Gabber Eleganza bridges post-rave/hardcore with contemporary art and music in new label Never Sleep

Featuring a mixtape and book called Hardcore Soul with contributions by photographers Ewen Spencer and Mark Leckey.

Italian artist, DJ and hardcore enthusiast Alberto Guerrini, aka Gabber Eleganza, is launching a new label called Never Sleep.

The imprint is the continuation of Guerrini’s ongoing attempt to bridge “the sonic landscape and aesthetic side of hardcore and post-rave cultures, and the contemporary culture of music and art”, which began in 2011 with a Tumblr, growing to incorporate performances at Club2Club, Berghain, CTM Festival and more.

Never Sleep’s first release is a book titled Hardcore Soul, made in collaboration with photographer Ewen Spencer. It attempts to explore the similarities between the northern soul and hardcore scenes through images deliberately arranged in a non-chronological order, “reinforcing the feeling that everything is happening at the same time and in the same place”.

The book features “additional discussion” from Turner Prize-winning artist Mark Leckey, whose 1999 piece Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore explored a similar subject matter. It’s accompanied by a 19-minute mixtape (streaming below), which is described as a no-kickdrum “sonic limbo”.

The book will be available in an edition of 500 and the mixtape will be available in an edition of 50. Both can be pre-ordered here ahead of a launch event in Berlin on 26th April 26.