Richie Hawtin celebrates: No releases! No concerts! No appearances!
Richie Hawtin has declared the festvities for the tenth anniversary season of his Minus label as opened by announcing there will be no new releases, no performances and no appearances by Minus artists in the first ten weeks of 2008. This moment of silence, possibly the first ever since Richie Hawtin first set foot in the record business in 1990, will then lead into a year of celebration which will further extend the label’s artist-roster and present “new localized technology”. In a long letter, sent out to friends and supporters, Hawtin took a look back into his personal history and that of his two record companies, both of which have massively influenced the direction electronic music in general and techo in particular have taken over the past years. “Reflecting on all of these experiences makes me realize how much time and energy has gone into building the foundation of what Minus has become today”, Richie Hawtin wrote, “however, at the same time it feels as if things came together in a blink of an eye.” Minus was Richie Hawtin’s second label, after founding “Plus 8” together with equally durable friend and producer John Acquaviva.
Minus may well be one of the few companies started because its predecessor was earning too much money. “Plus 8 had become such a workload of success that we consciously decided to slow things down and take time to focus our attention on new ideas.”, Richie Hawtin explains, “That was the moment that Minus was born, with the idea of minimizing everything that Plus 8 had become, going back to basics, and starting again from scratch using everything that I had learned.” The new outfit was aimed directly at the opportunities of Multimedia and the relations between various forms of art.
Richie Hawtin emphasised the help of Detroit legend Clark Warner in getting things started. The collaboration between these two artists, both of which have accompanied the genre from its infant days to a state of maturation and wide respect, would eventually lead to an international platform with headquarters in Windsor, Canada as well as Berlin.
“I hope you all enjoy this moment of silence while we reflect and re-focus our energy, ideas and inspiration for the upcoming Ten Year Anniversary celebrations starting in late March 2008.”, Richie Hawtin concluded, adding that noone needed to miss out on anything: “These special Minus | Ten Events will be spread out over the year and throughout the world.”
Picture by Alex Gnaedinger
Homepage: Minus Records
Homepage: Richie Hawtin
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