The Technical Sessions is back at the Red Bull Studios, this time featuring Timmy Schumacher.

One of New Zealand’s pioneers of Breaks, Timmy Schumacher’s career spans 20 years and he carries a wealth of knowledge that any producer wanting to learn more about his craft would be well advised to listen to.

Since the beginning Timmy has always stayed true to his many and varied influences, keeping sets interesting and varied and productions unpredictable, completely original and big sounding on the production tip. From singles-oriented rocky pop material to floor smashing ravey club tunes and remixes, Timmy continues to explore and consolidate 20 years of experience and wide ranging love of music into his work. And he’s just getting started.

Kerry Adams again returns to host the Technical Sessions at the Red Bull Studios in Auckland. Now into its third year, the Technical Sessions takes the country’s top electronica artists, and extracts the knowledge they have amassed. Delivering a wealth of knowledge for anyone wanting to learn more about production and studio work, this is crucial attendance for anyone wanting to further their craft.

Registration is essential, so please, pop over here and enter your details now.

If you are not going to be able to make it – we will also be streaming the interview live over here - http://www.theproof.co.nz/technicalsessions/

Many thanks to Red Bull Studio & Allproof Industries

The Technical Sessions is back, and we are very proud to have Jay Bulletproof coming along to have a talk.

For over a decade, the name “Bulletproof” has stood for nothing less than forward thinking future bass music. In the early 90’s, his relentless passion and devotion to Drum & Bass established Jay as one of the nations pioneering D&B DJ’s and promoters. His entrance into production in 99” alongside former production partner Josh, lead to Bulletproof becoming Australasia’s first international Drum & Bass export, signing their tracks to one of the leading labels of the time, and helped spawn the rise of the local future bass music production scene, being sighted by names like Concord Dawn, The Upbeats, State Of Mind as THE pioneer of NZ D&B production.

After several months’ hiatus, and a raft of international interviews, Kerry Adams returns to host the Technical Sessions at the Red Bull Studios in Auckland. Now into its third year, the Technical Sessions takes the country’s top electronica artists, and extracts the knowledge they have amassed. Delivering a wealth of knowledge for anyone wanting to learn more about production and studio work, this is crucial attendance for anyone wanting to further their craft.

Registration is essential, so please, pop over here and enter your details now.

If you are not going to be able to make it – we will also be streaming the interview live over here - http://www.theproof.co.nz/technicalsessions/

Many thanks to Red Bull Studio & Allproof Industries

One of the biggest talents in town. His musical taste is flawless and he is a kick ass sound engineer. Listen to his stuff and you will know what I mean” – Thomas Schumacher

http://www.actualites-electroniques.com/EN-Thomas-Schumacher-Dj-Interview

Originally from New Zealand, Emerson was half of House Of Downtown, arguably one of New Zealand’s most successful DJ and production duo’s. This partnership lead to worldwide bookings, a national radio show and two artist albums, as well as a number of club tracks, notably Up For The One, gaining massive support from the likes of Derrick May.

2003 saw Emerson move to Sydney Australia as he took a step out of the limelight, and began working as an audio engineer. His skills were duly sort after, and he went on to engineer some of the country’s most well known acts including The Sleepy Jackson, Teenager, Pnau, and festival headliners, The Presets.

Not only were his talents behind the desk gaining recognition, but also behind the decks. Becoming a regular fixture at Sydney’s leading techno nights saw Emerson’s bookings increase around Australia. But it was with the release of the, bass heavy Rumplestiltskin that really put Emerson back in the spotlight. Big, tight and bouncy, it was instantly picked up by Claude VonStroke for Dirtybird.

As the gigs and productions followed, it was not long before it was time for Emerson to make the leave the antipodes and throw himself into the thick of the action. 2009 saw him make the move to London. This almost instantly paid off, as just a couple of months after, his first EP was picked up by Get Physical where he is now a regular fixture.
While the move to London certainly put Emerson back on the map it was his subsequent relocation to Berlin that really paid dividends. Not only now a core artist on Get Physical, Emerson is also part of Marco Ressman’s Upon You label family as well as working closely with My Favorite Robot records from Canada.

As his productions have gained more recognition, so has his expertise as a DJ. Impressive by anybody’s standards, 2010 has seen Emerson spinning at the WMC, Fabric, Bar 25, Sonne Mond Sterne, Sonar and Balance in London, as well as Get Physical showcases around the globe from Berlin to Barcelona, London to Miami.

http://www.emersontodd.com

One of the fathers of Ableton Live, Robert is a perfect example of a synchronistic fusion between technology and art.

