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Trademark is the collaboration of FoN member Tony Reeves and Tundra Records labelmate Loki. Both have been writing, performing and producing music for over 10 years. Formed in 2000, the project blends electronic studio craft with the live influence of their years playing in jazz quartet Blue Matter, with whom they recorded 3 albums. Releases on chill-out label Cartel Records followed, as did remixes for Afro Art. They continued their exposure through 2007/8 with 3 releases on the Bar De Lune chillout compilation series. Trademark's output ranges from chillout through breakbeat to deep house and even drum and bass, but always with the fusion of deep jazzy chords, rolling beats and searing synths that define their style. Both have also pursued separate careers in sound, with Loki working as a sound designer in videogames, and Tony as a professional composer. This year sees the pair return to their roots with some deep, tech-house grooves for the discerning clubber. Keep an ear out for that Trademark sound.. |
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It isn’t often that a band comes along that changes history. The Forces of Nature can’t claim to have been that band, but their music encapsulated a transitory period in electronic music: a pivotal moment at which music was surging forward in a wave of ever-faster junglist breaks and techno sounds, while simultaneously reaching back to the jazz of the 60s and the soul grooves of the 70s and 80s for inspiration.
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Joplin is a female DJ, producer and promoter based in Los Angeles. She has been running her nights 'Joplins House' for years and is highly regarded for both her own skills and also welcoming new talent. She plays all over the West Coast of the US; spinning House, Downtempo and Experimental music. Her production style is deep west coast house music, getting an amazing response so far. With an unusual and intriguing musical upbringing-- spanning Bluegrass to Rock, Classical to Jazz and Punk to modern day Electronica-Joplin's musical style can truly be called eclectic. For the last 10 years, she has been mainly recognized for her deep and funky House grooves, but her more recent repertoire extends far beyond to include Afro-Latin-jazz and Blues influenced Downtempo, Broken Beat and Funk. Creator of LA based music and visual collective Pork & Beats, Joplin finds herself building musical "environments" anywhere from yoga studios, to art galleries to downtown warehouses. She has run several successful residencies over the years, including Prana in Pasadena and Delay in Venice, and currently runs two events a week from April through October on the patio of the famous Moonshadows in Malibu. |
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The Beginning The disruptive age of 7 is where Vince Watson began his journey towards electronic music. After excelling at music in secondary school, Vince gradually opened up into hip hop and early house music before electronic and industrial elements finally caught his attention. His school needed a new DJ to play at the local weekend disco and this is where the story really started taking shape. With a selection of records unlike any other young DJ around, it wasn’t long before Vince realised he wanted a musical career. Just as the House scene broke large in 87 / 88’, the experimentation began with other styles and the stage was set for what was to be his introduction to Detroit Techno and Electronica, just in time for the summer of love, albeit too young at the time. As the 90’s took shape, the build up of music equipment started. A course in Music Technology was attended, learning about a new technology called MIDI as well as regular trips for Piano Lesson’s to the Royal Academy for Art, Music and Drama in Glasgow. Vince graduated with an HNC in Music Technology in 1993 and the mission to release his own record was set in motion. It was two difficult years that past until he was able to buy the extra equipment he needed. Finally, in 1995 Vince decided to send his rough first demos away, and to his delight none other than Dave Angel had offered him a contract with his label Rotation. Overjoyed, he realized it was the start of something he had always desired. The 1st Innovations EP was a great starting point and was to put Vince’s name on the techno map. Focus After releasing tracks on other various labels, Watson started Dj'ing in The Arena, Glasgow and it was not long before the Rotation Monthly was set up with himself and Dave Angel as residents and some exclusive monthly guests. Shortly after it became a weekly event with top guests such as Jeff Mills, Miss Djax, Kenny Larkin and Luke Slater. Mr Mills loved it so much he came back another twice in the space of 9 months! The Tech-House Years Enter 1997, and with an emphasis on recording, Vince decided to branch out his music styles. Omid ‘16b’ Nourizadeh of Alola records introduced him self and another partnership was born. His debut LP ‘ Biologique ‘ was launched to the world in 1999 and was one of the catalyst’s for the cross TechnoHouse sound of the time. The track ‘Mystical Rhythm’ was a massive selling track and even today still has classic status attached to it from all corners of the electronic community. 