PHIL BERG & LOBSTER
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PHIL BERG & LOBSTER 〰️
vault sessions blog series
Phil Berg & Lobster
A Vault Sessions Story…
Over the past few years, the b2b between Lobster and Phil Berg has quietly become one of those pairings people recognise without needing explanation. Built through repetition rather than spectacle, their sets are known for depth, control, and the kind of patience that only works when two artists fully trust each other. What follows is not a highlight reel, but a look at how that connection came to be.
Their story did not start in a booth, but in a car. April 2022, Amsterdam. After months of online exchanges, Sem (Lobster) picked Phil up from his hotel and drove straight to the studio ahead of their first ever b2b at Bret. Tracks were exchanged, ideas floated, silences comfortably filled. By the time they arrived, the direction was already clear. What followed later that night proved it.
From the first moment they heard each other play, the alignment was obvious. The same approach to mixing, the same patience for longer stretches, the same instinct for where a room should go rather than where it wants to be immediately. It never felt like a clash of styles. It felt like two parallel lines finally meeting.
That first b2b at Bret afterhours leaned heavily into hardgroove and playful 90s energy. It was loose, sunlit, and exactly right for the moment. Since the sound was more open and flexible at the time, it fit the afterhours perfectly. The sun was already up, the room still moving, and the atmosphere fully locked in. The recording of that set has lived on as a quiet reference point, one that still gets revisited more often than expected with Phil remaining as its top listener with 235 plays.
As time passed, the sound shifted. What started playful became deeper, rawer, and more restrained. The closings at Bassiani marked a turning point. Three in total, each one sharpening the connection. The first came with nerves, being handed the closing slot immediately. Once inside the booth, everything settled into place. As they describe it, “the b2b felt very intuitive and smooth, almost not sharing a word next to ‘nice track’ or ‘can you loop’”. Their current sound now sits naturally in rooms like Bassiani and Radion, spaces built for depth, tension, and long attention spans.
When asked about structure behind the decks, their answer is loose by design. There is an idea of who opens, a rough intention to alternate, but it rarely lasts. Once the flow settles in, turns blur and decisions stop being verbal. Tracks get played without checking whose turn it is. The aim is never a one versus one exchange. The goal is to sound like a single act, moving with one shared instinct rather than two competing voices.
A lot of that time together has happened within the orbit of Vault. Being residents meant shared nights, familiar rooms, and the kind of repetition that builds trust without needing to talk about it. Over the years, that context shaped how they play together, how long they are willing to stretch things, and how comfortable they are sitting in a room without rushing it. The twelve hour closing at Bassiani in 2024 stands out as the clearest moment of that shared history.
December 20 at RADION is simply about having the time. An all night stretch to explore what has been built over the past three years without interruption. No rush, no fixed points, just letting the night take its own shape from start to finish.
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Take a listen to some of their most iconic moments: