PETER MUNCH aka THE MUNCH MACHINE
Peter’s dj sets and music have quickly caught the attention of the most influential promoters, DJs and producers in the EDM scene. His productions have been supported and played by top DJs such as Francois K, Brendon Moeller (BeatPharmacy), Djuma Soundsystem, amongst too many others to mention. “With so many DJs today turning their aspirations to record productions, you inevitably get a deluge of mediocre music. That is why it is so refreshing to come across Peter Munch.” (Barry Lederer, Billboard 2008)
Peter’s steady appearance on the North American and European club/festival circuits finds him playing in cities such as Tokyo, London, Copenhagen, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, top New York clubs such as Cielo, Pacha, Santos Party House, plus festivals such as Roskilde and Winter Music Conference. He has had the pleasure of sharing the stage with such greats as Trentemoller, Timo Maas, Marc Romboy, Dr. Motte, Kool Herc, Djuma Soundsystem, and David Guetta, and most recently played the legendary Deep Space party at Cielo (Francois K’s weekly soiree).
In ‘the future is now’ scenario, Peter is applying advanced technology products for the DJ world. In cahoots with an interface manufacturer, Peter has incorporated the use of a glove during his live sets which allows for additional control, instantaneous connection, and ability to interact more with the audience. This innovative technology empowers him to control his music and effects with the touch of a finger, all without having to touch a mixing console. A remarkable cutting-edge interface that allows Peter to truly become a hybrid of artist and machine known as “The Munch Machine”. With military-grade construction and an array of hot-key touch points, the glove lets him tap his fingers to cast spells over the crowd; to literally hold the audience in the palm of his hand. Stay tuned for further off-the-charts technological developments in both visuals and sound!
While Peter’s soundscape can be related to Carl Craig, Trentemoller, and Henrik Schwarz, he has spent the last 4 years developing a fresh, new sound he calls “Soultech”. Soultech is full of organic, warm elements infused with powerful techno beats. Productions range from chilled out pieces that feel like melodic compositions (Sailor’s Lullabye) to faster, groovier tracks meant for primetime dancing (The Sound of Tech). Peter has produced over 20 EPs since 2007, all out on Beatport on the following labels: Bagpak, Quarterlife, and Cosmopolitan Records.
Brooklyn, NY during the mid 90's, hip hop's golden era was winding down, the NYC rave scene was just beginning to descend from its peak, the "big clubs" were still around and outlaw parties took place every weekend... This is where Justin Schumacher first developed his love for EDM and was influenced by labels like Drumcode, Code Red, Hybrid, Planet Rhythm, Svek, Primate, and Primeveil. Justin's love for electronic dance music eventually landed him a job working at New York City's legendary Satellite Records which was a Mecca for DJs around the NYC area. He embraced his new surroundings and absorbed the wide selection of new releases and back catalogues of the world's best record labels. Within a year, Justin was DJing the cream of the crop of Manhattan's underground techno parties, earning himself a reputation as somewhat of a prodigy and a respected up and comer in the ever changing club scene. After receiving his certification in Audio Engineering in 2004, he jumped into the studio with respected tech house producer Ara Krikorian (aka Agent Orange) and co-produced a number of tracks for Ara's label Gotham Grooves. Shortly after, Justin focused his productions on hip hop (as alter ego Logik Proof) and began working on several projects with long time friends/partners from the hip hop realm, but still remained DJing. Presently Justin is working on a slew of upcoming releases and his first solo EP to be released on B-Perfect recordings based out of Argentina.
Duque by then had a thriving European and worldwide touring schedule, and musicially he still had roots in the underground. Abandoning the glossy, high-fashion style of Tension and Abuse Industries, Duque’s next sets of releases were on anonymous, vinyl only stamped with catalogue numbers like "ADR40" [Abe Duque Records 40] and etched on one side at the pressing plant with strange, hand-drawn messages from the man himself.
In some ways Duque was turning his back on the New York style, and on his previous successes. As he describes it, "I wanted to prove that my music spoke for itself". It did. Despite the secrecy about who had actually written the ADR releases, this second part of Duque's career was a run of increasingly massive 12" hits like Champagne Days, Cocaine Nights; Acid, Disco Nights, and in 2004 his monster smash with Blake Baxter, "What Happened?", the track that launched Duque and Baxter out of the underground and into the spotlight. That track's call for a turn away from safe, unchallenging clubbing sold 25,000 copies on vinyl alone and in 2009, it was the focus of a rare remix competition on ResidentAdvisor - despite Duque and Baxter's refusal to market the track by signing it to any the 100s of compilations on offer.
Having been dragged out of the underground, Duque found himself feted by the mainstream, delivering hugely successful remixes of acts like the Chemical Brothers and Pet Shop Boys while continuing to work right across the techno world. There, his brutally funky basslines and acid influence were – and still are - hugely in demand for remixes of acts such as Miss Kittin, Remute, Chloe, Savas Pascalidis, Knart IV and Daniel Meteo – as well as DJ Hell, with Duque becoming a regular on Hell's Gigolos label. The two had met having moving in the same German and NY electronic circles since the Abuse Industries days, and so Duque was asked to produce Hell's infamous album NY Muscle in 2003 and in 2006 to helm the well-recieved "American Gigolos II" compilation.
The highlight of this period, though, was Duque's first album under his own name, "So Underground It Hurts". The title was yet another example of Duque's ambivalence about succcess and its trappings, but the album was undeniably a techno event. Reviewed in the fashion press as influenced by Gigolos' German electroclash style, but the album was understood by the music press as something quite separate and self-contained.
Duque was again striking out along his own path. Part wild acid, part dark house and all leavened with Duque's dry, quiet stoner humour, the album also provided a launchpad for Duque's return to wild live performances – a whiskey bottle in one hand and a 303, drum machine, two PCs and a microphone operated by the other.
It was the start of Duque’s second, endless round of watching the world through the windows of a hotel and moving restlessly between a temporary flat in Berlin and his spiritual home in Queens. Several years on the road with his stable of vocalists – Blake Baxter, Tijiana T, Acid Maria, Virginia, and occasional appearances by Abuse collaborator Andy Orel as “Sin” – meant that Abe released only intermittently on his own label, Abe Duque Records. There, new tracks like the darkly funny It Moved Me, Whose Got the Flave, and a singles collection on CD When the Fever Breaks added to Duque’s reputation as the producers’ producer.
Eventually, though, Duque had had enough of continual touring. By 2008 he said he had been doing live sets for so long that he "was thinking about DJing again for a change, just as everyone else was going live”. Returning to the studio, he wrote the album Don’t Be So Mean, its title an oblique reference to the Iraq war and US foreign policy.
The cover? Duque on the front brandishing a machine gun - and the same machine gun pointing straight at Duque inside. Released in 2009, the album offered optimism about Obama (“Tonight is your answer”), let Blake Baxter loose on the dance scene in a response to What Happened? called Let’s Take It Back, and also marked Duque’s return to leftfield electronics with tracks like OFMA and Salute the Dawn, which threw together Debussy with lyrics by 1800s American revolutionary and moralist Thoreau.
Don’t Be So Mean was also the stepping stone to Abe’s three new projects in 2010. The first, due May 2010, will be a compilation LIVE AND ON ACID: two CDs, one of his live show, and one a wrap-up of Limelight acid-house classics. The second, under the broad church of Abuse Industries, is the return of the Abuse Industries night, and a series of sinner-themed Abuse 12”s in collaboration with Andy Orel – see abuseindustries.net for more.
