| Over the last ten years, Toronto's dancefloor techno events have gone through many changes. The dancefloor has seen parties thrown by Transcendance, Ritual, Alien8, Speed, Phryl, Blue, and Fukhouse through out the 1990's, and others popping up on the scene since. Some have faded, but for the most part, these key production companies and their affiliate labels and artists have simply matured and morphed into something newer. "Everyone's growing up a bit, techno is going through a resurgence, it's a bit of a cleansing. There's lots of new producers that have come through the ranks, being brought in by the establishment, and it's constantly evolving", says Caspian Rabone. |
| On an international scale Toronto is recognized for both its harder and minimal techno DJs and producers whose names ring bells from the past and the present and include; Greg Gow, Kenny Glasgow, Mario J, Ian Guthrie, DJ Lotus, Caspian Rabone, Adam Winick, Jeff Cochran, Dave Cooper, Dan Lui, Adam Marshall, Jacob Fairley, Algorithm, Mike Shannon, and others. As the years of youthful competition have passed people have started to collaborate more, realizing the need for communication. Says Rabone, "Let's not fight over the same 500 people in Toronto that like techno! How are you going to survive if you keep killing each other?" |
| Today in the scarce techno-dancefloor spaces of Toronto, to add to the already interesting milieu, a new series has appeared. Caspian Rabone and Monique McGoey of Polaris Records have teamed up to throw CORE events, and with still-dwindling venues for techno, and lack of support for local DJs still trying to break into new markets, CORE seems a necessary component. Rabone commented on the impetus behind CORE, "? CORE was to create more of a platform for rising DJs who aren't getting the support. The only time they ever get to play is when they throw their own events, and there was no intimate gathering that was cheap that you could go to, on a regular basis, in a good atmosphere, for a slightly older age group, who don't want to go to a bad club. In the future the idea is to support local DJs from other cities." Says McGoey, " When we launched CORE, it right away seemed that even in New York and in Detroit, we had interest... These people wouldn't get the opportunity to come to Toronto - so now, all of a sudden they're doing something in their cities, and we're doing something in Toronto. So you've got this whole network that has started communicating. And that's going to benefit any DJ that plays at CORE. Because they're going to be part of that network, - it's just inevitable. And everyone's on the same page for once, which is nice. They're all in the same predicament." |
| In an atmosphere with larger techno events such as Mono, Fukhouse, and Blue, bringing in international heavy weights at one end of the continuum, CORE is finding its place at the other end. As a night hoping to bridge the void for local DJs, it provides an intimate environment, and an air of anti-establishment with posters and flyers only spread virally on the web. As McGoey explains, "CORE provide(s) a platform to perform and have an audience that is receptive. Toronto is fortunate to have a thriving music scene as well as be a city that international talent wants to play. Our mandate is to show the rest of the world as well as the Toronto audience that we have quality musicians in this city that deserve to be on the same bill as top DJs." Unlike larger promoters unwilling to take the risk on DJs who may not draw in the people they need to make a profit, McGoey says, "We take a risk because we've got nothing to loose." While CORE may not compete for the bottom line, they do compete for the same people, and communication becomes a necessary asset in attracting people genuinely interested in techno music. |
| For the previous two CORE events, Rabone booked guest Pascal Feos (who did not attend due to a SARS scare), Adam Winick of Format Recordings, Eric Lork of Beats.to, Caspian Rabone, flash artist Flux, and long-time player Greg Gow of Restructured Recordings, who was recently added to the impressive Blue Bookings roster. Gow played for CORE because he says, " I like to support all local techno events as much as I can. It?s a pretty fragmented form of music in the whole electronic scene, and it?s important that local techno artists try and stick together" When Gow got his start it was through the kind of exposure that smaller events similar to CORE, enabled him to have. Says Gow, "When I got introduced to Phryl, I played at Area 51, a night called Growth, and that was where (they) heard me play, and from that I got the opportunity to come out to their bigger parties ? CORE, if they could accomplish anything like that, would be great!" And Gow believes CORE has a valid place in the scene, "it's an important thing in the sense that you have the two spectrums. You have the breeding ground for the up-and-coming DJs who maybe aren't ready to open at a headliner level, but needed a place to play out. And if DJs don't have a place to play out how are they going to get any experience working with crowds? And it's important to have the international side too, because it keeps people's interest and you know what's going on around the world. People are interested in hearing their favourite artist from wherever it might be. It?s in a building phase, and I think that it?s a good time for it, it?s just a question of seeing where it goes." Rabone hopes to see CORE move in the direction to garner a larger audience, and bring a community element to dancefloor techno. For McGoey; she hopes to see the kind of hype that she witnessed Polaris getting at MIDEM when the couple travelled to France as part of the Canadian electronic delegation earlier this year. "It is time for Canada to start to exporting some of its talent on a larger scale. It is obvious there is a buzz surrounding our country. Canada is producing great electronic music. This is evident in distribution companies such as Neuton based in Germany, picking up local labels such as Polaris Records? I think we have to wake up and realise what we have instead of putting it down, because what's going to happen is all these guys are going to go elsewhere to get support, and we're going to be kicking ourselves", says McGoey. |
| In reflecting on the most recent developments of collaboration where label heads from Restructured, Format, and Polaris have formed an alliance, McGoey says, "I think that people are finally waking up and they're getting it." Gow also sees the team-like connections between large-scale events such as the Control event happening July 30th, and smaller ones, "?you see CORE as the breeding ground for the DJs, and then at the pinnacle you have Control with Richie throwing down. That gives you something to strive for, and CORE gives you the opportunity to get involved in that and work toward that? They all play an important role, and the more events we have, be it in the music that we like, or just getting out there, the more people are going to get exposed to it, and with that exposure you're going to have a better scene and people supporting what you're into." McGoey looks forward to the future; "It's going to be an interesting year. Caspian's going out to play a festival in Slovania this summer, there's a gig in Malta, and a couple potential other gigs. Slowly we're getting out there. It takes hard work, it takes networking. And you say, "an artist should do that"- but it's difficult for an artist to represent themselves, so there's an opportunity if someone can see it, there's definitely an opportunity out there to make a difference." |
| Check out CORE's Upcoming Events: |
| July 11th - Arthur Oskan [live PA] - Restructured Recs., Caspian Rabone - Polaris Recs. |
| Aug 8th - Format Recs. Release party with Jeff Cochran [3 decks] - Format Recs., Tommy Smalls |
| At Milano: 325 King St. W. $5 before 11:30, $8 after. |
| For More information on CORE events visit: www.techno.ca/core, www.polarisrecords.com |
| For more information on Greg Gow, Blue Bookings, and the Control Event visit: www.bluebookings.com |
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| Caspian Rabone (Polaris Records) |
| "I think that the anti-perspirant seems to be working on the arm-pit of electronic music. Techno's always been the arm-pit of electronic music, it's always been shirts-off, sweaty, dripping ceilings, copious amounts of drugs being taken, crazy venues- it's not clean like house music." |
| CORE of the Dancefloor |