30 - 21:00

One of the very first artists to do so, New York producer Todd Terry took house out of its niche bubble and blended the high-energy sound with hiphop breaks, leading to his having some commercial successes outside of the underground as early as the late 1980s. Todd has always kept in touch with both the leftfield sound of house music as well as the pop music scene, having remixed Michael Jackson’s ‘Stranger in Moscow’, as well as ‘Missing’ by Everything But the Girl. On stage, Todd puts his diverse musical background to use by delivering energetic, eclectic club sets with enough catchiness in them for everyone to have a great time.