TEA like this #18

Mic Newman - Live East Die Young

Live East - Mic Newman [FINA] by Mic Newman

Melbourne house mafia goon and TEA one to watch in 2011 Mic Newman preps for his 'Live East, Die Young' EP set for release Jan 31 on brand new house imprint FINA.

The young Australian producer has already had a string of releases on labels such as murmur, Tsuba, Dirt Crew and Freerange and salutes this EP to the trendy kids of Befnal Green, Shoreditch and Hoxton.

Jacques Renault and Marcos Cabral managed to get their grubby little Runaway hands on 'Live East' for a tantalising remix.

TEA with Subjected (VAULT SERIES)

Far removed from the ministry of airbrushed babes and headphones only worn around the neck, comes 2010's Berlin boom town record label VAULT SERIES. 

VAULT SERIES has joined the likes of Horizontal Ground and Pom Pom in prioritising their music over their personalities. The three-pronged VAULT SERIES crew no nothing other than booming kick drums and four-four time signatures representative of a German disposition.

Over email correspondence TEA caught up with Subjected for a quick exchange on German industrialism and black tea, naturally.

You started VAULT SERIES in 2010. Tell us about your inspirations and influences leading up to starting the label?

The idea of Vault was first thought of in 2009 or even earlier. Sawlin and I had shared the same passion for dark techno but had no way of releasing it because at that stage it was too early. We were collecting and producing tracks but no one really showed an interest so I said 'Fuck it, lets do our own label, I’ll send our stuff to a distributor and see how it goes'. After a few weeks we had a contract with Intergroove.

You initially started the label as a means to release music for yourself 'Subjected' as well as Sawlin and Moerbeck. Tell us about your relationship with these two.

I’ve known Moerbeck for around 9 years. We lived in the same district and I often spent time with him chilling at his flat. He was already making music but it was more hip hop than electronic. We always wanted to produce music but their were always other things going on. Then Moerbeck and Sawlin started working together where they shared and developed a similar style. Eventually I met Sawlin and we began to produce. Moerbeck and I moved to different districts and didn´t see each other as often. When I had the idea for Vault, Sawlin showed me some Moerbeck tracks and his productions represented our idea of techno. I called up Moerbeck and told him my plan for the VAULT SERIES and now all three us of meet regularly to produce music and share a great friendship.

Tell us more about Sawlin and Moerbeck.

Both have been making music for over 10 years and love their analogue instruments. Both are freaks in edging, shaping and cutting their own sounds. Sawlin is also the big daddy, I learned a lot from him. He also has a great ear for mixdowns. And Moerbeck? He is a extremely creative person with his own distinctive style that fits the Vault Series perfectly.

The VAULT SERIES idea of techno is ‘raw and industrial with heavy distortion and experimental soundscapes’. Can you elaborate on your style of techno and what you are trying to express.

We are trying to express the dark, rough and strange elements in music. Music under the surface and out of a Vault. If a sound is to clean we often don’t take it, we are searching for unique strange sounds that you haven't heard before.

The collaborations between the three VAULT SERIES artists must be a very special thing. You all have a very similar yet individual ideas and principles of techno. Tell us a bit more about these collaborations in the studio.

That’s hard to explain. We know how a track has to sound. If there is an element that is to simple we say “this has to be more aggressive or more effected” so we edge and mould our sounds until the result is perfect and everyone is confident with the final product.

Will VAULT SERIES remain solely as a platform for releasing Sawlin, Moerbeck and Subjected music?

For the next few years, yes. Only Sawlin, Moerbeck and Subjected.

Tell us about the Vault Series live?

Yes, Sawlin and I together played our first live gig at Berghain in September 2010. Further live and DJ gigs are planned. We are also working on a larger scale live performance where all three of us will be jamming, improvising and djing together at same time.

How did you find yourself first effected by electronic music and what eventually led you to producing?

It all stems back to the first nights when we started heading out to clubs. We didn’t know each other at the time but the process of how we got into electronic music was the same. As kids we did graffiti, made hip hop and listened to jungle. Then we started going to clubs like E-Werk and Tresor. I heard so much new music and that was the point where I began to DJ and produce. For all of us those nights were very inspiring. The artists we saw are too many to mention but sounds from Detroit like Model 500, Robert Hood and the whole UR thing played a big part. Nowadays we are feeling industrial and dark sounds from artists like Milton Bradley, Xhin and Ancient Methods.

The VAULT SERIES is doing its part in keeping techno underground. How important do you think the role of anonymity is in techno?

I think anonymity and keeping it underground results in our attitude. The music and its output is more important then how many friends or pictures you have on your myspace or facebook account, who cares about that when your output is cheap and boring. This extroversion is sometimes very embarrassing and that’s none of our business.

