Jay Shepheard and JUG played host to TEA’s first Melbourne party at The Croft Institute with straddling support from resident Clyde Drexler as well as Martin L and Sammy Soda keepin things homely in room 2. A night where everyone was was up for a party, except for mother nature or course.
Melbourne’s whether decided to put on what might have well been the bleakest day of the year. John arrived to Melbourne from a 31 and sunny Sydney to a thick blanket of grey and rain. Safe to say this didn’t make John homesick as he was looking as bronzed as Bondi rescue thanks to what would have been a week full of sun drenched laziness.
After a healthy assortment of Chinese Dumplings and Broccoli in Melbourne’s Chinatown we made our way to Croft where TEA resident Clyde Drexler was kickin things off to a warm groove, quite the contrast to outside.
JUG then had the syringe and test tube swilling Croft move from the grass growing bar to the gymnasium dancefloor in which Croft was beading with Jay Shepheard excitement. Jay's at first cautious dancefloor had within no time lost all inhibitions as Croft’s hips were heaving and hands were flailing.
Croft’s security instantly became the bad guy as TEA and Jay were given a less then heartfelt ‘last track’ ultimatum. The lights were then raised and a scattered round of applause was appreciated form Croft. Next up was a cab back to TEA’s place for an afterparty....easy right?
TEA had Mati Obrzud film the entire night so watch this space for footage soon.
Yes I may be aeons behind Vice and Pitchfork when it comes to this kind of musiq but TEA is a fan nonetheless. It's not often a band *gasp* holds TEA's attention.
The trio hail from the home of the Trailblazers aka Portland, Oregon in the US. For anyone at TEA's next party expect resident Clyde Drexler to give Runaways remix to Click Shaw a fair old spin. Be sure to checkout Reporters recent LP Time Incredible too.
TEA's first sip of Melbourne’s nightlife comes courtesy of disco & house institution The Croft, lead by UK international and Retrofit boss Jay Shepheard.
Expect grooving support from fellow London ex pat JUG and Melbourne’s own John Travolta of the dance floor Francis Inferno Orchestra.
In between all that keeping feet tapping and toes jamming will be Sammy Soda, Martin L and TEA resident Clyde Drexler.
I recently caught up with the chuffy yet humble Tornado Wallace at his local Alley Tunes record store come coffee shop in Melbourne's inner east.
I spoke to the moustachioed maestro about his recent whirlwind trip through Europe, The Simpsons and his favourite tea to which the response was;
Chamomile with honey of course, maybe with a dash of cinnamon. Although there is something in tea which can lead to regurgitation if you are on a empty stomach, it happened to me recently. So on a empty stomach i can't have english breakfast and I love english beakfast, so look into that for me will you.
Read the rest of the interview I did with Tornado Wallace for Juno Plus here
School's out and the sun was shining last Saturday the 20th of Nov. Landans Jay Shepheard & Melbournagain's Tornado Wallace help herd an excited Cuckoo Bar through a whirlwind of disco and house driven jams.
TEA's special Canberrian guest Rubicon kicked the night off with a solid 2 and half hours of adulterated and slo mo warmth, setting the tone to what was going to be a night full of mischief and tom foolery.
Pics Kate Brook
Mr Wallace sporting a moustache to match the music had the young faithful and bar hangers on slowly making tracks to the dance floor thanks to some eloquent pre party jams. It wasn't until Cuckoo's transition from heave to ho did Lewie decide to drop what everyone had been waiting for. With the twirl of the index finger and smooth lean back everybody's TW favourite Paddlin was slammed back in to a response of overwrought squeals and giggles.
Pics Angus Chisholm
137 Hindley street was then treated to some Jay Shepheard live. After some early technical hicups Jay had TEA's wooping boys and yelping girls dancing to the beat of the Jay drum on Cuckoo's impressive Funktion 1 soundsystem. Jay opted for rhythmic drum patterns and cleansed bleeps, an enjoyable contrast to the chugging fours and crackling textures of Tornado Wallace.
