Festival Report – Miller Mix with Giolì & Assia and more, Vajdahunyad Castle, Budapest, Hungary, 01/09/24

Italian duo – surely destined for festival greatness – headline above some top notch Budapest talent

God knows what Ignác Darányi would make of all this.

He has the best seat in the house, does our Ignac.  At least, the statue of this former Hungarian Minister of Agriculture (1849-1927), picturing him reclining comfortably on a generously sized couch, has the perfect view of the swarming outdoor dancefloor of Budapest’s Miller Mix event.

Vajdahunyad Castle – normally home to the Museum of Hungarian Agriculture – is a stunning, fairtytale-type castle, with gorgeous grounds and a moat which one can transverse via pedal boat.  A great place for a party, needless to say.

“It’s amazing,” declares Budapest-based DJ, Peter Makto, the support for the event’s headliners Giolì & Assia, having finished performing in front of a thousand or so mainly Hungarian partygoers.  “I’m normally walking around here with my daughter!”

The Miller Mix event is one of a worldwide tour, taking in similar spectaculars in Turkey, Georgia and Kazakhstan, with Australia and South Africa to follow, with the beer company teaming up with Beatport to create authentic events that highlight emerging dance music scenes globally. “Music unites communities and we’re all about fostering that sense of connection,” says Rebecca Mutty, Global Senior Marketing Manager at Miller. “Our goal is to spotlight those shaping the pulse of our cities and support the global electronic music scene across six nations. “

The idea is simple. Book a headliner from outside, in this case Italian duo and live electronic act of some repute Gioli & Assia. Add a selection of DJs from the club scene of the city in question and then give a competition winner – hand picked by Beatport for their production skills – the chance to open proceedings: “a launch pad for creativity and collaboration, spotlighting the stars of tomorrow.”

While the Hungarian capital Budapest may not quite have the same repuation of Detroit or Berlin, it’s an inspired choice for such an event. For a start, the place is oozing with clubs – from gay discos to rock dens and, of course, tons of house and techno destinations. It’s got everything from massive super-style venues to bohemian pop up bars.

Secondly, the city was early on the case with dance music and, by now, its most experienced DJs are if not exactly old hands then certainly seasoned pros. When we congratulate Makto, on his set immediately before the headline act, he smiles modestly and says: “Well, I was a warm up DJ for 13 years… I love warm up.”

Not that the considerably wetter-behind-the-ears winner of Beatport’s producer competition, Enicroa, isn’t able to hold her own pretty admirably. As we walk into the castle, she’s nodding confidently and calmly weaving spells with her bass heavy shuffling techno moves, incantations and dubby embellishments floating in the ether above and providing a truly magical start to a magical day.

Leaning more towards the experimental – but still pulsating and floor-tempting – side of techno, her style suits the fairytale vibe down to a tee. With the benefit of a crystal clear sound, with a nice bit of crunch to it, she subtly builds things up. By the end there are spooked out vocals skittering around and she’s built her crowd of appreciative punters from a gaggle of mates and supporters to a rapidly filling dancefloor of jigging early birds.  Job done for sure.

“It was amazing,” the producer and DJ from Sopron in the west of Hungary tells us when we grab her for a chat, sat on the bridge across the castle moat. “It was a good vibe, the people were amazing, especially as this was my first time playing in Budapest.”

Having fallen for electronic culture at an early age via the music of Avicii, her faces lights up with recognition when we ask whether she got into techno gradually or whether there was a ‘moment of truth’.

“It was one moment for sure – the moment I heard ‘The Bells’ by Jeff Mills. When I heard it, I thought ‘ah yes, I’m home!'”

She tells us that despite winning the competion for her own productions, she stuck to “fairly famous names like Sven Väth” rather than her own creations. But on the strength of this set, full of flow, tease and individuality, then we’ll be hearing a lot more of Enicroa’s work, both in the studio and behind the decks. Clearly a name to watch closely.

Krudy C takes to the stage next, building from dislocated, Autechre-ish beats and echoes of US electro a la Ectomorph and Aux 88, reshaping and evolving in time into something tougher, more linear and four-to-the floor. Hefty sub-bass rumbles – handled admirably by the rig – more commonly associated with jungle than techno rip through the air, causing your reporter to move away from the surrounding buildings, just in case the vibrations should cause any structural crumbling.  Thankfully, they don’t.

Sharpened hand claps join the mix and the intensity ups another notch.  He’s definitely in tune with what the Budapest audience responds to, and by the time he’s moved on to the thump of DJ Sneak-style heavyweight Chicago house the audience numbers have swollen and the castle courtyard has become a proper dancefloor scrum.  He brings things to a head by introducing springy breakbeats, melodic and progressive house elements, ensuring this is a proper 360 degree tour of the mid pace BPM world.