Tell us about your involvement with Grounded Theory and do you have any plans for a VAULT SERIES label night?

I can't say whether there will be a Vault Series party in the future, but we are working on improving our VAULT SERIES live and DJ showcases. As for Grounded Theory, they have the same idea of representing music as VAULT SERIES. The face value of the artist is not as important, but rather the image of the music and the label. That’s what I like. I’m very happy to be working with Grounded Theory.

Looking back on 2010 how did you find running the label in its first year?

It’s been great and I’m also surprised, our music is played worldwide and the feedback has been mind blowing.

How far would you like the label to eventually branch out?

I’m not sure yet, I haven't had time to think about it. At the moment I’m taking it one step at a time.

What have you got planned for 2011?

No real master plan. We will be releasing new Vault tracks and maybe by the end of 2011 we’ll have the first VAULT SERIES LP, but at the moment we really don’t know.

What is your favorite tea?

Black tea of course… a tea like a vault.

Download Subjected's exclusive VAULT SERIES mix for TEA which includes some new and unreleased tracks.

Falty DL Album Preview

New Yorker Falty DL aka Drew Lustman will be releasing his second LP in two years on well established UK imprint Planet Mu.

After spending 2010 working on singles and remixes for labels Rush Hour, Ramp and Hotflush Recordings, where the likes of The XX, Mount Kimbie, Scuba and Anthony Shakir all got the Falty DL treatment.

TEA's #10 producer for 2010 has rallied his skills, troops and experience together for his LP You Stand Uncertain due for release on March 14th.

Listen to a clip of each track off the album here

TEA on KISS FM

Choon in tonight to Kiss FM from 8:30 pm (EST) to hear some house and techno dunks from TEA's record box on Pinksilver's Drowned in Sound show.

Melbournians tune into 87.6, 87.8, 87.9 or 88.0 FM

Rest of the world can stream it live over the internet here.

EDIT: Track list now in comments section.

Shackleton Trainwreck Mix for RBMA

The latest show to hit Redbull's Music Academy Radio shelves is Shackleton's brumal Trainwreck mix. Cast away thoughts of a 15 year old bedroom DJ honing in on their first CDJ 100 beat match and experience a intellectual, shivery and thought provoking mix that could easily soundtrack the 497 days that Ernest Shackleton and the Loss Of The Endurance explorers experienced on a Antarctic ice floe.

2010 saw the shadowy Shackleton release only the one Man On A String/Bastard Spirit EP which features early on in this mix. This was the first release on his new label Woe To A Septic Heart (Skull Disco RIP 2005-2008). Shackleton's smatterings of spoken word and Middle Eastern samples throughout the mix further strengthen a intention to drift further from a 'dubstepped' sound and toward something sleeker, leaner and less easily classifiable.

According to his cover story in Novembers issue of The Wire, Shackleton also has a project in the works called Refugees Of The Septic Heart, which is apparently a spoken word duo featuring himself alongside past collaborator Vengeance Tenfold, who lent his vocal talents to the 2008 Skull Disco single Death is Not Final.

ECHOES V.2.0

Pinksilver & Echoes returns for its second instalment of dub laden ruddums at Loop Bar this Friday night to celebrate the influence of Dub in electronic music.

Residents and all round nice guys Matic and Mark 'Daily Dubs' Baumann will be joined by fellow Pinksilver selectors Lorenzo and Daniel Filipovic for an evening of resonance, delay and of course dub.

VJ Netzair will also be providing the visual stimulus for the evening.

TEA's 1st Birthday!

To celebrate one year of TEA we are of course throwing a TEA party at Melbourne’s aural and aesthetically pleasing Loop Bar.

To celebrate one year gone TEA has invited its backbone of support over the last year with The Carter Brothers (ADE) and their looping 303 and 909 show. Pinksilver headhoncho Daniel Filipovic will also be making an appearance as too will TEA resident Clyde Drexler.

A herbal infusion or classic blend of disco, house and techno. More info here

So chin chin to TEA’s first year of interviews with

Surgeon
Marcel Dettmann
Lucy

Redshape
Norman Nodge
Terence Fixmer
Adam X
Milton Bradley
Perc
Xhin
Ed Davenport
Tornado Wallace
Ethyl
Azuni

Bottoms up to TEA’s first year of parties with

Marcel Dettmann
Robert Hood
Jay Shepheard
Tornado Wallace
JUG
Francis Inferno Orchestra
HMC
The Carter Brothers

TEA with Redshape

Untitled track names, hand-stamped white labels, 909 drum machines, masks and anonymity. When it comes to electronic music Redshape is one of the most talked about names, behind those two Parisian punks.

