Silencefiction

Marc Kate (aka Silencefiction, aka Husband) was born into a family of musicians and academics in Montréal, Québec in 1971.
He bought his first Technics shortly after buying his first Chain Reaction 12”’s, but really started DJing at art openings while in grad school. “I wanted to play obscure European techno, while the other artists wanted to dance to Prince. Finding the happy medium was very educational. Probably the best value for my student loan dollar.” Since then, he has played to venues as diverse as Burning Man, 1015 Folsom and Trannyshack.
In San Francisco, he formed the techno weekly [404] in 2001, the acid house revival party Jack in 2005, and became a Qoöl resident in 2007. Later in 2007, he formed the live techno duo Land Sound with Robert Crouch. The next year, he released "Lipstique" on Loöq Records, and founded the label Untitled & After.
He is as much inspired by visual artists like Yayoi Kusama and Eva Hesse as DJ’s like Richie Hawtin and Ellen Allien, -- applying a less-is-more ethos while bathing the dancefloor in an ocean of sound. “How do I create a track or a set that is both psychedelic and cerebral?” he asks, “Or lush and minimal? Exploring that tension is what excites me about techno.”
As a musician, he has played bass, keyboards and/or engineered for synth-prog band I Am Spoonbender, goth-punk duo Evolution Rainbow and dark cabaret iconoclast Vinsantos as a member of his band A Sixthe Toe. He has also composed soundtracks for performer/choreographer Monique Jenkinson and political circus spectacle Circo Zero and contributed music to Vena Virago's Vivid Alt film Honey Bunny.
http://silencefiction.com/
http://www.myspace.com/sfiction
Interview

Land Sound

Land Sound is the musical collaboration of Robert Crouch and Silencefiction (Marc Kate). Combining laptops with live electronics, Land Sound creates minimal electronic music that explores the tension between dance floor propulsion and headphone-worthy obsession with detail. Drawing inspiration from a wide array of sources such as conceptual art, photography, house, “shoe gazing,” and ambient music, Land Sound is both a celebration of this latitude as it is the struggle to maintain cohesion within the context of the dance floor. “How do I create a track or a set that is both psychedelic and cerebral?” Kate asks, “Or lush and minimal? Exploring that tension is what excites me about techno.”
Land Sound has performed live p.a.'s at the De Yound Museum and Qoöl at 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco.
http://www.landsound.com/
http://www.myspace.com/landsound
Interview

Jesse Somfay

"I have intense dream sequences during my sleep. Some of these dreams are decadent trophies amongst all of my other dreams and remain overexposed in my mind free for me to rediscover at any time. These dreams consist of immense psychedelic journeys through the richest and most detailed scenes of strange and otherworldly spaces and enclosures. The natural becomes the hypernatural and old baroque wall paneling appears slowly with an ever present feeling of grace. Gelatenous lamp shades create glassy halos around light fixtures which erupt from the mycelium of the walls and ceilings. Pictures on the wall become doors to self similar rooms and it just keeps on going until one last incredible space perfect with every imperfection. Picturesque windows are pushed open and the shutters removed. The warmest pure sunbeams shine through the windows and while the eyes adjust, a forest of ten mile high trees with the most perfect glossy green heart shaped leaves unfurls and tears are shed by way of a single gentle smile. For one brief moment, I was there."
http://www.jessesomfay.com

