This is a regular podcast of mostly guest DJ mixes and live sets from producers, live acts and DJ's who are rising or established talent.
Subscribe via iTunes : apple.co/2Zd51cs
Interview & Tracklist : https://bit.ly/3hXn1Sq
Guests are encouraged to explore a bit further into their collections with an opportunity to step away from the dance floor if they desire.
For the twenty fifth episode we welcome Jason Szostek aka BPMF who has been active producing music and as a live act since 1995. Solo as BPMF as well as being 1/3 of the Prototype 909 project and live act.
Also of note alongside John Selway the duo produced seminal electro project Synapse and also founded the Serotonin label putting out their own music along with releases by diverse acts such as Alex Cortex, Fisherspooner, Autokinetic and Solvent. I'm very excited to present the first liveset in the series which is a recording of his recent set for Techno-club.net.
Subscribe via iTunes : apple.co/2Zd51cs
Interview & Tracklist : https://bit.ly/3hXn1Sq
Guests are encouraged to explore a bit further into their collections with an opportunity to step away from the dance floor if they desire.
For the twenty fifth episode we welcome Jason Szostek aka BPMF who has been active producing music and as a live act since 1995. Solo as BPMF as well as being 1/3 of the Prototype 909 project and live act.
Also of note alongside John Selway the duo produced seminal electro project Synapse and also founded the Serotonin label putting out their own music along with releases by diverse acts such as Alex Cortex, Fisherspooner, Autokinetic and Solvent. I'm very excited to present the first liveset in the series which is a recording of his recent set for Techno-club.net.
Photo: Seze Devres
Interview
First I wanted to say, thanks for sharing this live set to be included in the Recreational Therapy series. It’s the first one yet and I’m really excited about sharing it.
I'm psyched to be a trail blazer, perhaps you'll get more of them in the future!
What was your inspiration for this making this music?
I was asked by my pal Kim Cosmik to be on this amazing lineup on Cisco's Techno-club.net.
The Advent was very influential for me back in the 90s as I was a techno guy learning about the electro underground and they seemed to be on the same wavelength at the time.
Lately I've gotten a lot of support for my electro experiments by colleagues in the UK so for this performance I was really inspired to give back and acknowledge all the great music they and their crews have given us over the decades. Its really exciting to find a whole new audience after working in various circles for decades so I set out to give a solid hour of what I'm all about and I'm pretty happy with the result.
Tell us a little bit about how you approached the gig (can be technically or what inspired the direction/ improvisation)?
I have a lot of experience playing live, but most of it four on the floor techno. Selway and I have played live together as Synapse, but BPMF had only done a handful of full on electro sets live. Personally, as much as I love making electro tracks, or spinning them as a DJ or dancing like a maniac to them, I find performing it live compared to techno much more difficult.
It's all in my head as it is that electro puts me into a different state of mind. I usually have a much clearer more focused and more musical intention in mind when I set out to make electro. That's a different level of pressure than my approach to techno which is very spontaneous and more experimental. I was inspired by the challenge of it. I decided to take as techno of an approach as possible in how I laid out the sequences and sounds in an effort to be more relaxed about it. I can honestly say I practiced so many times by the time I hit record this set just flowed.
What has been influential for you musically in the past, and also more recently?
Growing up in the 70s anything that had a synthesiser on it made my ears open up. It was rock and roll on the more progressive end of things mostly but I was fortunately to have an older brother and friends who introduced me to more experimental sounds like Tangerine Dream and YMO.
But I think it all came together for me when I heard Gary Numan and the British new wave that quickly followed. Now electronics wasn't just another class of instruments making traditional music, it had its own aesthetic values and it was really new. It was perfect timing for a 12 year old. Got my Yamaha CS-01 and by the time Golden Age of Wireless came out I was playing along.
Meanwhile in the US electro and funk had taken over and loving it all, I just wanted it all to come together like peanut butter and chocolate. By the early 90s it really did thanks to some friends in Detroit, Germany and the UK we had a revival going that felt even better than the original school.
Lately I've been catching up on years of things that I missed while I had fallen out of things in the 2000s. In hindsight I'm glad I sat that time out because as much as I love what people were doing, especially on the more commercial side of things, electro-clash et al, as an artist I didn’t feel I had much to contribute to it. Now feels more free of a time to just be me and fortunately I've gotten involved with a crew of rockers that just want me to be myself. Never had it better honestly.
What are you listening to right now?
REDUNDANCY by THE HORN : A bizarre collection of bleeped out UK IDMno
Who or what is inspiring you musically and otherwise?
I'm always very inspired by everyone playing live with gear. I get transfixed watching them, trying to figure out what they are doing and how. This comes before any genre, style or anything. If someone is rocking a drum machine or a modular I just have to get in there and stare.
