LowerState

Over the past couple of years, Nathan Fake has built up a reputation as one of the few artists that the cutting edge European techno scene really cares about, with a solid string of dancefloor releases and an unstoppable laptop live show, this Border Community bumkin has wowed festivals the world over with his unique blend of lush melody rich pumping synth lines.

Underlined by a rock-solid production ethic which belies his age, the wall of computer noise created by Fake is truly impressive.

With his debut “Outhouse EP” released on James Holden’s Border Community label (its 2nd release) in 2003, this young Norfolk lad may have appeared to be heading along the tried and tested European techno trail; but as he was quick to illustrate with the psychedelic epic “The Sky Was Pink” there are many more strings to this young rabbit’s bow. Recorded in a single live take, the enchanting arrangement of Boards-of-Canada-esque Casio keyboard riffs and soaring Fake guitar lead lines has led to hundreds of ‘lighter-in-the-air’ moments at festivals the world over.

2005 saw his “Dinamo EP” for Cologne’s Traum, with remixes from Michael Mayer and Dominik Eulberg, as well as an album taster EP featuring remixes from college best buddy Vincent Oliver, Fairmont, and Apparat. Subsequent computer edit-funk remixes followed for Tiefschwarz, Annie, Avus, Steve Lawler and DJ Remy.

His March 2006 debut album “Drowning in a Sea of Love” saw the electronica of Aphex Twin and Four Tet meet the noise and distortion of indie rockers Mogwai and My Bloody Valentine, and proved the perfect excuse to take his rich treasure trove of synth-rock gems on the road. Recent support slots for Squarepusher and Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) & Steve Reid have placed Nathan centre stage in the live arena, but ultimately the immediacy of the interaction with the crowd that you get in a club environment remains of the utmost importance to him.

A Nathan Fake laptop live show is a much more intense and visual experience than one has traditionally come to expect from the genre, wherein Fake embraces the true spirit of punk as he fits and jerks his way through an unstoppable hour long industrial assault with incredible focus, elbows flailing and body contorted to impossible angles, pushing the Ableton Live software to its limits, maxing out his CPU, constantly teetering on the brink of computer meltdown, and offering cryptic clues as to where the unstoppable uber-producer is headed on his forthcoming mini-album ‘Hard Islands’ set for release in May 2009.

World class talent like Nathan Fake doesn’t come along every day, but this St. Patrick’s Day Tuesday 17th March sees Lowerstate give Galway clubbers a unique opportunity to witness the Border Community wonder kid at play at The Cellar Underground, with support DJ sets on the night from locals Rory D and Audiofeen. Tickets are priced at 15euro and are available in advance from The Cellar Bar.

For the uninitiated, An Taobh Tuathail is a cult Radió na Gaeltachta evening show that translates as ‘The Other Side’ or ‘The B-Side’. A native of West Kerry, Cian O’Ciobhain has been broadcasting the cream of underground world music for almost a decade now, and is deservedly acclaimed for his show. He is also known as one half of SiSi / 110th Street, who made waves in Galway from 1998-2008 with their electro-house, nu-disco, punk-funk & techno sound, along with frequent guests such as Erol Alkan, Ewan Pearson, Andrew Weatherall, Boys Noize, Optimo and Justice. Well fond of a techno endeavor, this exclusive mix sees Cian go down the slightly heavier yet colourful side of techno:

“I put together the mix, prompted by a comment on our forum by a friend who goes under the name Quirk Street.  After I posted a link to my recent podcast for Shock, he asked ‘When are you going to do a balls-out techno mix?’.  So here it is, full of (I hope) strong melodies, 128BPM techno-colour goodness all the way.”

Download the mix here

Cian was also kind enough to answer a few of our questions below.

Q. Favourite colour ? Purple.
Q. How would you describe your music style? Psychedelic, tropical, naughty.
Q. What is your musical background? No qualifications, just a lifetime infatuation.
Q. Where do you live? Ros Cam, Gaillimh.
Q. What’s your favorite part of the day? Dawn.
Q. What’s your drink? Mostly wine, lots of water, though recently I’m developing a grá for peppermint tea.
Q. Favourite book? The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen.
Q. Favourite movie? Blazing Saddles.
Q. Favourite place? Sa Vall De Son Macia in Mallorca.
Q. Favorite subject in school? English.
Q. Name one thing you feel strongly about. Why? The scourge of boy racers.  In their minds, they’re princes of the night.  The reality is that they’re the closest thing we have in this country to suicide bombers.
Q. Best gig you’ve ever been to? Pixies @ The Point, Dublin in June 1991
Q. What would be written on your headstone? “Seachain na cúinní.”
Q. If you weren’t a DJ/radio presenter, what would you be doing? Drinking.  Or sending CVs to radio stations with a view to becoming a DJ / radio presenter.
Q. Concept of heaven? In the crossfire between speakers on the dancefloor of Berghain, Berlin, 8am on a Sunday morning.
Q. Concept of hell? Being in the Sisyphean position where I had no choice but to listen to commercial daytime radio, the likes of 2FM or Today FM.  I’d say that the radios in Hell must be perpetually tuned to the Ray Foley Show.
Q. What would you like to be better at? I wish I could speak more languages, particularly Spanish and German.  I’m just too lazy to learn.

Tracklist
01 D’Julz – Just So U Know (2000AndOne Remix) [Ovum]
02 Shusi Khijada – One Moment [Berwick Street]
03 Laurent Garnier – Panoramamix [Innervisions]
04 Format: B – Edding 850 [Highgrade]
05 Piet Plat – Double Trouble [Rush Hour]
06 Alison Marks – Community Vision (Jonny Arthur Remix) [Dogmatik]
07 Christian Fischer – Chiffre [Definition]
08 Ben Klock – Subzero [Osgut Ton]
09 Par Grindvik – Do Us Part (Len Faki Remix) [Drumcode]
10 Rune & Jerome Sydenham – Peter Pan [Avocado]
11 Let’s Go Outside – You Make Me Struggle (Jean Ramesse Remix) [Soma]