Tronik Youth - From Prussia with love
From DJing before thousands of fans in Berlin to spinning up for a handful of punters in Canterbury, Tronik Youth talks about the highs and lows of making music
The advertising boards of Berlin are packed with post- ers of his tour dates and his performances are enjoyed by thousands of ruthlessly efficient Europeans, but Kent-born DJ Neil Parnell – better known as Tronik Youth – returns to the county every month without fanfare.
Having worked with the likes of The Gossip and run- ning his own record label (Nein Records), you would think that his shows at The Shakespeare in Canterbury would be causing queues all the way down Butchery Lane.
Having spent last year touring the globe playing in Scandinavia, New York, San Francisco and even closing the Earthcore Festival in Australia supporting Leftfield, Tronik Youth is internationally recognised.
“Mexico is the best,” says Parnell. “There is a really big music scene out there. Electronic is one of the main- stream styles over there. You get to play in bigger clubs when you are out there.
“In the UK you have to tell people and show people this type of music. In Mexico, they already know.”
Though his record label occupies most of his time these days, the DJ has released much of his own music clocking up hundreds of thousands of hits online.
Just like national football teams, the success in Germany is not matched here in the UK.
Hi Neil, I suppose the first thing we need to ask is why you are called Tronik Youth?
The main reason was that I really liked Tron and Sonic Youth when I was younger. It is also a bit of irony, because when I came up with it I was 30 plus so increasingly moving away from youth.
If you could pigeonhole your style of music, how would you describe it?
For the record label I have, Nein, I like a lot of styles: disco, electronic and techno. But everything has a dark energy to it and that’s the underpinning factor with me, too, dark electronics.
Okay, so who would be your musical influences then?
Growing up, my dad was really into soul and funk, so I got into that, and that also gave me a real thing for dance music.
As a teen it was early electro like Afrika Bambaataa and straight electronic people like Kraftwerk and all the big guys that people name check.
But then I also liked indie like The Smiths, The Cure and the more psychedelic, dark and gothy element which influences stuff I put out now.
We walked past billboards with your name all over them, how did you end up DJing in Berlin?
I moved over here a couple of years ago. Sadly, the London scene was on the decline, and I was getting less and less work. There were more and more people in Berlin who I worked with because of the label.
They were always saying that I should come over and play here. It was getting to a point where I was coming out to play here every couple of weeks and spending a lot of money on travelling and accommodation.
It was so cheap to come out permanently and rent here. I had just split up with my girlfriend at the time and I thought that if I was ever going to do it I should do it now.
But, why Berlin?
If you are into electronic music and dance, then this is the place to be. I suppose, it’s the same as if you were into gambling, you’d move to Las Vegas.
You mentioned that the London scene is declining, is it then?
There’s a lot of talk about it at the moment with Fabric closing and then reopening. So many clubs have shut down and been developed. Clubs have always has phases and fade in popularity, but now, when three shut, only one reopens.
It used to be that every town had two late-night clubs to go to but that is shrinking. Ten years ago I was DJing all over the UK and in London, but now it’s probably only four times a year. It’s just not really viable to do that in the UK anymore.
Over here the amount of tourism that the club scene brings in is huge. There is value placed in it. And London is only just waking up to that, hopefully not too late.
How often are you back in Canterbury? What's your relationship with the city?
I am usually back in the UK a couple of times a month as I have a girlfriend there. I was born in Gillingham and my Dad lives in Canterbury. I have an affinity with the area and I’m always drawn back to it.
My cousin used to own a number of pubs in Kent but works for Shepherd Neame now and he has reopened The Shakespeare in Canterbury and was really keen to do something different, so that’s why he brought me in to DJ every now and again.
I have a friend called Ben Macklin who is a really good DJ and he plays there a lot, too.
What are your opinions on the music scene in Kent? Is there enough talent out there?
There are some really talented people in the county. But the stuff that’s going on isn’t always publicised enough.
Ben (Macklin) plays in Ibiza and has a live band, and I am here in Berlin, and we still come back to play in a little bar in Canterbury, it’s nuts. But I suppose we don’t push it enough.
Kent is quite mainstream in its music tastes in general, but there are definitely more underground people coming from the county. I have DJ friends here in Berlin that are from Folkestone.
There is an ex-pat London community that are moving down that way and they aren’t going to want to go out to terri- ble pubs now they are 35-40, so hopefully they will continue to be creative and rejuvenate the area.
How did Nein Records start?
I worked for a friends record label in London and we had a bit of success signing bands like The Gossip and a few others like Chromeo and Ali Love, who works with the Chemical Brothers.
So I worked there for two years before moving back to Canterbury and that had taught me the ins and outs of promotion and A&R.
I had also been releasing my own music during this time. Plus I had all these friends sending me demos and I thought it would be easy enough to put stuff out digitally myself, and that’s how it started.
With so much being released what’s the best way to get your music out there?
Soundcloud is our main thing, because it’s easy to click and go through everything we do. We now have a Nein Records ac- count with 7,000 followers and by the spring we should have hit a million plays, which is crazy for a little label. Facebook and social media is all very important for us, too.
Was there a moment that you realised you wanted to be a DJ?
Not really, it was very gradual. There wasn’t a point where I said: “I want to be a DJ”.
I was just the kid in the late 80s who bought loads of mu- sic. So when people had parties they used to ask me to DJ. I loved music so I did and I just kind of learned by doing parties for friends.
I have had periods during the 30 years where I have drifted in and out and worked full time doing something else, but the last three years I had the chance to run a label and to move to Berlin and make a mark. I’m not going to be doing it at 65 so this is it, I’m doing it now.Berlin and make a mark. I’m not going to be doing it 65 so this is it, I’m doing it now.