TEA with Marco Shuttle

It’s a Wednesday night and I’m sheltered from the outside freeze of London’s February in a warm Stoke Newington pub. It’s the type of outside cold best dealt with quick movements, gloves and a face full of scarf. Warming my insides while waiting to meet Marco Sartorelli aka Marco Shuttle is a pint of dark ale and a half finished book.

A well dressed Italian looking man enters the pub with a searching facial expression. He makes his way towards me and I wave him over, only I’m not greeted with recognition, but confusion. He walks past me and meets his girlfriend instead, leaving me to realise I had just greeted a stranger. Another Italian looking man then enters the room holding two arm loads of groceries. To save myself another awkward embarrassment, I hold off for several moments, before my not-so confident wave is met with a smile and hand gestures indicating he’ll be over with beers and crisps.

Raising our glasses to a cheers, Sartorelli tells me apart from music, he works as a freelance fashion designer for an Italian menswear label. He then takes me back to where it all began, flyering for nightclubs in his seaside town of Jesolo, just outside Venice. Our conversation then travels from Italy to London and onto Berlin before moving to Stockholm and back to London. Along the way we meet Restoration Records, Serge from Clone, Morphosis, Chevel and Lakuti’s Uzuri Records as well as some insight into how the Italian started his label Eerie, now up to its third release.

Where did music begin for you?

There have been different stages. I've always been involved in the club scene, especially back in Italy in the early '90s, although at the time I wasn’t really working for clubs that were that interested in music. I was working for clubs that were cheesy and touristsy, but at the end of the day I was working for those clubs as a promoter - just flyering around really. But then when the club I was working for closed, I would go to other clubs which were more like underground clubs, a lot of deep house and Chicago, Detroit - all those seminal types of things. Like a lot of people, you start going to these places and hearing these kinds of music and suddenly it clicks. I remember when I was a kid I used to like Pink Floyd and the Doors. I really liked the psychedelic and deep sounding side of rock. There was a type of rock music that I would find appealing because it had a trippy - long journey - types of elements that I’ve found very similar to deep house and techno.

What were the first electronic acts you liked?

Funnily enough I discovered artists like Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream after discovering house music. At the beginning of the ‘90s, I was a teenager, so house and techno came first and later I discovered its roots. In the late ‘80s a lot of pop music was drum machine driven and it really caught my attention. Whenever I heard a good pop track that had these different kind of abstract or analogue electronic elements, I would find it interesting.

Where were the clubs you were working for?

It was on the coast, near Venice. At the time there was a very interesting scene happening there, unfortunately it didn’t last very long though. There was Riccione and there was Jesolo. Jesolo has always been the more experimental town musically. In Jesolo, clubs like Matilda, Movida and Housenation had fantastic DJs and a lot of great nights. It was really about these two seaside resorts really, people would go there on holidays. A lot of foreigners would go there because it’s very close to Venice, so in the summer it was quite international. Tourists would get to Venice and stay at Jesolo because there was the beach. 

Where did you move from there?

I lived in Italy until I was 26, then in 2002 I moved to London, because I was doing a MA in Fashion at St Martins. At the time I was already DJing - of course fashion was my main thing, but music was a big part of my life as well and I quickly became involved in the east London scene. I became part of the early Süd Electronic crew, they threw great parties in London for a long while - Süd Electronic parties were run by Lakuti who now runs Uzuri Records and bookings. At the time she was throwing these great parties, so for a couple of years I have been lucky to be a resident there, as well as playing all over east London. 

I used to run a monthly all-dayer at Cafe 1001 called Guerrilla Lime and Soda with my good Aussie friends Ben and Jug. Then I moved to Berlin and from there I went back to Italy for a while, got a job in Sweden, moved to Sweden and lived in Stockholm for almost two years. During my (first) time in London I was DJing and slowly getting into production and then in Italy and Sweden I just went on producing, carrying my studio around. I slowly equipped my studio with bits and pieces and finally even started my own label. I released quite a big hit in 2010 called The Vox Attitude for the swedish label Vidd, which is a Färden (Records) related label, which to date is my most popular record. So far it’s just my release on that label, although I believe they are about to release a second one soon.

