Visionquest is the brainchild of four producers from Detroit who are set to write a whole new chapter in their city's rich musical heritage.
It’s commonplace in the life of a young Native American, to undertake a very definite turning point in his life as he approaches puberty.
In order to define the young man’s spiritual path, a period of fasting and solitary physical and mental exploration will commence. This usually manifests itself with the young man going into the wilderness for 3-4 days, often under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs.
Otherwise known as a vision quest, his hedonistic and practical trip into the unknown heralds a distinct rite of passage for the young adult in question. The hope is the spiritual direction in life will appear at some point during his vision quest. The sensory deprivation involved and the intensity of the experience, it is hoped, will resonate with the fledgling boy as he moves into full adulthood.
Friends frequently go on vision quests together. Name the finest purveyours of modern music and I bet at some point during their lives there have been epiphanies (medicated or otherwise) that have informed and reinforced their creativity.
Four such friends are Seth Troxler, Ryan Crosson, Shaun Reeves and Lee Curtiss. Having grown up together in techno mecca Detroit, a city of exceptionally rich musical heritage, they represent the freshest wave of new producers to emerge from this dance music heartland in a decade. Informed by their city’s techno heritage from the likes of Juan Atkins and Jeff Mills, but influenced by the emotive house music sounds of Kenny Dixon Jnr and Theo Parrish, they were organising credible parties in Lee’s basement at an early age.
Between the four of them they have released records on a selection of the world’s biggest techno and house labels, played at some of the world’s biggest clubs and each increased their own solo stature with a number of hugely reputable productions. Seth, in particular, holds a legitimate claim to biggest breakthrough DJ in the last year, with a residency at Circo Loco at DC10 in Ibiza and voted the third best DJ in the world in the highly credible Resident Advisor poll (one behind his personal hero Richie Hawtin).
So after these personal journeys of musical discovery, the four have reunited in 2011 with their new, multifaceted Visionquest project. A fourway DJ collective as well as a label, Visionquest is looking to re-position people’s parameters as regards to the boundaries of electronic music.The label is open format and will feature other material than just strictly dance floor-orientated music.
The first three-track EP release on Visionquest called, Where The Freaks Have No Name, is by Washington DC duo, Benoit and Sergio. Standout title track Walk and Talk is a groove laden, hypnotic ode to narcotic haze with the rather standout lines: “My baby does K all day, she doesn’t wash her hair, doesn’t wash her clothes. Just sits on the couch watching television shows.” Distinctive, odd, yet hazily beautiful, the record has already been receiving play after play from a wealth of renouned DJs.
As a DJ entity, Visionquest is a four-way mesh of all that is exciting in house and techno at the moment. Grooves, soul, the odd-banger and, most importantly, a journey, form the fabric of their sets. An overused term, but if you are getting four friends who have enjoyed as rich a musical success in the last year as these guys, you would expect to be taken on some kind of journey…a Visionquest if you will.
Is Visionquest informed by your own experience? Where did the four of you have your first Visionquest?
Seth: Deep in the woods…
Shaun: … we first started using the term ‘Visionquest’, back when Ryan’s family used to have this holiday cabin up in the wilds of
North Michigan.
Ryan: The four of us used to go off on these retreats to make music and share ideas... explore the forest... with animals... and go on a journey both physically and mentally...
Have there been any Visionquests of late?
Lee: There have been a few, the most recent, and easily the most unexpected was me taking a fall while out hiking, breaking two vertebrae in my back and spending the next week in hospital out of my mind on painkillers.
The multi-faceted nature of the Visionquest staple makes it stand out. Was Visionquest always going to be a label and a collective? How has the idea progressed in the last year?
Seth: We’ve been planning the label for several years now, ever since we used to throw the ‘Teshno’ parties in Lee’s basement back home in Detroit. I think we came together on this because we wanted to hear more music that wasn’t being released. We all have wide tastes as far as music is concerned and felt it would be nice to have somewhere to showcase those musical ideas that was also a place where we could put out our own music without any limitation.
Lee: We have been fortunate enough to have friends making the exact music we felt the world was missing. Each release up to this point is literally coming from close friends of the group, which has really cemented everything as a family affair. For us, it’s less about classifying and categorising music, but more about how we think the music can contribute to broadening perspectives and creating long lasting material people will connect to on a deeper level.
You guys are firmly representing a new wave of producers from Detroit. How has the city informed the music you are making today?
Ryan: Detroit is like no other city on earth. Its downtown population has pretty much halved in the last 20 years leaving behind this weird kind of ghost city, which is surrounded by lots of very suburban satellite cities where most of the population of greater metropolitan Detroit actually live.
Seth: It’s like Gotham City after Batman has died.
Shaun: While the city has fallen on bad times, it will always have this unbelievable musical heritage that is impossible not to absorb, both from the days of Motown and more recently as the birthplace and key breeding ground of techno.
Lee: I love Detroit. It has been good to all of us and is an amazing place from which to draw inspiration. It’s hard to see it in the shape it’s in now,but somehow it keeps producing diamonds.The first four releases on Visionquest are varied to say the least.
What is the ethos behind the label’s musical policy?
Ryan: As electronic musicians, the influence and love for dance floor oriented music will always be present. If the A side is pop, indie or folk, a dance or club oriented remix will most likely be on the other side, giving the music a chance to reach as many ears as possible. The concept is simple; to push musical boundaries and put out music we love while having as much fun as possible doing it.
Seth: As you have mentioned, for our first four releases on our Visionquest label we are bringing in three duos and one female solo artist, all of whom are relatively new on the music scene. The debut release, out at the end of January, will feature Berlin-based production duo Benoit & Sergio who have previously released on Spectral Sound and have an EP out on DFA soon. The second release is from a band called Footprintz from Montreal whom we are really excited about. Their record is not exactly straight up dancefloor sounding music, but it will be backed up by an amazing remix from Ewan Pearson.
