When Robin Smith took a trip down to Miami for the Winter Music Conference and M3 Summit he wasn't sure what it would lead to, other than a chance to surround himself with a lot of electronic music all at once. Call it a cram session for someone who confesses to not listening to enough music because he's "too wrapped up" in his own -- an odd confession from someone who makes some of the most cutting edge electronica around. Under the moniker of Press, Smith creates tracks that are both retrospective and forward thinking -- Press' music pays it's homage but is also uniquely adventurous. He certainly isn't attempting to duplicate The Chemical Brothers or Underworld but you can hear the same energy coming across that excited crowds with the prospect of what this electronica genre might have to offer.

As for that jaunt to Miami -- it was there Press met a promoter from the UK -- and Crunk, the "leftfield" branch of Power Promotions, turned around to promote the first 12" release by Press -- a white label, featuring Bazaar, 1000 Tiny Footprints and Over the Moon. Response from DJs was phenomenal with both strong club and radio airplay and exclamations from DJs like, "blew my clubs roof off." That 12" wasn't the first slice of European exposure for Press. He had previously played a set at Stockholm Electronica between Håkan Libdo and Andreas Tilliander to another enthusiastic crowd. The response was fantastic and with such stellar feedback it confirmed that he was onto something.

As someone who's gigged, been hired as a touring drummer, worked in recording studios in New York, and played in a couple of band projects in Chicago you could understand the reticence that might have once existed in this artists mind. But talking to Press now you get a sense this guy has learned a lot from his experiences and is more than up to the task of backing a big sound we're all craving after the promises of the electronica scene seemed to have dwindled. There's a new hope, hokey as that sounds. Stockholm Electronica has since fizzled, but Press went on to produce a whirlwind of new tracks, most recently a remix of "King Mob" by The Damage Manual and a cover of "Sound and Vision," -- a particularly keen electronic take on David Bowie's original track, with some maybe not so subtle nods to Brian Eno's production work on those early Bowie recordings. Now of course we're facing this EP "The Fine Art of a White Label." Press definitely kept plugging away.

In Press's own words, thoughts about his music and motivation:

"...yeah, you keep going at this thing, trying to get your music out there for people to hear and there's a lot of avenues now with all the shit online, various mp3 sites, MySpace whatever, but getting people to hear your music and getting them to pay attention to it are two different things. I think the easiest thing in the world for me to do sometimes would be to churn out some commercial sounding dance track, but ultimately that bores me, and although there's more people who probably want to hear that sort of thing there's also ten times the amount of people trying to make some phony, half-assed attempt at making a 'killer track' by copying some other producers techniques -- which is a good way to learn how to make music maybe, but not a way to create an interesting record.

What I want to do exactly is make something listenable, something I like (which is the reason I make anything in the first place), but also something you haven't heard before. And it's funny because it's practically an impossible task. I mean, I don't make 'experimental music,' -- I may have a handful of tracks with a 4-4 beat, and I'm trying to make something you haven't heard? It's strange, but, yeah! And then the one sort of consistent criticism I get is that maybe my music isn't familiar enough for people. When I heard Exit Planet Dust or Land of Rape and Honey I never thought, "gee, this isn't familiar enough to me." I just thought "holy shit, this is fantastic fucking music. I love it and I want more."

While "The Fine Art of a White Label" makes it's rounds in my player and climbs up my iTunes favorites smartlist, Press is already creating bright new material for his promised full length for next summer. I think if we hear anything else come out by Press that is as refreshing as "The Fine Art of a White Label" we'll all know that electronica has a brand new champion. We don't need to wait for the ripples of quality electronica from across the Atlantic, the wave is already here. If you don't give this disc a listen you might drown in boredom.

Close Window