Did Färden Records like your tracks enough to start a sub-label?

Basically Färden is more about proper loopy techno.

The Swedish style of techno.

Yeah yeah. except my thing at the time was very much warehouse stompy 808–909 and vocals; slightly ‘90s too. At the time it was quite fresh sounding, now it’s more “the thing”. In fact, I don’t do that type of sound anymore really. The Vox Attitude has been my biggest success so far, but at the moment I feel I’ll distance myself from that sound, not that I’m in denial, I really like the track and it means a lot to me - actually I’m releasing a repress of the original with two remixes by Joey Anderson and Pangea. With The Vox Attitude release I crossed that musical line and afterwards I secured an EP for Clone on their Store Only Series and after that I launched my label, which has two releases - the third being The Vox Attitude remixes.

How did you come to release on Clone? Did you get in touch with Serge directly?

Yeah, The Vox Attitude was distributed by Clone, so I was looking for labels to release more music on and I thought ‘why not get in touch with Clone directly?’. Serge charted my track and a lot of Clone related people did too, so I thought I might as well ask him. It’s amazing to think a release on Clone actually happened. I sent a few tracks to Serge which he liked and initially he wanted to release them on Clone Basement Series, but later he said he thought my style was a bit deeper. 

Clone Basement Series is really club banging basement tracks, so he thought my tracks would suit a more niche and limited release. So he said lets do it on S.O.S and that was ok with me. After that I told him I wanted to start my own label just for my own music and he was really supportive of it. So far it has been going well. I also recently collaborated with the Restoration guys and I’ve done a remix for Third Side, with remixes by myself, Morphosis, Virginia and Xenogears.

How do you know the Restoration guys?

We are pretty much from the same area in Italy. I was playing at a party in Padova called Crispy. Lucretio plays there sometimes and one night he was there when I was playing. We met each other properly that night, although we already knew each other “musically” and we became good friends.

You are also friends with Chevel?

Yeah Dario (Chevel) is also from the same area of Italy, same with Morphosis - although he is Lebanese - he lived in Venice for 15 years, so he is more of an Italian producer rather than a Lebanese one, at least to me - I mean he speaks dialect. He speaks Italian like me, with an accent. So in that area there is me, Morphosis, The Analogue Cops and Chevel. When I used to live in Treviso, Dario lived one kilometre from my house. He is a very talented kid and he is so young and I think he has a fantastic career ahead of him. He is really technical and knows how to make music with machines and at his age that’s outstanding. I don't see how he’s not going to become well known in the future.

Let’s speak about your label. You said it’s just for your productions?

I’m basically setting up my label with the idea of Jeff Mills’ Axis - he only releases his own music. I make really long and elaborate tracks and all the tracks I make are pretty much good for my label. But let’s say the idea behind my music for Eerie is to keep it a little more conceptual. When I do remixes I’ll tend to do something that is more banging, like I’ve done with the Third Side remix, which is more like a proper techno track, a dancefloor techno track. I’m not saying my label isn’t dancefloor, but it’s always very deep and trippy. I wouldn’t say its for everybody, but on Eerie I try to do more of a sophisticated challenging sound.

Would you ever consider having other producers on your label?

At the moment I am happy with just my own music. There are other people whose music I would like to release, but there aren’t enough for me to think about starting a roster and signing artists. At the same time I like to release my own music, but I’m already short of time. Even now with remixing I am chasing people to get the record up by the planned date and when you work with more people, it suddenly becomes more complicated. It takes more time and energy, as everybody takes their own time to deliver tracks.

You mentioned you built up your studio. How is it coming along at the moment?

