Marc Houle | Bio
Growing up in Windsor, Canada meant Marc Houle always had a close association with the Detroit sounds of the 90s. Now in a new century, it’s the man himself who is a leading light of the modern scene thanks to his quality techno work for Richie Hawtin’s illustrious Minus (M_NUS) label. Known for both a high quality and quantity of tracks, a love of authentic, old school sounds and of new wave and analog synths, you can now add Items & Things to Marc Houle’s long list of credits.

The imprint he runs alongside friends Magda and Troy Pierce has been recently resurrected. It releases a wide remit of electronic sounds from disco tech to experimental to techno, bringing together (and releasing) the eclectic tastes of the three music lovers who run it, as well as a tasteful selection of others.

His live shows see Marc threading together emotive soundscapes with powerful techno. Always playing large amounts of his unreleased material, Marc will also line-­-up alongside Magda and Troy at more of their own Down & Out events in the coming months. Whilst releases on Minus will still come, this is a new chapter for one of the scene’s finest techno storytellers.

Troy Pierce | Bio
Growing up in Indiana, right by the electronic hotspots of Detroit and Chicago, it’s no wonder Troy Pierce was infected with the dance music bug early on. Since then, he’s developed into a pillar of the modern techno community thanks to world tours, live shows, albums and EPs under a number of aliases and as part of more than one studio collective.

“I like making and playing weird music for weird people - those WTF tracks that stick in your head as a sound from another dimension” says the man whose close association to techno  bastion Minus has earned him a deserved and revered reputation during the years since first
emerging. Looking ahead, though, it will be for his own label, Items & Things (co-run with friends Magda and Marc Houle) that he is most known.

Whilst the rejuvenated label will aim to break new talent and continue its run of underground and intimate Down & Out parties, Troy will also work on his own music. First there’ll be a collaborative effort with his new label mates; then a solo EP on I&T but, also, some fresh material from his much-lauded Louderbach alias in the coming months.

The Troy Pierce sound is one which has constantly veered from dense, layered and abstract to stripped down, acid infused and pulsing. His sonic palette is one that draws on a wide  array of influences and reaches far outside the confines of the studio and into an otherworld entirely. Fusing techno with minimalism, darkness with light and heaviness with rhythm, this American has never been afraid to experiment in the outer regions of his vast musical universe.

Despite an already impressive list of accolades to his name, Troy Pierce isn’t one to sit still. Keen as ever to confound your expectations, Items & Things, new Louderbach music and a number of exciting collaborations are sure to do just that as he enters the next phase of his musical evolution.