The scent of an evening

Erich Berghammer spins music and aromas around the world. His stage name? ODO7. Profession? Aroma Jockey.

Sensual, magical, unforgettable: with his fragrance concerts, ODO7 enchants more than just the crowd.

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For Berghammer, inspiration is everywhere – even in a hotel bar. "I've never had a chance to spin vodka," laughs DJ ODO7 as he fills a small apothecary bottle with Russia's "little water" and safely stores it along with the many other specimens in his metal pilot's case. "I'm always on the lookout for something new." The phone rings: his taxi has arrived. Quickly pulling on a T-shirt emblazoned with L-O-V-E, Berghammer snaps the lid of his case closed and off he goes. It's two o'clock in the morning as the DJ makes his way along Moscow's streets with his mysterious case in hand. Entering through a nondescript door and climbing up a dark staircase, the DJ arrives in his dressing room in time to go through his gear one last time: gloves, Sennheiser headphones, spray bottles, two metal bowls, small pots and countless little glass bottles and jars. ODO7 is the author of his own profession. Whether at parties, fashion shows or product presentations, he uses a multisensory approach to get his crowd going – finely tuning the music to his perfect olfactory selection.

Moscow's Imperia Lounge. Electronic music booms out of the speakers and, to every beat of the bass, ODO7 sprays a mist of amber towards two standing fans that send the fragrance twirling around the dance floor.

Getting down to Beyoncé and Tokio Hotel

ODO7's list of references is long and impressive. A party for Isabella Rossellini. The launch of a Dior perfume. Celebrating with Beyoncé and Tokio Hotel. Whether a company presentation or the film premier of Perfume, he takes his audience on an olfactory journey. Austrian-born disc jockey ODO7, Erich Berghammer, was a graphic designer and illustrator before moving to Amsterdam more than ten years ago. In 2002, he had an epiphany. "I was at the performance of a Japanese artist and the room was absolutely packed," recalls the 45-year-old. "As she played, harmonizing colors were projected onto milk glass. It was a tremendously sensual experience." The only problem was "the terrible stench in the room." That's when Berghammer decided to liberate clubbers and partygoers from the same old mix of stale smoke, sweat and alcohol. Since then, he's been booked all over the world. Tonight? Moscow.

Odors have the power to trigger memories

It's three o'clock in the morning when DJ ODO7 enters the mixing console located in the middle of the main dance floor of the exclusive Imperia Lounge. He refers to tonight's music mix as "beach minimal house," but that's not going to be his real challenge. "It's not all that hard to pick and choose the right music and find the right transitions," he explains. "That's about as difficult as climbing into your own bed. But mixing the smell is like riding up a steep mountain on a mountain bike." The club is starting to fill up, but despite the efforts of gyrating dancers on small platforms above the dance floor, the mood is still subdued. People sitting at the bar look on with interest when DJ ODO7 turns on his two large electric fans. As the electronic bass booms out of the speakers, he picks up the first of his numerous spray bottles and begins his performance. Depending on where you are in the room, it can take a moment for the scent to reach you before the fans carry it on to the furthest recesses of the room. The smell does not immediately assault the senses as does a eucalyptus bath oil; rather it creeps up slowly. And that's exactly what makes it so effective. "The odors are not immediately obvious," says Berghammer as he scans the labels on his bottles. "As our brain's limbic system [the pleasure center of the brain] slowly processes the smells, our subconscious begins to take them in, intensifying their effect." Viennese pharmacist and researcher Eva Heuberger likes to compare fragrances to psychotropic drugs. She's found that smells can have a direct impact on the brain, no matter whether they are inhaled through the nose or absorbed through the skin. A smell can trigger the memory of another person, a certain mood or a long-gone summer vacation. The DJ's aroma therapy is having its desired effect on the Moscovian club. As more and more listeners and "smellers" get out on the dance floor, the mood begins to ramp up. Morten, a 35-year-old Norwegian, has attended more than one of ODO7's parties. As he explains his own personal experience, "I start to get a feeling of happiness before I even become aware of the smell," says the freelance photographer. "It has a tremendously positive impact on the entire evening. As your mood improves, you become more relaxed and more in touch with all your other senses."

ODO7 tosses a few grams of sandalwood over the red-hot coals, which produces an immediately calming effect.

A low tone smells different than a high tone

Berghammer, who travels the world in search of new smells for his fragrant symphonies, uses only the finest organic aromatics procured from aroma specialists, imported directly from Asia himself, or grown on his own balcony. The aroma jockey categorizes smells into three basic groups: fragrant compounds, such as chocolate, orange or rose; psychoactive substances, such as clove, tobacco or cinnamon; and pheromones, such as musk or amber.

ODO7 uses different techniques to disperse his scents across the dance floor. Once his fans have gotten the crowd going, he pulls something else out of his bag of tricks. In just a few motions, he has coals glowing in two metal bowls, then sprinkles them with sandalwood. Slowly, the fragrant wood begins to smolder. "Calming … reassuring," he mutters in a trance. Like a shaman, Berghammer stoops and goes up a small ramp next to his DJ console, swinging his bowls to spread the incense. "It's not about propelling just any fragrance into the air," he says. "Each smell has its own essence, meaning and desired effect." Citrus, for example, complements high notes and upbeat music. In comparison, resins such as storax and copal harmonize particularly well with low tones or organ music. Berghammer isn't always responsible for mixing both music and fragrance at a given event. When another disc jockey is on board, he has to adapt his aromatic performance accordingly. Of course, he prefers being the conductor of his own multisensory concert. "When I put on my Sennheiser HD 280 Pro, I can focus fully on the music. Every other sound is blocked out," raves Berghammer about his DJ equipment. "I've never experienced a better sound quality. And that's saying a lot because I'm just as much a perfectionist about my sound equipment as I am about my aromatics." His only real concern? That someone will steal his headphones "just because they look so cool."

While the typical DJ carts in boxes of records, ODO7's flight case is filled with dozens of fragrances.

Changing the setting

The atmosphere has reached its peak at the Imperia Lounge. The crowd is dancing wildly, and couples are cozying up at the bar. Berghammer calls himself an "aroma illustrator," influencing people's emotions through the very air they breathe. He loves his job. Christine, a 34-year-old psychologist and long-time ODO7 fan, can testify to the aromatic spell Berghammer casts. "Many smells make us more accessible and outgoing. Others calm us down and make us more relaxed. Each creates its own emotion," she says. "I can well imagine that someone who needed drugs to enjoy music would get the same effect from aromas." For the big finale, the aroma jockey turns off his electric fans and reaches for his much more theatrical atomizer – a Chinese hand-held fan, which he uses to intoxicate the crowd with the final scents of his performance. The revelers don't want him to stop, but after almost three hours, Berghammer has run out of steam. The sun is just starting to come up as Berghammer returns to the peace and quiet of his hotel room and draws the curtains to get a few hours sleep. The hotel corridor begins to blossom with the first scent of a new day. But this time, it isn't something DJ ODO7 has conjured up. It's the smell of freshly brewed coffee.

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