Henke’s strong interest in the interaction between a given physical space and the imaginary space defended in his art can be best experienced in one of his multiple loudspeaker surround concerts. His performances and installations have been shown at the Tate Modern in London, Centre Pompidou in Paris, MUDAM in Luxembourg, PS1 in New York, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney and others. His album ‘Layering Buddha’ received an honorary mention at the Prix Ars Electronica in 2007.

http://www.monolake.de/

Growing up in the quiet farm town of Muncie, Indiana four hours drive from Chicago and Detroit, it was hard to ignore the rich sounds emanating from these House and Techno strongholds. TROY PIERCE was among the first to pick up on DJs like Derrick Carter, Jeff Mills and Richie Hawtin and was always out and about at parties in Detroit, Ohio and across the Midwest. Strangely enough though, he never thought about picking up a pair of headphones himself, preferring to leave the DJ duties to his friends. This way he could fully immerse himself in the music, especially the experimental ambient tones of the after hour chill outs.

This all changed in 1994. He moved to New York to study photography and like every student worth their salt, blew the remainder of his cash on a pair of turntables. He’d been toying with the idea for a while and as luck would have it his flatmate was also the manager of Temple Records so there was an endless supply of quality tunes on hand from labels like Perlon to satisfy his growing vinyl addiction.

Troy eventually hooked up with Magda at the Detroit Music Festival in 2001, who in turn introduced him to Mark Houle six months later. An immediate chemistry developed between the three of them and although Magda was now in Berlin, Mark in Windsor and Troy in New York they started swapping music files over the net. By the time the Run Stop Restore project finally crystallised into their debut release in early 2003, Troy had already moved to Berlin. It was a big decision to leave but somehow New York no longer offered up-and-coming musicians the same freedom of expression it used to, while Germany and Berlin in particular was setting new standards in minimal electronic music production.

Since touching down in December 2002, he’s been letting his music do the talking. As a relative unknown, it’s never easy staking a claim in a new city, especially one with such a rich musical heritage but sure enough, through a string of successful gigs and a mixture of impressive releases on Minus (Run and Slacknoise), Underline (Louderbach) and Mo’s Ferry Productions, Troy has been attracting the right kind of attention and is now a regular performer on the European circuit.

2005 was the year when it all came good. The release of the Minimise to Maximise compilation and the accompanying tour left a lasting impression on clubbers at such centres of excellence as Robert Johnson in Offenbach and the Paradiso in Amsterdam but perhaps the real turning point came in August at pop.com. All those endless nights on the road and solitary days in the studio came together in one heart stopping set at the Watergate club. Taking the game to an expectant crowd including fellow producers and industry types, his uncompromising mix of minimal house and down beat, funked up techno announced, in no uncertain terms, that he was here for the long haul.

As a DJ, attempts to categorise his style pose more questions than they answer. Minimalism in its purest form is a tag he more freely associates with labels like Consumed – ‘super sparse, difficult and totally out there’. Troy on the other hand, has developed a dance floor friendly hybrid sound that takes the best from the ‘little movements and micro trends’ that constantly spring up, helping electronic music to evolve. It retains the mechanical, futuristic sounds of techno but is slower and less abrasive allowing him to work between the lines, exploit the space between the beats and push out into the third dimension that epitomises the Minus sound.

Like his label mates, Troy is a strong advocate of cutting edge technology like Ableton Live, Final Scratch and sample tools like Cyloop. The ability to shift between these sound sources offers him unparalleled flexibility as a DJ but the benefits don’t just stop there. He recalls road testing a new track one night in Berlin, getting the thumbs up from the rest of crew but then receiving puzzled calls the next day because the track didn’t sound quite the same , he was of course looping in samples ‘on the fly’ and it was this spontaneous improvisation that really set the dancefloor alight. Needless to say these overdubs found their way into the final mix.

From a production point of view his tracks normally derive from experimenting with his Machine Drum or expanding outwards from the dark, atmospheric vocal elements that play a pivotal role in many of his productions. Inspiration often comes through choice regarding the effects he uses, rejecting standard, tried and tested settings in favour of unique percussive elements designed to challenge and intrigue. The result is a montage of scratchy subliminal textures and grinding beats. It’s edgy stuff driven by dark funky bass riffs that get right under the skin, the perfect tonic for any after hour as sleep deprivation starts playing tricks with the mind.

As it stands, 2006 promises to be an even busier year than 2005. Having provided the backbone of their releases so far, Troy will wrap up his work for UK label Underline with the eagerly anticipated Louderbach LP. Alongside this, his growing status as a remixer (check out his version of Ellen Allien’s Your Body is My Body) will see him reworking the likes of Lawrence and Donnacha Costello. There’s also another Run EP in the pipeline but maybe the most interesting development is the conception of a new label – Items and Things – together with Magda and Marc Houle which should take flight in the spring.