In a world of instant google searches and expanding social networks sustaining a hidden identity is as easy as winning first division Lotto. Since 2006 Redshape, along with fellow mysterious acts Sandwell District, Horizontal Ground, Skudge and Traversable Wormhole have all been doing their bit to keep the music we love underground, puzzling and real.

TEA managed a quick catch-up with Redshape prior to his January 8 show at Fabric's room 1 to talk deep house production values, rock drums, Polanski's Ghostwriter and German peppermint tea.

After having to cancel an Australian tour mid 2010 due to Mt Eyjafjallaokull, you made it down for a recent December festival circuit. How did that go?

In one word, great! I don't know if it was the summer there or the friendly relaxed people but party-wise I had the best fun of 2010 and definitely will return.

And your live show? Without giving too much away can you tell us a bit about how it works and the setups you are running.

The show now is pretty much the best I can do and has been developed and refined over the last 5 years. I have 3 different setups; a home setup up where I use drum machines, Moog synths and a lot of external hardware, the tour set up where I switch between a small drum sampler and a small analog synth and finally the "Redshape And Drums" show with my drummer Ben. Additionally I’m running Live with some controllers, arranging everything from 1 bar loops to 12 tracks. This is live and unprepared.

And overall how did the live show go down in 2010?

It’s always hard to judge myself but I had some stellar moments and my recordings prove that the people had these moments as well.

Are your live shows an ongoing thing or do you slow down to settle and concentrate on new live projects?

Yes and no. I am working on something new and if I manage everything well time-wise it should happen after summer, before that the shows will continue as they are.

What eventually led you to Redshape?

No master plan that’s for sure.

You have a close relationship with Delsin, how did that come about?

Meeting at such an early stage of a project people meld together pretty fast. I guess that’s what happened with Marsel and I. When I was trying to find some distribution for Present our paths crossed and since then we have remained close.

Give us some background on your Content and Present imprints. Did you start these primarily as a means to release your own music?

These labels are more than labels but emotions, emotions which I’m trying to fit into words

or concepts but it’s harder to describe then what I first thought. I don't think about the labels as a label but more as a place, or many different places fitting my actual mood of sound.

In an interview with DJ Mag in regards to musical trends you say “The Deep House movement has better production values, some good drums and hi hats, but these tracks don’t say anything to me.” Tell us what productions and styles of music are saying things to you.

All creatively done music says something to me, as does music with a feelable message that says more than "dance!". It's not just about lyrics or abstract figures. For me it's a lot about the sex in it, if that can be communicated. Even a 909 kick drum together with a closed hi hat and a low tom can be

marvelous! I was never a fan of genres inside dance electronics anyway.

You also mention your love of rock drums. How much have different genres effected your own productions?

Quite a bit starting more from folk & ethno based stuff for rhythm structure as well as indie rock and partly metal for showing me how to reach darker grounds. There are so many influences such as film scores and things that it’s hard to pinpoint them all. Music in general has had a big impact on me.

Your love of analogue equipment is well documented. Tell us about your favourite analogue toys.

Beside the unbeatable classic 909 & 808, the raw SP-1200 and the icy DX series, the new Moog ‘Little Phatty’ just "phats" it for me at the moment (laughs).

Many international DJs have opted to use Serato or Traktor due to savings in space, weight and time. Being a vinyl obsessive and DJ yourself sorting and choosing your records for international gigs must be a big part of your preparation? Do you enjoy this and how do you go about it?

I kind of enjoy this yes, but normally I don't prepare too much. I go to Hardwax and get about 10 new records one or two days before the show and exchange them with 10 others in whats called a "mood order", and that’s it.

You are next playing Room 1 at London’s Fabric nightclub. Fabric is renowned for its sound. Are there things you would try in clubs like this where normally you wouldn’t?

Normally their is no "wouldn't" for me. Trying things is more about the sound, style and mood of the venue. Sometimes I play very slow or more bassy but if I know that the sound is great somewhere it makes me play differently anyway, even if I didn't know before.

You have mentioned that remixing takes up a lot of your creative energy and that you have turned down remix requests in the past. In terms of production how much do your remixes differ to your original productions?

They really differ as people may have heard in my mixes. Generally I use remixes to more or less step out of the Redshape world. It also allows me to have some fun and play around with ideas from other people. The closer those ideas are to mine, the closer the outcome to the Redshape style.

Tell us a bit about the man behind the mask, what does he get up to in his spare time?

I must admit there is only one hobby at the moment, being lost in Azeroth and eating! (laughs). Beside that I love a good book and film. Right now I’m enjoying Wallace's Infinite Jest and Polanski's Ghostwriter.

What’s in the pipeline for 2011?

If everything works out as planned, a lot. A new project, some new exclusive compilation material and maybe a new full length, let's see!

What is your favourite tea?

Classic German peppermint!

If your in London on the 8th you can next catch Redshape here