Those kids! What do the parents say?
Berlin – In the midst of the rave revival, the Berlin couple Victoria Vassiliki Daldas and Theo Zeitner started their music project Brutalism 3000 two years ago. With their brutal gabber and hardcore performances, they meet a starved club community worldwide that finally wants to party again after the pandemic and for which no sound can be merciless enough. Brutalism 3000 delivers the look of the hour that makes them style icons among the Balenciaga generation. In our interview series, Victoria and Theo answer ten questions about fashion.
1. What are your favorite items of clothing at the moment?
VICTORIA: My light gray Delta bomber jacket, my vintage rhinestone Miu Miu sunglasses and my 1DR Diesel handbag from the new collection. In general, I prefer to wear wide clothes and think that with an oversized jacket and sunglasses, every outfit looks good. Of course, after a long weekend with lots of shows, such a look is not a disadvantage. The sunglasses cover half the face, the bomber jacket and the baggy outfit cover the rest.
THEO: I really only have a few clothes – which I wear ad nauseam before I switch to something new. Right now, that’s an oversized Jil Sander shirt, baggy Fubu vintage jeans, and “Symbols” sunglasses from Prada. Like Victoria, a bomber jacket is an all-time classic. I don’t think I’ve worn another jacket in about ten years.
2. Your music seems heavily inspired by the techno movement of the 90’s, as does your look. This is super trendy right now. What interests you most about this subculture?
THEO: I wouldn’t actually say strongly inspired. Of course, our sound is rooted somewhere in the techno movement, but our conscious sources of inspiration are mostly elsewhere. Floating somewhere between DAF and Blümchen, with a strong influence from the gabber and hardstyle scene. In general, we’re both very fond of punk and we’re trying to bring some of that into the slightly stuck techno world. This will be heard even more strongly on our new EP “Eros Massacre”. Our look has so many different sources that I can’t attribute it to just one movement, like our music actually does.
VICTORIA: Of course we partied a lot in Berlin and were inspired by the music, but at the same time we were a bit successful. We then wanted to create something of our own, more punky with Slavic vocals. Overall we missed a certain edginess in what we heard in the clubs. We started our project quite spontaneously in the beginning, in the bedroom with a sock over the microphone. Right from the first track it was clear that it sounds somehow different. In fact, we already had our Brutalism 3000 partner tattoo before we even released the first track. Right from the start we were sure that this project was something special and that it WILL keep us busy for a long time.
3. Center parting, butt horns, navel piercing… what are your favorite trends from back then?
VICTORIA: I find most of the trends to be pretty overused now, because they’ve long since entered the mainstream. I’ll probably always wear mini handbags, Y2K oversized sunglasses and chunky, wide skate shoes or platform shoes from the 90s and listen to Pitbull. But I probably won’t go back to Myspace.
THEO: Actually, I don’t even remember what came from back then and what’s new. Actually, I don’t even want to know. I don’t worry about such things.
4. In the 1990s and early 2000s, irony played a big role – in fashion, in music, in culture in general. What role does irony play in your work?
THEO: Although I was born in the mid-90s, I see myself as a 2000s kind. The first CD I owned was “Crazy Frog” by Axel F, so irony and trash played a big role in my musical education. For example in our track “Die Umwelt macht Bum”. Although we actually take our tracks quite seriously, irony can also address very important issues. Like in “Good Girl” for example. The text was obviously intended to be understood in anything but literal terms. Irony, on the other hand, hardly plays a role in my clothes. Things that I would have worn ironically in the past, I now wear with total conviction. People who say they wear something ironically don’t want to admit that they probably like it – which isn’t a problem at all.
VICTORIA: In our new track “Bitchboss” it comes up in the same way: “I am so ironic – superfuckingsonic”.
5. You have your own merchandise collection, to what extent are you involved in the development?
VICTORIA: We launched our first merch collection in December 2021. The front logo was designed by Studiotoussaint, a good friend and incredibly talented graphic designer. The Brutalism 3000 lettering was originally designed by her for our Love in Times of Kola EP, the second EP in our Love Trilogy. A front design of the collection is a globe with “gabber-dancing”, cartoon-like characters, the back is decorated with the words: “Gabber Punks Unite. The latter were designed by two other very good friends, Berlin-based tattoo artists Goldlint and 6kerker9.
The t-shirt is made of 100 percent organic cotton, was printed in Berlin for sustainable reasons and, of course, has an oversized cut, like everything we do. We and other friends were also 100 percent involved in the final photo shoot, because we would never let such creative processes out of our hands. The t-shirts sold out immediately. We are currently working on our own cuts, as this was not possible with the last drop. At the end of the year, two new design pieces will be released as a limited drop, which you can then buy again in our online shop. When exactly, we will announce on social media. Since we’re still in the creative process at the moment, the prints and stitching aren’t quite set yet. In general, there is also the idea of bringing out your own fashion line under B3000. And everything we put out, we would of course wear ourselves!
6. Which fashion labels or designers would you like to work with?
VICTORIA: With Demna, Balenciaga’s creative director. I love the exaggerated and visionary silhouettes – oversized, daring and gender fluid. In addition, the prêt-à-porter show for next autumn/winter was not only a fashion show, but also political criticism. That inspired me on many levels. But I was also surprised by the current Diesel collection by Glenn Martens, which shows strong influences from the 90s and noughties. I bought two new pieces from them.
There are many exciting brands and designers at the moment: Luis de Javier, Ninamounah, ABRA or Haramwithsugar, the Berlin designer and friend of ours. She makes corsages, clothing and other accessories from used sneakers, turning her back on conventional consumer behavior. All in all, we can of course very well imagine collaborating with designers who share our aesthetics, views and values.
7. If you had to put one of these marks in a track, what would the lyrics be?
THEO: If I had to put any brands into our tracks I would probably reconsider my career.
8. Which fashion trend do you dislike at the moment?
VICTORIA: Well, there are a lot of tracks that I don’t like. But if I don’t like trends on myself, that doesn’t mean they don’t look good on someone else. My looks mostly consist of vintage pieces combined with designer accessories. Combined in a cool way, you could probably rock any trend. Nevertheless, everyone should probably ban UGG boots with salt edges from their wardrobes.
THEO: For me, this “modern hippie style” doesn’t work at all. While I’m relatively tolerant, I just don’t respect anyone in Goan bloomers! But that could also be due to my general aversion to hippies. I actually always found this “Love and Peace” a bit too pathetic and out of place in world affairs. But with the maverick hippie Nazis burgeoning during the pandemic, that has morphed into a general dislike.
9. What is your price threshold for a piece of clothing?
VICTORIA: No specific comment needed. But I really have to say that I own a lot of vintage pieces that I bought for very little money on classifieds, Vinted or Depop. In general, I very rarely spend money on fast fashion, reasons include a lack of sustainability, poor working conditions and quality. I would also spend more for a designer or designer archive piece. Nevertheless, I believe that you can put together a creative look even with a very small budget.
THEO: That depends a lot. I’ve never actually bought expensive clothes until recently. If I’m completely honest, my attitude towards this will probably develop in line with our income.
10. How does your day outfit differ from the one you wear at the club?
VICTORIA: Little, um, to be honest. That’s why my parents are usually ashamed when I come home at Christmas and take them for a walk through the small town.
THEO: Well, not at all. We’re actually the same people on- and off-stage. We also always wear our own clothes on our shoots. Since our music is an expression of our personality, we don’t want any difference between stage and everyday look.
The new EP “Eros Massacre” will be released on April 29th. On the Instagram account From Brutalism 3000 there is more news.