Taylor Deupree

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Taylor Deupree (born 1971), is an American electronic musician, photographer and graphic designer. He is most known for the founding of the 12k record label, along with his work as a member of Prototype 909, and his collaborations with Savvas Ysatis and Christopher Willits.

Contents

[edit] Prototype 909 (1993-1996)

A collaboration between Deupree, Deitrich Schoenemann, and Jason Szostek, Prototype 909 was a techno group which performed live without the aid of DAT machines. They released four albums between 1993 and 1997.

[edit] Human Mesh Dance (1993-1996)

Deupree's solo project which was begun in 1993 and ended in 1996, Human Mesh Dance was an ambient project which was a strong contrast to Prototype 909's more mainstream techno sound. He made three releases as Human Mesh Dance, along with appearances on numerous ambient compilations.

[edit] Work with Ysatis

Also in 1993, Deupree teamed up with Savvas Ysatis, a Greek electronic artist, to create several different projects, each with different sounds. The SETI project produced ambient electronica, with sounds and words from the various SETI projects from around the world. Futique was their trip-hop project, and their Detroit techno output was released under the Arc moniker.

In 1996, the duo formed the short-lived label Index, which released only a single 12" EP, containing 4 tracks by various artists.

[edit] 12k

Main article: 12k

Deupree founded 12k on January 1, 1997, based on the name of the first Arc album, 12k. On the name 12k:

“ it first came about when savvas and i named our first Arc CD (on kk records) "12k".. we did so because all of the sequencer files for the tracks on the album ended up having file sizes of 12k. it was an intriguing and mysterious title..so we took it for the album.

a year later when i was thinking of label names i couldn't get "12k" out of my head.. i was looking for a name that was abstract and technical sounding yet at the same time mysterious and would make people wonder what it was about. it was also VERY important that it had to be easy to say, look good on paper, and be able to be understood and pronounced by virtually anyone in the world, no matter what language they speak. 12k fit all of those requirements.[1]

 ”

12k publishes what Deupree refers to as "microscopic sound" music, which features super-synthetic sounds, and minimal compositions. 12k also has two sublabels: Line, which was started as a collaboration with Richard Chartier in September 2000, focuses on ultra-minimal digital ambience; and Happy, begun in September 2003, aims to give Japanese pop artists more exposure outside of Japan.

Early productions by 12k were limited to between 500 and 1000 units, partially because of limited storage space, and also because the small edition size increases the collectability of the albums. Since around 2001 editions have become less limited but still start at between 1000 and 2000 copies.

[edit] Recent work

Deupree has stated that he will be focusing on releasing microscopic sounds under his own name for the foreseeable future. He has done collaborations with several different experimental artists.

[edit] Bands

  • Arc (with Ysatis)
  • Drum Komputer (with Schoenemann)
  • EOX
  • Escape Tank
  • Futique (with Ysatis)
  • Human Mesh Dance
  • Prototype 909 (with Schoenemann, Szostek)
  • SETI (with Ysatis)
  • Skai (with Ysatis)
  • Tiny Objects in Space
  • Unit Park (with Schoenemann)

[edit] Collaborations

[edit] Discography

  • Freak Of Nature (1996, Tension)
  • Bang Bang Machine (1997, Electric Music Foundation)
  • Acid Technology (as Prototype 909) (1993, Sonic)
  • Hyaline (as Human Mesh Dance) (1994, Instinct)
  • SETI (as SETI) (1994, Instinct)
  • Mindflower (as Human Mesh Dance) (1995, Instinct)
  • Live '93-'95 (as Prototype 909) (1995, Instinct)
  • Pharos (as SETI) (1995, Instinct)
  • Transistor Rhythm (as Prototype 909) (1995, Sonic)
  • Ciphers (as SETI) (1996, Instinct)
  • thesecretnumbertwelve (as Human Mesh Dance) (1997, 12k)
  • Joined at the Head (as Prototype 909) (1997, Caipirinha)
  • Arc vs. Tiny Objects in Space (1997, 12k)
  • Alphabet Flasher (as Drum Komputer) (1998, 12k)
  • Tower Of Winds (1998, Caipirinha)
  • Comma (1998, 12k)
  • SPEC. (1999, 12k)
  • .N (2000, Ritornell)
  • Active / Freeze (with Tetsu Inoue) (2000, 12k)
  • Focux EP (2000, Audio.nl)
  • Polr (2000, Raster-Noton)
  • invalidObject Series (continue) (2000, Fällt)
  • Occur (2001, 12k)
  • Tokei EP (2001, Audio.nl)
  • Balance (with Frank Bretschneider) (2002, Mille Plateaux)
  • Print EP (2002, Audio.nl)
  • Stil. (2002, 12k)
  • Invisible Architecture #8 (with Christopher Willits) (2003, Audiosphere)
  • Post_Piano (with Kenneth Kirschner) (2003, Sub Rosa)
  • January (2004, Spekk)
  • Mujo (with Christopher Willits) (2004, Plop)
  • Every Still Day (with Eisi) (2005, Midi Creative / Noble)
  • Live In Japan, 2004 (with Christopher Willits) (2005, 12k)
  • Post_Piano 2 (with Kenneth Kirschner) (2005, 12k)
  • Northern (2006, 12k)
  • Specification. Fifteen (with Richard Chartier) (2006, Line)
  • 1am (2006, 12k)
  • Landing (2007, Room40)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Opdyke, D. (1999-07-25). "Taylor Deupree: 12k Interview". Retrieved 2006-07-17.

[edit] External links