Jack The Box

Visit Kate and see her Artist Page at Ghostly/Spectral here

http://ghostly.com/artists/kate-simko

This weekend – Saturday, March 13th Particle People Mpls Present Kate Simko Live! Joining Kate on visuals is the Minneapolis lighting wonder boy, Math Static along with two amazing new comers, Loveless Aphrodite, and COMPLICIT Live!  For this run at Jack the box we turn our focus to Kate Simko and later to Loveless Aphrodite.

Kate Simko…

I could sit here and re-post all the typical things you would read about Kate on any random Google search.  Well… I am not going to do that, I’m going to ask Kate what I think most people want to know. They want to know “Who is Kate Simko really?” Does she like to party or is she some nerd that likes to plug away at the studio day and night? OR, Is it a little of both?  Time to ask Kate and find out!

When I first heard of Kate Simko it had to be when she first started showing up on Spectral compilations and later on her own EP’s.  For quite a while I thought she was from Detroit and didn’t know too much about her besides her smooth, mellow style that always made me buy the record. It wasn’t until I drove to Milwaukee for a Projekt show to hear her in action that I found out how amazing her music is.  Her Live PA blew me away!

Very few things really excite me (ok that’s not true – I am excitable!) but that set was amazing and not what I expected from her. The music was full of life and energy and had a deep and undeniably sexy vibe to it that just made you dance uncontrollably. I knew then that she had to come to Minneapolis.

Kate was kind enough to also share a recent DJ Set with us and I have to say, it shows that she is not only an amzing artist but a class act DJ as well. We were able to get it and share with you today. For the track listing see below the article.  This is a studio promo mix made late last year and is a compilation of some of her favorite tracks from 2009.

 

DIRECT DOWNLOAD HERE

So…

I hear a ton about how she grew up in music and is trained in classical, her heritage and family connections to music and so on, but I really think it would be nice to hear about her background in electronic and in dance music. What I would really like to know and show our readers is…

*When did you start getting into the electronic music scene? Did you start off a party kid, a dancer? How were you introduced to the everything?

A friend of mine introduced me to dance music when I was a sophomore in high school.  She was one year older than me, and had been a pretty hard core raver
during Jr. High (at the age of 12 or 13- pretty crazy in retrospect).  In the end, I think her parents sent her to rehab.  She stopped listening to the music and went straight edge, so she gave another high school friend and me all of her mix tapes.  There was everything from DJ Keoki, to raga jungle, to Diz, to Underworld, to booty house.  We had an older friend with a car (because we were too young to drive), and he’d drive us around while we listened to the tapes.  Then, it went from that, to him driving us to the parties in Chicago and around the Midwest.  When we turned 16, we would drive to parties around the Midwest pretty much every weekend.  We heard so much great music back then, it’s a little surreal looking back at some of the line-ups.

*When and what started you into the world of producing electronic music/DJing?

I started buying records and DJ’ing on the radio in college.  I wanted to stay involved with the electronic music scene, but my rave days were over due to a demanding college schedule studying classical piano.  So, I became an “apprentice” on the dance music show as a way to keep up with electronic music.  Just like for many people, college was a time to figure out what I really wanted to for a career, and after some soul searching I realized that I was more passionate about electronic music than classical music.  So, I decided to switch from studying classical music, and take a risk to learn how to make my own music.

*I heard around that you used to be the director for the electronic music side of WNUR radio in Chicago. How was that experience?

WNUR is one of the very best college stations in the U.S., so it was a real honor to be music director of the dance and hip-hop formats for a couple years.  I learned a lot about music, and really grew as a person through that experience.

*What role did WNUR play in your growth as a DJ/Producer?

WNUR is the place I learned about a lot of labels and producers.  The former music director, Dave Siska, put together a family tree of house and techno record labels from different countries in Europe and North America, and gave it to me when I started.  I did a lot of studying to get up-to-pace, and tried to learn the context of everything  Then, from there, it turned into the weekly pilgrimage to Gramaphone Records, Dr. Wax, Dusty Groove, etc. where I would pick out records for the station.  I bought a lot of records and listened to tons of music at that time.

*Being a Chicago party kid, where did the deep influence from Detroit come into play for you and your style?

