Anton Banks - The Vault Radio Show - Sep 2007

Biography of Anton Banks

By day, Anton works as an Engineer in the aerospace industry for a company that produces jet aircraft engines. He graduated from Central Connecticut State University in May, 2000 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering Technology and is currently pursuing a Masters in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Hartford. In his free time, Anton is a DJ and aspiring techno music producer.

In 1993 Anton Banks was a student at the University of Rochester and was into hip-hop and euro-dance pop music. He especially liked the beats and rhythms found in this music but became increasingly disinterested in the lyrics. Looking for something different, Anton borrowed a compilation CD from a friend. That CD was the seminal 'Moove Your Body' release on Tribal America Artists. Soon he was obsessed with all forms of underground dance music and broke all ties to the pop music scene. Anton found himself buying all the rave and house music he could find at a store called 'The Record Archive'. Also at about the same time Anton started going to a club in Rochester called 'Heaven' which was a stripped down version of New York City's infamous super club , the Limelight, as it was also built out of an old church. He only knew that he liked the music but it would be almost a year and a half later before Anton realized that he had been listening to early techno in it's heyday in the form of tracks like The Goodmen's 'Give it up', Jaydee's 'Plastic Dreams' and an assortment of music from early Detroit and Plus 8. The turning point came in 1994 when Anton first heard 'Psychotrance', a mixed CD by Mr. C on Moonshine Music. This CD and his experiences at 'Heaven' gave him a desire to learn to spin records.

In 1995 Anton transferred to Central Connecticut State University and joined the school's radio station, 107.7FM WFCS, as the student engineer shortly after that. As the engineer he had 24 hour access to turntables and an audience and used this opportunity to learn to mix records by taking advantage of dead air (which was and still is often at WFCS) to practice mixing. Through WFCS Anton met other people such as DJ Rockphonics- founder of Equinox and O.L.- the third hillbilly on 'Hillbilly House', who showed him the ropes and got me bookings. In 1996 Anton got his first booking at the now legendary Equinox weekly (Webster Theater in Hartford, CT from 1996 to 97). This turned into his first residency which gave him the opportunity to open for many touring DJs from New York City, Boston, and beyond.

Anton's first radio show, 'Spatial Distortion', was first heard on WFCS on January 18, 1995 and was on the air until May of 2000. In July, '99 Anton started a second show, 'Vault Radio', that now airs on 88.1FM WESU (Wesleyan University), as an offshoot of 'Spatial Distortion'. Anton is now one of a small number of people promoting non-commercial electronic music in Connecticut on a station that covers most of the state.

It has now been over 10 years since Anton began DJing and he has become one of the most versatile acts around. He has built up a musical repertoire of several thousand records that span from minimal house to techno to industrial and most styles in between.

Andy Vaz - The Vault Radio Show - Sep 2007

Biography of Andy Vaz

Andy Vaz hails from Düsseldorf, Germany, the breeding ground of Kraftwerk. Since 1997 Andy manages and curates Background Recordings, internationally acclaimed as being the most instrumental label to originate from Düsseldorf in the past decade. Long before Minimal Techno turned into a genre, and subgenre after subgenre was invented, Andy has already been concentrating on providing a cultural conduit for more minimal electronic music, between Düsseldorf, San Francisco, Detroit, Montreal, Toronto, London, Chicago South Africa, Monterrey, Perth and countless other cities around the world. Some of the most influential international musicians of the minimal electronic music movement had their works presented on his Background Imprint. Artists such as: Sutekh, Jan Jelinek, Todd Sines, Terrence Dixon, Jeff Milligan, Akufen, Submania, Dean DeCosta, Rhythm Maker, Kit Clayton, Ectomorph, Deadbeat, Baby Ford, Stewart Walker, Donnacha Costello, Geoff White, Smyglyssma, Portable, Antiguo Automata Mexicano, Oliver Hacke, Frivolousand many others have graced the Background stage. The Label has been a major force in the presentation of minimal techno, introducing and educating the world to the geographic variable influences that exist within the genre.

As the years have passed, house music and techno have fused, segregated, split and recombined in countless ways. Both techno and house have drawn influences from one another to create hybrids that have changed the face of music as we know it. Andy could not ignore his undeniable appreciation for the house movement and therefore, decided to start a second label in order to help facilitate the growing relationship between global deep house and minimal techno: 'A touch of Class / ATC' was born.

In 2000, Andy Vaz has released his own material. At first he started his Sound Variation [---] series. A set of 10 conceptual releases where as the sound can be defined by the criteria of one's imagination constrained only by the definition of it being 4/4 based electronic music without following any clearly defined linear sound aesthetic or concept. Each release can be concept oriented or non-conceptual! All works simply defined by the criteria of re-use, recycling of same instrumentations, within the context of boundless compositional approaches. Sound Variation is based on the use of the same sounds, re-used throughout, giving each track another musical approach by pushing each instrument in a different compositional direction by re-arrangement, tone-shifting and by adding/changing effects in order to demonstrate that a defined production criteria brings forth maximal results through the process of limitation within a lo-fi aesthetic. The Andy Vaz vinyl series on the elusive and nameless label is therefore entitled [---]. The name of a record label usually represents a specific genre of musical releases of a specific sound.

Next to the series Andy Vaz also started putting out minimal techno dance material. Music that is focused on the Groove and is based on his rich experiences as an internationally rewarded Live Act. Apart from having played countless clubs, festivals and venues, he’s done everything from the legendary “Liquid Room” in Tokyo to the Mutekh Festival in Mexico. Andy has build up an excellent reputation as a crowd shaking and unique sounding live act. Known for extended two hour dance live-sets to more abstract listening performances Andy proves to be diverse and suitable in various musical contexts.