Ted Langenbach

Now&Wow is widely known as a big source of inspiration for DJ’s, musicians, artists, designers, performers and so on. Big names like Lady Gaga, DJ Afrojack and Martin Solveig already had their playtime in Now&Wow, and the list of superstars just keeps on growing. We had a little chat with a part of the creative brain behind Now&Wow, Ted Langenbach. Mister Langenbach has a unstoppable thirst to keep Rotterdam open-minded and pushes creativity to higher levels. We wanted to know some more about this party-guru and his Now&Wow Fest, so go check it out!

What are the greatest highlights (music-wise) in almost 10 years of Now&Wow?

Every new higlight is that ‘one thing’ you desire the most, but the back2back set by 2 Many DJ’s and Erol Alkan (he was DJing with his feet!) is surely one of those highlights I just can’t forget! Also the performance by MU or the very first gig by De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig, in which they completely forgot their lines because they were too drunk!

What’s going to be the next big step for Now&Wow? Perhaps something like ID&T’s Sensation White going to New York?

We have already done some smaller parties in cities like New York and Berlin, but in 2013 we’re definitely going to visit a lot more big cities!

Can you compare the current Now&Wow parties with the former MTC parties?

Sure, Now&Wow is basically the further evolution of the former success-formula of MTC; high levels of performance-art, music, fashion, absurdities and challenging the people. The widely known MTC-parties (Music Takes Control) were Ted’s first big parties in Rotterdam. The first edition started in 1988 and the last one dates back to 1998, taking partypeople to diverse locations like Museum voor Volkenkunde, Nighttown and World Trade Center.

What kind of music genre and which DJs should we (definitely) keep an eye on in 2013?

You should definitely check out Makam, D-Ribeiro, Four TET, Julio Bashmore, Cappuccino and those guys from Freak for Love. I think it’s also better to refer to music as ‘sound’ rather than ‘style’!

The theme for the upcoming Now&Wow Fest is ‘Like Me’. Why this theme and what makes this edition different from the other editions?

We chose this theme because we want the people to meet on a more ‘natural’ and human basis. Get away from your PC, laptop and smartphone and go meet each other in real life please!

Is social media a blessing or a curse for the party-scene nowadays?

Haha, wow. I would say ambiguous; communication-wise it’s a huge blessing, but pretty much everyone is hiding in their own comfort zone because of social media right now. A lot of people who I talk to are fond of non-digital stuff, like regular flyers printed on paper and stuff. People should live their lives ‘out of the box’ a little more!

What does a regular day in the life of Ted Langenbach look like?

Let’s start off with some sports, sex, inspiration, working out new ideas, flirt and a little bit of sleep. Carpe diem, then creativity comes by itself!

If you could play an instrument, which one would that be?

I play the bass-guitar, I’ve been doing this since I was 16 years old.

Do you have any hidden talents that nobody is aware of?

I always wanted to be a porn star or a professional soccer player, but eventually I started organizing parties.

What would you be doing right now if you had a solid 10 million bucks on your bank account?

I would live in different hotels, waking up in another city every morning… Wow! I did this kind of stuff back in the days when I played in bands.

What inspired you when you were 10 years old and 20 years old?

When I was ten years old my biggest inspirations were Glam Rock and Batman. When I was around 20 years old Arthur Schopenhauer was a big inspiration for me. Ten years later when I was around thirty years old I only wanted to survive this boring world by throwing as many parties as possible.

What’s your retirement plan (if you’re ever planning to retire)?

I haven’t celebrated my birthday for the last twenty years, so I don’t have a clue what my age is! 😉