Pic Angus Chisholm
With the night cruising along rather swimmingly and in it's final quarter, TEA resident Clyde Drexler brought the night home locking away a few final fist pumps for the Cuckoo faithful wanting more.
When the house lights did eventually come on it was evident that a wholesome night was had...and who can't resist belting out some Talking Heads anyway.
It seems as if the past 2 years in Berlin has given Ed Davenport somewhat of a spark. His freshly pressed 'Centrality' EP on London imprint Autoreply is a perfect example of Davenport's innovative shimmer. Four the floor beats with a housey vibe, the perfect formula for any house head or techno boffin.
Davenport is no stranger to major record labels with releases and remixes on Liebe Detail, NRK, Poker Flat, Soma and Cocoon amongst a collection of others. His stripped back remix to Koljah & Oliver Deutschmann's 'Eaten Back To Life' featured on Len Faki's Berghain 03 mix and Alland Byallo, Guy J, Echonomist, Mark Henning and Patrick Bateman have all be given the Davenport treatment.
TEA caught up with E.D to talk Japan, Berlin's cheap eats, shacking up with Function and Earl Grey tea.
You've recently returned from a trip to Japan, how was that?
It was an exciting trip and very eye opening, Osaka is incredible. Techno needs no common spoken language – I really felt like I was communicating through music when I played! Hopefully next time I can factor in a trip to Australia too.
You're from Salisbury in the UK, tell us a bit about growing up there.
There wasn't so much of a scene there really but things filtered as it's not far from London or towns like Southampton or Bournemouth, which had some pretty good club nights and record shops. I was more or less on my own in terms of the music I was into and trying to make, this was around the age of 15 or 16. A small group of us did put on parties, turning local city halls, scout huts and rugby clubs into raves for a the evening. The parties had to end at midnight though, otherwise the soundsystem would have cost us double...Those were the days!
You now live in Berlin and have for 2 years. Can you give us an outsiders point of view on the ever constant influx of artists moving to the city?
Yes those 2 years have gone really quickly! Most ex pats have a love-hate relationship with Berlin. There are good reasons to be here, and then there is the missing home and friends part. I think the recent DJ/Producer influx is cool though, still. I mean, there's such a feeling of things going on here, I love it. Its a small town and there is a nice feeling of a genuine music community bubbling away under everyday life. Plus I think it's always good to have some healthy competition, people to share music and come together with.
And you are room mates with Dave Sumner aka Function.
Dave and I have become good friends since I moved in with him earlier this year. Its great, we are very respectful of each others space, and its very inspiring to have other working creatives around at home. We'll listen in on each other's new tracks, share ideas, stories. I'm lucky to have met him.
And Berlin is home now?
Yep, here to stay for the foreseeable future.
So you'd have your favourite city spots now?
I love the area around Schlesisches Tor in Kreuzberg. For some reason my existence in Berlin has always gravitated around there. Its not as smart as Mitte or Prenzlauer Berg, but there's more of a real feel and some great, cheap, delicious places to eat. Try Maria Peligro for authentic Mexican, or Transit for some great Portuguese food at lunchtime.
You were once working under Szenario. Quite a different sound compared to the bold bottom end your showing in your tracks now, is this turning into somewhat of a Ed Davenport signature sound?
For sure, and I'm happy to think that there might be 'a sound' forming. For a long time I was concerned that all my productions were too far removed, but as I kept working, I think I've learnt what I like and what works. Funny, I still like the Szenario name... I think I'm going to bring it back eventually!
You’ve released on a broad assortment of labels over the years. Tell us a about your relationship with London’s Autoreply.
I first got in contact with Dicken aka Confetti Bomb who runs the label after hearing an EP from Mark Henning & JUG, two friends from when we all lived in London. I was really impressed, and offered up some music. I really enjoy working with the label. Dicken is really enthusiastic, and you can tell he's not only got a love for it, but he really has things going in the right direction. I'm happy to keep working with him!
