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MACEO PLEX The house and techno producer is all set to thrill Glasgow and Edinburgh under his Plex alias
‘I t’s been a gradual, step by step ascent, not overnight like a lot of DJs,’ says Erik Estornel of his career to date. ‘When I released my first record in 1998 I thought my music career was taking off. Then, not long after I took the name Maetrik, I thought it was taking off when I brought out a string of hits.’ Bu t now he calls himself Maceo Plex, and he’s taken it to a whole new level again.
As Maetrik he released two techno albums on Cologne label Triebstoff early in the 2000s, but it wasn’t until the turn of this decade and the beginning of his association with Crosstown Rebels that he began to experiment with more futuristic and groove- laden forms under the Plex alias, resulting in 2011’s Life Index album. ‘I use the different aliases mainly so I don’t confuse the fans when my style changes,’ says Estornel, who’s
46 THE LIST 24 Jan–21 Feb 2013
also gone by the names Eric Entity, Mariel Ito, Plaex and so on. ‘It also gives things a different personality. I never made a lot of deep, deep house as Maetrik, so when I did I had to give it a name. You know what you’re going to get when you buy a record by one or the other.’ Raised in Miami and Dallas and now based in Barcelona, he promises a similar fusion of influences on the live stage. ‘A lot of people think I play extremely slow and deep house,’ he laughs, ‘but I actually come from a darker techno background. So don’t worry, it’s energetic, I bring it up.’ (David Pollock)
Pressure at the Arches, Glasgow, Fri 1 Feb; Musika’s Sixth Birthday Party at the Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Sat 2 Feb.
HITLIST THE BEST DANCEFLOOR ACTION
✽ Electric Frog Free Party Just when we thought we had no more to say
about Electric Frog, they give it to us for free. With DJs from Optimo, Thunder Disco Club, Vitamins, Bigfoots Tea Party, Melting Pot and more. SWG3, Glasgow, Sat 26 Jan.
✽ Jackhammer They get a lot of love from our Hitlist but when they secure a double
bill of DJ Hell and Neil Landstrumm we just can’t help ourselves. Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Fri 1 Feb.
✽ Sonic Cineplex Excitement levels
are at maximum for this Glasgow Music and Film Festival event, which features classic movie rescores and AV sets by
Jeff Mills, Dieter Moebius and many more. Arches, Glasgow, Sat 16 Feb.
✽ Wee Dub Festival Revel in a work of
bass heavy dubwise sounds. Highlights include Zion Train, Prince Fatty, Laid Blak and more. Various venues, Edinburgh, Fri 1–Sun 3 Feb.
✽ Huntleys & Palmers Audio Club One of Glasgow’s finest eclectic clubs is
back, with (respectively) Esa of Auntie Flo and Minimal Wave’s Veronica Vasicka and Trevor Jackson. Saint Judes, Sat 25 Jan; La Cheetah, Sat 16 Feb (both Glasgow).
✽ In Flagranti Sleazy New York disco in the style of three decades hence from the
Codek label heads. Poetry Club at SWG3, Glasgow, Fri 8 Feb.
✽ Gasoline Dance Machine Expect deep machine funk from Perseus (French Express) so he should fit in perfectly at GDM. Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Sat 16 Feb.