Kieran Holden - Minotaur Sound DJ interview!

It's time for another Minotaur Sound DJ interview! This time featuring the super talented Kieran Holden.

Minotaur Sound: " So Kieran, what are your biggest musical influences?"

Kieran H: "'A Love from Outerspace' certainly re-ignited my interest in dance music, it's such a great melting pot. I think the best DJ set that I've heard in a while had to be Paramida at the Masked Ball in Flambards Amusement Park, lovely stuff in a great setting too.

Labels like Emotional Response, Optimo, Tusk Was, Throne Of Blood, Tici Taci and that's sorts of business never leave the bag.

Also hearing some of my tracks getting a play from some personal heroes like Bill Brewster / Andy Weatherall / Justin Robertson and Ewan Pearson is a massive shot in the arm. Makes you want to produce more".

Minotaur Sound: "Just wow, you had us at 'A love from Outerspace!'... So tell us a lesser known fact about yourself"

Kieran H: "Bernie, the Bassist out of The Holles taught me how to play bass when I was a kid, and I've still got his old Rickenbacker bass. Still my only bass and I love it. I let him borrow it for use in this 1975 TV special - which you can view here.

We give you Kieran Holden...Kieran is part of the Upstairs Downstairs DJ collective in Newquay. With releases on Tici Taci and Alfresco Disco and a remix for Nein Records, his production credentials are flawless. See and hear Kieran in deck action at our launch night!

The beastie approves of his limited edition lair ware

Check out our beautiful limited edition tees! Beautifully designed by our resident Graphic Designers Lun and Claire. You can purchase them on our big cartel site here. Be quick as we only made 50 of them.

We went for a really simple but impacting design - a labyrinth and mysterious glyphs. Tee detail gives you a limited edition flourish on the sleeve.



Available in top quality Gildan 100% cotton. sizes extra small, small, medium, large and extra large.


Buy your tee now in time for launch night or will be available to purchase on the night.

With thanks to Cass for stunning model shots. Cass will be wearing her tee on launch night.

Donewrong - Minotaur Sound DJ interview!

So, following on in the footsteps of last week's DJ G Rowe interview - we are now onto our second DJ chit chat. The intention is to get inside their heads - what makes them kick? What sets them apart from the rest? Donewrong will be at our Launch Night and here is what he had to say...






Donewrong: "So, biggest musical influences? (scratches chin) - ok, I haven't interviewed this candidly before, so it's good to get it off my chest - I've been into music ever since I was a kid. My parents would strap me to a pair of 1210's and beat the backs of my hands every time I made a mistake. At age 9, they sent me to a Russian Academy where I was whipped and starved until I could beatmatch only by looking at the grooves in the vinyl. A few months later, my fingers were replaced with robotic digits by Sovient KGB Surgeons to increase my fader speed. Outside of that, I am drawn to the sound of mating insects and the noise that super heated plasma makes on contact with the flesh of the guilty.






Minotaur Sound: "errrr...ok, that's quite revealing I guess, how about you tell us a lesser known fact about yourself?"






Donewrong: "I love records so much, I had my skin replaced with vinyl. It has caused some personal issues, but when I get down I scratch myself with a pin and boogie to the music it makes. Incidentally that music is FUNK".






Minotaur Sound: "Donewrong is certainly one of those elusive artsy DJ types who takes his work very seriously and we can now see why".






Here at Minotaur Central, we delved further into why Donewrong does what he does:






Donewrong: "People often ask me, "Donewrong, why did you do that? What possible good could come of it?", and my answer is always the same. I lock eyes with them and shriek at the top of my lungs, slowly lowering the volume until it is barely above a whisper, never once blinking, until they stop bothering me. This technique worked so well with Carl Cox that he dedicated his set to me that fateful night in Bali.






One sunny August, many years ago down the old Ladbroke Road, I introduced Fabio & Grooverider to Jungle music. I can't remember if they liked it or not, never heard from them again.










Another tip I've picked up over the course of my career, is that most DJ's can be sent into a ferocious panic if you replace a third of their records with Charles & Eddies smash hit 'Would I lie to you', apart from Mr. Scruff, he gets off on that jam.








Much like a wild musth elephant, my sets are frisky and threatening. Never take your eyes off me, I could be behind you in an instant, garrote in hand, leering like a gargoyle and shivering with blood lust."






...There you have it. We leave you in the safe vinyl hands of Donewrong - watch him in action on Launch Night.

Minimal -v- Melodic Techno?

What is melodic and minimal techno? To answer that question, you have to understand what Techno actually is. Just type 'Techno definition' into google and there are vast arrays and essays about it, it's meaning, it's origins and it's anatomical component parts. Best described by my youngest daughter as 'it's so repetitive!'. Where time is marked with a bass drum on each quarter note and some random squiggle of a sound (could be a clap or a hi hat or a vocal or any catchy noise) on every second eighth note. Techno hails from the use of the 'Techno Rebels' label (those who have read Alvin Toffler's 'The Third Wave' will understand this) and how true techno tends to have been generated on older analog synthesizers and those wanting to keep vinyl production alive. So that's Techno in a very small nutshell.