Dead Seal

San Francisco producer Derrick Boyd (aka Dead Seal) plays maestro and master of ceremonies in San Francisco's underground techno scene. In the studio and in live performance, Dead Seal sings, plays clarinet, guitar, bass and laptop - creating a biomechanical cabaret for the dancefloor. His sense of bravado and daring blurs the line between a gritty rock show and the microprocessor-obsessed futurism of techno. His powerful stage presence is part Iggy Pop and part Perry Farrell. More than just a unique personality, he brings control and dark seduction to his entranced crowds. Even the alias Dead Seal is part of this mystique, acting as "a symbol of my past, present and future lives - reminding me that I am more than just a man."
Boyd has been a recording junkie since his teens, creating a volume of over a hundred tracks which he jokingly refers to as his "Dead Seal Scrolls". "I am really hard on myself and demand a lot of myself before I die. But I assure everyone that the best has yet to come. I'm just getting warmed up." This is not mere talk; in 2009 he has delivered 18 new tracks to the labels Untitled & After, Auralism, Nightlight Music and Whiskey Pickle. In addition to Dead Seal, Boyd divides time between playing bass in the band Landshark with DJ/producers Lance DeSardi and Tasho as well as his latest project the Machine Forest with his girlfriend Zoe Presnic.
http://www.myspace.com/deadsealrising

Birdcage

Birdcage was born in a small town in the East around the same time as the birth of the CD, before the shift from analogue to digital music. Influenced by his western music-loving mother, he grew up steeped in the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, The Carpenters, and classical music.
While his friends were listening to rock and punk, he stayed with melody and beauty, and gradually amassed a large and diverse collection of CDs and vinyl. Tirelessly searching for encounters with new music, he came upon electronic dance music. Attracted to the modern sound, innovative compositions and overwhelming groove, he was drawn to DJing. Expressing his worldview, his mixes are exquisite and delicate, centered on ambient techno with melody. His DJ style doesn’t rely solely on grooves and is not only for the dance floor but also for home listening.
While developing his career as a DJ, like many artists, he was also interested in producing original tracks. He taught himself music production and engineering, releasing his debut Ivory Tower EP on Basilic Records (France 2008). It took Birdcage only two years since he started producing music to emerge onto the world dance music scene.
Birdcage describes his productions as ‘ambient and melodic that express a deep spiritual world’, with mysterious and beautiful melodies. His approach freely explores music without resting on the knowledge of genres he has nurtured from a young age.
As well as releasing more tracks Birdcage will be handling mastering for local artists as part of a wide range of activities from his Sapporo base; and he’ll always be searching for new directions and possibilities in electronic music.
http://www.myspace.com/birdcagemetonymy

Robert Crouch

Robert Crouch was born in Vandenberg Air Force Base, a spaceport in California, and spent his formative years living across the US and most significantly, Japan, where he developed an interest in unconventional forms of pop music at a young age by being exposed to bands such as Yellow Magic Orchestra and Kraftwerk. This early fascination with electronic textures and rhythms paved the way for a more substantial interest in post-punk and experimental electronic music by a diverse range of artists including Throbbing Gristle, Coil, Nurse With Wound, Wire, Killing Joke, Savage Republic, the Cure, the Cocteau Twins, and David Sylvian. At this time he began his first forays into art and music with crude experimental 4-track tape compositions and various noisy garage bands.
While a student at the San Francisco Art Institute, he collaborated on a sound installation with (at that time fellow student) SF filmmaker Frazer Bradshaw, a pivotal creative project which would develop into a deeper relationship with sound based art. At this time he also befriended Marc Kate, with whom he would collaborate on various art and music projects, and later form the techno duo Land Sound. During his graduate studies at CalArts, he discovered electronic dance music and began to DJ parties and art events in Los Angeles. This activity quickly morphed into producing electronic music, an act he cites as “an extension of listening.”
As a visual artist, Robert has exhibited his work in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and London. He is releasing his first proper music tracks on U&A.
http://robertcrouch.com/