You also work with native instruments, tell us about your role with them.
I'm a copy writer a few days a week. I like to have some time away from music, in the 'real-world' – its a great company to work with.
And the 3 Good Doctors project with Agaric, Beaner and yourself. How did this come about and what was it like working with a troupe on productions?
It really came about through our friendship and Beaner's crazy-mad-wonderful imagination. Its not the easiest thing to collaborate, even with good friends, but its something that always inspires and teaches you useful things!
Any more 3 Good Doctors on the horizon?
Hopefully there will be more!
You also have a good relationship with Panoramabar.
I'm lucky that I've been able to 'have my say' now and again behind the decks. It's a hugely important club for the scene and a marker of where we are right now in electronic music. These days I've been able to go there less and less due to work and gigs, but I'll always have a huge buzz to stand behind the DJ booth.
Is Berghain next?
I don't want to speak too soon.
How has the live show been going?
It's really fun to do and I've had some good reactions, although it's not something I've fully mastered yet. I'm simply trying out ideas. In the future I'm planning to work out something more unique and interesting. I always think that its hard to be really 'live' standing behind a laptop and a few boxes. Live to me means vocals, performance, with others on stage. That's for the future!
What are you working on at the moment? Any new alias work?
I've just finished a few some new EPs which will be filtering though this winter; a 12'' on Len Faki's Figure SPC label, and some collabs with Oliver Deutschmann, as Davenport & Deutschmann. We've got an 12'' coming up on his label, Falkplatz, which is really techno, tougher and more classic sounding. Plus there's remixes from Jerome Sydenham and Brendon Moeller. That will be out in January I think. I'm also working on new material for NRK, with the next 12'' scheduled for early next year. I'm trying to space things out a bit more now as I'm trying to find time to work on what will be my first album. There's an NRK label night upstairs in P-Bar on Jan 28th. I'm really excited about that as it's the first night there that I've had a part to play in the choice of DJs. Playing on the night will be Nick Harris, Ian Pooley, Justin Drake and myself.
TEA is once again back in Adelaide and this time we are packing 2 sugars for Cuckoo Bar. 1 lump Jay Shepheard and 1 lump Tornado Wallace aka Lewie Day. To celebrate this Saturday night with TEA, Jay Shepheard and Tornado Wallace we have a free download of TW's Hooker In Paris. Appréciez!
Jay Shepheard's collab with Tad Willy has just dropped on Jays very own Retrofit imprint whilst Tornado Wallace has just released Delusions of Granduer latest with Always Twirlin succeeding his super successful Paddlin EP.
Keeping things hot and heavy between sets will of course be TEA resident Clyde Drexler and special guest from the ACT slash London, Rubicon.
Mr Shepheard recently chewed the fat with Juno Plus here
The duo are giving away a free copy of their track Ruby which they recorded during their live show at Berghain.
With the Crooks & Lovers LP being a TEA favourite this year it's with much excitement and anticipation that we wait on their Blind Night Errand EP dropping on Scuba's Hotflush Recordings Nov 29th.
This mix from Nina Kraviz was recorded live for RBMA on the coastal Russian city of Sochi, host of 2014 winter Olympics. Sleazy beats from the get go as Kraviz kicks things off with some slow mo, toe jackin house.
Kraviz has been turning more heads than an Anna Kournikova tennis match over the past 2 years with a slew of releases on Re Kids, Naif, BPitch Control and Jus Ed's Underground Quality (along with fellow comrade Anton Zap).
When she's not inspecting the ground teeth of late night kiddies she can been seen spinning choons at Moscows famous Properganda club, same club as where TEA favourite Vakula first made his name.
So sit back, relax and maybe knock back a few vodka shots to Nina gettin all things deep, jackin and sleeeazay.
