Marc Houle is giving North America something extra to be thankful for this month, as he takes off on a 22 day tour of the continent. The Minus alum is bringing his live show to 13 cities, including his debut appearance in Los Angeles. Armed with an arsenal of unreleased material and a flair for fun, Houle's performances are delightfully dynamic, and not to be confused for a DJ set. Playing only his own productions, of which he is said to have a thousand, Marc's live show is not to be missed. Never one to conform to a mold, Marc melds techno, house and new wave for a unique synth-heavy sound.
Having gained notoriety in the late 90s as a mainstay of the minimal movement under Richie Hawtin's wing, Marc left Minus (amicably) with Magda and Troy Pierce in 2011 to start their own imprint, Items & Things. This past September saw them celebrate their 25th release, Razzamatazz, Houle's fantastic five-track collaboration with the Brazilian duo Click Box. With Razzamatazz, as with all of his work, Marc continues to push the proverbial envelope. While his sound is ever-evolving, his undeniable dancefloor appeal always endures. We caught up with him from the road as he embarks on his North American tour to discuss his ever-evolving style, some of the gigs on his bucket list, some of his more unexpected musical influences, and what is on his horizon for 2014.
You haven't played in some of the cities on the current tour since 2006's Minus Contakt tour. What do you see as some of the major differences in the electronic music landscape since then? I think overall there's more of an awareness of our type of music. People are slowly realizing that there is some great stuff out there if you look beyond the mainstream. There are more online magazines popping up, people are sharing tracks on their profiles, and places like Youtube and Soundcloud are making it so much easier for the smaller stuff to get found.
Your own style seems to have really shifted from the 'minimal bleep days' to the meatier music on your latest releases. What brought about this evolution in your sound? I always like to learn and explore all aspects of music making... so every album I do is different than the last. Restore was bleepy, Drift was dark guitars, Undercover was new wave, and I'm working on a new sound for my next album. It's me seeing what I can do with music and it's much better than just working the formula. I do still make some bleep stuff in the studio, but that's more for my personal pleasure than anything public.
It's hard to believe, but you'll be playing L.A. for the first time on this tour. Where else have you yet to play that ranks high on your bucket list? There are a few festivals in Japan and Eastern Europe I want to check out and I have never been to Africa but I really really really want to play there. I'm actually writing this in L.A. now and I really love this city - after one day I've already met a bunch of musicians and I saw a great band play at a record store and that was on a Monday...
You've said that you especially like seeing 'small towns and weird shit' when you travel. To that end, where have been some of your favorite places to explore? Once when Troy Pierce and I were playing in Romania our airport got closed down and we had to travel through the country on a bus and stay the night somewhere in a small town. We were walking around and came across one of the coolest cemeteries I ever saw with the fog lifting just enough to take some scary photos of it. It's amazing some of the locations people throw parties in like old monasteries, caves, boats, islands, shopping centers, slaughterhouses, factories, parking garages, indian reservations - people are nuts out there and it's great that I can be a part of it.
What do you miss most about your daily routine when you're on the road? What aspects of touring do you enjoy the most? I have a nice balance going on with my home studio and touring. One perpetuates the other sort of thing. Because I play live, I'm always in the studio making new tracks to play out and test and it's really fun to see people's reactions to some of the weirder stuff I make. Sometimes I am on the road for a long time and I really can't wait to get back and make new tracks. As for touring, it's so nice to meet new people all over the world with the same tastes in music as I have, and I really love meeting fans who come out to the shows. It's so rewarding to know that all the work I do is appreciated by some people and to know that what I did influenced someone to make new strange crazy music.
You have admitted that you don't listen to much techno in your free time, and it's no secret you draw a lot of inspiration from the New Wave movement and bands like Depeche Mode. Who are some artists people might be surprised you listen to? I really listen to as much different music as I can because you never know where inspiration can come from. Looking on my phone now I see The Spoons, Cybotron, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Rush, Madonna, Barry White, Run DMC, Vangelis, Neil Diamond, Queen, The Stones, Genesis and Public Image Limited.
Your press release from 2010's Drift is frequently quoted for saying that the album stemmed from your "personal frustrations with what is considered techno." What was the context behind that and do you still feel that way? Yeah at that time there was a giant flood of boring formula minimal techno. It was a bunch of drum loops that people called music and it was everywhere. Since then there has been a whole bunch of artists that have surfaced with original sounds and actual melodies that have sorta restored my faith in things. I think that having my own label and receiving lots of demos stole my attention away from what was all over the Beatport top 10.
You were introduced to the world of electronic music growing up in Ontario and crossing the border into Detroit every weekend. How would you describe the scene then? It was really great back then. We would drive 5 minutes over the border into downtown Detroit and it seemed like every night there was a party somewhere. We would get instructions, drive to some abandoned neighborhood and roll down our windows to listen for bass and find out where the party was at. They were always in crazy locations and the setups were sparse, but the music was great and the people were all cool. I was really lucky to see that world. Once a year it's so great to get back to Detroit and see the people I knew back then - it almost takes me back.
2013 has been a busy year for you! You released EPs with Miss Kittin and Click Box and debuted your synth pop outfit La Folie with Joaquim dos Santos. What can we look forward to from you in 2014? I've been doing lots of experiments in search of a new different sound. I want to push things again and see what I can do differently - hopefully in the form of a new album. I'm also working toward enhancing my live set, but only if I can keep things small and effective. Last year I started touring with a microphone so this year maybe I can take things a bit further with a bit more gear and some visuals, as long as it keeps things fun for me and the people dancing.
November Tour Dates:
FRIDAY 15 Dolphin, Philadelphia, United States
SATURDAY 16 U Street Music Hall, Washington , District of Columbia, United States
FRIDAY 22 Sankeys, New York City
SATURDAY 23 Los Globos, Los Angeles, United States
SUNDAY 24 Monarch, San Francisco
WEDNESDAY 27 TV Lounge, Detroit, Michigan, United States
FRIDAY 29 301, El Paso
SATURDAY 30 The Norad, Denver, Colorado, United States