I always loved the Detroit sound.  Derrick May, Claude Young, Jeff Mills, and Richie Hawtin were all some of my favorite DJ’s in the 90’s, and we saw a lot of Detroit DJ’s play in Chicago (or travelled to Detroit to bigger parties).  The Detroit sound was always raw, futuristic, and fresh.

*Tell us the connection to Spectral/Ghostly, how did that become?

I met Sam (label owner of Ghostly/Spectral), at MUTEK in Montreal, around 2004.  We were looking for a label for our second Detalles album (project with Andres Bucci), so it started by me sending that material to Ghostly.  From there, I sent links to my first solo productions,  which were the first ones the label picked up.  I’m very grateful to work with the labels, it’s been a great home base for my music.

*What are some other artists and labels are you working with?  Any new projects on the horizon for our readers to keep an eye out for?

I just did an EP for Eklo, a really nice label out of Paris.  The EP is called “Lost In Time” and has a remix by dOp.
Collaboration-wise, I have a new project with a talented Chicago house producer, Tevo Howard.   It’s a deep house project, with a very Chicago vibe.
Besides that, I’m finishing up my first full-length solo album.  This project has been a cool challenge- excited to get the music out there, for sure.

*I hear that this next Live show in Mpls is going to be a rare one.  That you have decided to take a bit of a break from Live PA and are playing more DJ gigs.  Being so well known for your live sets… What made you make this change?

As a performer, I think your job at a show is do the best possible performance for the time.  DJ’ing gives you more flexibility to adapt to the moment.  So, unless it’s a show that really publicizes that it’s a live set, I don’t think people often have the right level of patience or understanding to appreciate a live set at a club.

Promo Of Kate’s Live PA from last year  

*Can you tell us about some of the artists and music that you’re really into at the moment?  Whats in the DJ Bag?

I’m playing a mix of tech-house, minimal, house, and techno.  I’ve been enjoying some French producers especially- Masomenos, Dyed Soundorom, Seuil (from Eklo), as well as the releases on Cityfox, Spectral (of course..), Inxec and Matt Tolfrey.. and much more.

*Whats not in the DJ bag?  What’s in the Ipod/in the car stereo?

Well, I’m just returning from 6 weeks in Buenos Aires, so have been listening to a lot of tango music, classic rock, classic love songs, and Latino music in taxis and at restaurants.  It’s been a nice change.  Very emotional taste in music down there, in general.

*Excited to play Mpls?  Any Expectations about our crazy scene?

Yes, looking forward to it!  Well, you’ve told me that people enjoy live sets in Minneapolis, so it will be fun to play live for some music lovers

*What are you most excited about in 2010 besides rockin out in Mpls?
I’m excited to finish my album, and to tour Europe and Japan this spring!

Track Listing from Kates DJ mix!

01. Kasper – Vibrations [Bass Culture]
02. Tini – Thats Right [Desolat]
03. Andre Crom & Luca Doobie – Snake Seven [Off]
04. Butane – Little Helper 1 [Little Helpers]
05. Georg Levin – The Better Life (Jerome Syndenham Remix) [BBE]
06. Perc – Throb [Ovum]
07. DJ Wild – Ahora [Soweso]
08. HOSH – Better And Sweet (Audiofly Remix) [NRK]
09. Ben Klock – goodly Sin Feat Elif Bicer (Robert Hood Remix) [Ostgut Ton]
10. District One – Dubcrystal [100% Pure]
11. Thodoris Triantafillou – Morningrama (DJ Wld Dub Mello Remix) [Quantized]
12. Masomenos – Juhuu [WTM]
13. Radio Slave – Orchestrating Maneuvers In The Dark [OM]
14. Shonky – Mama Queen [Contexterrior]
15. And.ID – Ephoria [Mobilee]
16. Alexi Delano – Adjust The Frequency (Par Grindvik Remix) [Clink]
17. Jabberjaw – The Connie Shake [Spectral Sound]
18. Nick Curly – Pujante [Cocoon]
19. Loco Dice – How Do I Know (Cassy Remix) [Desolat]
20. Kate Simko – Take You There [Spectral Sound]
21. Tevo Howard – Northside Part One [Beautiful Granville]

Tags: aaron bliss, BLACK saturdays, Complicit live, Elko, ghostly, Kate Simko, Loveless Aphrodite, particle people mpls, spectral

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