Dresden is both the DJing duo of Manfredas & Ivan Smagghe and a series of parties held where they feel it is right.
The two met over ten years ago at legendary Vilnius party; Smala, where Manfredas was resident and gave Ivan a USB containing tracks which were good enough for him to create his Les Disques De La Mort label.
There was always a strong complicity of all kinds between the two but the pandemic reset made them want to create something strong out of it: Dresden was born at Opium Vilnius in November 2021.
Vilnius and London (at Corsica Studios) are its spiritual home but they also took the circus on the road this past summer playing major festivals: Glastonbury, Houghton, Love International, Garbicz to mention a few.
There are very few musical rules with Dresden. Though there is obviously a Dresden sound which prevails during their all-nighters, recognisable by fans, accessible by all, some new music at the forefront, some memories reactivated through a psychedelic haze.
“where difference remains the same,
standing strong yet refusing to be still,
where you become what you are,
where we become what we always were,
unruly people & unruly music”