My first release was mostly digital, only I had Korg drum machine at the time. Then slowly I got some more machines. The Vox Attitude was pretty digital to be honest, although I used a lot of sound form the Korg. Then I bought an 808, a 303 clone and I recently got Doepfer modular unit, so my productions ended up drifting from quite an analogue sound to a fully analogue sound.

Explain the podcast. How and where was it recorded and how did you prepare for it?

I recored it in my flat in Hackney and it’s mostly vinyl. What isn't vinyl hasn’t been released on vinyl or is going to be released on vinyl in the future. So I’m a proud vinyl person. I get very anal when I do these kinds of mixes, I don’t just do a jam for the sake of it, it takes me a while to put together an interesting sequence of tunes that explains my vision of electronic music. I always try and do something that is eclectic in a way, but at the same time it sticks to a mood, so with this one I started with Monte Cazazza.

I was going to ask, tell me about the first track.

Yeah, its a track by Monte Cazazza - an American artist and composer of industrial music.

Finally, what is your favourite tea?

Lately I have to say I have been into South African redbush tea.

1. Interrogator - Monte Cazazza - Blast First Petite

2. Ancient Shorelines l. - Long Island Electrical Systems - L.I.E.S.

3. Untitled - Prince Of Denmark - Giegling Staub

4. Track 2 - War Easy Made - War Easy Made

5. Not Yours - Chevel - unreleased

6. Loss (regis Version) - Ike Yard - Black Ever Black

7. Unknown artist - I wanna dance - Unreleased

8. Pressure Dub - Ability II - Strut

9. Phamily Radikal Thanx - Felix Da Housecat - Djax Up Beats

10. The Vox Attitude (Joey Anderson's Baby touch me remix) - Marco Shuttle - Eerie

11. Energize - Dj Yoav B - Delsin

12. Track 2 - Marcellis - Meakusma

13. Under - Untold -Hemlock recordings

14. Dead Sun - British Murder Boys - Liberation Technologies

15. Track 4 (Reunion Ep) - Appointment - Appointment

16. Fog Beats - Fit/Gunnar Wendel - FXHE

17. Freestyle - Housefactors - Bleck Market Records

18. Tape 2 - Dynamo Dreesen - Acido 

19. Ultra Submonizer - Sub space - Axis

20. Particles of Life - Sys-Ex - Parallel

21. Aphotic Theatre - Daniel Andreasson  -Tabernacle

22. Illuminated Displays - Arpanet - Record Makers

23. Be Brave (Richard H Kirk remix) - Tropic Of Cancer - Downwards

TEA's 2012 in Review - Part 2

Six months down and it was a pleasure to welcome the incognito SVN to TEA’s podcast bunker with an hour’s worth of veiled and flirtatious house music. 

In 2011 "Track 2" from SUE001 nestled in neatly at number 10 on TEA’s Top 100 Tracks for 2011 - pigeonholed by us as “acoustic house” (one for the Hardwax wordsmith). In 2012 the tenebrous German, under his SVN handle, released the one production, "Track 1", a collaboration with the sub rosa Paleo Logos.

Mike Dehnert loaded up record number 25 into the Fachwerk canon, which according to Discogs is his ninth long player. Sascha Rydell and Roman Lindau submitted their own solo EPs for the label with their Propose and Source D'Inspiration missives as well as contributing (along with MD) to three Fachwerk various artist EPs. 

Having already spoken with Sacha Rydell in 2011, TEA snaffled part two of the Fachwerk throng in Roman Lindau for a mix and interview. It was the first time a writer other than myself contributed to the blog and it was TEA resident DJ (when he is in Australia) Nic Tuohey and he met up with Lindau while spending six hedonistic months in Berlin. 

A Fresh TEA interview and podcast with Reno Wurzbacher soon followed with the Berliner opening the doors to “the huge Fachwerk-apartment” to let us in on Sachas Rydell’s record collection, his relationship with Roman Lindau, hip hop and his attuned taste for turkish tea.

