The Danish Iboga Records is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The label founded in 1996 and managed by DJs Emok and Banel has since grown into the biggest brewery of progressive trance. We talked with the 2-member Independent Reality Film crew on the occasion of making the birthday documentary called ‘Iboga Shortcuts – 20 Years to Iboga’. Although we are all Hungarian – very typically of the the subculture’s ‘see you around’ mentality – the very first time we ran into Andus and Ferkó, an inseparable couple both in work and in life, was at the Dutch PsyFi Festival. Considering that we were able to take a glimpse into their work process, we were very much looking forward to seeing the end results, which exceeded all our expectations.

OP: Having seen your Independent reference works, we can say that you have gained a strong foothold in the international elite. How did your work with Iboga begin?

F: We were helping out with the official movie at the 2014 S.U.N. Festival and I was just on my way into the backstage to put down my camera after a tough day when Emok caught up with me and said he needed someone to film the upcoming Captain Hook set. We didn’t know each other then yet. So I filmed it, cut a short video clip, which, thankfully, they liked. And then the idea came to make it a longer video, maybe even a documentary film.

A: The idea of making a documentary film was the obvious step from the very beginning because we like Iboga artists very much. We discussed our concept with them and soon after we were able to start brainstorming.

OP: The jubilee was given; did they leave the creative decisions entirely up to you? Who came up with the ideas, in case of the ‘face kaleidoscope’ for example?

A: The jubilee wasn’t really the main theme; it only plays a role in a small part of the movie. Our aim was to show what Iboga truly is and to bring the artists closer to the audience.

F: We had a free hand to make the film, which is just as great, as it can be hard. We could go with any of our ideas, we created a concept in which we laid down the foundations at the beginning, but the film was born out of spontaneous things. The ideas came together, we always build on each other. And you also mustn’t forget that large part of the movie is made by the audience.

OP: Based on what did you choose your locations?

F+A: We chose the locations together with the label. We wanted to catch as many Iboga artists at festivals as we could. The Swiss V.I.R.U.S. was perfect for this. Fortunately we were able get to know the guys a bit better because we had quite a lot of time to spend together, which added a lot to the end results.
We go to Ozora anyways, every year, though we left out the one in 2014 because of our own wedding, and we really wanted to get to know Psy-Fi, and many artists were there too.

OP: What were some of the similarities, differences, regarding the various locations and festivalgoers?

A+F: There weren’t many differences essentially, as it’s about one “family”. The diversity of the locations always amazes me of course; it’s always exciting to see the same thing in a new gown.

OP: We know that most artists live a rock star life during festival season. It’s no secret, e.g. that Yoni a.k.a. Ace Ventura tries getting all the work done in hotels/waiting rooms on airplanes so that he can have time to spend only with his family. How difficult was it to arrange interviews in such extreme circumstances?

A+F: Fortunately there weren’t any problems, all the artists handle this very professionally, so we did the interviews before or after their played. And if we couldn’t arrange it on site, we made up for it online.

OP: If you had made a trailer/teaser, who would have been in it? Which thought embraced the 20 years of Iboga the most?

F: The whole movie speeded up in 20 seconds. It was important to reflect the love of music and to show how committed the artists were to their work and how much they love doing this.

A: I wouldn’t have been able pick out anybody. Everyone was talking about how much they love the music, how this was their life, this is what Iboga and the entire movie is about.

OP: Have you been part of the psychedelic family for long? How/where did it all began?

F: Not that long but my first electronic music party was at around age 14. After getting to know several genres, psytrance became the final destination. This was about 6-7 years ago.

A: It was similar for me, but my first Ozora festival happened to be the milestone after which I totally fell in love with this little world.

OP: Is there some kind of evolution in connection with the psyfamily or the people who take part in it, regarding the values they represent?

A: I don’t see the evolution of a psyfamily (as you called it), but I witness the change, the desire to change in more and more of my friends and strangers alike. Love makes the world go round and fortunately more and more people realize this. If we help others, or at least we don’t cause them harm, it will also be better for ourselves. ‘Lyrics’ in loads of new psychedelic music is about consciousness, and this is no coincidence.

F: I still believe in miracles;-)

OP: You live in Berlin: are you part of the party scene there as well? What’s the local subculture like?

F: Yes, we’re part of it and we love it very much. I think people are very open and pay attention to each other and this has a good effect on everyone. There is also diversity in music styles, there’s room for many things. This is true for the city generally speaking too.

A: We don’t have to wait too long for one of our favorite artists for sure, there are so many parties, there’s something for every day from Thursday to Sunday, so if you have the energy, you can be on the go. Otherwise, the vibe at the parties is festival feeling-like. There are many kinds of people at parties like this, the 40-50plus year-olds don’t stay at home either, which I like very much. People are extremely open, friendships are easy to make too.

OP: You were away at festivals all summer due to your work. Did you have any time to relax? Personally your favorite moments? Freshest experiences musically?

A+F: It’s become a habit to go on summer holiday in October, after the festivals, to very beautiful and relatively quiet place.
Musically it couldn’t be any better because we listen to lots of unreleased and new music all summer long, more or less continuously.

A: My favorites were the great little Swiss afternoon we shared with the others; Emok’s set at Psy-Fi-on (no bias) and there was also another emotionally charged moment here with Nicola’s (Liquid Soul) music in the “background”… But anyone who likes his music can easily imagine this…

F: I couldn’t single out a favorite moment because I really enjoyed the whole thing the whole time. Sometimes so much so that I even got teary eyed as I walked into the audience with camera in hand.

OP: Next up?

F+A: Lots of similarly great and exciting stuff is in the pipeline, hopefully you’ll hear about it!

Iboga Shortcuts – 20 Years of Iboga

Recorded this summer on Ozora Festival, PsyFi Festival & Virus festival. Featuring: Ace Ventura, Atmos, Banel, Vaptain Hook, Critical Choice, Emok, Gaudium, Lish, Liquid Soul, MVMB, Perfect Stranger, Perfect Ace, Phaxe, Rocky, Be Svendsen, Son Kite, Ticon, Vice, Vini Vici.

Special thanks to Independent Reality Film

Tracklist:

Rocky – Brenner 22
Vini Vici and Ace Ventura – The Calling
The Overlords – Gods Eye On Goa (Ticon remix)
Sidefrom – Quantum Flux
Astrix and Captain Hook – Bungee Jump (Protonica Remix)
Flowjob – Less Talk More Flowers
Liquid Soul – I See The Spirit

Managed by the two Danish DJs Emok & Banel since the mid nineties, Iboga Records today are considered the leading label of the global progressive and trance scene. Not limiting itself to one specific genre, the label has been responsible for hundreds of releases in a broad spectrum of electronic music. The main genres being Psy-trance, Techno and Downbeat Electronica. The label has built through the years a strong reputation as a quality brand, housing some of the leading artists of its genre, like Ace Ventura, Liquid Soul, Perfect Stranger, Captain Hook, Ticon, Son Kite and many others.

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