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[SOUNDCLOUD]http://soundcloud.com/marchoule/marc-houle-live-sept-2012-2[/SOUNDCLOUD]
Is it live? Is it DJing? Doesn’t it even matter anymore? These week’s podcast comes from former Minus cohort and current Items & Thing co-honcho [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL]. And while this 90 minutes of music, recorded in Madrid, Spain last month, moves through various shades of techno, it’s all one artist offering the best of his productions and remixes, with a whopping EIGHT unreleased tunes. That’s a lot of quality surplus from a producer who just dropped his third album, Undercover, plus a three tracks of awesome synth pop as Raid Over Moscow for Turbo Records.
URB caught Houle between one of his endless string of weekends of performing across the globe, including a nice little tour of the U.S. starting on November 9. Check for the U.S. tour schedule and track list after the interview:
URB: This is a fairly brief tour. Why not do something more extensive in the States?
Marc Houle: I prefer to come back a few times within the year than only hitting the U.S. once. It’s a good excuse to come back in different seasons, see friends and drop by Windsor to see my family there. It’s all strategy.
As much as you travel, are there places that still excite you, or has it become routine?
The cool thing about our music is that it slowly spreads to places you never heard of or have never been to before. While it’s always strong in Berlin or Mexico or something, it’s just getting good in China or Tbilisi So there will always be new places to go and visit and, of course, eat!
Unlike a lot of artists, you’ve been fairly steady with only releasing stuff by your own name and for one label (Minus, then I&T). What made you decide to branch out by doing Raid Over Moscow for Turbo?
Well, I sort of have a few different worlds of music. I do my synth pop stuff and my techno stuff. The techno music, I always kept with Minus but the synth wave stuff i released here and there One of the first ones was with Genetic Records, a 7″ under the 2VM moniker about 10 years ago. I have a few other synth pop projects set to be released on different labels. So it’s just the way I’ve always been doing it, although now, after having left Minus, I do have a little more freedom to decide myself if i want to release some Techno on a different label. PS—look for a new marc EP with Wet Yourself this winter.
You’ve said that Undercover was mainly an exercise in playing with your studio gear. Are you a futurist kinda technology guy, or more of an old-school tinkerer?
I would have to say an old-school tinkerer. I would much rather spend an hour playing a synth I already know than spending that hour trying to figure out a brand new one. I’m much happier these days just creating and not learning as much. I suppose you should be doing both, which is sort of inevitable.
What else do you have planned in the semi-immediate future?
This week I’m finishing up a bunch of remixes. One for [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1059"]Heidi[/URL] which should be pretty housey in nature. After that i want to get some experimentation out of the way before I tackle another album. I’m trying to figure out the direction for it now – I always like to make every album different than the previous so I’m just trying to see what that will be. Hopefully nothing with bongos, harmonicas or saxophones.
MARC HOULE U.S. TOUR 09 November @ Paxahau/TV Bar, Detroit, United States 10 November @Treehouse, Miami, United States 16 November @ Verboten, New York, United States 17 November @ Norad, Denver, United States
MARC HOULE LIVE FOR URB TRACKLIST
Rainy Snake – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (unreleased, out in Dec on WYS) Michael Jackson ([URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] Remix) – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=98"]Phil Kieran[/URL], [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=20"]Green Velvet[/URL] (PKRD009) Judge – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (unreleased) Zorba – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (unreleased, out in Dec on WYS) Where is Kittin? [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] & [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=509"]Miss Kittin[/URL] (unreleased) Slope – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (IT07 Down & Out Vol. 1) Undercover – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (IT012 Undercover Album) Erma ([URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] Remix) – Electric Rescue & Remain (Ideal Audio) Beacon One ([URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] Remix) – Jack Tripper (unreleased) Juno 6660 – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (IT012 Undercover Album) All I Can Think About Is You ([URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] Remix) – App (WYS008 All I Can Think About) I Uh You – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (unreleased, out in Dec on WYS) Sands – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (Minus064A Sixty-Four) Under The Neath – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (IT012 Undercover Album) Yonkers – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (Minus088 Salamandarin EP) Salamandarin – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (Minus088 Salamandarin EP) Licking Skin – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (Minus078 Licking Skin EP) Like LSD – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (unreleased) Meatier Shower – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (Minus064D Sixty Four – Week 4) Techno Vocals – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (Minus050 Techno Vocals EP) Triple E – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (IT011 Undercover Single) Taxing – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (unreleased) Bay Of Figs – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (Minus042 Bay Of Figs) Borrowed Gear – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (Minus023 Restore) On It – [URL="http://www.mercuryserver.com/forums/djdb.php?id=1225"]Marc Houle[/URL] (Minus050 Techno Vocals EP)
[MIXCLOUD]http://www.mixcloud.com/YeahRadio/marc-houle-exclusive-live-set-for-urb-magazine-23-09-2012/[/MIXCLOUD]