Trax:
Marco Grandi - Back To Earth - Ellroy Rmx - Deep Dive Records
Plasmik - Eight To Nine - Afrilounge Rmx - Connaisseur Records
Markus Homm - Black Slope - Act Natural Records
Chris Carrier - Yog Rmx - Adults Only
Audiofly - No Props - Skint Records
Mihai Popoviciu & Toygun - Micramour - Bondage Music
Mihai Popoviciu & Toygun - Closer - Bondage Music
Markus Homm - Snapshot - Highgrade Records
Markus Homm - Out Of Love - Act Natural Records
Laurence Reed - Strung Out In A Ball Pit - Sounds Of Juan
Javier Carballo - Panchalli's Family - La Vie En Rose
Mihai Popoviciu & David Delgado - Ajiaco - Highgrade Records
Francisco Allendes & Paola Polleto - Indigo - Hector Rmx - Voltaire Music
Tini - Shmooh's Rasin Theory - Re-Up Rmx - Dissonant
Mihai Popoviciu - Solo Man - Stanch Records
Jonathan Cowan - Uh Oh - Cocodrills Rmx - Black Flag
Eddie Richards - Dooyoo - KGBeats Records
Bruno Costenaro - Knuckle Duster - Eddie Richards Edit - Dont Sleep Worldwide
Urban Soul ft Roland Clark - Black In My Soul - Tiger Stripes Instrumental - King Street Sounds
Digital Dirt - Connections - Lee Guthrie Rmx - Click Therapy Recordings
Chris Carrier - Hinokio - Adult Only
Hall North - Anima - Eddie Richards Rmx - Glue Music
Stacey Pullen - Any Which Way - Martin Buttrich Red Mix - Blackflag Recordings
Samsara Brothers - Become - Sullivan Room Records
Lee Guthrie - Dry Mouth - Dk Watts Remix - Click Therapy Recordings
Martelli & Luca Radojlovic - Changes - Main Main Music
Moony Me - Late Nite Vibin - Apparel Music
Dani Poli & Rico Casazza - Raindrops - Sounds Of The Subburbs Meditteranean Mix - Wiggle Records

Mike Surreal - Oct 2013 - UpZ 'n' DownZ

Music has been a universal language that I feel the most at home with. It enables me to find commonality and connection with others, with an availability of rich vocabulary transcending the limitations of words alone.

I began writing and producing in the late 90's under the names of Pyramids and Autonomy. These first tracks were released on Evasive Records.

In 2000 I went on to establish my own label alongside Daniel Poli and initially with Davor Basic, who went on to host his infamous parties where many of the Suspect Package artists gathered and performed.

I had met Daniel Poli at Swag records while recording "One Time" and was the first installment on Suspect Package. 

Suspect Package was all about the unexpected, a label run by artists for artists.  A platform for up and coming undergound talent to break out and showcase their material. 

The ethos of Suspect Package was built on an attitude to remain as a steadfast  resistance against the conformity of settling on dumbed down formula.

It was a commitment that continually demanded and questioned all boundaries, that packaged musical concepts within boxed up; notional barriers. 

Suspect Package had 9 releases from 2001 - 2005 the artists:
Autonomy, Chris Pascoe,  C-Soul,  Daniel Poli, Earth Deuley, Filth, Iteration – X,  Marky Star and Red & Blue.

14 years on, Daniel Poli, detonated Suspect Package's 10th  "Long time coming" and showcased artists works by Dav, Marky Star, Sounds of the Suburbs and The Buddy System. A reminder what it is all about. 

My musical collaborations have included Rob Pearson, Lee Humphreys and Daniel Poli.

In 2003 I enrolled at Dartington College of Arts with turntables as my main instrument. The institution in its relatively short history had acquired an international reputation as an innovative centre for contemporary practice. It was one of only few in Britain devoted exclusively to specialist practical and theoretical studies spanning right across the arts.  

My studies did expose me to practical and theoretical questions regarding the role of the arts in the wider world. This experience catapulted me out of the studio production setting and out the confined limitations of my own thinking.  

It impacted the relationship I had with instruments, music and more specifically sound.  In doing so it created endless possibilities. 

The highlights:

6 minutes peice composed for a DJ mixer, guitar amp, voice, heart beat and a French 
speaking radio broadcast.

Loop capture arrangements: 

For female voice accompanied by children's music boxes.

