Featured Label :

By Steve Willis...

A label we have had our eye on for some time here at RT-Transmissions is Owain Kimber and Chris Poacher's ADSR Music. With just three releases to date, it's already shaping up to be a fine example of quality over quantity. Both from South Wales, they produce under the name Digital Motion and with assistance from Pure Plastic's Mark Broom and Dave Hill they launched ADSR in 2004 to the delight of fans Laurent Garnier, Josh Wink and Dave Angel amoung many others. We fired a few questions at Owain. Here's what he had to say...

S.W. - How long have you been DJing and how long have you been making music?

O.K. - Well, on the music front, I come from quite a musical family as I grew up with parents who both played instruments. I started playing violin at the age of four from what I can remember and went on to play in a junior strings orchestra. When I was 12, I took up the saxaphone too and started learning improvisation. About the age of fourteen, I discovered turntables and that was it for me - I downed the instruments and started buying vinyl as playing turntables was the way forward. 16 years later, I still get the same buzz from listening and playing good music, be it house, techno, funk, soul, jazz, punk, disco, reggae ... there's just so much music out there to discover.

S.W. - Was there a defining moment when you said to yourself...I have to make music?

O.K. - I think I knew when I downed my instruments that I always wanted to get into having a studio and learn how to produce. As much as I love playing other peoples music, there has always been a side of me that wanted to express myself on that level. I think getting a lot more involved with playing out only reaffirmed that fact. It did take me until the age of 21-22 to really get it together though.

S.W. - How did you and Chris meet?

O.K. - Funny story that! We both used to travel from South Wales up to the now infamous Atomic Jam nights in Birmingham. Although we didn't know each other, we had a mutual friend who I bumped into one night in the middle of the dance floor and got introduced to Chris ... Can't remember for the life of me who was playing - Luke SLater or Dave Angel ... who knows?

S.W. - Tell us a bit about the club nights you do.

O.K. - The Holodeck is and has always been a collective of friends/DJs here in South Wales who like to party. It started over 10 years ago by a close friend who has somehow managed to keep it going via fields, basements, the odd house party, ice rink function rooms and now its current home, Clwb Ifor Bach. I got involved 6 years ago and have never looked back. The night has never been about making money, just about putting on a party, playing all kinds of Techno and giving people the oppotunity to get involved if they want to.

S.W. - How did you hook up with Mark Broom?

O.K. - About 5 years ago, I sent out a load of demos and Mark's partner at the time got in touch. We arranged a meeting and hooked up at their studio and everything went from there really.

S.W. - What is your favourite techno record?

O.K. - Ouch ... that's not an easy question to answer at all. There are so many good tracks to choose from for so many reasons ... but off the top of my head, I would say Carl Craig's "At Les" for the shear amount of times I have listened to that track and continued to be moved by its warmth and depth.

S.W. - For you, what is techno music?

O.K. - From where I am set, I would define techno music quite simply as music made with or using an element of technology. I like to think of the word in its broadest sense - whether it is good or bad or has feeling is another matter completely ...

S.W. - What do you think about what people call "Minimal"?

O.K. - Well, like alot of musical genres, you have five to ten percent of musicians who make and innovate and a whole load of other people who immitate. Whilst I have very little time for the fashionista element of it, nor the narrow-minded attitude it sometimes produces. The one good thing we can take from Minimal is a new, younger audience who enjoy electronic experimentation.

S.W. - What do you think about the mp3 versus vinyl issue?

O.K. - As a huge fan and lover of vinyl, I will always try to play and support the medium I love. I really don't think I could be bothered to convert my collection as I simply don't have the time. Granted, I do understand people's reasons for switching to CD but hell ... its such a shame. MP3 took off as the predominant Codec when Flac and Ogg Vorbis are far far superior in terms of sound quality.

There's much more music on the way from Digital Motion and from ADSR including a remix for the Rewired label. Check out Owain's selection on the mixes page of this site. More information and musical samples available at:

http://www.adsr-music.net/
http://www.myspace.com/digitalmotionuk
http://www.myspace.com/owaink