So, when someone asked me 'what is melodic techno?' - I typed that into google, only to be stood upon a parapet of the unknown. Curious, I decided to explore this a bit more, so as to come up with a definition that wouldn't have me reaching out for a search engine. Techno stalwarts will know about minimal techno - best heard in places like Berghain or Trouw or anywhere with stark, dimly lit concrete walls and a DJ with a gas mask on. A perfect DJ example would be Pearson Sound (and I quote as I have seen him live) - a series of interesting percussion noises, beats and misplaced sounds that kind of work well in a really surprising way. Add electro glitches, progressive drum beats and noises that would appear to been taken from a sci-fi film and you have minimal techno. I.e. there is little to no melody.


Have a listen to this for a good minimal techno DJ set example from Pearson Sound and his latest Essential Mix for the BBC. If you can quote a better example then send it over or comment below.


Melodic techno uses the underpinning structure of techno and instead of sounds and interesting noises, overlays it with...wait for it...melody! The binding together of melody makes a Techno track warmer, more intimate and sometimes uplifting. But what is melody? Stupid question, right? Wikipedia describes it as 'a sequence of single notes that is musically satisfying; a tune'. Does that mean that minimal Techno could potentially be dissatisfying?! In the end it's all in the musical eye of the beholder. A lot of current DJ's and producers are able to swing between minimal and melodic, with ease. You might be up for a night of minimal techno because you're just in that mood, maybe you've had a bad day and you want to hit those techno sounds hard in some dark shady corner. On the other hand, you might be heading out with your mates, all is good in the world and the warmth of melodic techno captivates you all into a lovely bonding session of hugs and love (and that's without a single instance of MDMA ever being taken!).


Good examples of melodic techno DJ's are Maceo Plex and Worakls to name but just a few. Melodic techno at it's best could probably be best encapsulated by this Boiler Room DJ set by Maceo Plex.


Do you agree with this description? What is your take? I'm all ears.


Cathy

G Rowe - Minotaur Sound DJ interview!

So here's the first of our interviews with one of our DJ's G Rowe. George was instrumental in finding our Launch Party headline Illy Noize. He is an ex resident at Bristol's salubrious Headrush and Das Ist Nights. If you have clubbed out in Bristol, doubtless you will have been in his very safe hands.



G Rowe at a New Years gig 2015

Minotaur Sound: "Who are your biggest musical influences and why?"

George: "Hmmm...well I listen to all types of things, but in House and Techno, I'd probably say people like George Fitgerald and Scuba for stuff that's really good to dance to late at night. I also really like some funky stuff from the likes of Bicep, The Revenge and anything on Toytonics. There are loads of amazing people from Bristol like Outboxx, Jay L, Bashmore, Christophe, Behling and Simpson. Loads of stuff really"

Minotaur Sound: "Sick choices! Now tell us a lesser known fact about yourself"


George: " A lesser known fact?! Err...this guy is my Great, Great, Great Uncle or something, and was described as the 'richest man to captain England at football'. I didn't see a penny of it"

Minotaur Sound: "Haha thanks George! Can't wait to see you do your thing on 20th Feb Launch Party"





















<-- R. Cunliffe Gosling (aka as George's Great, Great, Great Uncle who didn't leave him with a penny. (c) Wikipedia.

Bring on the weirdness styling!

Have to say that here at Minotaur Sound central, we are just a tad excitement about what is about to come. We've even started a Pinterest Board to style our Launch Party night.






You can take a look at it by clicking here and check out the Berlin Techno concept. Obviously we don't want to make it a stringent style - we're talking about our fierce Techno loving Minotaur in his sound labyrinth, dark tunnels winding their way down into the bowls of an old Police Station and bringing in some of the best atmospheric music to be heard in Bristol by our DJ creatures. Hairs on the back of your neck prepare to stand up!






We will have plenty of other surprises - we're finding it hard to keep ourselves quiet, suffice to say that you will love it all.

Happy New Year from the horned beast

So 2016 starts with the resounding bang of those magnificent Westminster fireworks and here at Minotaur Sound we say Happy New Year to our lovely Minotaureans. 2016 is going to be a particularly good year for us as it's our Launch Party year and we know how much buzz you are going to get from that one event alone.


We are humbled to see how Tier 1 tickets are flying off the shelves at a much faster rate than anticipated to such an extent that we had to pour more Tier 1's into the pot over Christmas. You lovely peeps - we will deliver a party that will have you wanting to come back for more.


With love from the Minotaur Sound Team xxx