TEA favourite Stroboscopic Artefacts has just launched its slick new website full with artifacts of the stroboscopic kind.
The new website gives fans a to the minute update on all things Strobo. Making news at the moment is SA's next showcase on Friday the 19th of November at Madrid's Danzoo and a great FWD Entertainment video interview with SA label boss and all round nice guy Lucy, taken on his recent tour of the US.
12" or download, what ever your thang, all of SA's musiq is available for purchase directly from the website. SA's most recent concoction of menace comes packaged as Delta in its Sampler Series which features the new and exiting collaboration between Lucy & Xhin aka LX1, some foward thinking from Forward Strategy Group, Inigo Kennedy & Isodyne's brooding Larange Point and Jonas Kopp's LB Dub Corp style thumper M33.
Stroboscopic Artefacts sensational Monad collection is another must listen if you haven't already with TEA favourites Xhin & Perc as well as Chevel, Donor, Pfirter and Markus Suckut all dipping deep into the Monad concept.
For all you budding Strobo's feel free to drop them your track via their Soundcloud dropbox and dont forget to sign up to SA's newsletter and of course to rep-ra-sent with some official Stroboscopic Artefacts merchandise.
Enjoy some Red Bourban Vanilla tea with Lucy here Have a cup of Builders with Perc here (dont mention Earl Grey) Swap coffee for some Mint Tea with Xhin here
Not be to be confused major league baseball star or American toy manufacturer (that brought us Connect Four and Guess Who?), true Berliner Milton Bradley has been in the game long enough to predict trends, avoid commercialism, and avert imitation.
DJ's chasing the techno quicksilver of Berlin have artists like Bradley to thank. In 2008 along with close friend DJ Zeal, the two started up Do Not Resist The Beat! a medium for releasing their own no frills music. 2010 has seen the emergence of DNRTB! sub label The End Of All Existence. One listen to it's first and only release requires no explanation for the sub labels nom de plum, atmospheric, earth shuddering, cinematic techno at it's finest.
With a handful of exalted releases on DNRTB! and over 20 years of DJing experience behind him little is known of Bradley. With the internet baring the fewest of clues TEA caught up with Milton to talk Acid House, Miami Bass and Electrofunk, live projects, Grounded Theory and Darjeeling black tea.
You are a born and bred Berliner. How has the city defined you and your music?
Well yes, having lived here my entire life I have seen the city change quite a bit, especially since the fall of the wall. Much of the cities infrastructure has changed, especially in the centre and it's bordering areas. Many clubs have opened and closed, each with it’s own concept and defintition of electronic music. Berlin has always been a techno-city like Detroit. Sometimes it feels as if we are the living pulse of the time. No doubt the versatileness of Techno-Berlin influenced me and my music. It is a part of me like I am a part of it.
You first started collecting records in 1991 and have been DJing since 1994. Tell us a bit about how you first worked your way into clubs?
At the begining it was difficult as the whole thing was full of compromise. I joined forces with some DJ friends who mainly played house and we arranged parties and played together. In 2000 it started to take a very commercial shape, musically it was not that interesting to me anymore, planed projects were cancelled and we decided to stop working together.
Tell us a bit about your relationship with DJ Zeal.
Zeal has been a very good friend of mine for years. We met at a club back in the day and because of our love of electronic music we have remained close since. Zeal and I had the idea of releasing records back in the early 90's. Founding our own label was a main goal of ours and finally in 2008 we pressed our first release. I guess our aim was to sell as many as we could and take it from there. We had no distribution deal so we sold the records directly to the record stores. As it turned out we found the right crowd at Hard Wax and we sold nearly all of the first pressing there. Many thanks to the Hard Wax guys!
Do you plan to release any other artist then yourself on Do Not Resist The Beat! - ?
No. Do Not Resist The Beat! is only meant for releasing our own productions.
