Visionquest: Ryan Crosson & Shaun Reeves with Jubilee at Flash

Friday, October 21st • Bar opens 8PM, Roof 9PM, Club 10PM Ryan Crosson and Shaun Reeves are two Detroit-born, Berlin-based DJ's affiliated with collective-turned-label Visionquest They, together with Lee Curtiss and Seth Troxler, formed the label in 2011. Though Seth has since stepped away to pursue his solo career, the label's output remains as strong as ever. Visionquest is one of the few American labels to promote the minimal house sound which now enjoys a place at the forefront of underground dance music. Two selectors at the top of their game, Shaun and Ryan are a truly complimentary duo behind the decks. Who better to begin our journey on this occasion than Slope Traxx boss Jubilee with an extended set. PHILCO invites special guest, Baltimore's Ypset to join him for an evening of chugging house selections on the roof. Retro Future and Aurean are set to keep the vibes thick in FlashBar. Advance tickets: ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1319221 Ryan Crosson ( Visionquest| Detroit/Berlin ) residentadvisor.net/dj/ryancrosson facebook.com/RyanCrossonMusic soundcloud.com/ryancrosson Shaun Reeves ( Visionquest | Detroit/Berlin ) facebook.com/shaunreevesmusic soundcloud.com/shaunreeves residentadvisor.net/dj/shaunreeves Jubilee ( Slope Traxx | DC ) facebook.com/jubileeishere soundcloud.com/jubilee facebook.com/pages/Slope-Traxx/643485395727998 Roof: Ypset soundcloud.com/ypset PHILCO soundcloud.com/iamphilco Bar: Retro Future soundcloud.com/theretrofuture Aurean soundcloud.com/aureansounds RYAN CROSSON: Ryan Crosson makes house and techno inspired by the historical precedent set in his native city of Detroit and his adopted hometown of Berlin. His musical output is shaped by pioneering artists like Richie Hawtin, Kevin Saunderson and Moodymann in the US, in addition to European heavyweights like Pantytec, Ricardo Villalobos, and Thomas Brinkmann. Situated loosely between these two defining poles, alongside his partners in Visionquest: Shaun Reeves, Seth Troxler and Lee Curtiss, Ryan delivers a obsessive attention to the constant progression of his sound and embodies a ceaseless energy that carries itself from the studio directly into his live set and DJ performances. Whether it’s solo in the studio or as a guiding hand in the Visionquest label and DJ/production partnership, Ryan consistently chooses to steer away from the predictable circuit of so-called “underground” club hits, instead favouring a process of constant renewal, returning both to early influential material and to emerging sounds that depart from well-trodden trends. As a key member of Visionquest, Ryan is responsible for much of the concepting and day to day running of what has rapidly become one of dance music’s most cherished new labels. Between them, Ryan and his partners in Visionquest have honed a whole new landscape of lush, organic techno and more esoteric leftfield electronica, gambling against the predicable to introduce emerging talent like Tale Of Us, Maceo Plex, Footprinz, Laura Jones and Mathew Burton to the record buying public. Their efforts were rewarded when their label was voted number seven in Resident Advisor’s 2011 label poll, no mean feat given that it’s back catalogue has only recently hit double digits. In the studio, Ryan’s production and sampling practices depart from the world of electronic music by accessing histories of sound, referencing musique concrete, 1970's funk, and East African jazz. This is best demonstrated by the evolution of his sound from minimal hits like ‘Gotham Road’ and ‘Hopskotch’, through to the organic underground house strains of his ‘Visionquest’ remixes of Kiki’s ‘Good Voodoo’ and more recently via his Visionquest remixes of David Lynch’s ‘Pinky’s Dream’ and Guy Gerber and P Diddy’s forthcoming ‘Eleven Eleven’ project. In addition to dancefloor bombs like ‘You’ve Got Me’ EP on Supplement Facts he’s also capable of conjuring up the haunting cosmic beauty of his recent ‘Birds & Souls’ project on Spectral Sound alongside the genre-busting sonic experiments that make up his recent DRM album collaboration with Cesar Merveille released at the start of the year on Visionquest. In the past Ryan has released tracks on diverse and groundbreaking labels like m-nus, Telegraph, Trapez, and Wagon Repair and more recently Soma, Spectral Sound and Supplemental Facts. From the outset Ryan immediately gave himself over to a life of touring and performance that keeps a steady focus on both the avant-garde aesthetics and deeply emotional bonds of dance music subculture. Ryan’s back-to-back live sets with Lee Curtiss, at the sold out Visionquest showcase at fabric last year and at Movement in Detroit, stole both these shows boding well for 2012 which will see him repeat his live show at some of the world’s most famous clubs and festivals alongside a packed schedule of DJ gigs, both solo and as part of Visionquest, including his much anticipated new residency at Circo Loco at DC10 this summer. SHAUN REEVES: Shaun Reeves is an enigmatic pioneer who’s trailblazing quest to export his unique brand of cosmic underground house and techno from his hometown of Detroit to Europe and beyond has brought him international acclaim. Alongside best friends Ryan Crosson, Lee Curtiss and Seth Troxler he has helped put a warm, esoteric spin on the city’s musical heritage taking it away from clinical minimalism, back towards warmer, more spiritual party music. Together they have formed Visionquest, a genre-busting four-piece DJ combo, live act, record label and forward-thinking school of thought. Since his move to Berlin, Shaun Reeves has been enthralling audiences on both sides of the Atlantic with his own highly distinctive mixture of American house, both classic and contemporary, and the deepest, most cutting edge aspects of post-minimal techno and tech-house. In addition to playing in Berlin's celebrated Panorama Bar, Watergate, the legendary Beatstreet loft parties and holding his ‘Soul Shower’ summer residency at Club Der Visionaere, he has appeared at DC10 (Ibiza), Fabric (London), Robert Johnson (Frankfurt), Cityfox (Zurich), Sankeys (Manchester) and played for Wolf+Lamb at The Marcy Hotel (NYC). The last few years have seen Shaun blossom in the studio, both on his own for New York’s Wolf+Lamb, as ‘The Royal We’ with Seth Troxler for Crosstown Rebels, alongside Guti and Miss Fitz for Wolf+Lamb and Raum…musik and most recently as Visionquest remixing Tracey Thorn (for Strange Feeling), doP & Seuil (for Eklo) and Paul Ritch & D’Julz (for Quartz Music). When he’s not conjuring up bombs in the studio or trawling through record shops and the farthest reaches of the internet in search of forgotten gems and untapped jams, that sound decidedly fresh and exciting, Shaun remains committed to pushing all genres of dance music forward. His is music not just for the dance floor, but also for the body, soul…and brain. As the recent resurgence of interest in the border between house and techno makes all too clear, Shaun has always been one to set musical trends rather than follow them.