2003 also saw the release of Vince’s 2nd Lp Moments in Time on The legendary New York House Label Ibadan. This was a joint release with UK label Alola Records. This allowed him to release many different styles of electronic music and gave the freedom to spread his music out to a larger worldwide audience. Widely received, the album sold many thousands and broke Vince into the Japanese market for the first time. Bio Music Year 2000 and a new millennium gave Vince the passion for his own label and created Bio Records and his company Bio Music Ltd. The first releases were launched under his moniker Nico Awtsventin, an anagram of his own name. In the 5 years that has passed since its inception, Bio has developed into one of the most stable and consistent techno labels on the circuit. Choosing to release quality rather than quantity, it has gained support with all top Dj’s spinning tracks and many high profile licensees secured such as the prolific Global by Carl Cox and most recently Laurent Garnier’s Excess Luggage Compilation. The label has released tracks from Ben Sims, Steve Rachmad, Joris Voorn, Deetron, Misstress Barbara, Joel Mull, Mark Broom, Paul Mac, Envoy, Jerome and 65d Mavericks. A View to the Past As an attempt to breath new life into Electronica, Vince embarked on a series of releases inspired by the sounds of Black Dog and Germany’s Basic Channel. ‘Sublimina’ on Glasgow label Headspace was Vince’s 3rd Full length album and was his most accomplished to date gaining huge respect across all divides of the electronic movement, the prelude to which, ‘Lost Episodes Ep’ has already been spun heavily by Dave Clarke and Derrick May. An Ep for Ben Sims ‘Native’ imprint called ‘Fragments’ also experimented with this universally revered sound, while a remix for The Black Dog itself has been gaining huge support since its release in Jan 2005. The Next Steps 2004 was also a hugely successful year for his career as an Fcom artist. The 1st release called ‘Pure Innersense’ has been a massive selling release and has gained many licenses already. The 2nd release was launched in August 2005. A 3rd release will be completed in spring of 2007. Vince recorded a double EP release for the legendary Detroit techno label Transmat, and was due for release now in 2004. but sadly this was never released and ‘The eMotion Sequence’ was released via legendary amsterdam label, Delsin records in late 2006 preceeded by a sampler 12” to massive acclaim by media and his contemporaries. The CD version of the album was massive in Japan. A follow up album will be released in late 2008. Vince also released his debut single on Planet e ‘Renaissance EP’. Carl Craig has been spinning it heavily in most of his sets worldwide, and the feedback has been overwhelming. There will also be a follow up single on Planet e in 2008. The Labels ‘Echoes from the Future : View to the Past’ was released in May 2006 and was Vince’s 4th artist album, and also his debut album on his own Bio imprint. A collage of lush rhythm and textures created using the whole back catalogue from the label was mixed and created using Ableton Live. 3 Album samplers preceded the project on Vinyl only with 6 new tracks being introduced. The album featured many of the tracks that Vince had been touring with Live in the previous 2 years. In 2004 Vince launched Bio’s sister label Subconscious Elements. Bringing a more sensual approach to electronic music, the label released strong material with music from Carsten Fietz, Noah Pred, Audibelle and Paul Mac, and were a great success. The Paul Mac release in particular was a real Detroit fusion styled EP for the label and was hammered by François K, Derrick May and Laurent Garnier. 2007 saw the label change name to Bio Elements. Taho, Estroe and Vince all made Digital only releases. Both Bio and Bio Elements are now no longer in existence. Both labels music is still available at the iTunes music store as well as the usual Digital outlets. Whats next for Vince Watson? After several big projects were cancelled due to labels going out of business, in particular, the long anticipated album for Fcom will no longer arrive due to Fcom ending its 14 years on the scene. There will be a new home for the album announced soon. Vince is however, almost ready to hit the world again with a new selection of tracks. Expect a very diverse and exciting mixture of House, Broken Beat, Jazz, Electronica and Deep Techno elements throughout. Exciting collaborations with great artists will also be on the agenda this year....as well as a brand new liveshow with completely new music in an effort to break free from the past and catch a fresh atmosphere.....
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Clare Large is one of the UKs most hardworking, dedicated, exciting and versatile DJs and producers. She was introduced to music aged 8 when she started playing the harp. She's taken it busking all around her home of Cornwall, provided entertainment at weddings, given lessons, recorded a session improvised for Opus 3, played in orchestras and still plays all sorts of gigs with it today. Going to raves and clubs in the SW of England from about 94 onwards inspired her to start DJing her way. She's played at all kinds of clubs, bars, radio shows, afterhours, free parties, festivals and unusual parties around the world, and lined up with the best in the business. She's played on and organised many extensive tours of America, Bulgaria, China, Canada, Mexico and India, and has also undertaken sponsored tours, day events and promotions in addition to her own nights and her residencies. Clares open minded attitude embracing all styles of music make her incredibly versatile. She can play a huge variety of sets; from a 10+ hour chill out set, to peak time hard techno, she welcomes the variety and has the record collection to back it up! She's best known for relentless, slamming and quirky techno and tech house; she's also passionate about deep house, and really loves broken beat, nu-jazz, downtempo, lounge and ambient/chill out. With this in mind she has been working on tracks for the last few years developing her sound and experimenting with lots of different ideas. She has finally set up her label Intelligent Audio featuring tracks of all genres in the deep tech vein; her own and from other exciting artists. She has a live PA nearly ready to go of original tracks and is collaborating with many people. She intends to use her musical background to innovate and challenge not just the sounds we hear but HOW we hear them. She's also very involved in surround sound mixing and binaural possibilities. |
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