Dario Tronchin aka Chevel burst out of abyss in 2012 with six releases - a watershed year for the young Italian. He coincided his sonic rebirth with a special Chevel-only mix for TEA in the lead up to the launch of his DIY imprint Enklav. Prior to unravelling his self-released Apply Within LP, RA’s Andrew Ryce jotted: 

"Dario Tronchin is a young Italian producer whose detail-oriented techno shares a lot in common with experimentally-inclined producers such as Lucy and Kangding Ray. The majority of his early work came through adventurous Italian label Stroboscopic Artefacts and German imprint Meerestief, but most recently he set up the Enklav digital-only platform as an outlet primarily for his own material. 



That imprint released his first full-length late last month, following a series of four EPs in September. Apply Within features 12 new tracks from Tronchin, with a slightly stronger emphasis on melody and pad work than his previous releases."

Chevel - Apply Within [Enklav]

The first TEA selections of 2012 came via Patrick Walker and Al Mathews (aka Smear) aka Forward Strategy Group. Since 2009 the duo have steadily released a controlled stream of EPs - largely on Perc Trax - which ultimately led to their saluted and debut album Labour Division, unshackled in May of this year. FSG’s Labour Division came one year after Perc’s heralded Wicker and Steel LP -  described by The Guardian in the wake of last years London riots as “an angry snapshot of modern Britain”. 

Come August 17, we broke a five month TEA party drought at our housey homeland Loop with Cosy Sounds Part II. Cemented to the bill as always was Daniel “Swayze” Filipovic and myself, James Manning. 

TEA excitedly ushered in Phaon Phipat - a diamond DJ in the sometimes rough of Melbourne. I was fortunate enough to meet Phipat at a Levon Vincent show and the days following, via a few friendly email exchanges, I was led to his superb Space Odyssey 900 and 001 mixes. The young Melbournian’s taste in deep house rivals that of the lab coated Germans making it. 

On the night of Phipat's TEA debut, I remember having a conversation with a friend of his, Alex Gibb, an instrumental cog (along with Phipat) in the well curated Melbourne throw down HELMET. Our chortle lampooned worn out EQ knobs - particularly the bass and effects knobs on Pioneer mixers. 



The next night I serendipitously came across a worn out bass knob of my own and this humorous turn of events resulted in my “Diary Of A Lonely DJ” post, which highlighted the many shortcomings local DJs have to put up with, including: awkwardly repositioning turntables back from "battle mode", finding out which RCA cable leads where, to then shining the back of a mixer with a phone to figure out what goes where - all of which eats into your already brief one hour opening slot.

Yet another thrashed knob

Nic Tuohey’s second written entry began as an private email he sent to me after a night with Marcel Dettmann at Berghain. It read: 

“Yesterday I woke up with a killer hangover at midday and got coerced into going to Berghain. No regrets really. Dettmann played the best set I've ever seen by him. I would go as far as saying I have not heard a techno set like that in about 12 years. Sounded like a set by Mills or Hawtin back in the day (not to detract from his ability because he clearly is a legend in his own right). 

It was immaculately programmed, real sense of storytelling and every track was just like ‘where the fuck did he find this record???’ It would be fair to say that most of the records he played were old ones anyway, so I might actually be telling the truth rather than hypothesising. 

Ben Klock was great as well but didnt have the intellectualism, futurism and obscurity that Herr Dettmann did. He did what he did best though and absolutely smashed it with his industrial strength minimalism.”

Intellectualism, Futurism and Obscurity  

My attention then turned east. No longer is the Eastern Bloc of Europe the butt of YouTube videos showing grubby daylight forest raves, with shirtless skinheads trying to insert their blocky craniums into throbbing speaker cones. 

Eastern European techno is amidst a revolution with artists like Stanislav Tolkachev, Unbalance and Unbroken Dub worth keeping an eye on in 2013. 

