Teste

TESTE was the original alias for techno producer Himadri of Richie Hawtin's +8 records. In 1991 during the time of Chemistry and Nitrous raves in Toronto a partnership was made between David Foster (now drummer for junior boys and then drummer for Eden Mandate. The two began an industrial group called Kanal and then AVM, which opened for many industrial shows such as DHI, bang elektroniq and digital poodle. Himadri left his 1987 hiphop act after opening for public enemy to promote 1987 AVM's demo in London UK where he also handed out tapes of TESTE, the loopy distorted experimental tape of beats made on a tr909 with a tb303 and other analog synths. "Ironically, I had the 909 as a 14yr old to help me keep tempo for my sitar lessons..." Himadri recalls. In London where he discovered dance music, He made friends with several uk djs and shops and when he returned he discovered that the music that he thought was an experiment was coming from detroit in particular transmat records and underground resistance's "we are on tv". after making over 100 tapes which circulated across usa, germany and uk to similar unknown producers at the time in a new music deemed "techno" as techno was becoming what we now know. Soon afterwards AVM finished its full legth album in 1989 when 100 tapes were manufactured but destroyed in a destructive activity as the band broke up their reputed shows of extreme visuals, crazy antiques and dark mysterious electronic songs. The three were then approached by Richie Hawtin after a Nitrous Rave in Toronto where Teste performed in the side room with a group of performance artists to shock the crowd of the new rave crowd. Richie played in the main room with Dan Bell, OS2 and Place called Bliss. "It was funny because i didnt have monitors and it was dark so it was a wierd show, but the monopoly which was being triggered by the tr 909 goes down below 30 hz so i pushed the system to extreme low base and kept the beats minimal,people were dancing staring at our outfits and the performers and feeling nothing but bass and a kick drum..in retrospect , that became the minimal sound of almost all of my records since..." says Himadri, over 30 records later being featured on more than 20 compilations and mixed cds for renown international djs. ...that was the time of our lives. when techno was starting. not jazzy detroit techno but mental, deep hard seminal techno whatever the hell that is...best party we ever played was GRIN in detroit" Unfortunatley, David Foster left TESTE after Regions where he performed vocals which triggered a moog liberty and korg mini. Spatial K and Praecox were part of the original tapes circulated in 1988 and were mastered from tape to vinyl. Himadri has begun to tour as Teste after a 9 year hiitus and refuses to use laptops in a show of gear and hardware http://detroitluv.com Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.