Marc Houle - M_nus 10th Anniversary Live - Part 2

Created On by i_have_ADD

Currently sharing his time between New York and Berlin depending on tour commitments, Marc Houle grew up in Windsor just across the waters of Lake Erie, Detroit. He was and still is a first generation computer game addict. Hooked on his Commodore 64 and a host of early video games such as Arcon and Jump Man, he was mainlining Atari straight into his cerebral cortex from the tender age of ten.

Needless to say, European electro-pioneers like Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode had a strong influence on him during these formative years and as his studio grew, Marc started developing his own particular brand of synth-pop by appropriating the old commodore game sounds into his productions. Things began to take shape in the early nineties when, still largely oblivious to the techno-revolution taking place in Detroit, he started heading over to warehouse parties like Sickness and Recovery. After soaking up the vibes under the expert guidance of Jeff Mills, Richie Hawtin, John Aquaviva et al, he would return home, applying these new found ideas to his sound which, in turn, began to evolve in a hyper, distorted ‘Aphex Twin’ direction. During one of these excursions he got talking to Hawtin, bombarding him with questions about a Kraftwerk gig the latter had been lucky enough to witness. This shared passion for all things electronic soon led to a DJ residency at Hawtin’s 13 Below in 1997, hosting a New Wave/Atari night where clubbers could get off on vintage game consoles while Marc pumped out a mixture of Electro Boogie and New Wave, inducing 1983 style flashbacks.

Houle remains faithful to the retro-sounds that first inspired him to start producing. Apart from his work for Minus, his insatiable output means he is involved with several other bands such as the new wave project La Folie and the cold wave outfits Raid on Moscow and 2VM.

Catch the M_nus 10th anniversary tour in Australia, with Marc Houle and Gaiser playing live:

Sat May 31 – Beck’s Fusions pres. Lost Baggage, Sydney
Sat Jun 7 – We Love Sounds, Melbourne
Sun Jun 8 – We Love Sounds, Sydney