For Electric guitar and Ebow.

A collaboration of flutes and rain stick with cello, guitar  accompanied by the River Dart and South Devon Railway's GWR 1366 class steam train.

A live remix of 8 minimal Techno and Electro Break tracks. Performed as  one track by 2 DJ's, 4 decks, 1 CDJ and two basic mixers ie no effects, loop recording or sampling functions. The duration of the remix was equivalent to the length of a new single track. 

(This project included concepts of notation relative to the DJ and turntables. Both traditional western notation scoring and graphic scores.)

2 Sonic Art peices and sound design from environmental captured audio. The Spirit of Fire - Backdraught is one of those peices.

Theoretical studies that have captured my imagination are the works of, experimental and minimalist composer's, Steve Riech, Terry Riley and John Cage. Looking at repetition, phasing, chance processes and tape loops. Composers Ligeti and Penderecki detailed layers that achieved textured avant-garde sound scapes and the interlocking patterns ubiquitous to Gamelan.

These enriched musical exposures are set into my musical foundations as I continue to create.




 



Know Thyself ...HEAVY!!!
Then Lightness...like a feather!!!

DJ Mike ‘Surreal’   loads more mixes @ www.mixcloud.com/mikesurreal

Mike started dj'ing back in the early 1990's, his sound being influenced by DJ’s such as Eddie Richards, Mr C, Terry Francis & Nathan Coles at parties like Heart & Soul and Wiggle. By 1995 he was playing at numerous parties and clubs in and around London including Wiggle, Kerfuffle, Swag,Original Sin, Positive Sound System, Technology, Pressure Point, The End, AKA, The Zap, The Concorde and many others. Playing his mixture of funky, deep, groovy house and tech-house. Lots of big basslines, crisp clean sounds, snappy percussion with emotive strings and melodies.

In June 1996 Mike started ‘Surreal Recordings’ with Paul Culver (Swag Records) which provided an outlet for music made by himself and friends. Surreal was slow in developing but after a few years was firmly established as one of London’s key ‘Tech-House’ labels, and over the years played a small part in shaping the sound as it is known today. Clocking up 30 releases from artists including Terry Francis, Housey Doingz, Asad Rizvi, Nathan Coles, Matthew Bushwacka, Mr G, The Mingers, Timmy S, Soul Doubt, Derek Marin, Dave Mothersole, Transparent Sound, Spincycle, Richard Grey, Affie Yusuf & the guys from Strange Weather Studio's (Laurant Webb, Dave Coker & Justin Bailey) who in their various guises were the production team behind a huge number of releases at this time. 

In 1998 Mike began his second long term residency at the Optical nights he hosted every two weeks in Brighton which went on for three years before coming to a close. During that time he played alongside some of the worlds finest underground DJ’s including: Terry Francis, Eddie Richards, Nathan Coles, Mr C, Dave Angel, Dave Mothersole, Kenny Hawkes, Richie Hawtin, Carl Craig, Chris Duckenfield, Colin Dale, Tyler Stadius, Asad Rizvi & Richard Grey to name a few. Shortly after the Optical nights began Mike began taking his sound further afield and over the follow years played many times in the Czech Republic, Belgium, Macedonia, Kosovo, and further afield still in Isreal and Brasil where in 2001 he was voted the best International DJ by Rraurl (the country’s biggest Electronic Music web site). 

Mike worked at Eukatech Records from July 2000 to July 2003 and along with Marco Lenzi & Nils Hess supplied London’s underground with the vinyl it craved. He also formed an integral part of the Eukatech DJ’s playing at parties in clubs like The End, AKA, Ultimate Base and Renaissance.

After his initial success in Brazil in 2001 Mike returned many times and began working with the Hypno Agency in July 2003 playing for a number of the country’s biggest and most respected names in electronic music including: D-Edge (Campo Grande, Sao Paulo), Lov.e (Sao Paulo), Propaganda (Porto Alegre), Fulltronic (Porto Alegre), Joy Lounge (Belo Horizonte), Josefine (Belo Horizonte) , Na Sala (Belo Horizonte), Bloom (Passo Fundo), In Love (Curitiba), Garage (Campo Grande), Forum (Campinas), Diretorio (Criciuma), to name a few. He has also travelled further afield in Latin America playing in Uruguay and at Pacha in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mike is now living in Belo Horizonte in Brasil and having left the Hypno agency is currently persuing a solo career.