Grounded Theory
An interview with Artist and Promoter Henning Baer

Please tell our readers a bit about Grounded Theory and the concept behind it?

Grounded Theory started as an event project with my friend Micha back in September 2009 at Arena club. We both share the same vision of Techno and we are both driven by electronic music as our passion. We host events on a regular basis, inviting artists we appreciate and which we want to hear in a certain line-up constellation. The combination of the visual appearance and the audio is important to us. The way we design our flyers and posters is as important to us as the choice of artists we book for our nights.

But Grounded Theory made a step from an event project to a booking and management camp. We represent artists like Milton Bradley from Do Not Resist The Beat!, Subjected and Moerbeck from the Vault Series, Sawlin (former Vault Series), Sawf and myself, Henning Baer. We are taking care of their booking requests as well as remix or release requests. GT is a dynamic project.

Grounded Theory is a platform to realize our ideas and offer our artists a home-base, a certain identity.

The Grounded Theory sound and bookings consist of dark and straight techno. Is this a purest decision, the musical concept or just happens that way since that's your taste?

We are music lovers in general, but when it comes to electronic dance music we prefer the darker and straighter side of it. It is not a pure decision, it is a logical consequence for us to book artist and present music that fits into this roster. I listen to House, Techno, Electro, Dubstep and other tunes but I see myself the closest to Techno as I am djing and producing Techno myself. Of course it is also a musical concept, but we are not following only this concept because of the concept. We are open for to a lot, but hosting parties as independent promoters is also limiting our possibilities.

You seem to be working a lot with Milton Bradley. How did that come about, and what are the projects you are working on together?

I met Milton Bradley about two years ago in front of Hard Wax when I bought the third Do Not Resist The Beat! release directly from him cause it was sold out at Hard Wax. At the time I was just a big fan of his productions and I asked him if he would like to DJ at one of our new Grounded Theory nights. Shortly after he was on the billing of the second GT event, and from that point on he was also our resident DJ.

I love his music. To me he is a genius. His releases on his label Do Not Resist The Beat! or The End Of All Existence are simply great. He has also a strong vision and believe in what he is doing what I appreciate. His tunes are never random. His styles are versatile and his sound is organic to me. I can feel him in his music. I like that a lot.

Within the last years he became a close friend and we started working together. We produce together as K209 which is also the name of our imprint we started back in April this year. The first release features a track we wrote together as K209 and on the flip is a track of him and a track of mine. Besides our friendship I am taking care of his bookings worldwide, but the friendship is the driving force in our work.

How is it working on your own productions, and what's next for you?

As mentioned above I am releasing on Milton's and my label K209 as K209 and Henning Baer. On the first release one of my solo track is being featured. The second release which is out since 4 weeks and available through Hard Wax is my solo release called 'Fierce Hundred' EP. Within the next weeks my remix for Justin Berkovi will be released on Other Heights, a great label from Belgium, and a K209 remix for Joseph McGeehan of BCR Boys will be released on Prosthetic Pressings this fall as well.

I prefer working with Hardware. I like the touch of machines. I like hearing them breath. I like it raw and noisy and not crystal clear and fancy produce.

What has been happening lately at the GT parties? Do you plan to take these events on the road?

Our 12th Berlin event took place on October 28th featuring Ben Klock, Delta Funktionen, Vault Series Live and myself. The week before, the Grounded Theory camp will visited Athen's 6 D.O.G.S club with a live-set by Milton Bradley, a DJ-set by Henning Baer and another live-set by Sawf alongside a Sandwell District set, and the local support from the Hospital Athens crew. Grounded Theory is available for that kind of showcases outside of Berlin, but we keep the focus on Berlin with the Grounded Theory nights because this is where everything has begun.

Photo by Esther Suave

Taken from SLIM Mag October Issue

Grounded Theory's Henning Baer feature will air Sunday November 6th at 23:00.