Together with Berghain and STAUB, OHM has always been one of my favourite places — a tiny venue permanently close to my heart. I’ve spent countless unforgettable musical nights there, to the point where I started calling it “The laboratory of experimental music”. I mean you are not a Berliner if you haven’t checked this box in your to experience places agenda.
Unfortunately, life didn’t really allow me to return there much after the Corona years, so I was genuinely excited when I got a free pass for Técnica’s third night at OHM. Even more exciting was the chance to witness a new generation of artists emerging freely, confidently, and entirely through their own force.
Last Thursday, I arrived full of nostalgia and old emotions for Técnica’s third return to OHM — and what a return it turned out to be.
I made it just in time to catch the final part of ISA’s opening set, which immediately confirmed all my expectations of OHM and left me wanting to hear more. And more came with Surrealich’s deeply personal musical journey following two years spent in Africa. Her set was not only beautiful but emotionally heavy in the best possible way. It brought back fragments of my own memories — times when life felt easier and entirely different.
The journey began with atmospheric textures before moving into dub techno variations and broken beats. At moments, there were traces of folklore and even echoes reminiscent of Asian Dub Foundation. Through its constant rises and falls, the set somehow felt like travelling alongside her through the Cradle of Humankind itself. Curious about the origins of several tracks completely unknown to me, I asked Surrealich about them afterwards. Her answer was simple: “Some I made myself, some just came into my path.”
After her story came to an end, I expected the energy to slow down — but the opposite happened. Big Leg followed with extraordinary mixing skills and a selection of truly one-of-a-kind tracks. Using scratches, a DD7 pedal, several CDJs, and what looked like every channel on the mixer simultaneously, he seemed less like a DJ and more like someone actively reconstructing music in front of us. Dark wave collided with high-quality drum & bass and broken beats in a way that felt both chaotic and incredibly precise.
I’ve always believed a good musical journey should end somewhere warm and hopeful, and Big Leg managed exactly that — closing moments that reminded me of a sunny beach far away from Berlin’s concrete reality. We spoke briefly afterwards, and he shared the secret behind his performance: perseverance. He has been building these musical stories for more than a decade now. Perseverance, yes — but talent too.
By the time my physical and psychological energy had almost completely drained away, Charlie Caves stepped into the booth. His set also began beautifully, but unfortunately my own batteries had finally run empty, and I couldn’t stay until the end.
Técnica became the first post-pandemic party at OHM that truly connected with me again. There was another one before, but back then I was surrounded by entirely different people. Now I walk alone, more like a wolf.
And maybe that’s exactly what this night felt like in the end: a pack of warm, fuzzy wolves howling their memories into the open sky.
• ISA
• Big Leg
Light design by Natch
Artwork by Jonah P
Directed by Nikita T
unklar 