Sven Väth
Guy Gerber
Onur Özer
Lewis Boardman
Krysko
Greg Lord

Buy Tickets | WHP Facebook Page | Forward to a Friend

Few people have enjoyed a career as long and illustrious as German legend Sven Väth, who headlines the second of two huge Cocoon nights at WHP2010. Beginning his career 1982, he has been at the vanguard of dance music for well over two decades. His Cocoon empire has grown to include a seminal label, a world class club in Frankfurt, regular events in countries across the globe, bars and even award winning restaurants. As well as their numerous compilations, such as the mix CD series compiled by Väth every season, Cocoon has released an incredible array of talent over the past decade, from Dinky, Roman Flügel, Anthony Rother, Zombie Nation, Loco Dice and Adam Beyer to Steve Bug, Tiefschwarz, Joris Voorn and the label boss’ own incendiary productions. Their legendary residencies at the likes of Amnesia  in Ibiza have seen DJs such as Loco Dice, Raresh, Vilallobos, Richie Hawtin, Marco Carola and Seth Troxler all feature as guests, and the compilation Party Animals mixed by Marco Carola and Nick Curly this year was a celebration of Cocoon’s eleventh incredible year on the white island. Sven Väth is joined by two highly revered international techno acts who have both released on Cocoon and played at their events around the globe; Tel Aviv’s Guy Gerber and Istanbul’s Onor Özer. Liverpool’s up and coming Lewis Boardman completes the line up, a resident of both Circus and Chibuku.

• Sven Väth
  •  
  • A professional DJ since 1982, Sven Väth begun his illustrious career at the Dorian Gray club in Frankfurt playing new wave and electro pop to a crowd of club kids and costumed decadents. Spending the 80s as a resident across various clubs in Germany, he began to produce his own music at the end of the decade, informed by his experiences behind the decks. He spent the 90s quickly gaining a worldwide reputation as a superstar, known as “the godfather of techno”, releasing tracks under guises such as Barbarella, The Essence of Nature and Metal Master on labels such as his own Eye Q, as well as majors such as Warner and Virgin. Forming Cocoon as a club night at the start of the noughties, their Frankfurt venue Cocoon Club, with its infamous 700,000 Euro custom designed sound system, is known as one of the best in the world, bringing DJs such as Richie Hawtin and Ricardo Villalobos in as regular guests. He created the Cocoon label as a platform for both the new and established artists he came into contact with through the club nights, and the label has gone on to become arguably the biggest techno label on the planet. Every year he releases a mix CD showcasing the best tunes from Cocoon’s season in Ibiza, an audio snapshot of the current scene, the most recent being The Sound Of The Tenth Season, featuring the likes of DJ Koze, Yousef and Umek. The landscape of techno would be completely different without Sven Väth’s passionate and decades long involvement, with people such as Richie Hawtin giving him credit for the scene’s vitality and huge global popularity today. 
     
• Guy Gerber
  •  
  • Israeli star Guy Gerber has been releasing on Cocoon since 2006’s Sea of Sand, as well as other renowned labels such as Cadenza and Bedrock. Growing up in Tel Aviv listening to bands like Joy Division, My Bloody Valentine, Soft Cell and The Beach Boys, he has compiled mixes for the likes of Ministry of Sound, Renaissance, and Global Underground as well as Cocoon. Previously known for his expansive, brooding and dark style, he has in recent years moved more towards a more house influenced upbeat sound, evidenced by the likes of Late Bloomers and Belly Dancing from his debut album on Cocoon. A regular at the biggest venues around the world such as Panorama Bar in Berlin, Womb in Tokyo, Goa in Rome and The Edge in Sao Paolo, he has previously collaborated with Luciano, is rumoured to be working with hip hop mogul P Diddy, and runs his own imprint Supplement Facts releasing the likes of Guti, David K and Reshuffle.
     
• Onur Özer
  •  
  • One of Turkey’s biggest DJs, Istanbul’s Onur Özer began his career in the late nineties as minimal and tech-house sounds began to gain popularity in the country. A pioneer in bringing new sounds to the city, he put on various nights pushing the music coming from Berlin and the rest of western Europe on labels such as Minus, Cadenza and Plus 8. He began producing his own tracks in 2005, releasing on labels such as Vakant and later Cocoon. His debut album Kasmir was an accomplished collection of tracks taking minimal as their starting point, but exploring jazz piano, gypsy melodies, and organic instrumentation. A regular at clubs such as Robert Johnson and Watergate, for whom he compiled the excellent Watergate 01 mix, his DJ sets are known for his own unique take of stripped down house and techno, making him one of the most in demand up and coming DJs on the scene today.     
     
• Lewis Boardman
  •  
  • Liverpool’s Lewis Boardman, who is a resident at two of the city’s finest nights, Circus and Chibuku, has recently started to cause a stir with his productions, debuting with his Mist EP released this year on NRK.  He has played with some of the biggest names in house and techno such as Richie Hawtin, Sasha, Steve Lawler, Yousef, Mauro Picotto, Raresh and numerous others. He was asked by Wayne Hemmingway to compile a mix for the Tate Liverpool, and he has also recently completed a remix of Yousef’s Africa, released on Renaissance in March. Definitely a name to watch, big things are expected of this young talent.
     
• Greg Lord
  •  
  • WHP resident Greg has also previously held residencies at Sankeys and the former Paradise Factory, and over the last decade has played alongside artists as diverse as Dave Clarke, Francois K, Jeff Mills, Basement Jaxx, Carl Craig, Giles Peterson, Steve Lawler and Jamie Jones amongst many others . His residencies have enabled him to master a wide range of styles, ranging from soulful and jazzy deep house all the way to uncompromising techno. Recently Greg has played high profile gigs outside of Manchester at the likes of London’s Matter and a set at V Festival.