Magda, Troy Pierce and Marc Houle recently announced their separation from their longtime label Minus. Officially it was announced that the three artists in the future want to focus more on their since 2006 existing label „Items & Things“.
A quote from Magda, Marc Houle and Troy Pierce: “Items & Things are bits and pieces of uniqueness we come across. The label is a platform to launch the music that we love. There are no rules, just sounds we like and artists we believe in.”
„Items & Things“ was founded as a side project for musical experimentation and discovery. Whether inconsistencies with Richie Hawtin, lack of participation rights in the label’s release policy or the narrow Minus release scheme were reasons for the split up, is open to speculation.
In any case, the three also announced, that in future they would also to focus more on their event series „Down & Out“. The next releases on „Items & Things“ are already in the wings and are of course coming from the minds of the collective, but also from new discoveries like Madato, Danny Benedettini, Tomas More & Andy Martin, and the so far largest label success, Click Box.
„We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of our friends and supporters from across the years and we look forward to sharing with you the new and great adventures that lie ahead! We would also like to thank Richie Hawtin and the Minus team for all their tremendous support and guidance over the years”, was the official statement of Magda, Marc Houle and Troy Pierce.
On 12th of August 2011 Richie Hawtin in an official newsletter responded to the separation and the rumors: „We are very happy and excited about the developments that we have actually encouraged, as it has always been a goal for us to help develop our artists to create a foundation where each of them could one day go on to explore their own unique brand and vision of electronic music. We are excited and hugely proud to see some of our long standing artists take these first steps into the greater unknown, where we are sure they will grow personally, professionally and – more importantly – artistically AND creatively.
Minus remains committed to being an open door for past, present and future artists, continuing its tradition of developing next generation talent to help further the growth of our scene – we will continue to fully support our associated artists, help grow the newer additions to the family and look out for new talent. It’s an exciting time for Minus and electronic music in general – we can’t wait to see where our current artists and the next generation can take us.“
Apparently now also Fabrizio Maurizi is about to leave the label, we are excited to see what develops there and will keep you updated.
