Posts Tagged ‘Minimal’

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Five Questions with AMBIVALENT (Minus/Detroit, USA)

Interview | From the mind of | 10/24/2009

Many people recognize Ambivalent (aka Kevin McHugh) as the upcoming artist featured on Richie Hawtin’s Minus imprint, and while that is true, there is the side I also remember from his days in New York when he hosted his “Micromini” nights at Filter 14, and was co-host with Camea on The Nerd Tank radio show on East Village Radio.  I know Kevin as a genuine purveyor and lover of techno, and before the craze of minimal, he was there from the early days.

I had a chance to speak with Kevin as he prepares to play in NY and LA Halloween weekend.  Now a Berlin transplant and in-demand artist globally, he still finds time to engage in a small chat.

Here are five questions I asked him. Enjoy.

Ambivalent

Deepak: It seems like you have been working with Richie for a long time.  when, where and how did you relationship develop and how has your relationship evolved now that your a Minus artist?
Ambivalent: I met Rich when I was doing a music festival for an arts organization called Creative Time. We did electronic music and art events under the Brooklyn Bridge. I kept asking Rich to do a show with us, and it never worked out. But we ended up talking about common interests and hung out whenever he was in NY. Eventually we started doing projects together. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that he asked me to join the label as an artist. That was the beginning of a different phase of my life, but our friendship definitely influenced me tremendously.

Deepak: How has the move to berlin pushed your career along?  did you think twice about it, or was it an easy decision?   why do so many artists flock to Berlin?
Ambivalent: It definitely wasn’t an easy decision. I moved to NY in 1996, so it feels like home. I loved my life there, and would have loved to stay. But ultimately there was no way to make a living on my music and still pay a New York rent. Being in Berlin has made it possible to focus on my music rather than a day job. I also love European audiences and their dedication to this music culture. People recognize your work more clearly and appreciate it differently. There are great audiences in North America, also, but it seems that things take hold more slowly in the US.

Deepak: Do you have a favorite gig from this year you can tell us about?
Ambivalent: There are a few that stand out. I just played with a bunch of other Minus artists in a Contakt show at Brixton Academy in London. Piknik Electronik in Montreal was awesome. A great show at Cocoon club in Frankfurt and also the Monsters of House festival in Munich.
One of my favorite gigs was on a Sunday afternoon in an abandoned warehouse in Hamburg. The guys who do this party are so cool. They made this massive space feel so intimate just by propping these shipping containers around the space, and then they had people in furry animal costumes running around…it just felt like the kind of thing where there’s so much love put into a really underground event. That’s the stuff I keep hoping to see more of…

Deepak: Do you miss NY, and anything in particular about the city?
Ambivalent: My girlfriend still lives in Brooklyn, so I go back pretty often to see her and she comes to Europe pretty often as well. That tends to keep me from getting homesick. Of course there are friends who I miss, and certain things that I rush to when I get back. Namely good mexican food. One thing that you don’t get so often in other cities is the busy streetlife and people watching. I was in Paris this summer and a bus blew smog in my face, and it actually made me miss New York. That sounds so twisted, doesn’t it?

Deepak: What are a few differences and similarities of the scene in Berlin and NY?
Ambivalent: Well, the music scene in Berlin is different than it was a few years ago. I think it’s changed because so many people have heard the legends about certain clubs, etc. So now there seems to be a pressure for things to live up to. There are definitely nice things about being in a city with so many clubs and DJs that you can go out any night of the week and hear someone really good. The flip-side is that you don’t have the same excitement as you’d have in a so-called “smaller” scene. The NY parties I’ve been to since I left have really impressed me with their energy. I think it’s getting better all the time.

Join me in welcoming Ambivalent back to NY as he DJs our final Hidden Recordings Residency Night of 2009 and Halloween Eve Special on Friday October 30th!

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Meet Dieter Krause

General | From the mind of | 09/10/2009

It’s been a while since my last blog post as it’s been a hectic summer, and I wanted to continue the story on how Hidden Recordings came into existence in hopes it’ll show people out there that life is truly random, and good things happen if you continue to push what you love.

Now onto the post for this month and I wanted to introduce my friend and production partner, Dieter Krause.

I often get asked, “Who is this Dieter Krause you work with and how did you meet him.  Does he really exist?”  The answer is of course yes, and here’s how it happened:

It ties into the Boogaloo compilation I released back in 2004.  I had licensed a moody hypnotic track named “Cherchez Moi” from the German label Plong, produced by Laplaceausoleil.  About a year after I released the compilation I received an email from Dieter who I wasn’t aware was a part of Laplaceausoleil.  We began to speak more and more on the music we enjoy and love, and I quickly found Dieter’s knowledge runs deep of all styles and genres, and most important, across generations.  Sometimes I even felt inadequate, asking what I felt was like dumb questions, about the artists he was talking about.  I realized I had spent so much time focusing on techno, that I lost part of old identity, and to what makes music so great – the different styles and genres that can evoke the same feelings of bliss.  It was a great reminder that I loved jazz, blues, and classic rock.  I also learned a ton about some of the older music from Europe, and even the States that Dieter loved, which I would then became curious and Google to learn all about.  To those reading, always remember your musical roots and what first inspired you before you took the leap into the world of electronica.

The music we had most in common was the psychedelic, emotional styles of the 60′s and 70′s with Pink Floyd being our favorite.  We would email back and forth about our favorites songs, and from there we would both give recommendations of similar styles and bands.  We both agreed that we should have been at Woodstock, taking in all the sounds, sights and vibe of the festival.  We often say to each other that we would have been hippies in former times.

A few months after we began exchanging emails, we began to exchange music files as I was beginning to produce and I wanted Dieter’s critique.  He was patient, probably laughing a little at the files I was initially sending.  But he was always supporting, complimenting my ear and offering suggestions.  I remember he (more…)


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Boogaloo. Brooklyn. 3:23 pm – PART TWO

General | From the mind of | 06/11/2009

CD Back including tracklisting

First, how’s everyone enjoying the amazing DEMF coverage on RV? Good stuff, huh? Who does video better??

OK, so now back to Part Two of my Blog which speaks to project in my life that really opened a lot of doors, the release of Boogaloo. Brooklyn. 3.23pm.

Last we left off, I had just hosted an amazing party at the small lounge in Brooklyn (named Boogaloo for those who forgot) with Tyrant (Craig Richards + Lee Burridge) on a Wednesday night.

Shortly after that I began to discuss with the owner of the lounge, Chance that we should release a CD for the bar thats indicative of the vibe and nights we had there. Besides the Wednesday soirée that was a huge success, we had many a crazy night at this small lounge, often times going well past closing hours. I fondly remember around 4:30am, the bartenders would pull down the shades overlooking the street and we would keep the party going. The crowd would be a mixed back, some would say even a bit rogue-ish; but they were all there to have a good time. Often the parties would end in daylight with a few continuing on, and that’s how I came up with the concept of the music for the CD – a soundtrack for after-hours. The number 3:23pm was random in choice, left up to interpretation. We wanted to assign a time not normally connected to electronic music, but for those who understand and were at Boogaloo, they would simply smirk at the time, since it was known that some of the afterhours would go into the afternoon. ;-)

I spent nearly two years on the project from beginning to end, living off of peanuts, in between jobs barely scraping by, my girlfriend at the time hating me because of how consumed I was with this project, (I remember one studio sessions beginning around 9pm and going until 8am, leaving and seeing people go to work) and running into obstacle after obstacle on why this project should have never been completed. The only reason this ever went to market, I would say is perseverance. There’s no need to go into all of the (more…)


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