TEA’s 28th podcastee Woo York joins Tolkachev as an up and coming Ukrainian act and in 2012 the duo released their third EP Igla for Mutex Recordings (neatly packaged with remixes from Truncate and MRSK). 

Woo York's TEA podcast was live P.A. made up of exclusively their own and improvised material. 

Stanislav Tolkachev

Woo York

It's now September and time for some retrospect. Collecting techno for me at the begininning, was originally fuelled by the bigger-the-better kick drum, clashing hi-hats and ear jarring percussion. However, I've never really been a fan of snares in techno, even rim shots for that matter...

Trends come and go and tastes change, but an intrigue in simplicity and repetition, as well as a fascination for the overly complex, for me at least, will always remain. 





Why Don't you Change was a mix of ambient records and techno B-sides that I have collected since starting TEA. It's 100 per cent vinyl sounds (which you will notice thanks to the intermittent mono-to-stereo signal from my worn needles during the first couple of minutes) and was mixed using two Technics 1200s and a basic Numark DMX06 mixer. 

The inspiration behind the mix was the cold and grey skies of a Melbourne afternoon coupled with moving house, which ultimately ended up as an mini-ode to those who have influenced my music, DJing, writing and of course TEA. 

TBC.

Fresh TEA - Chevel

Once cradling young techno hatchlings Jonas Kopp, Markus Suckut, Forward Strategy Group and Claudio PRC, Stroboscopic Artefacts label head Lucy could well be watching on like a proud and puffy chested parent. Of those mentioned, some may have flown the Strobo coop, taking flight into techno’s abyss, but all have enjoyed the spoils of successful albums, eps and newborn label ventures.

Of the Stroboscopic Artefacts gaggle yet to join the flock, is one Dario Tronchin, aka Chevel. Hailing from Treviso, Italy, just north of Venice, Chevel is best known for inducting Stroboscopic Artefacts’ “Monad” series, a conceptual five part process the label exhibits each year. Following in Chevel’s Monad footsteps is a major league of techno sluggers including; Donor, Perc, Pfirter and Go Hiyama, as well as sound experimentalist Aoki Takamasa (Kangding Ray forthcoming) and Stroboscopic Artefacts visionaries Xhin, Dadub and commander in chief Lucy.

Classically trained in composition and percussion, Chevel’s obscurity is not through a lack of talent, but a conscious decision to burrow underground and finely tune his craft. Prior to his Monad release, Chevel had rubbed shoulders with an assortment of (then) emerging producers including Xhin and Obtane to Miss Fitz & Shaun Reeves - he was even remixed by Motor City Drum Ensemble. Other Chevel releases came through Daniela Stickroth’s LINEAL and Arnaud Le Texier’s Safari Electronique.



Even after releasing music alongside Lucy on Meersteif, Tronchin first made contact with Luca Mortellaro (Lucy) in 2008 through Myspace. Mortellaro took a liking to one of Chevel’s tracks on his Myspace player, prompting him to get in touch with Tronchin - pronto “Luca heard my track ‘Love’ and asked me for my phone number, he called and said he was planning (to start) a label with his friend Rone. They were living together in Paris and wanted my music for the label which was going to be called Ghost Note, but it never happened.” says Tronchin.

A bright eyed Tronchin then travelled back and forth between Paris and Treviso, catching up with Mortellaro, and along with Rone, the three became friends. However, the chic and expensive Parisian lifestyle was beginning to take its toll on the trio and collectively the three decided to substitute cheese, wine and patisseries for doner kebabs, steins and techno clubs. The troupe then made the move to Berlin, where they remained for the next year. Mortellaro soon launched his new solo enterprise Stroboscopic Artefacts and as Tronchin explains: that’s where things started to happen. “There is a lack of musical - or possible musical experiences - in Treviso, so when I lived in Berlin, I spent every weekend at Berghain. I really sucked up all of the energy and vibes from the place. It really changed me as a person. Also seeing places like Hardwax and discovering Basic Channel really had an impact on me.”

