MONIKA KRUSE (DE, Terminal M)

Monika Kruse was born 1971 in Berlin, but grew up in Bavaria’s capital Munich. Her passion and love for music came at the age of four when she started taking piano lessons. A love that would never leave her and that she expressed in these simple words: “Music just makes me happy.

Monika started her DJ carrier 1991 in Munich while she was studying sociology and working for a well-known record label as a product manager. Funk, Hip Hop and House influenced her early DJ sets.

Monika’s great talent and sensible musical feeling to choose the best record at the right time and to create an amazing and fantastic party vibe brought her fast recognition and national bookings outside of Munich. In 1993 she became a member of the Ultraworld Crew.

The group organized Techno Parties and opened the legendary “Ultraschall” Club in Munich in 1994 – where Monika was resident DJ right from the start. In 1995 Monika produced her own events called “Housetram” in an abandon Munich streetcar. Around the same time she started touring international from Australia to New York and at nearly every place on the planet.

Aside from her DJ’ing, Monika began to create her own musical productions. She released her first track in 1996, before she meet her “partner in crime” Patrick Lindsey. With whom she shared a very successful collaboration with more than 2 artist albums, 14 single EP’s record releases and various remixes. After moving back to Berlin Monika formed two record companies: Terminals M and Electric Avenue Recordings. Two label imprints that offer a platform for well-known and unknown, young and creative artists and producers. On Terminal M – among one of the many great tunes – Monika Kruse’s most successful release so far: “Latin Lovers”. A fusion of Latin grooves and electronic beats that reached the number #1 in Netherlands Dance Charts and hit the Top 20 the Spanish Sale Charts in 2003.

Apart from her busy DJ and producing schedule, in 2000 Monika founded the charity organization “No Historical Backspin”. A platform for Electronic Artists to spotlight a voice and make a stand against racism, intolerance and xenophobia. With more than 20 events produced, electronic musicians have donated their entire fees to the victim fund “Cura” of the Amadeu Antonio foundation, which helps and supports the victims of right and racist motivated violence.

Beside her seven DJ-mix albums – including Monika Kruse “On The Road Volume 1, 2, 3 & 4” Monika Kruse’s DJ-Schedule has taken her from Japan’s largest indoor Rave “Wire”, to the “Loveparade closing ceremony” in front of 1,5 million people. In Berlin her home base – she is a regular at the world-renowned clubs “Berghain/Panorama Bar” or “Watergate”.

Her national and international success is visible in various DJ Charts or magazines polls over the last couple of years. The more recent one in Germanys Raveline Magazine, where the readers voted Monika in the Top 4 of the national DJ Polls 2007.

Monika Kruse together with producer Gregor Tresher finished Monika´s first solo album “Changes of Perception” in spring last year. The album was released in September 2008 and was voted as Best Album of 2008 on number 2 in Germany´s Raveline Magazin.

In 2009, three remix EP’s of “Changes of Perception” are being released on her label Terminal M.

They contain Remixes from Heartthrob, Mark Broom, Broombeck, 2000 and One, Erman Erim and Luca Morris and had dropped in spring, summer and fall of 2009.

http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/monikakruse

http://www.monikakruse.com/

http://twitter.com/monikakruse

http://www.discogs.com/artist/monika+kruse

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Monika-Kruse/141119

MARC HOULE liv (CAN, Items and Things)

Marc Houle grew up in Windsor, Canada with Detroit as his mid-90′s backyard party playground – as a kid he had a love for obscure new wave & analog synths, so it was just a matter of time before he started making music of his own. Ask any of his friends, and they’ll tell you the same: the guy is a prolific music-making-machinist, dedicated to quality, but quantity as well – with nearly 1,000 tracks to his credit (most of which are tucked away on his hard drive as super secret weapons).

Now taking the reigns alongside his A&R partners Magda & Troy Pierce, Marc Houle has resurrected their label Items & Things, breaking it free from its former Minus sub-label status. Spanning electronic genres in a variety of forms… from disco tech to experimental to techno, to bring their eclectic tastes together as an outlet for music they discover on their travels & a home for their own releases.