And your sub label to DNRTB! The End Of All Existence. Tell us a bit about that.
The End Of All Existence project represents my definition and soundtrack to the end of the world. It focuses more on the ambient side of techno and would be suited for an album but I like the 12" EP format. The idea is to release the tracks on several EPs.
You have been DJing for 20 or so years now. How has experiencing the many trends and musical patterns of those times lead you to the sound of Milton Bradley today?
At the end of the 80's I listened to a lot of Miami bass and discovered all that Electrofunk stuff. In the early 90's I was totally into Belgium techno, a lot stuff from R&S Records & Music Man etc. Another big influence was Panasonic’s Vakio, Chain Reaction and the first of the Hybrid records, it's what I would call minimalistic compared to todays so called minimal music. Post 2000, Sleeparchive and some tunes by Marcel Dettmann have also inspired me for my own productions.
Now your a resident at Grounded Theory?
Yes, I'm also represented by Grounded Theory in terms of booking and management. Grounded Theory started as a party about a year ago. For the second event I was offered a DJ set. This was how I first came into contact with GT, now I am a resident. The nights take place every 8 - 10 weeks at Arenaclub, Berlin. Artists like Steve Rachmad, Function, Convextion, Joey Beltram, Adam X, Marcel Fengler, Ben Klock and Sleeparchive have all played there within the last year. The whole idea behind Grounded Theory is very idealistic one, that's what I like about it. I like it when people do something for a reason they believe in. This is the way I work as well. I do things for a reason.
How important was Acid house for you?
When I was younger I was introduced to Acid house by listening to the radio and reading magazines, this was when Acid house had reached the peak of it’s commercial wave at the end of the 80's. It was my first step into the field of electronic music if I don’t count the early Kraftwerk tracks I was listening too.
You would have also seen the many styles of DJing come through the clubs. Have you experimented with different forms of DJing or have you stuck to the one format?
When I started DJing, for let’s say 'underground techno' vinyl was the No.1 medium. I think what keeps DJ's buying vinyl is it's character and aesthetic. The direct access I have to the vinyl I'm playing has always been very attractive to me too. When it comes to DJing I was never interested in digital media. I don't think CD's play a big role anymore, it's all about vinyl vs mp3. Digital DJing has always been boring and dead hearted to me. With mp3's comes the territory of illegal downloads and this can devalue the music, nobody is willing to pay for something you cannot touch or see.
Your on the verge of presenting your first live set at Berghain. Tell us a bit about the live show.
I had to come up with an idea of how I wanted to present my tracks in a live set. My style of production made it difficult for me to transfer my tracks to a live situation instantly. I had to create every track again to be able to present them during a live-performance. This took me several weeks but I am very satisfied and really looking forward to presenting the Milton Bradley sound in a perfect environment for my definition of techno.
The few remixes you have done have been widely acclaimed most notably your remix of Cio D’or, can we expect some more remixes soon?
Yes, currently my remix for Zooloft is out and further remix projects are planned. I always find it a pleasure to interpret tracks by other artists.
So who are you enjoying at the moment?
I focus more on labels rather than the individual artists, especially with white labels. Labels like Relative, Appointment, Vault Series, Lo Dubs and Scion Versions are on my radar at the moment. Besides that a lot of old records are still to be discovered. I think we should never forget them. They are part of what is being released today, that is also why I always try to present an balanced percentage of old and new tunes during my DJ-sets.
What's next for Milton Bradley?
At the end of the year the new Do Not Resist The Beat! record will be released as well as more work on The End Of All Existence. Then there is my live set which which will be presented at Berghain in January 2011, after that show I'll be available for live-show bookings too. I'm always working on something so we'll have to wait and see.
And you favourite tea?
Darjeeling black tea of course!
Don't miss the next Grounded Theory this weekend with TEA's Fackwerk favourites Mike Denhert, Sascha Rydell and Roman Lindau stealing the show.
