Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Noah, also known as adodo. It’s not only my DJ name, but also my third name on my ID. adodo means patience.
I’m a DJ and I run the party series ekses with friends. It started in Cologne with open-air raves. In the beginning it was mainly my best friend Shayan and me, later Lauritz and Nello joined.
Musically, I originally come very much from that SoundCloud bubble. I was really into edits, especially around the time of Corona, and clicked my way through breakbeats, ghetto-tech, electro and all kinds of other stuff.
At some point, though, I realized that having music physically in my hands means something to me. Not just throwing a hundred new tracks onto a USB stick every week, but owning an object that creates a more real connection.
Since then, I’ve moved more towards house, tech house, minimal and techno. Right now I’m especially interested in early tech house from the late 90s and early 2000s, techno from the mid-90s and dubbier stuff from the 2000s. But that changes all the time. It always depends on what new bridge I happen to find.
What is the record you want to introduce?
Meaning – Richard Davis – The Remixes
What makes the B-side special?
For me, the B-side works almost like one continuous piece. The pause between B1 and B2 is placed so well that both versions feel like two sides of the same emotion.
The B1, the Swayzak Dub, is very minimal, dubby and almost melancholic. The track goes deep, builds for a long time and really pulls you in. The B2, the rework by The Amalgamation Of Soundz, brings much more of a sense of departure. There is more movement, more light, more of this feeling of: it goes on.
Both versions work with the same vocals. And that is exactly what makes it so strong for me. The vocals basically revolve around the line: “Don’t look for meaning in my words.” In such an emotional track, that brings in an interesting other side. Almost like: it’s not that deep. That gets me every time.
When and how did you discover the record?
I discovered the record about a year and a half ago. I can say that pretty precisely because I added it to my Discogs collection back then.
My process is usually like this: whenever I find a track on Instagram or somewhere else that I like, I put it in my Discogs wantlist. By now that wantlist has completely exploded, and there’s also a lot of trash in there. But it means I can quickly see whether sellers have several records that go in my direction.
With this record, it was probably the same. I had found a seller who had three or four things I was interested in. Then I checked what else they had, roughly in that genre and from that period. That’s how I came across the record. The B1 in particular immediately blew me away. I placed the order and knew I had to have it.
Do you also play the record?
Yes, and that’s actually the reason why I chose this record.
When I bought it, I immediately thought it was strong, but I couldn’t fully place it yet. I often buy records because I find them interesting and trust that they will make sense at some point. At that time, it didn’t fit one hundred percent with the rest of my collection.
Then we had our first party in Berlin. I was really obsessed with the track at the time and I knew: I have to play this record as a closer. The thing is: the B1 is about fourteen minutes long and pretty minimal. When the call came that we should only play one more track, I thought: okay, perfect. I’ll play this one long track and let it run into the B2. That way I could get another twenty minutes out of the end of the party.
It was smart, but maybe not the perfect closer for that moment. Afterwards, someone I knew said: really great track, but for the ending you could maybe have given people a little more. At the time, I didn’t really get that. I loved the track and just wanted to stretch out the moment. Looking back, it maybe got a little lost in that moment.
Was there another special moment with the record later on?
Yes. At the end of last year, I played another closing with Shayan. That came after a personally rather rough time, during which I hadn’t had much fun DJing for a while and had kind of lost myself in it.
That closing showed me again that DJing is something I truly love doing, and something I want more of in my life.
After about three and a half hours, we were told again that we should play the closer. In that moment, I had to think back to the first situation in which I had played the record. But this time I didn’t choose the B1, I chose the B2.
That was an incredibly emotional moment. The whole set had already released a lot in me. It made me feel more rooted again in my friends, in the people I get to do all of this with, and in the support that I hadn’t really been fully aware of for a long time.
What makes the record meaningful to you?
For me, it’s these two sides of the same coin. Both tracks could almost be one track, but they reflect different states of the same feeling. The B1 goes deep, it’s minimal, dubby and melancholic. The B2 opens everything up again, bringing a sense of departure and warmth.
And then, of course, there is the story of how I played it. The first time, I was like: I really want to play this record as a closer. The second time, it actually fit. Then it wasn’t just a track, but the ending to a phase in which I felt again why I DJ.
Is there anything else you would like to say about the track?
Maybe a small confession: for a long time I didn’t realize that the B1 was by Swayzak, or rather that it was a Swayzak remix.
Only later did I notice how often that name appears in this genre. Swayzak is one of those names connected to an endless number of releases. I can’t say it’s their best track, because I’m nowhere near having listened through everything they’ve done. But it is definitely one of the tracks that is closest to my heart.
What inspires you as a DJ and record collector?
For me, DJing and digging for records is a very meditative process.
When you dig, you somehow move through time and space. You build a connection with people, with producers who at some point, somewhere, captured a feeling that then resonates with you. I listen to a track from 2003, maybe by some guy from the UK, and it captures something that hits a nerve in me in that exact moment. Almost as if the track had been made for me. I find that magical.
As a DJ, it’s then about transporting those feelings again. You take something that other people somewhere in the world once captured, you find yourself in it, and then you try to pass it on in a flowing sequence. So that other people, in turn, understand what you feel.
You can’t plan that endlessly in depth. Every party feels different. You wake up feeling different on one day than on another. That’s why, in that moment, you really have to be with yourself. You have to feel: what would I want to hear right now? What makes sense? What is real?
For me, DJing is also a way of perceiving and articulating my own needs and feelings better under pressure.
What can music do in moments like that?
Music reminds you that you’re not as alone with your feelings as you sometimes think.
Sometimes you feel isolated in life and think: nobody really gets me. But actually, the range of emotions people feel is not that different. Maybe those feelings are often just lost in translation.
Music can translate that. When you hear a track at a party and think: wow, I thought I was the only one who had this feeling, you suddenly realize that the producer had that feeling, that the DJ playing the track had it too, and that the people around you are also feeling it.
For me, that is the magical moment of connection.
More about adodo:
More about Richard Davis / Swayzak / The Amalgamation Of Soundz:
https://www.discogs.com/de/artist/41338-Richard-Davis
https://www.discogs.com/de/artist/232-Swayzak
https://www.discogs.com/de/artist/5151-The-Amalgamation-Of-Soundz
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