Mike Paradinas

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For the American neo-soul and R&B music artist, see Musiq.
Mike Paradinas

Background information
Also known as µ-Ziq, Tusken Raiders, Kid Spatula, Rude Ass Tinker, Jake Slazenger, Gary Moscheles, Diesel M
Born 1971
Origin Wimbledon, London, England
Genre(s) Electronic, IDM, Ambient Techno, Drill'n'bass, Electro, Jazz-funk, Breakbeat
Occupation(s) Label owner, Musician
Years active Late 1980s to Present
Label(s) Rephlex, Astralwerks, Planet Mu
Associated acts Mike & Rich, Speedy J
Website http://www.planet-mu.com
Notable instrument(s)
DX11

Mike Paradinas (born 1971), who works primarily under the name µ-Ziq (pronounced "music")[1][2]in addition to a large number of aliases, is a British musician in the field of electronic music.

Contents

[edit] History

Paradinas was born in Charing Cross and began playing keyboards during the early '80s and listened to new wave bands like The Human League and Heaven 17. He joined a few bands in the mid-'80s, then spent eight years on keyboards for the group Blue Innocence.

During this period, Paradinas had been recording on his own as well with synthesizers and a four-track recorder. In 1995, following a performance at "The Orange" in London, Blue Innocence broke up. Paradinas and the brother of the bass player, Francis Naughton, bought sequencing software and re-recorded some of Paradinas' older tracks. After the material was played for Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton — the duo behind Global Communication, who were also the heads of Evolution Records — it was to be released; however, recording commitments later forced Pritchard and Middleton to withdraw their agreement. Fortunately for Paradinas, Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin) had also heard the tracks and agreed to release their music on Rephlex Records under the alias for the duo of µ-Ziq.

Naughton then left µ-Ziq to start Rocket Goldstar. A second album Bluff Limbo was scheduled to be released in mid-1994, though only 1000 copies were released. (It was re-issued by Rephlex in 1996 after Paradinas served papers on the label.) Paradinas' first major-label release came later in 1994, after he undertook a remix project for Virgin Records. The Remix EP The Auteurs Vs µ-Ziq for the britpop band The Auteurs was this project. The remixes Paradinas offered sounded nothing like the original song, a familiar practice for many experimental electronic musicians at the time.

Even though the EP was hardly a high sales category, Virgin signed Paradinas to a hefty contract and gave him his own sub-label, Planet Mu, to release his own work and develop similar-minded artists. (Paradinas later broke Virgin and in 1998 established Planet Mu as his own independent label.) Written into his own contract was a provision for unlimited recording under different names, and during 1995 Paradinas definitely took it to task: he unveiled three aliases and released many albums in less than a year's time. The neo-electro music label Clear released his debut single as Tusken Raiders (named after the Star Wars species) early in the year. Clear also released the first Paradinas alias full-length, Jake Slazenger MakesARacket, later in 1995. Although they were still audible, the LP ignored the electro influences in favor of some synthesizer figures and the previously unheard influence of jazz-funk. Paradinas continued to release solo albums under the mentioned names as well as Gary Moscheles, and a one time collaboration with Aphex Twin under the Mike & Rich moniker.

In 1997 Paradinas made a style change again, mixing experimental electronic music with drum'n'bass, a similar aesthetic taken in by Squarepusher and Aphex Twin. During this year he was also touring with popular musician Björk. Bjork inspired the following 1999 album Royal Astronomy with its mixture of bizarre vocals, strings and breakbeat. All of his albums until 2003 were released on the more mainstream label, Astralwerks.

In 2003 he switched from Cubase on his Atari to Logic on his G3 Apple Mac.

"I used to be so quick with Cubase on the Atari, but with Logic it's different. There's no paintbrush, which I used to use a lot. But I'm getting used to it..."

[3]

Paradinas is currently the owner of the Planet Mu label, which hosts cult favorite electronic musicians such as Capitol K, Datach'i, Luke Vibert and Venetian Snares.

[edit] Discography

[edit] As µ-Ziq

[edit] Albums

[edit] EPs

[edit] As Tusken Raiders / Rude Ass Tinker

  • Bantha Trax (1995)
  • Bantha Trax Vol. 2 (1999)
  • The Motorbike Track (1999)
  • Imperial Break (2001)

[edit] As Jake Slazenger

  • Makesaracket (1995)
  • Megaphonk (1995)
  • Nautilus (1996)
  • Das Ist Ein Groovybeat, Ja (1996)
  • Pewter Dragon (2006)

[edit] As Kid Spatula

[edit] As Gary Moscheles

  • Shaped to Make Your Life Easier (1996)

[edit] Collaborations

[edit] Diesel M (with Marco Jerrentrup)

  • M for Multiple (1993)
  • M for Mangoes (1995)

[edit] Mike & Rich (with Aphex Twin)

[edit] Slag Boom Van Loon (w/ Speedy J aka Jochem Paap)

  • Slag Boom Van Loon (1998)
  • So Soon (2001)

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Astralwerks artist biography
  2. ^ Pronunciation of µ-ZIQ via Planet-Mu phorum
  3. ^ [http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may02/articles/paradinas.asp Bedroom Operation