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Paul Merritt @ |
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1.
please introduce yourslf
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i'm paul merritt, i run the expanding records label with ben edwards (a.k.a. benge) i also record with ben as 'stendec' and dj as tench
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2.
what do you think about your domestic electronic music scene?
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we are based in london and here its very rare that a type of music stays still for long enough for a scene to be established, people skip from one style to another and more worried about being outside of a scene than being part of something more interested in music as fashion than the music itself, this unfortunately means that there isn`t really a focus point for electronic music or a real scene. if there is one it is fractured, the sprawl club used to be a good central hub for electronica in london but now concentrates on microsound and "clicks and cuts" style electronica. expandings club Īthe condition of muzakā or T:COM which ran monthly through 2001 tried to cross all the styles of contemporary electronic music and i think it worked quite well, sticking to pure electronic music of all types and never straying into Īclub musicā territory. we stopped t:com due to sound problems at the venue we used. we`ve been looking for a new venue but one that is also good for multimedia, visuals / film etc and that also has a good sound system, we havn`t found it yet but hope to start T:COM again in London in 2003. after saying this i don`t think london is representative of the electronic music scene in the uk and there does appear to be healthy scenes in other parts of britain and ireland. |
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3.
what do you think about european electronic music scene?
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from
what i have seen it appears that the electronic music scene in europe
is a healthy and varied one, electronic music is almost the folk music
of some countries in germany and belgium techno is one of the the major
forms of both popular and underground music and events such as the love
parade draw millions of people. people also seem to be able to not see
any difference in different types of electronica in europe and see all
scenes as being related. when we have toured around europe the thing
i`ve been most impressed with is the open mindedness of people, the
ability of people who are not part of the scene or who have maybe not
heard the kind of music we do, listen to it and enjoy it without worrying
about what style it is, and listening to it as Īmusicā first |
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4.
what do you think about north ameriacn electronic music scene?
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really
liked
the early schematic stuff and hefty and carpark are great too iām really
interested in seeing where the american scene will head next. |
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5.
do you know the japanese electronic music scene? and are you interested
in it?
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progressive
form is really my major exposure to the japanese electronica music scene
and i really like their releases, especially from the japanese artists
on the label, i of course know that there is a healthy techno scene in
japan but would would love to hear more from other japanese electronica
labels, it seems that japenese electronic music made in japan is only
just being made available to us in the uk now. i know japanese artists
working and living in london but i feel that their music is probably quite
different from music actually produced in japan. |
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6.
what do you think about future of electronic music?
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when
i first got involved in the scene in around 1995 there seemed to be more
of an accent on environment and multi-media, i`m hoping that with the
advent of dvd and other easily usable visual formats that there will me
more audio visual approach, it hopefully won`t be long before dj`s will
be able to mix dvd cutting up sound and vision simultaneously, it`s basically
a case of having the format but waiting for the hardware to be made available,
i have heard that the scene in japan regarding multimedia music events
is far in advance of what we have in the uk at the moment. |
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7.
do you have any interests in current music scene?
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i`m interested and enjoy all forms of music, i like pop, classical and folk music. music to me is music first and formost though after saying this the music that exites me most, ever since i was a small child, is music created with synthesisers.
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8.
if you have something to add, feel free.
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the wonderful thing about electronica is that it is totally international, it`s great that i`ve been asked to reply to this questionaire for a label in japan, thankyou! Expanding
Records < http://www.expandingrecords.com
> |
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