Yann Novak

Yann Novak is a sound artist and composer based in Los Angeles. His compositions have been published by Dragon's Eye Recordings (US), The Henry Art Gallery (US), Infrequency (CA), Mandorla (MX), smlEditions (US) and White_Line Editions (UK) among others. His work utilizes different forms of digital documentation as a point of departure. Through the digital manipulation of these sound and image files, his works serve as a translation from documents of personal experiences into new compositions fueled by the original experience.
Novak's installations and performances have been presented internationally at prestigious events and venues including American Academy in Rome (Rome, Italy), Decibel Festival (WA), Henry Art Gallery (WA), Las Cienegas Project (CA), Lawrimore Project (WA), LACE (CA), Mutek Festival (Montreal, QB), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (CA), Suyama Space (WA), TBA Festival (OR) and Western Bridge (WA).
As a result of these endeavors, Novak had been invited to numerous Residencies including Environmental Aesthetics Residency (WA), Espy Foundation Residency (WA), and Kasini House Studio A Residency (VT).
In 2005, Novak re-launched his father’s Dragon’s Eye Recordings imprint with a new focus on limited edition releases by emerging and mid-carrier sound artists, composers and producers. Since its re-launch, Dragon’s Eye Recordings has published over 25 releases and has received critical acclaim. In 2009, Infrequency Editions, curated by Jamie Drouin, was integrated into Dragon’s Eye’s operations and distribution.
In recent years Novak has collaborated through select installation, performance and recorded work with CSDG, Robert Crouch, Jamie Drouin, Will Long and Marc Manning.
http://www.yannnovak.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yann-Novak/48454202573

Overcast Sound

Overcast Sound creates introspective compositions built from fragments of field recordings, oblique references to dub rhythms, and sweeping cinematic textures, resulting in a style uniquely their own. When combined with their evocative visuals, Overcast Sound creates a compelling experience which explores ideas beyond musical pattern.
Through improvised performances, Michael Pettit and Jamie Drouin re-imagine their studio tracks in new and unexpected ways, creating a personal and intimate musical experience. Although not easily categorized, they succeed in engaging the listener, whether at home or on the dance floor.
They have been featured on the labels Silent Season, Thoughtless Music, and Untitled & After, with performances at Decibel, New Forms, and Soundwave music festivals.
http://www.overcastsound.com

Jondi & Spesh

With a discography that includes over sixty remixes and singles, three critically acclaimed albums, and tracks appearing on popular TV shows and video games, Jondi & Spesh are internationally recognized as two of America’s most innovative dance music producers.
The San Francisco Examiner described their latest album, "The Answer", as an "impressive collection of hook-laden pop-prog rockers and exquisite, breaks-driven dreamscapes". The SF Chronicle chimed in with "[an] almost lounge-sounding aural kaleidoscope ... groovy, danceable, and eminently listenable machine pop." BPM Culture called "The Answer" "A bona fide eye/ear opener, and a top draw one at that." Urb Magazine described it as "minimal majesty."
Well known in the U.S. since 1994, Jondi & Spesh burst onto the international scene in 1999, first with their massive west coast progressive anthem, "We Are Connected", then shortly after with a full length album of the same name which received glowing reviews and became one of Muzik magazine’s top 40 albums of 2000 (ahead of Madonna). The Jondi & Spesh discography includes over sixty singles and remixes on labels such as Bedrock, Renaissance, SOG, Mechanism, and their own label Loöq Records.
In addition to their production work, Jondi & Spesh run the west coast's top progressive music label, Loöq Records (www.looq.com) as well as hosting San Francisco's original and longest-running electronic music club night, The Qoöl Happy Hour (www.qoolsf.com) which was rated by Citysearch.com as the best happy hour in the United States and has been featured in San Francisco magazine, Muzik, Urb, and the SF Weekly.
http://www.jondiandspesh.com
http://www.looq.com

Sublamp

Sublamp is Los Angeles based artist Ryan Connor. Born in 1979, Ryan was raised by scientist parents living among various national parks before settling in the rocky mountains. This early connection with nature and science led to a fascination with the textures of growth and decay, and with the an experimental approach to music. This is evident in his sound work, which explores an intuitive and emotional response to sound and the concept of consciousness without language as the evolutionary precursor to the human mind. Relocating to Los Angeles to attend the California Institute of the Arts in 2000, Ryan also began to experiment with short video work exploring recursive image generation (video rescan) and the relationship of images to sound.
http://sublamp.com/

