Eyeweekly.com

DJ Spotlight

Metalogic

BY Elizabeth Mitkos   September 17, 2008 15:09

WHO It only took a few studio jam sessions for Frederik Hatsav and Jamie Kidd to come up with the driving minimal sound that defines Metalogic. In the two years since the two techno DJs met while spinning with Dietrich Schoenemann at a Platform event in Toronto, they’ve fashioned a stellar live PA set and released two widely acclaimed 12-inches: last year’s hypnotic Atom Eater on New York’s ADDON and this year’s Boxed and Warped on Brooklyn techno label Hidden Agenda. The latter has advanced the duo into elite techno circles after being charted by heavyweights John Selway, Someone Else, Tony Rohr, Alex Bau and Frankie Bones.

While each continue working on their own solo projects and DJ gigs, as a team they’ve just finished a 4-track EP for Perc Trax in London, England that’s coming out in November, and have a solid fall schedule following enthusiastic reviews for performing at this summer’s Eclipse Festival in Quebec and Toronto’s Beats, Breaks and Culture Festival.

WHAT “Edgy, dynamic and heavily syncopated minimal tech,” says Kidd. “We each take inspiration from many styles... jazz to techno, Squarepusher to Ministry, Atom Heart, Surgeon, Whignomy Brothers, and many, many more.”

WHERE Sept. 20 Live PA at Harvest Festival with Junior Boys, Komodo, Ekoplex, Andrew McCallum, Mike Gibbs, Ian Guthrie, Fabio Palermo, Noah Pred, Dalia, Hali and more. $55 plus food bank donation. www.harvestfestival.org.

FAVOURITE RECORD OF ALL TIME Kidd: “That’s impossible to answer.”

FAVOURITE RECORD RIGHT NOW Kidd: “The upcoming Extrawelt album on Cocoon.”

WHAT IS YOUR WEIRDEST DJING EXPERIENCE?
“When I was supposed to play at this big festival in the mountains in Mexico last February,” says Hatsav. “Just as the equipment finished being set up, a bus full of cops showed up before the gates opened. There were over 1,000 people waiting outside, and all the artists were hidden in a dark wooden house and told not to speak English or Russian, or to smoke. We all had to be smuggled out later that day.”

DIGITAL OR ANALOG? “Both. Depends on its purpose,” says Kidd. “We love the flexibility of digital for programming but prefer to do all our mix-downs through hardware mixers and compressors.”

WHAT IS YOUR RING TONE RIGHT NOW?
“Just a standard ring,” says Kidd. “Although I am surprised how many people will pay more for a ring tone ($3) than an actual song ($1)!”

WHAT IS THE LAST GREAT FILM YOU SAW? Jamie: Casino Royale (2006 version).

WHAT GLOBAL ISSUE CONCERNS YOU MOST RIGHT NOW??“The damage that PM Stephen Harper continues to inflict on our country,” says Kidd. “The Conservatives are ready to sell off even more of Canada’s resources with Harper proposing that the government relax?foreign?ownership rules.”

WHAT ARE YOU READING RIGHT NOW? Kidd: Effortless Mastery by Kenny Werner.

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