If that’s not enough, there’s a full-on, five week Minus tour of the US on the horizon. Richie, Magda, Marc and Troy will set off in May (complete with monster tour bus) for what can only be described as a next generation magical mystery tour during which they’ll take in 25 cities. They probably won’t be stopping in Muncie but it’s a sign of just how much his stock has risen over the past couple of years and confirmation that a solid work ethic, positive thinking and a total dedication to the cause always bears fruit in the end.

http://www.rsrsr.com/

Now based in Berlin, Simon Beeston is a DJ and producer from Auckland, New Zealand.

After initially learning the skills of club DJing in mainland China, he moved back to New Zealand and was co-founder of ‘Dirty’, a night of tough, underground tech house and techno at Aucklands Fu Bar. The party was a staple on the Auckland club scene for two years, and laid a solid foundation for future club experience and skills behind the decks.

In 2004 Simon made the long journey to Berlin to play four club nights around the famous techno capital. This included a set at the original Tresor, and sparked an interest to return two years later and live permanently in the home of German hedonistic excess!

2005 saw the end of the ‘Dirty’ club nights, but regular gigs and residencies at Enter The Dragon and Automatique, and his next venture ‘Jack The Box’, co-founded with fellow Auckland DJ, Matt Drake.

Simon has been producing music for the last five years. His sound is influenced by House, Techno, and Minimal electronica and always has an eye on the dance floor.

2008 was an exciting year, with Krankenwagen, the first release on District of Corruption followed by a second track on the Don’t Share Needles EP, and ‘Horn Fed’ out in September on Highgrade Digital. In December ‘Floorboards’ hit the decks on Bond Records and ‘Idle Housewives’ was out in Jan 09. The year 2009 proved to be even more outstanding, with multiple DJ sets in Berlins premier venues, Watergate and Panorama Bar, as well as a string of releases and gigs abroad with Highgrade. Simon’s solo 12″ EP, “Dusty Back Room” was released on Highgrade Records in December.

For bookings contact www.highgrade-booking.com

Music inquires: simonbeesting@gmail.com

Stefan Mörth aka Stereotyp.

Stefan Moerth, better known to the music world as Stereotyp, is a hardcore producer. And by this I don’t mean that the man makes Hardcore music, which he often does, but that his life is all about producing.

An average Stereotyp production is mind-blowing to say the least, and any DJ that had a chance to test his work in a club environment will testify to this fact. Every Stereotyp beat is bass heavy, 5th element type futuristic, and sonically altered. And this goes for all genres Moerth retouches and updates, be it Dancehall, Hip Hop or Soul – and he done touched them all.

His now classic G-Stone debut entitled My Sound (2002) was a foray into the future of Dancehall and Soul music. With this release Moerth showed the possibilities of a sonic future that is still due to arrive. Many remixes later, he paired up with Al Haca and dropped, what could be one of the most advanced takes on Dancehall and Hip Hop on the market today – the Phase III (2004) LP released by Klein Records.

Just the collabos alone speak for the weight of the Stereotyp Opus. Some of the voices that touched his instrumentals belong to legends such as: Cappadonna (Wu Tang Clan), Daddy Freddy, Hubert Tubbs (Tower of Power), Lady Saw, Hawk Eye, Ras B and Spectacular – to name a few.

http://www.stereotyp.biz
http://crunchtime-records.com/

About time, really.

Meet Kerry, the guy behind the Technical Sessions, and of course, Proof.

P-Money is New Zealand’s most renowned Producer/DJ. His incredible talents in the studio and behind the decks have made him not only a household name in NZ but an artist to watch internationally.

P-Money earnt his stripes via the DJ Battle/ Turntablist scene in the early 2000′s (3 x NZ Champion and 3rd place at the DMC World Champs 2001) then moved on to producing mega-hits for New Zealand rap stars (Scribe “Not Many”, “Stand Up”, “Stop The Music” & Deceptikonz “Stop, Drop n Roll”), collaborating with international heavyweights (Akon “Keep On Calling”, Skillz, Sauce Money, Roc Raida, Bobby Creek and Joell Ortiz) and releasing his own platinum and double platinum albums (‘Big Things’ and ‘Magic City’).

With a solid track record behind him P-Money still never fails to surprise and surpass expectations as evidenced by the recent release of his runaway NZ #1 hit single “Everything” (ft. Vince Harder). Which scored heavy rotation on UK radio waves and underground club play around the world. It’s an instant dancefloor classic with a heavy 90′s House influence and a killer hook.

P-Money’s DJ sets are known to include a good serving of Hip-Hop and Dance music and its the combination of these influences that shape his latest productions.

P-Money released his third and most recent album entitled “Everything” on May 3rd 2010.