As well as running the Krudy Cocktail Club with Mankind, a night at the cool Központ bar, Krudy C is part of Budapest’s key Kommenzi collective, alongside fellow residents Kamanzi and Marosi IG.

They started Kommenzi a little more than two years ago and from day one their goal was very simple: to stage fun events and build a community and a space around them by putting a bit of spark in it with special themes, fun decorations, extra lineup decisions and so on. “We always find a lot of happiness in documenting the events as well, and these videos and photos really became part of the core of what Kommenzi is. For me, it’s a very interesting idea how this kind, detail-oriented, well thought out approach goes kind of against what is the overall techno trend right now, and turn the spotlight a bit back on the people and them having fun.”

He’s also, he tells us backstage, that he’s one of that rarest breed – the DJ who doesn’t produce. “I’m a digger,” he says, very proudly, when we catch him backstage. He uses modern digital DJ technology – in fact he used it for his set tonight – but he loves his vinyl too and couldn’t do without it. “I love finding great records to play from the early 2000s and 2010s – because everyone’s got everything that’s just come out, so there’s no point just playing that.”

Given that the heritage of dance music vinyl is so rich and comprehensive, there are still under the radar gems remain unavailable on streaming and download sites waiting to be discovered. It’s definitely proof that far from being in competition, vinyl and digital formats can and indeed do work in gorgeous symbiosis.

Peter Makto’s appearance behind the decks, dressed in a purple vest top and gesturing to the crowd to get involved from the start, is greeted with the day’s biggest cheer so far. He’s been a fixture of Hungary’s club scene since the late 2000s, when he was voted the country’s top DJ, and he’s definitely remained close to the heart of the capital’s clubbers judging by the reaction he elicits.

These days he plays far and wide – he’s just returned from Ibiza – and is passionate about investing time and energy in the next generation of DJs via his Truesounds organisation, managing and advising younger artists and helping them negotiate the sometimes choppy waters of the music industry.

As for the current state of the Budapest scene… “It’s always sparkling. Every weekend you can find 15 or 20 parties going on in different places – small clubs, underground parties, even bars. The people here are crazy for music.”

He begins with a percussive, wonky take on minimal house, a bleep three note riff and some dreamy, falsetto male voices clearly signifying the sunset set is upon us.  After half an hour of relative restraint, we venture into the realms of the heavy duty – acid lines and kicks of a monumental nature, alternating between spacious build ups and tease and the odd, carefully positioned bullseye-hitting moment, sometimes complete with a barnstorming vocal.  It’s a skilful balance that he gets spot on – have no doubt that this man clearly knows what he’s doing.

Giolì & Assia’s live set is the main attraction, however, and they seem effortlessly comfortable and capable of putting on a showstopping performance. We shouldn’t be surprised. Not only have the Italians played Budapest before, but this isn’t even the first castle in the city that they’ve performed at, having done the equally grand Buda Castle last year.

“We’ve been here multiple times,” Giolì tells when we hook up for a brief natter in a local bar, “we love it here.”

As anyone who has seen the pair’s DiesisLive videos on YouTube will know, the pair love a good backdrop for a performance, too, with everything from ancient ruins to an active volcano (both on their native island of Sicily) providing surroudnings every bit as spectacular as their own dramatic, emotive songs. “It creates something special,” Assia explains, “a certain moment, because these places are not usually used for performances.”

It’s certainly a theory which holds out tonight. “It’s so good to see you guys again,” Assia tells the crowd, to a huge cheer, and then we’re off on a trip which combines the spontaneity and danceability of a DJ set, with the best bits of live perfomance.

Her live vocals add an extra emotional punch, as does their knack for dramatic, rollercoaster arrangements. Giolì drops live samples too – something a little different – and when she takes to beating out beats with a pair of drumsticks, glorious military tribal percussive techno is the result. It’s real peak time stuff and it gets the response it’s designed to achieve too.  But equally, they’re capable of weaving the odd unexpected treat into the mix like seasoned spinners. – they take the vocals from Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back To Black’ crops up midway through the set, and later a vocal sample from The KLF’s ‘America (What Time Is Love’) – just like a seasoned DJ would.

There’s massive potential here. Giolì & Assia are a ready made festival headliner, spectacular live entertainment that’s utterly banging but feels tactile and communicative, with loads of personality and engagement going on. Witness, for instance, how their own ‘God Don’t Leave Me Alone’ anthem, arriving close to the end, sparks a massive terrace-style singalong.

So that just leaves Gregory S, longtime DJ and studio partner of Peter Makto, to play the closing set, which he does in style, keeping the energy levels up high and holding them there skillfully with a selection of throbbing big room that operates around the house/techno borders. It’s a high octane end to what is a highly memorable day, one that cements the Hungarian scene’s reputation both as a place to party and see some of the best DJs around.

As Peter Makto says: “I’m really pleased. Something really special happened here today.” We certainly won’t be the only ones raising a glass – or indeed a beer bottle – to that.

Ben Willmott