As cliche as it all sounds, this won’t be the last time Berlin or Berghain “changes” a bushy tailed youngsters life, it’s probably happening now. Tronchin later returned to Venice to see out the rest of his musical studies, this time in “electronic music”. It wasn’t long until he made the connection between minimalism, repetition and electronic music, with the natural gravitation toward the “usual suspects” Steve Reich and Phillip Glass.

Chevel's new Reset ep (artwork designed by Christian Olofsson)

Most of us, whether we admit it or not, are more likely to have obsessed over Jeff Mills or Surgeon long before hearing anything John Cage or Karlheinz Stockhausen (some to this day still deny ever listening to Cage’s 4’33”). Discovering classical experimentalist music post dance music, is a road commonly travelled for the heat seeking electronic music enthusiast, wanting to exhume the very core of repetition, sound mechanics, experimentation and minimalism.

Chevel’s cave dwellings could be coming to an end, as a rise to the surface looks imminent. Discussions have already taken place with distribution companies and promotional agencies in regards to his new label “The Building” - inspired by his studio’s locale, a derelict structure in an otherwise green part of Treviso. “I want to start my own label and I have been planning it for about a year. I’ve started producing on a daily basis and I am much more productive than when I was younger.” says Tronchin. 

Over Skype video link, I’m given a guided tour of his studio - inside of “The Building”. On show is a neat row of idling drum machines and modular synths, an Allen Heath mixing desk, his beloved Roland SH-101, 606, 16 step analogue sequencer and various other bits of music making machinery and analogue spaghetti. There is an undeniable rawness to Chevel’s tracks, which comes not least as a result of the live ethic Chevel places on his production process. Chevel’s one take shots capture the imagination, improvisation and off the cuff tweaks, triggers and patterns he uses to create his lonely techno cuts. 
Tronchin unpretentiously touches on his machinist model of producing, “In comparison to my mixes for Stroboscopic Artefacts, my tracks now are a bit slower, sexier and have more rhythm and warmth. They’re all recorded in one take, I think you can hear that, they are quite primitive, but controlled.” 

Tronchin also maintains an analogue ethic when he DJs, 100 per cent vinyl. But like many who live in smaller cities, he frets the opportunities Treviso offers DJs. Tronchin has been throwing parties in Treviso since the modest age of 15, he even boasts holding 300 people plus bashes, but has since sidelined promoting to focus on production. However, there is still one event near Treviso which attracts his attention, “There is party called Rivolta, which means Riot in English. It’s the only venue in Treviso where you can have people like Carl Craig or Marcel Dettmann play. It is one of the few goods things in Treviso. Every year Rivolta has a independent record label party where Italian labels show up.” he says. It’s no surprise that Tronchin earmarks the super clutch of Italian house imprints Restoration, Live Jam, Relative and Warm Sounds as influential.
 
Unbeknown to Chevel, until recently, is the emergence of another Treviso producer Marco Shuttle, who is in the midst of launching his own label Eerie with his forthcoming “Modula” ep. “I have been following Marco’s music since his first release and I love it. When I heard his debut on Clone Records I was blown away. I contacted him and discovered he only lived about 300 meters from my house.” says Tronchin. Shuttle’s Clone release is part of the Store Only Series, an initiative the Dutch imprint set up to sell records exclusively through physical outlets, not web shops. So far Legowelt, Vernon Felicity (yet another Conforce alias) and Delsin/Music Man legend Quince have released on the label. 

After laying foundation to his productions, seeing his vision for a new label set in motion and with a bank of productions raring to go - Chevel, who may have once been considered Stroboscopic Artefacts’ ugly duckling - could well be maturing into one of house and techno music’s most beautiful.

All tracks in Chevel's TEA podcast are produced and engineered by Dario Tronchin.
Chevel's self released Reset ep is available to purchase here.