Marc Houle’s current sound can be described in cityscapes – somewhere between Chicago & Detroit, with a new-wave underbelly. His live performances are always diverse & genre-bending reigns supreme. No two sets are ever the same, except perhaps, their ability to impress the crowd.

He’s travelled a long way from his 1997 residency at Richie Hawtin’s club “13 Below” in Detroit, to being asked to join the legendary Minus label, now making Berlin his home & continuing to show his diverse musical roots on his productions. In February 2012 Marc Houle released his heavy-hitting, second album and single “Undercover” on Items & Things, with more releases in the making.

http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/marchoule

http://www.itemsandthings.com/

http://www.twitter.com/marcrhoule

http://www.soundcloud.com/marchoule

http://www.discogs.com/artist/marc+houle

http://www.facebook.com/marchouleminus

STEVE BUG (DE, Poker Flat)

Germany‘s very own taste-maker, trend-setter, mover-shakerextraordinaire Steve Bug is a multi-faceted artist who refuses to back down from the limelight. A dedicated, energetic and constantly surprising talent, Steve is nothing less than an electronic music ambassador, a much-loved spokesman to the people, and for good reason.

‚Growing Up‘ in Germany‘s techno and acid-house heyday, Steve Bug‘s love for a perfect groove is as apparent now as it was back then. From the very early days DJjing in Bremen and Hamburg it was clear there was a strong talent waiting to be nurtured. With a bit of encouragement from Superstition‘s Tobias Lampe, Steve‘s very first productions were released in 1993 and his musical story began. Besides this his DJ skills and keen, innovative, ear led him not down the typical path of the early nineties trance and harder dance scene, but towards a fresher, hybrid sound merging stripped deep house, tweaked out acid and more minimal forms of techno.

The result was the first ‚wave‘ for Steve, as his Raw Elements label, debut album ‚Volksworld‘, and the classic compilation ‚Da Minimal Funk‘ lifted his sound and his name through the ranks. Further compilations and singles followed, as did the growth of the Raw Elements label alongside artists like Vincenzo, Märtini Brös and more, continually surprising and re-inventing the template for the genre.

In 1999 Steve broke yet more boundaries with the launch of Poker Flat Recordings, and his classic ‚Loverboy‘. Introducing a darker, yet totally funky and grooving sound, this minimal club hit opened Steve‘s eyes to new territories and new possibilities. Needless to say the Poker Flat imprint still runs strong today, over a decade since its inception, and Steve now stands as a figure head for the hugely poular ‚minimal-tech-house‘ sound that the label pioneered. His first album for Poker Flat, entitled ‚The Other Day‘ stands as a testament to this futuristic, melting pot of sounds and ideas, where musical diversity and experimentation meet soothing night-time dubs and dancefloor workouts!

As musical partners to the Poker Flat sound, his labels Dessous and later Audiomatique evolved – Dessous catering for more classic deep-house sounds fused with cutting edge production from top artists, while Audiomatique, standing for a very modern house and techno sound, allowed even crazier moments to be explored – and so all corners of his love for the 4/4 beat were expressed, presented in the upmost quality. Countless productions, remixes and one-off studio sessions with key producers ensued, all carrying the Bug‘s name further afield, and higher up the musical ladder. Notable offshoots from his main focus of work were the now classic ‚B-Series‘ and until-recently

secret ‚Traffic Signs‘ projects, which explored different musical paths to great effect, yet still carried with it the unmistakable quality he‘s become known for.

http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/stevebug

http://www.stevebug.com/

http://www.twitter.com/steve_bug

GEOFF WICHMANN (BE, Readymade)

