Zombie Nation (Germany)

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He didn’t get here in time for Halloween, but either way, Zombie Nation is a frightfully good addition to this month’s DJ line-up. Florian Senfter is, after all, the mad genius behind the 1999 trance-ish club anthem ‘Kernkraft 400’ – a sleek, streamlined club banger that sampled music from the old Commodore 64 game Lazy Jones, whose then-obscure theme is now ingrained in the minds of techno enthusiasts all over the world. It also caused a bit of a kerfuffle with DJ Hell, whose label International Deejay Gigolos released the single: Hell dissed the success of ‘Kernkraft 400’ and even told New Musical Express that ‘the whole thing was a big accident’. It was such a big deal that Senfter’s collaborator Mooner left the group; this is also why earlier write-ups refer to Zombie Nation as ‘they’, not ‘he’.

Drama aside, Senfter also works as ‘Splank!’ and the pornstar-esque ‘John Starlight’. In 2007 he got together with Canadian electroclasher Tiga under the name ‘ZZT’ on a song called ‘Lower State of Consciousness’ – a cheeky play on ‘Higher State of Consciousness’, Josh Wink’s acid-laced hit that became a staple of the mid-’90s clubbing scene. Most recently though, Senfter has been hanging tight as good ol’ Zombie Nation, and released a surprisingly club-friendly electro record, Zombielicious, earlier this year. Opening track ‘Mas de Todo’ features a smatter of near-Baltimore club house horns that seems, on a cursory listen, to be pretty distant from Senfter’s early sound; nonetheless further into the album, songs like ‘The Fact’ indulge his harder, more robotic leanings.

Since The Butter Factory loves electro, we predict a softer touch for this gig, though we shan’t rule out surprise appearances from Senfter’s harder, old-school techno repertoire. After over ten years in the business, Zombie Nation is a club institution – a true tour veteran with an arsenal of remixes from Ladytron to Acid Scout and Codec & Flexor to Sexual Harassment. If that isn’t enough to whet your appetite, he’s also known for jamming out on his sequencer and other toys that add a powerful punch to the average club set.