Tonight (Friday 19th April)
Thomas
Franzmann aka Zip, co-founder of the label Perlon, is more than
familiar with what make dance floors around the world work. In 1997 he
founded the Perlon label with Marcus Nikolai and has since released
seminal records by friends and contemporaries Ricardo Villalobos,
Luciano, Akufen, Baby Ford, Ark, Cassie and A Guy Called Gerald to name
but a few.
His own steady stream of solo productions and
remixes, as well as his residency at Panorama Bar in Berlin have ensured
his reputation as a DJ and musician match that of his label with every
move he makes. He is, in other words, a cult favorite. Most of this fervor comes
from his style as a selector, something that’s born out of his DJ sets
and in the catalogue of Perlon, arguably one of the best house labels of
all time, which he co-founded in the mid-’90s. In both roles, Zip
embodies the modern and playfully experimental side of house. More
simply, he’s a fantastic DJ, delivering a dynamic, cleverly mixed and
largely mysterious medley of records (all the while wearing the grin of
someone about to play a prank). For some, seeing what’s in his bag is
reason enough to go out, and the phrase “Zip plays this” has the same christening effect as the Hard Wax” tip!
Few artists with this kind of clout keep such a low profile,
something that, if not exactly deliberate, is certainly Zip’s own doing.
Unimpressed by digital (Perlon is still all-vinyl), uninterested in
press and seemingly unfazed by any career obligation aside from DJing or
releasing music, he organically achieves the kind of mysterious aura
some artists carefully design. Even as a DJ he’s very withdrawn: he
plays in Berlin much more than anywhere else, and mostly at Panorama
Bar, where he and Sammy Dee have hosted Get Perlonized on the first
Friday of every month for the past eight years. This, too, seems to be
his choice—at a party one time I actually heard him bragging to another
DJ about how few gigs he had coming up. The amazing thing, then, is how
much impact he still has: he’s never left the top 50 of RA’s annual DJs
poll, despite playing less than half as many gigs as most other artists
on the list. The explanation for this, however, is simple: an
extraordinary portion of the people who have seen Zip consider him their
favorite DJ.
This is his Scottish debut and the Sub Club are very excited to welcome him to the Club.
Support on the night comes from Sensu resident Junior. Things kick off at 11pm - 3am and £10 advance tickets are available online from Resident Advisor and in person from Tickets Scotland.
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