plaid Bytes-era pseudonyms

[Guest sirch]

..i remember when i hit 10 years old, my mum saying, "you're double figures now, you're a big boy", lol... :)

[Guest sirch]

Yeah we really do owe a lot to Martin, and a lot of times he's the grand voice of the Dog. Anyway from what i've read recently Ken and Martin have known each other for a very long time and they used to do the BBSing thing way back in the early internet days. So i'd imagine Martin has been in the picture in some form as long as The Black Dog has existed. There was the old like Black Dog Towers BBS or something like that. he probably had a hand in it.

 

what is owed to Martin is tBd's recent revival since 2005.

and yeah it should be said, respect is due for that, and for all the hard work he's put in.

and you would, anyone would try their complete best in his position. and your best is all you can do.... ehhhhh

i don't agree that he's "the grand voice of the Dog", tho.. lol. not at all. Kendog Downie is, surely? :)

 

What he means is that Martin is often the spokesman for tBd, which is true. Most of the promotion, interviews and posts are by Martin.

 

from what i know Martin didn't have any hand in the creation of the original BBS. he was just a big fan like you and me. :)

there's an interview out there where Dust says he contacted the original tBd through their BBS, like a lot of other fans did aswell....

and that was already running.. in the early 90's.

 

How did you come to be involved in The Black Dog?

 

Ive known Ken from the beginning. Before the Internet existed, Ken and I used to run a thing called a bulletin board, where you had a modem in your house and your computer was basically open to people dialling in and sharing stuff, swapping information, uploading and downloading.

 

Ive been in punk bands and making music since I was 12. Richards about 10 years younger and I met him when we worked at a company that makes computer games.

 

We started talking in 2002 about making music and starting a new label up and getting back to basics really: making stuff ourselves and getting away from record labels. So thats what we started to do and its been a long slow process but its been enjoyable.

 

http://www.factmag.com/2010/05/12/the-black-dog-strange-cargo/

 

This is the interview i was thinking of, where Dust says he contacted Ken via tBd's BBS :

 

Although often bracketed alongside the likes of Autechre and Richard Aphex Twin James (all three were featured on Warps seminal Artificial Intelligence compilation in 1992, which galvanised the nascent intelligent techno movement that in turn spawned so-called IDM), The Black Dogs roots go back further, to the first wave of homegrown UK techno in the late 80s. At the time Ken Downie was running a London-based bulletin board service (BBS) the precursor to the online forum/message board called Black Dog Towers and hanging out with the KLFs Jimmy Cauty. Downie hooked up with kindred spirits Ed Handley and Andy Turner to form The Black Dog, the trio dropping debut release, The Virtual EP, in April 1989 on their own Black Dog Productions label.

 

I used to speak to Ken when all that was happening right at the beginning via BBS and I loved it, recalls Martin Dust. Virtuals a great, great track.

 

Certainly, listening now it still sounds fresh, living up to its reputation as one of the first British-made records to offer a convincing variant on the classic Detroit techno sound of Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson (others, such as the recordings of Rhythmatic and Nexus 21, could be heard on the Biorhythm compilations put out by Neil Rushtons Network records).

 

Virtual and a host of other early Black Dog works have been made available again by the groups current label, the Glasgow-based Soma. Last years Book of Dogma compilation gathers together tracks from six EPs originally released between 1989 and 1992. Two of those six The Virtual EP and Techno Playtime have been put out again separately too, along with The Cost. The latter EP features four of the best tracks from the 1993 album, The Temple of Transparent Balls, now reissued on Soma as well, but originally released on the long defunct General Production Recordings one month after debut LP Bytes appeared on Warp (!!). Temple was recorded at The Techno Island Studio in Ghent, where many of the legendary Belgian hardcore tracks from R&S records were laid down. We produced some of our most poignant sounds there, believes Ken Downie.

 

i'm sure Martin and Ken have been friends for a long time, but he didn't have a hand in creating tBd's original BBS, which was what i was saying.

 

it's funny how the info in some interviews differs from previous interviews or later interviews.. but then i suppose anybody's memory would be a bit sketchy after 20 odd years, lol ;)

 

btw, the above snippet i've posted is from another fact mag interview they did in early 2009.

[Guest ruiagnelo]

 

i'm sure Martin and Ken have been friends for a long time, but he didn't have a hand in creating tBd's original BBS, which was what i was saying.

 

it's funny how the info in some interviews differs from previous interviews or later interviews.. but then i suppose anybody's memory would be a bit sketchy after 20 odd years, lol ;)

 

btw, the above snippet i've posted is from another fact mag interview they did in early 2009.

 

Good find mate!

 

By the way, i started a topic on the music discussion forum, about a photo of the original trio (ken, ed and andy) that i am looking for. See the topic here: http://forum.watmm.com/topic/56540-trance-europe-express/

 

Do you happen to have or know anyone that has the book of that release?

[Guest sirch]

ah i know the one you're talking about dude, but i'm afraid i don't have it myself! :(

sometimes they turn up on eBay.... i was looking for the exact same thing last year..

but the one the girl was selling didn't include the booklet....

so becarefull and make sure you ask if it includes that booklet if you're going to be buying online! :)

[Guest ruiagnelo]

ah i know the one you're talking about dude, but i'm afraid i don't have it myself! :(

sometimes they turn up on eBay.... i was looking for the exact same thing last year..

but the one the girl was selling didn't include the booklet....

so becarefull and make sure you ask if it includes that booklet if you're going to be buying online! :)

 

I was actually just looking for someone who could scan the image, not to buy a copy :)

[Guest sirch]

oh right... well maybe PM Boredroom, as he has boxes full of old Treasures!

and give him a nudge about that Tape 2 while you're at it! ;) lol