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Acid Junkies Live on stage
Acid Junkies is a dance act from The Netherlands. Live, they present
themselves with a mix of solid techno music, played live and edited
and enhanced with fragments of all kinds of dance music, spanning
the last 20 years. From synthi-disco, via EBM towards house and
techno.
On
singles and albums, the band's music has gone through a comparable
evolution: Having started with the purest acid house music from
the USA as a source of inspiration, the Acid Junkies add more
and more modern elements to their music over the years. As a result,
an entirely new sound has come into existence, both technically
and musically. The name of the band might be the only memory of
their past, musically speaking the band already steps into the
future.
Stefan Robbers: 303 sequencing, computer sequencing, arranging,
hard disk recording and editing
The Acid Junkies started in 1992 as producer Stefan Robbers' solo
project. It was his way of saying 'thanks' to all the originators
from Chicago that injected such large doses of psychedelia into
house music. The Part 1 EP on Eindhoven's famous Djax-Up-Beats
label became an instant success and soon the Acid Junkies were
a real band.
Harold de Kinderen:303 sequencing, computer operator and playing
The first Acid Junkie is Stefan Robbers, one of the main artists
responsible for turning the city of Eindhoven from Philips Light
Bulb City into Techno City through his records as Terrace, Florence
and REC and of course through his own Eevo Lute Muzique label.
His
partner in crime for this operation is Harold de Kinderen, who
provided Stefan with the Roland TB 303 he used for the first Acid
Junkies EP and who has been a full band member since that day.
Harold used to be a DJ for a drive-in show and played drums in
various local bands. These days the band is assisted occasionally
by Ronald Spanjers, who has by now earned the nickname "third
Acid Junkie". With Harold the Acid Junkies became a regular
band, one that also performs on stage. Night after night they
direct the crowd from behind their piles of analogue synthesizers
on stage. The Acid Junkies can play an audience like one of their
synths and can bring the biggest cynic into full-blown ecstasy.
Analogue equipment still rules! And so the Acid Junkies became
known as one of the best live dance acts throughout the world,
with one exception. In their native Holland they were virtually
unknown until a couple of years ago, when finally the Dutch gave
up their fascination with foreign techno and embraced the Acid
Junkies. Since then, they do there what they have been doing all
over the world: play. They have performed live shows at just about
every major rave in Europe, like Germany¹s prestigious Mayday,
as well as major Dutch festivals such as Noorderslag, Lowlands
and Dance Valley. The band also conquered Chicago, where they
shared the stage with their one-time heroes Roy Davis, Robert
Armani and Woody McBride.
In
the mean time a few more EPs and 2 albums saw the light of day
(see discography). These releases are renowned for their added
entertainment, in the form of cardboard TB303 construction kits,
collector's stickers, connect-the-dots pictures, voting forms
and other gimmicks. Needless to say the element of humour is a
very important one in the band, a feature not unique, yet quite
rare in the dance scene.
All
of the music is recorded in Stefan Robbers' E-town Studio, which
is in its third phase after remodelling and reconstruction. However,
the band also records tracks direct from the PA system when a
certain live atmosphere is required. They are even known to erect
the entire stage setup in a hotel room on tour so they can work
on new material.
In control during their live show: Concentration to the max...
Their third album EU (1998) is a bit of a surprise: electro, disco,
chemical and even drum & bass are incorporated in the trademark
Acid Junkies sound, a blend that works surprisingly well. Release
number 303 on Djax-Up-Beats is a special one, on which they team
up with Miss Djax herself for some fresh tracks.
Their
next album Jackpot (1999) was completely digitally recorded in
two stages: The first one was used by the band to concentrate
on playing the instruments used as live as possible, the second
one was a completely separate digital mixing and production sequence.
De TB-303 plays a less important role on this release, more attention
was put into the arrangements, percussion and melodies. The band
wants to do more than pure acid songs, and are building a more
all-round techno repertoire, starting with this album.
The
first sign of this change presents itself in august 2001, when
the band release a new single, called 'President Incident' on
a newly formed German label called Acid Tracks. On one side of
this record, 2 funky techno tracks with catchy samples appear,
while on the other side they once again redefine the word acid
in the music.
In
November 2001 a new CD album, 'Live' was released. Forced by continuous
demand from their fans, the Junkies delivered a live album. It
contains a live recorded set from October 2000, taped at a venue
in the band's home base Eindhoven, the Netherlands. For the album,
this live set was completely edited and remixed. Furthermore,
several additions were made in the form of new songs, which came
into existence during sound checks for this concert. The Live
album marks the end of an era for the band, after a long period
of combining acid house and techno on a live stage. In 2002 the
Acid Junkies present a completely new live set, with many DJ influences
such as the use of fragments of records from the last 20 years,
from old to new, combined with sampled song parts, live drum programming
and electronic locked grooves.
Dj Set - Capsaicin
(USA)
Weblinks :
Website
plus some lovely unreleased electronica/idm (call it what you
like) from various artists and some classics.
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