CHICAGO IL— Andy Vaz, the DJ/producer, largely credited with spearheading the so-called minimal movement in European dance music, performs at Debonair Social Club in Chicago, June 26 for a very special date on a four city mini-tour of the USA.
A long time presence in the European techno community, Vaz, introduced the world to the complexities offered by the minimal techno genre in its various regional forms, exposing the world to some of the premiere releases by artists such as Akufen, Geoff White, Deadbeat, Stewart Walker, Sutekh and Oliver Hacke through his highly innovative Background Records label. The Dusseldorf native and now Cologne resident has also made an impact on the global house music scene with his highly influential A Touch of Class imprint, on which Vaz’s keen ear for deep house met his minimal production sensibilities.
Currently Vaz’s work has focused on a new label project, Yore records, which brings Detroit and Chicago house producers such as Terrence Dixon and Rick Wade along with Vaz giving these artists a means to further explore their sounds, transcending their usual classifications as “old school.”
Vaz will be joined by NYC based composer and legendary music technology blogger Peter Kirn, of createdigitalmusic.com fame, as well as Ramp Chicago resident DJ Liz Revision.
Andy Vaz (Background Records, YORE), Peter Kirn (Createdigitalmusic.com) of Cologne and New York City respectively join resident DJ Liz Revision as part of Ramp Chicago’s monthly event series at Debonair Social Club Expect a mix of minimal techno, deep house and glitched out variations of the two for this very special engagement.
Ramp Chicago promotes and organizes forward-thinking electronic music events that focus on innovation in sound and video. Devoted to live and interesting electronic music that takes a path somewhere between the dance floor and your headphones, Ramp continues to bring in artists that straddle genres and take chances. www.rampchicago
Andy Vaz
Andy Vaz hails from Düsseldorf, Germany, the breeding ground of Kraftwerk. Since 1997, Andy manages and curates Background Recordings, internationally acclaimed as being one of the most influential labels to concentrate on what people refer to as minimal techno.
Long before Minimal Techno turned into a genre, and subgenre after subgenre were invented, Andy has already been concentrating on providing a cultural conduit for more minimal electronic music, between Düsseldorf, San Francisco, Detroit, Montreal, Toronto, London, Chicago, South Africa, Monterrey, Perth and countless other cities around the world. Some of the most influential international musicians of the minimal electronic music movement had their works presented on his Background Imprint. Artists such as: Sutekh, Jan Jelinek, Todd Sines, Terrence Dixon, Jeff Milligan, Akufen, Submania, Dean DeCosta, Rhythm Maker, Kit Clayton, Ectomorph, Deadbeat, Baby Ford, Stewart Walker, Donnacha Costello, Geoff White, Smyglyssna, Portable, Antiguo Automata Mexicano, Oliver Hacke, Frivolous and many others have graced the Background stage. The Label has been a major force in the presentation of minimal techno, introducing and educating the world to the geographic variable influences that exist within the genre.
As the years have passed, house music and techno have fused, segregated, split and recombined in countless ways. Both techno and house have drawn influences from one another to create hybrids that have changed the face of music as we know it. Andy could not ignore his undeniable appreciation for the house movement and therefore, decided to start a second label in order to help facilitate the growing relationship between global deep house and minimal techno: “A touch of Class / ATC” was born.
In 2000, Andy Vaz has released his own material. At first he started his Sound Variation [—] series. A set of 10 conceptual releases where as the sound can be defined by the criteria of one’s imagination constrained only by the definition of it being 4/4 based electronic music without following any clearly defined linear sound aesthetic or concept. All works simply defined by the criteria of re-use, recycling of same instrumentations, within the context of boundless compositional approaches.
Next to the series Andy Vaz also started putting out minimal techno dance material
recently. Music, that is focused on the Groove and is based on his rich experiences as an internationally rewarded Live Act. Apart from having played countless clubs, festivals and venues, he’s done everything from the legendary “Liquid Room” in Tokyo to the Mutek Festival in Mexico. Andy has build up an excellent reputation as a crowd shaking and unique sounding live act. Known for extended two hour dance live-sets to more abstract listening performances Andy proves to be diverse and suitable in various musical contexts.
In march 2007 Vaz launched a new label called “YORE”, which focused on the authentic old school Detroit & Chicago House Sound with original artists such as Detroit’s Rick Wade, Terrence Dixon, and Todd Sines among others just to name a few, presenting a new platform for these artists as well as for himself, which will help spread his musical visions further to new audiences.
Peter Kirn
PETER KIRN is a classically-trained musician and composer gone digital. As an experimental electronic musician, keyboardist, and VJ, he’s a regular fixture at New York’s Warper Party and NY club venues. His work also extends from writing for 17th-century instruments and voice (composing the score for choreographer Christopher Williams’ Bessie Award-winning Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins) to custom computer vision software and digitally-synthesized music (presenting at the Boston CyberArts Festival). The Boston Globe described his music and visuals as “poetic” and “delicate.” He founded and edits the popular websites createdigitalmusic.com and createdigitalmotion.com, for
digital musicians and visualists, which explore bleeding-edge creative tech in our growing “nerdster” culture. He’s currently researching new environments for live digital music and visuals as he completes a PhD in music composition at the City University of New York Graduate Center. Peter is based in lower Manhattan.
Liz Revision [subVariant, Chicago] – Resident DJ
A true “multi-hyphenate,” Liz McLean Knight–the sole female behind Quantazelle–is thoroughly immersed in technology, fashion, music, and the often-surprising overlaps between. While attempting to circuit bend battery-powered music toys for an upcoming music performance, she discovered that electronic components can be turned into elegant jewelry and started an entire fashion line called Zelle.
Versed in internet technologies and programming languages she started up an online store to sell not only her jewelry, but also accessories and gear for the technologically-sophisticted yet fashionably-minded crowd–Fractalspin.com. As Quantazelle she combines complex percussive programming, sonic innovation, and engaging sound design together with an approachable melodic sensibility with often booty-shaking results.
Site: http://www.quantazelle.com | Blog: http://www.lizrevision.com
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For more information contact Liz Knight 773-251-9984 or liz@rampchicago.com
PRESSKIT (PDF): andyvaz-peterkirn.pdf
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Here are a few articles I’ve written so far for Create Digital Music for Movement 2008 and Mutek in Montreal: