very nice

Mike Shannon

It's been 10 years since Mike Shannon started making a name for himself on the international techno scene as a DJ, producer and label owner. Now, having relocated to Berlin from Valencia via Montreal in 2007 he’s about to crown his first decade of active service with Memory Tree, his third full length to date, and his debut for another notable Canadian export - Richie Hawtin’s Plus 8 Records. Over the years, Mike has well proven that it's not just his music that makes him such a valuable asset to the techno community, it's his total dedication to the cause. Whether finding him standing behind a record shop counter or searching out new talent for his Labels, it’s always been about bringing people together and investing in the future of the scene.

Mike first got the vinyl bug at the tender age of 12, buying house and techno tunes at Play de Record in Toronto and by 15 his turntable skills were already landing him gigs at local underground parties and clubs. From then on, Mike's musical world expanded rapidly thanks in no small part to Detroit's influential WJLB radio station which turned him on to U.R., Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson - influences that still play a big role in his approach to music today. To satisfy his appetite for all things Techno, he was soon managing the orders at Speed Records in his hometown of Kitchener, Ontario where he continued his education; importing cutting edge sounds from across Europe.

Throughout that time, Mike was out DJing and clubbing from Detroit to Toronto, making connections and building up a solid network of producers and artists, which led to the inevitable formation of his own label Cynosure in 1999. A couple of years later, he teamed up with Jeff Milligan on the more experimental Revolver Canada imprint. Both labels have since developed into highly respected and trusted sources, subsequently raising the profile of Canada's electronic music scene by providing then unknown producers such as Akufen and Deadbeat an international platform to spread their distinctive sound throughout the world. Beyond developing homegrown talent, both imprints continue to invite an inspired selection of international artists including Pier Bucci, Monolake and Brett Johnson to name a few.

For Mike it's always been a question of choosing uncompromising artists who possess a unique and original voice - an attitude that also defines his own work whether recording as John Shananigans, The Sunaj Assassins or under his own name. There's a distinctive feel to his music that’s both dark and soulful, that stays true to his roots while embracing the future and never fails to deliver a flurry of kick-ass, funk infected beats easily proven by a volley of timeless singles over the years and his two previous full lengths. Take 2001's Slight of Hand on Force Inc - an album that cemented his reputation as an up-and-coming Minimal Techno producer and 2005's Possible Conclusions to Stories That Never End - a collection of chilled-out Electronica inspired by his musical odyssey through out Chile in 2003.

Mike's recent move to Berlin represents the fulfillment of another chapter in his musical career and with so many influential Canadian producers having taken up residence in the German capital over the last few years, it's a chance to hook up with old friends again and start collaborating on new plans and ideas, just like the old days. Then of course there’s the new album, the accompanying remix projects and the immediate matter of fatherhood to make 2008 something of a milestone both professionally and personally.

http://www.myspace.com/cynrecordings

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Inxec

Over the past 5 years Nottingham born, Munich based INXEC has been carving out a reputation as one of the most innovative producers in house and techno. With his tracks getting hammered by the likes of Ricardo Villalobos, Sven Vath, Richie Hawtin, Luciano and many more, its not hard to see why INXEC is in such high demand both in the studio and behind the decks.

Born in the early 80ís Chris Sylvester aka INXECís first foray in music production came in the unlikely form of the playstation. However it wasnít long before he moved onto more advanced software and by the early 2000ís was releasing prog edged house music for labels such as Renaissance & Distinctive under the guise Sound Alliance. Fast forward to 2003 and the burgeoning techno sound had bitten Chris, who by that time was playing regularly at venues across the UK, such as The Bomb & Stealth. By 2005 his production talents were honed to the extent that Jay Haze signed him to the much-converted Contexterrior label, and Chris proceeded to produce a string a highly acclaimed EPís for the label, which brought him huge recognition within the techno scene and beyond.

A string of high profile remixes were to follow, massive labels like Yoshitoshi, Cr2, Tuning Spork, Renaissance, Greatstuff, Kismet, Saved, Esperanza and many more, as well as a highly acclaimed string of collaborations with long term friend Matt Tolfrey. Fast forward to 2009 and Chrisís production talents were picked up by the worlds biggest techno label Cocoon, which has helped catapult the Inxec name into the upper stratosphere of the house and techno community. During the last 4 years Chrisís constant dj gigs and touring has seen him play some of the worlds most prestigious clubs including Fabric, The Cross, London, Watergate Berlin, Minimal Hospital in Italy, as well as a much lauded residency at Harry Klien in Munich, which sees him grace the decks at least once a month where touring permits.

With more hit releases and remixes on their way as well as tour of the USA, its clear that INXECís star is firmly in the ascendance.

http://www.myspace.com/chrissylvester

Fuchs:

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Schade wieder nicht da, aber Cynosure finde ich ein sehr feines Label besonders die Deadbeat Sachen,und Monolake sind sowieso meine Lieblinge egal wo sie releasen.

C I T Y F O X

Mike Shannon Discography

INXEC Discography

pff nice

Wow!
Nach einer Wahnsinnsparty mit Seth Troxler und Deniz Kurtel sind wir stolz Euch das nächste Highlight präsentieren zu können.
Die Füchse aus Zürich kommen für ein CITYFOX Gastspiel nach Wien und bringen uns gleich 3 internationale Acts mit. Veteran DJ MIKE SHANNON aus Kanada dürfte allen ein Begriff sein. Sicher einer der besten DJs den wir je gehört haben. INXEC aka Christopher Sylvester aus London produziert zur Zeit ein Wahnsinnsstück nach dem anderen und wird auch bald auf CITYFOX releasen. Freut Euch also auf sein Liveset. DEJAN, seines Zeichens Resident bei den Füchsen, war schon 2 mal bei uns in Wien, wir sind alle verliebt in Ihn und in seine Sets.
Die CITYFOX Owners werden übrigens alle auch da sein. Einer erfolgreichen Fuchsjagd steht also nichts mehr im Wege.

CITYFOX Labelmix

http://soundcloud.com/cityfox/cityfox-labelmix-01-mixed-by-markus-lindner

GET ON UP!

Gewinnspiel:

1 x 2 Karten

Left - Hammerwood EP / Cityfox 006 Vinyl Verlosung

kartenverlosung auf stadtbekannt

http://www.stadtbekannt.at/de/aktuelles/ve...ke-shannon.html

Label Profile: CITYFOX talks to Spank!

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It's truly a wonder how quickly & how far sound can travel. Cityfox club & label exist half-way around the world from our little record store in Darlinghurst, Sydney and yet their 2009/2010 releases managed to grab our ears and imaginations with the urgency of close neighbors. Hoping to find out more about one of the most promising emerging labels in tech/deep house, we sat down (digitally) with Billy from the Cityfox label to find out a little history of the club/label, releasing on vinyl & digital, their future releases and the upcoming woodfox festival.

How long as the Cityfox club been running and what inspired you to decide to start a label?

Cityfox was in the beginning of it's history a monthly party in a warehouse in the industrial quarter of Zurich. We were looking for an own club even before we started this party's, though. When we realized that it was very hard to find the right location for it we started the party's in this warehouse called "harterei" in May 2006. It became hyped really fast and after 3 months the party's were always sold out with more than 1300 people attending. After changing the location for the monthly party twice we finally found the perfect spot for our own club and we opened "Alte Boerse" in September 2008. It's located in the old stockmarket of Zurich, that's what "Alte Boerse" means. Since then our own Cityfox Nights are happening bi-monthly, every 2nd Saturday.

The logical step after was to start the label, just because we're so deeply interested in the music and a lot of new friendships resulted from inviting so many artists from all over the planet to play at our club. The label is a platform to manifest these friendships and release it through music. Another reason was that we thought that Zurich needs a new label representing national and international artists at a high quality standard.

Who are the driving forces behind Cityfox and how long have you all been involved in dance music?

The driving forces behind Cityfox are mainly 3 people - Daniele, who is doing all the artwork, graphics and promotion for the party's and the label, Martin who is our man at the club, handling all the manpower stuff and finally me, I'm responsible for everything that comes down to music, booking and the record label. But we have a lot of meetings and brainstorming sessions (means we drink a-lot of beers and and hang out in our studio) together and this is were all the new ideas for the club, party's and the label are coming from. I think all of us got involved in dance music through the legendary club "Dachkantine" between 2003 and 2005. We went there almost every weekend and got deeply addicted to electronic music. Also driving forces behind the record label are of course all the artists who produced our releases and provided us with their stunning sound. We were really lucky with it!

You’ve had some amazing artists play for your club. You have Matthew Dear coming next month which sounds amazing! Are there any highlight acts/performers that stand out in mind?

We had so many artists playing for us, but to pick some highlights of 2009 and early 2010 I would say Mark Henning with some incredible Live-Sets, Anja Schneider, who played a super nice DJ-Set in November 2009 as well as Camea did in January this year. Stimming, Solomun, Marek Hemmann, Bill Patrick, Gregorythme, Digitaline, Ryan Elliott & Pan-Pot also convinced us totally with their performances.

Then there are less known artists like Markus Lindner from Vienna who is a regular guest and one of the best DJ's around, and Wandler, a Zurich DJ who both played some of the best sets we had in 2010. Then of course our Residents Dejan & Rino always play on top.

Is there a mission statement or a particular sound focus that drives the Cityfox label?

I wouldn't say there is a particular sound focus but first of all we have to be struck by the music instantly when we hear it. We like a psychedelic touch to it, we like it if it sounds fresh and stands out of the line. It should not be to loopy, we like emotional and mental music instead, which has a heart & soul. If there is a story the music has to tell, which not everybody knows already, then it may fits to our label.

You’ve released 7 records (including remixes) on Cityfox now. The Digitaline and the Lee Jones have been particular favourites here at Spank! Can you tell us anything about upcoming releases?

Yes, at the moment there is just 1 record finished. It's the next one, coming from LEFT. Left is a duo formed by Gregorythme and Ariel Garcia. The two compulsive knob turners spent hours improvising and manipulating analogue synthesizers and drum machines, the result of which is two powerful tunes with incredible sound quality. The release is called the Hammerwood EP and will be out on May 5th. The next release in the schedule will come from Digitaline in June - they just finished the B-side of it and i just can say, this is my favourite Digitaline Track ever. Mark Henning, MYMY, Inxec and Ryan Crosson are working on music for us at the moment, so they will be on the schedule as well in 2010 and a Digitaline Album is planned for the end of the year.

Cityfox has already unearthed some stellar producers. How have you gone about choosing acts for your label? Is it just artists that have played in the club or have you guys gone searching for fresh talent?

On one side all the artists produced for us till now also have played for us and on the other hand they are all good friends. But there is no concept behind it, so we're also open for fresh talents, as long as we love the music and it fits to the label. In general we don't like to limit ourselves with statements like "just artist played for us should release on the label".

We love that you still release on vinyl! What was the driving behind deciding to stick with vinyl?

We love it too! Vinyl for us means a collectors object. So it will never be gone, it even gets more precious when vinyl maybe once will not longer be produced. So we try to press timeless music on it, which exists longer than just one period of a hype. Maybe once i take a Cityfox record out of the rack and show it to my grandchildren... it's also much nicer to have a physical result of all the work in your hands than just a file on your computer.

Has the combination of releasing on vinyl & digital been a winning move for the label? Do you think that have 12” releases helps to promote/add credibility to a label, especially with dance-music officiando’s?

I think the music helps to add credibility to the label. All the other formulas are not interesting for us. We don't think about how to push or promote it the best way. We don't pay money for banners on Resident Advisor or to get reviews on blogs or whatever. Good music is the winning formula. Since we want to reach all people who are interested in it and not just DJ's or people who can afford turntables we release in both formats, digital and physical. But again, we don't think too much about the advantages or disadvantages of each format, or which one sounds better bla bla bla. For us is releasing on both formats as logical as vinyl sounds better than any digital file.

I see that you guys recently started up a sub-label Cityfox LTD. What is aim for Cityfox LTD that makes it distinct from the label proper?

Since we got alot of very special music from different producers, we came up with the idea of the limited label. We have the same basic formula for it than on the mainlabel - it has to flash us right away. But on Cityfox LTD we have a larger range - from deephouse to ambient, edits to bootlegs, slower and easier stuff to oldschool techno - than on the mainlabel, where we focus on more dancefloor oriented tracks. But as more we define it, as less scope we have.

We’ve certainly drooled over the idea of your deep house party in the Swiss Alps. Pity it’s half a world away! What can you tell us about the woodfox festival and what is the thinking behind taking the label/club outdoors?

It will be Switzerland's first big summer open air festival in 3 years. It's in the Swiss alps, we found a wonderful spot there, 1000 meters high. Our plan is to set an over-dimensional club setup up. A big open-air club. I wouldn't say it's just about deep-house, but definitely in the range of techno & house. Some artists confirmed are Mathew Jonson Live (first album tour stop), Mark Henning Live, Digitaline Live, Mountain People Live, Troy Pierce, Anja Schneider, Dyed Soundorom, Camea, Mirko Loko, Lee van Dowski, Sonja Moonear, Kalabrese. Many more tbc. So, if you're up for a half world journey, check woodfox.in or cityfox.in in the next weeks for more information. We would love to see some Australian people there!

The full Cityfox Digital collection is available online through Spank! Records.

Cityfox vinyl is regularly stocked by Spank! Records and is available for back-order in store or online if out of stock.

Tickets to Switzerland must be organized independently.

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Thanks,

Matt

TONIGHT!

INXEC AKA CHRISTOPHER SYLVESTER HEUTE