My old buddy Mike McClure aka Auto Kinetic rocks gear live like nobody's business. What he produces is always so well engineered it's almost hard to believe it’s live. But I've seen it with my own eyes and know it’s the real deal.
Where can we see or hear your next project?
First, get Anarchist Cookbook out now on myoptik. Coming up I'm on a few compilations this summer, one from Pyramid Transmissions which is really exciting because that lineup is killer as is one from Cybersoul out soon.
Anything else you would like to share?
Yes. I'd like to encourage everyone to connect with the music on the deepest level they can and keep this rock rolling into the future by channeling what makes them special when they bring their energy into the scene. Regenerate, don't revive.
There's no revival, electro never dies. Keep it weird, keep it going!
Links
Soundcloud | Facebook | Bandcamp |Twitter
First I wanted to say, thanks for sharing this live set to be included in the Recreational Therapy series. It’s the first one yet and I’m really excited about sharing it.
I'm psyched to be a trail blazer, perhaps you'll get more of them in the future!
What was your inspiration for this making this music?
I was asked by my pal Kim Cosmik to be on this amazing lineup on Cisco's Techno-club.net.
The Advent was very influential for me back in the 90s as I was a techno guy learning about the electro underground and they seemed to be on the same wavelength at the time.
Lately I've gotten a lot of support for my electro experiments by colleagues in the UK so for this performance I was really inspired to give back and acknowledge all the great music they and their crews have given us over the decades. Its really exciting to find a whole new audience after working in various circles for decades so I set out to give a solid hour of what I'm all about and I'm pretty happy with the result.
Tell us a little bit about how you approached the gig (can be technically or what inspired the direction/ improvisation)?
I have a lot of experience playing live, but most of it four on the floor techno. Selway and I have played live together as Synapse, but BPMF had only done a handful of full on electro sets live. Personally, as much as I love making electro tracks, or spinning them as a DJ or dancing like a maniac to them, I find performing it live compared to techno much more difficult.
It's all in my head as it is that electro puts me into a different state of mind. I usually have a much clearer more focused and more musical intention in mind when I set out to make electro. That's a different level of pressure than my approach to techno which is very spontaneous and more experimental. I was inspired by the challenge of it. I decided to take as techno of an approach as possible in how I laid out the sequences and sounds in an effort to be more relaxed about it. I can honestly say I practiced so many times by the time I hit record this set just flowed.
What has been influential for you musically in the past, and also more recently?
Growing up in the 70s anything that had a synthesiser on it made my ears open up. It was rock and roll on the more progressive end of things mostly but I was fortunately to have an older brother and friends who introduced me to more experimental sounds like Tangerine Dream and YMO.
But I think it all came together for me when I heard Gary Numan and the British new wave that quickly followed. Now electronics wasn't just another class of instruments making traditional music, it had its own aesthetic values and it was really new. It was perfect timing for a 12 year old. Got my Yamaha CS-01 and by the time Golden Age of Wireless came out I was playing along.
Meanwhile in the US electro and funk had taken over and loving it all, I just wanted it all to come together like peanut butter and chocolate. By the early 90s it really did thanks to some friends in Detroit, Germany and the UK we had a revival going that felt even better than the original school.
Lately I've been catching up on years of things that I missed while I had fallen out of things in the 2000s. In hindsight I'm glad I sat that time out because as much as I love what people were doing, especially on the more commercial side of things, electro-clash et al, as an artist I didn’t feel I had much to contribute to it. Now feels more free of a time to just be me and fortunately I've gotten involved with a crew of rockers that just want me to be myself. Never had it better honestly.
What are you listening to right now?
REDUNDANCY by THE HORN : A bizarre collection of bleeped out UK IDMno
Who or what is inspiring you musically and otherwise?
I'm always very inspired by everyone playing live with gear. I get transfixed watching them, trying to figure out what they are doing and how. This comes before any genre, style or anything. If someone is rocking a drum machine or a modular I just have to get in there and stare.
My old buddy Mike McClure aka Auto Kinetic rocks gear live like nobody's business. What he produces is always so well engineered it's almost hard to believe it’s live. But I've seen it with my own eyes and know it’s the real deal.
Where can we see or hear your next project?
First, get Anarchist Cookbook out now on myoptik. Coming up I'm on a few compilations this summer, one from Pyramid Transmissions which is really exciting because that lineup is killer as is one from Cybersoul out soon.
Anything else you would like to share?
Yes. I'd like to encourage everyone to connect with the music on the deepest level they can and keep this rock rolling into the future by channeling what makes them special when they bring their energy into the scene. Regenerate, don't revive.
There's no revival, electro never dies. Keep it weird, keep it going!
Links
Soundcloud | Facebook | Bandcamp |Twitter
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