Lance De Sardi

Even though Lance De Sardi has the skills to twist knobs with the best of ‘em, he’s just as happy sitting with pen and paper writing songs. Not willing to claim any one genre as his “style”, his musical output always teeters somewhere between Techno, House & Industrial, but always highly electronic.
These days, with the party in full swing in San Francisco, Lance has his grubby fingers in almost every aspect of music. He’s started a label and coinciding club night called Bang the Box, turned his alter ego Land Shark into a full live band, and is even working on a live performance for his solo material. “Whatever you do”, he says, “don’t pigeon hole me. Aren’t those things rats with wings?”
He has released records on Classic, Naked Music, Coco Machete, Seasons, and PIAS, to name a few. With his 2003 underground hit “Tie Me Up”, under the moniker Land Shark, and his huge remix of Zap Mama’s “Rafiki”, he has solidified his place in dance music lore.
http://www.myspace.com/lancedogtags

Safety Scissors

The boundary between 'artist' and 'geek' is fine, yet frequently unacknowledged or concealed by overzealous intellectuals. MPC (i.e., Safety Scissors) does little to hide his social awkwardness in the quirky techno he produces and performs. If anything, he would rather admit to being a geek than to being an 'artist' or a 'musician'. 'Anonymity is much more interesting. It's silly when people say they are an artist or a musician. They're just trying to cover up for something else- that they don't have a girlfriend or smell bad or suffer from alcoholism'.
Although he is the ultimate dork debonair, MPC does not over-obsess with the computing process. Singing on his works for Force Tracks and Plug Research, MPC experiments with camp techno. Releases on Carpark and his own label Proptronix similarly pervert techno formula with an electric ukelele and bubble gum.
MPC has an abstract and clumsy approach to making music and distinguishes himself from the intellectualism of abstract/minimal techno. The proud drop-out of the art school establishment pursues neither expressions of unmediated human feeling found in Abstract Expressionism or regimented lines of stucture in minimalism. Rather, with subtlety and smoothness, he references both in his unique sense of sarcasm.
http://www.myspace.com/safetyscissorsmusic
http://www.context.fm/artists_safety.html

TJ Norris

TJ Norris is a multidisciplinary artist, curator (Tufts Aidekman Art Center, Miller Fine Art Center/Linfield College, SUNY Binghamton Art Museum, The Smithsonian) and writer (Leonardo/MIT Press, artNews, Signal to Noise, Paris Transatlantic). His critically acclaimed work has been called conceptual, ascetic and minimal and is a hybrid blend of photography, installation, video, sculpture and collaboration shown and collected throughout North America and Europe. Norris has worked with a host of composers including Nobukazu Takemura, Scanner, Asmus Tietchens, Terre Thaemlitz, Paul Schutze, Christian Renou, Leif Elggren, Janek Schaefer and others and has compiled recordings for both Innova Recordings/American Composers Forum and Beta-lactam Ring Records.
http://www.tjnorris.net

Margie Schnnibbe

Margie Schnibbe is a multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker. Her body of work has included documentary films, underground shorts, animation, photography, painting, installation and works on paper.
As a writer-director, Ms. Schnibbe created the feature length documentary “Pornstar Pets” for Brink Films and has made a living as a commercial pornographer, directing movies for Vivid Alt and Hustler under the name Vena Virago. Her latest porn film called Honey Bunny was re-imagined, re-shot and re-mixed by a group of NYC video artists as a 2-channel installation and premiered at Monkeytown in Brooklyn.
Ms Schnibbe’s videos have screened in festivals, galleries and alternative venues world wide including Rotterdam International Film Festival, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), Mix NYC/Brazil, Chicago Underground Film Festival and PFF Berlin. Recent reviews include Artforum.com and Modern Painters. Ms Schnibbe’s 2008 solo exhibit at Circus Gallery was chosen as one of the year’s top ten in Los Angeles by Saatchi Online.
"My work mirrors the experience of my life: a punk rock brew of high brow, low brow, and porn, all from the POV of the psychoanalyst's couch."
http://www.margieschnibbe.com
http://www.venavirago.com