Introduce Yourself - Kate Simko (+ Win Copies of Her New Album - Lights Out)

The diversity of electronic music can be traced back to the diversity of the music makers early influences. From Guy Gerber’s rock roots to Marcel Dettman’s EBM and industrial adolescence, not many set out on their path to the dancefloor from the within the walls of a classical music institution but Kate Simko did just that. After years of devoted classical training she found herself in the midst of the USA midwest’s rave revolution in the mid 90’s and was openly exposed to the beats of Chicago house and Detroit techno. Her tale took another twist during an exchange with a Chilean university where Simko collaborated with Andres Bucci and Detalles where she was enlightened by South American minimal, which laid down a further facet to her production. Such facets sparkled in her Spectral sounds releases and in the deep and ethereal minimal sound she’s become renowned for. Now, with ‘Lights Out,’ her debut album set to drop on the 23rd May, Kate Simko is set to continue with her overtly creative, outside the box thinking with a new audio visual show that she is bringing to Farringdon this weekend. We speak to the lady in question about her influences in the making of this album, and to mark its release and her performance we also have 2 copies of the album to give away. To win Send an e-mail to competitions@fabriclondon.com and tell us what label Lights Out is being released on. How did you approach making Lights Out? It’s my first solo album, so I guess the hardest challenge was this feeling that somehow you’re going to define your sound and who you are through this one thing. I ‘m into house, techno, minimal, dubby stuff, tech-house, etc, so in a way, I didn’t know exactly which direction it was going to head at the beginning. When it was just getting started, I’d make a new song every day or two, then go back at the end of the week and see how the ideas fit together. I’d scrap ones that weren’t working with the others. Looking back, the aim was to fit the various songs together to form a bigger story. It was cool to be always thinking of this larger thing that didn’t exist yet. What would you say is different compared your 2009 long player Music From The Atom Smashers? Music from the Atom Smashers is a film score, so the music was composed to the film, based on its moods and emotions. The director is a music lover and was great at describing what he was looking for in each scene. So, there was a lot of back-and-forth in the composition process, and things were decided by the action in the film. Lights Out was kind of the opposite, because there was no direction besides my notebook of scribbled ideas that was changing every day. What made you choose Hello? Repeat to release this one? The album was originally intended for Spectral Sound – they asked me to make an album for the label. However, by the time it was completed, the label was going down a different path. They weren’t releasing albums (only on Ghostly) and Spectral was heading on a more digital-only route, so it just wasn’t going to work logistically. I went with Hello? Repeat because the label allows a lot of room for creativity. Lights Out doesn’t really fit into one box, and Hello? Repeat is an open-minded label that allows that freedom. Also, they are vinyl lovers and the release will be out a double-pack vinyl as well as CD. What was that record that turned your path from classical to house and techno? House and techno started pulling at my heartstrings in high school, when I was going to underground parties every weekend (1-2 parties each weekend – couldn’t get enough!). My favorite DJ’s back then were Derrick May, Jeff Mills, Claude Young, Traxx, and all of the Chicago house DJ’s, of course. But hearing IDM music for the first time is what sealed the deal. I had no idea electronic listening music existed until I moved to Miami for college. The two records that had the most impact were Autechre’s Amber and Plaid’s Not For Threes. Blew my mind really, and I started to question what I was doing playing music from a couple hundred years ago on the piano 4-5 hours a day in the Miami practice rooms. The fact that all of the great pieces have already been recorded really diffused my enthusiasm for classical piano. I realized that I’d be much happier making my own new music (although I had no idea how to make it happen), so I packed my bags and started on a new path. It was really like starting over. What was it about techno and house that grabbed you? I loved that it was music without words (besides some vocal house –most of us Chicago folks will always be suckers for that..). We used to drive around in my friend’s station wagon and listen to mix tape after mix tape of house, techno and drum n bass. The layers and polyrhythms in the music were totally entrancing. It was an instant attraction to this music. Way more than rock music ever grabbed me. It’s cited as one of your biggest influences as well as being your home, can you share with us a couple of your all time favourite Chicago House tracks? Steve Silk Hurley “Jack Your Body” – old school Blue Boy - So Lonely – Guidance – Guidance was on fire ...and Tevo Howard Without Me (Boogie Disco Mix)– Rebirth – fresh new Chicago (no preview available) On your current tour you’re performing an AV show - can you tell us what that involves? The A/V show is an interactive HD video display that goes along with my live set. Jeffrey Weeter and I have been working together for few years, and he’s programmed Max/MSP/Jiiter for the set, so the most important elements in each song trigger specific video responses (sometimes random by choice). We’ve collected HD video footage from cities around the world (Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, etc) based on visual themes for the songs in the set. So, the entire set is our own content. Jeff came up with the name “live cinema” and that’s a good description because the video progression is created real-time based on the music. Where’s your favourite place to play out? Chicago, New York, London. What plans do you have for the summer? I’ll be mostly stateside this summer, playing shows over there to get the word out about the album, and getting back into the studio. Also, I have a new film score in the works and plan to finish up some tracks with Tevo Howard in Chicago. Besides that, thinking to head to Ibiza late summer and end the season chilling in Europe. Yeah, that last idea sounds nice...