Minitek festival set to wake up New York’s club scene

Minitek festival set to wake up New York’s club scene

23 May, 2008 | 5.06AM

• Section: Music News Topics: Beatport Blog
• Written by: Terry Church

New York City is set to get its own three-day techno festival in September called Minitek, which will run from 12th - 14th September 2008.

Organised by the crew behind Minimoo, a club night ‘born out of desperation’ (a message on Minimoo-nyc.com explains that the night was started because ‘the city’s [New York’s] nightlife landscape was as dry as a desert’), Minitek will hopefully add some fire to New York’s club scene, which is a shadow of its former self.

Many DJs, club promoters and clubbers have complained that New York lost much of its artistic and musical edge after Mayor Giuliani’s infamous ‘clean up’ of the city - whilst Guiliani can be credited with reducing crime and ‘improving’ the quality of life for many New Yorkers, his initiatives seriously damaged the club scene and many important club venues are no longer operating.

‘Surely the desert won’t turn into a rainforest over night, but at least we’re trying’ reads a message on Minimoo-nyc.com, a note that shows the passion and dedication the crew behind Minimoo have for improving New York’s club scene.

Minitek are keen to play down the Minimoo connection, but we at Beatportal feel it’s important to show the background of the promoters behind this new techno festival.

Minitek isn’t run by a bunch of noobies in it for a quick buck, but rather by a group of electronic music enthusiasts who for years have been trying to spread the good word of dance music in a city that has lost its way.

And with the likes of Richie Hawtin, Marco Corola, Guy Gerber, Magda, Troy Pierce, Audion, Davide Squillace, Paul Ritch, Konrad Black, Guido Schneider, Butane, Paco Osuna and Exercise One performing, plus many other top underground techno producers and DJs, it’s likely (and hoped) that Minitek will be a big success.

In the build up to Minitek (and it seems to educate Americans who may not be familiar with some of the underground European names on the bill), Minitek will be releasing a series of 16 podcasts with some of the key artists performing at the festival.

Each podcast features a mini-interview and a mix, and in the coming weeks Paco Osuna, Jeremy P, Caulfield, Camea, Davide Squillace and Pan Pot will do podcasts.

The first podcast will be available to download on Thursday 29th May from minitekfestival.com, and every Thursday a new podcast will become available.

Minitek, New York, September 12th - 14th 2008: Line-up

Richie Hawtin
Marco Carola
Guy Gerber (live)
Magda
Troy Pierce
Audion (live)
Martin Buttrich (live)
Paco Osuna
Konrad Black
Guido Schneider (live)
Davide Squillace
Paul Ritch (live)
Pan-Pot
Butane
Camea
Adultnapper/Alexi Delano
Jeremy P. Caulfield (live/DJ)
Format:B (live)
Exercise One (live)
Monoblock (live)
Seph (live)
Dilo vs. Gurtz (live)
Fase Miusic Sender (live)
Memek

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