Welcome to the latest Chris Sterio Column on Beatfactor….this edition will contain details of my recent 2 week visit to the USA and all the latest Source of Gravity updates…
Source of Gravity USA 2005
After playing the USA several times in the past, I went on a 2 week trip to the US this October. During my two week trip to Carolina and California I had several gigs, worked on a remix as well as meeting up with some Source of Gravity artists and contacts.
East Side
The first week or so of the tour hit Charlotte, North Carolina where I have played several times before, and is the home of Bedrock/Gravitation artists KVK. After we first worked on the 4th Orbit – Deep Isolation release for Gravitation in 2001, DJ Sean McClellan and producer Gordon Carpenter have progressed their KVK project with production releases on Bedrock, Silver Planet, Gravitation, Fiberlineaudio, Sentient Audio Collective & Vinyl Vice. Whilst in Charlotte I completed the signing of three new tracks “Neurotic”, “Training Wheels” and “Table 4 3” for release on Source of Gravity Digital early next year.
First on the gigs played was at the Lava Lounge www.abovethesky.com , at which Danny Howells, Nick Warren and Steve Lawler have recently played. The event was on a Tuesday night, so a small gathering saw Joe Sweeney, Sean McClellan and myself lay down some tunes. Next up was a double header on Thursday 14th October with a radio slot on fledgling radio show Unbalanced on www.scratchnspin.net followed by a set at Tutto Mundo www.tuttomundo.net, a smart lounge where I played in my last Carolina trip in 2003. There was a good turn out for the event, which included a number of clued up punters. The 90 minute set I played went down pretty well, and included tracks from the likes of Orchid, Sumsonic and Blue Haze. Both Tutto Mundo and Lava Lounge were visited again for second gigs on the Saturday and following Tuesday. We also hit Ohio’s Underground Groove Radio with some exclusive Source of Gravity mixes and tracks for broadcast during the tour.
In addition to the gigs played I met up with some contacts, both old and new. Like many progressive scenes round the world, those involved were fanatical and really well clued up. Within in the city of Charlotte there are several lounges and clubs who put on dance events, as well as two decent vinyl stores, decent DJs and a group of good producers. This kind of set up is a good basis for a decent scene. So after just over a week of southern hospitality I headed for the flight over to the west coast for my first visit there….
West Side
My host for the California leg of the tour was Samer, the head of Pangea Recordings www.pangearecordings.com who had just played at the San Francisco Love Parade and was just about to see his Love Parade mix released available, firstly on digital download from www.resonantvibes.com . Whilst in California I would play a gig in San Francisco as well as work on remix for Pangea off-shoot One Shot. In addition there was a chance to catch up on a few things and check out some of the San Francisco scene.
Most of you will be familiar with Jondi and Spesh, who have had productions released on Bedrock and run the Looq www.looqmusic.com label. We checked out their Qool party held in downtown San Francisco on a Wednesday night from 5pm-10pm – a different time from most events, but it was rammed!! As somebody who balances running Source of Gravity with working in sports coaching and development I can see the benefit of running an event at that time!!! Both Jondi and Spesh were in the mix as well as Mark Musselman of Momu and various local San Fran DJs. The music was tough house, progressive, techno and breaks and went down well.
Samer runs his labels and production from an apartment in Sacramento, an hour’s drive from San Francisco, so that was my base for the next few days. We worked on a remix of Native “Forever” for 1 Shot Recordings whilst in Sacramento. The gig I was to play at was on Thursday 20th October at Duplex www.duplexsf.com a small venue on Mission Street in San Francisco. We would also be promoting the release of Samer’s Love Parade mix at the event. I went on at around 12.30, and played some pumping melodic progressive that worked well, and hopefully I will be back to play in USA again in the near future…
USA Tour 2005 Top 3
1. Anderson and Davison – The More I Know – Feed Me Records
2. Orchid & Narcose – The Bells – Source of Gravity Digital
3. Alex Stealthy – Being – Sterio & McGrath remix – Pangea Recordings
Source of Gravity Releases
Chris Sterio – Turrican EP – Source of Gravity Digital 007 – Out now
Lynx – Hypnotic EP – Source of Gravity Digital 008 – Out now
Section 75 presents EP – Source of Gravity Digital 009 – Out late November 2005
Nicholas Bennison – Soloplex – Source of Gravity Digital 010 – Out late November 2005
Unreleased Projects November 2005 Feat: Shanghai Corporation & Blast Furnace
Source of Gravity Upcoming Gigs
Sunday 6th November – Source of Gravity on Rotationz Radio – www.rotationz.be
Friday 25th November – Riff Raff, Middlesbrough – www.riffraffclub.co.uk
For more info on Source of Gravity check out:
www.sourceofgravity.com
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