He started in Belgium with a House style at the age of 16 in the 90s and has been in the world of Electronic music for more than 10 years. He has become a professional DJ and he’s today focusing on electronic sound music. We have seen Geoff Wichmann playing in various trendy places such has Club H20, Silo, Café d’Anvers, Café Capital, Stéréo Sushi, Pulp, Catacombes, Zoo (contest), Flawless, Phonothérapy, City Parade 2007 (I Love Techno’s trucks), We Love Music…, Link, Nemo, Rachdingue (spain), Itzala (spain), Distrito matinee (spain)… In 1999 he opens his own record shop – Vibes Records at Douai in North of France. He signed his first record by then with the Label MindHouse Rec. It is in 2006 that his twin brother suggested to join him musically and so to begin the concept: “TWINS CONNEXION”. Their production is out on “TOYS FOR BOYS DIGITAL”"Last Night EP”.The concept “CHEPTEL” is the association between Marcus Vector and Geoff Wichmann. They sign their first production on the label Toys for Boys limited:” Norway to Babylone Ep”.In 2009, he sign with Resopal Schallware, Niveous Tracks. In 2010, He sign with Rationalism Records, Push It Records, Q-Lectiv Records ,Readymade Records & Landed Productions

http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/geoffwichmann

http://www.soundcloud.com/geoffwichmann

http://www.twitter.com/geoffwichmann

http://www.discogs.com/artist/twins+connexion

UMLAUT (BE)

April 2011. After living for almost a year in a country without a government, rules or any ethics, Umlaut sprouted as the brainchild of electronic music madmen David Gorez and Johan De Vylder.

While both of them already played alone for many years, they felt it was time for someting new, something fresh! Umlaut was born.

As they were still spinning vinyl while spending half of their paycheck at the online recordstore, they definitely had a passion in common.

Feeling the vinyl in your hands, picking them out of your recordbag to putting them on the turntable, it’s simply something different then scrolling through the titles on the keypad of your laptop…

Don’t get us wrong, evolution is nice…unless it affects the quality of the sound.

Seeing, feeling and experiencing the evolution of electronic music in Belgium from the mid 90′s till now, is like being part of today’s scene since the beginning. As both players where part of this movement from the start, raving all over Belgium for more then a decade, they simply couldn’t get enough of this.

And still can’t!

David and Johan both started playing records around 1998 and stood behind the decks at many clubs and venues in Belgium and beyond the borders. David as dj Nocif, Johan as Juannes. They first met in 2006, as Johan organised his Plus/Minus events where he invited David to play. Since then they never lost contact and shared their mutual interest, music and parties, with Brussels as a central meeting point. Juannes became resident of the infamous P3P parties in Brussels and played as a regular guest at Fuse club Brussels, Kozzmozz, Ultra in Gent and Tomorrowland. Nocif played as a resident for Bombomatic, Technoir and Artfact, while playing twice at Laundry Day and having a spot at the 10 years Kozzmozz party. Next to that he went abroad in Germany and twice in Switzerland. David is also promotor of the all known Fuse club in Brussels, where he’s hosting world’s best parties!

Inspired by all different styles of electronic music, you can expect a musical voyage from soft house music to harder techno music, going back and then forward again.

Always keeping in mind we don’t want to bring music for the masses, but cast pearls before the dancefloor swines. Or only aim is to make you smile and keep you dancing all night, or at least during our set.

Umlaut to that!

http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/umlaut

http://www.soundcloud.com/umlaut-2

http://www.facebook.com/umlaut.be

SAMET VICIL (BE, Unreleased)

Vicil Samet is one of the rising young stars of the Belgian techno scene. At just 16 years old, Samet is passionate for music and more particularly to electronic music. He started playing at private parties in his town, La Louvière, marking his ascension to the stage and through its concept “Unreleased”.

His passion for the music led him to create the “Unreleased”, these parties have succeeded where Livio & Roby, Dj W! Ld, Marco Faraone, Arado, Ray Okpara, Remerc, Faster, and his friends dj ..

Through his musical universe, we find the melodious sounds encompassed by the underground industrial accompanied by low repetitive and time-consuming.

These influences and his origins then give Samet his desire to share his music, and the idea of leaving his own future productions … substantive work that will take shape soon.

http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/sametvicil

http://www.facebook.com/pages/samet-vicil/180532831979753

http://www.soundcloud.com/sametvicil

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Samet-Vicil/1805328

Presale Tickets at http://www.facebook.com/fusebrussels/app_172604052767988