I was at Oberlin for one year with Morgan.
Kym and Dave of the now-defunct Spelunk Records were also there at the
time. They now spin electro in and around NYC and I'm sure they are still
producing though I don't know that they have released anything recently.
There were actually a bunch of great DJs and producers there. Partly due to
the electronic music program at the Conservatory (TIMARA - technology in
music and related arts). Before I left the best teacher from that
department was fired for being a little bit too liberal. After that the
department went downhill and I believe they are firmly mired in "classical
style" electronic music these days (ie. high-concept music, musique
concrete, and that sort of thing).
Paul Davis of Beige Records in Chicago was there well after Morgan left.
Around the time I graduated the Oberlin "scene" (if you can call it that)
had started to degenerate into raver kids with big pants and after I left
the co-op record store closed which probably broke the last tie with
Detroit and Chicago. A friend of mine went back for a reunion this past May
and said that there wasn't much of anything going on.
When I was there we basically had a couple different influences:
Detroit influenced people like Morgan, Kym and Dave and a few others.
Chicago influenced the West Coast house DJs who found Chicago house to be
incredible.
Eric
At 01:29 PM 10/12/2002 +0100, Tristan Watkins wrote:
Hmm... I read it a little differently. I thought he was just saying that
he isn't feeling the current techno output, not that he's not influenced by
techno at all.
I was shocked to find out he went to Oberlin. I had friends there around
that time and they always seemed excited about the music producers and
DJ's there, but this is crazy. I could have some details wrong, but by my
count, at least one of the guys who runs Loveslap (San Francisco-based
deep/Chicago-influenced house label), Morgan Geist, Trans Am (??? - I
could be totally wrong about this bit) and I think I'm forgetting some
others were all there at the same time! That's pretty impressive for a
small liberal arts school, secluded in the middle of Ohio. I guess their
electronic music program must have really drawn the right people in. Are
there other Oberlin alums who've made their mark? I wonder what the
Oberlin scene is like now, and who will emerge from it 5 years from now?
I'm also curious about how
much of an influence Ohio techno has there. Interesting school...
Tristan
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