Music
5 reasons why Foundry will change Toronto's electronic scene
This March, Toronto's electronic scene will change forever. A new, month long series called Foundry will take over BLK BOX (formerly Black Box Theatre) at the Great Hall, and over the course of eight nights and five weekends feature sets by (deep breath): Juan Atkins (Model 500), Shlohmo, Omar S, Martyn, Bicep, D33J, Andy Stott, Andres, DVS1, Alixander III (Azari & III), Kevin McPhee, Deebs, Gingy, Reference, Nautiluss, Bruce Trail (Nacho Lovers), HDIMYF, Harrison Bennett, Box of Kittens, Martin Fazekas, Fabio Palermo, Mymanhenri, Members Only, Mike Gibbs, Lapelle, Michael Krochak, David Patterson, and Colin Bergh.
While Foundry programmers plan to deliver an "immersive, multi-sensory experience for our city's music lovers," we have a hunch the series also promises a lot more: a new mold for the city's electronic scene. Here's our thinking on why Foundry could be Toronto music's miracle.
E is for Effort
Putting together a series on any scale is a ton of work, which makes Foundry that much more impressive. There are fine details here one could spend a week poring over as each night promises a different sound and vibe, programmed by 92 BPM, Box of Kittens, Breakandenter, Colin Bergh, Elastic Artists, Evening Standard, HDIMYF, Idol Hanse, I Love Bass Music, Mansion, Surefire Agency, and The Windish Agency.
Foundry explains that the lineups were created by "a team made up of DJs, music promoters, bloggers, and art directors brainstorming to create an exciting mix of carefully programmed nights. All too often festivals will book incompatible artists in neighboring time slots, resulting in jarring transitions. In turn, we decided to forego the traditional festival model (weekends with stacked line-ups) and went for a series of carefully crafted showcases.
Featured artists include a mix of influential legends Juan Atkins, Omar S, Andres, Martyn, and DVS1, as well Andy Stott, Bicep, and Shlohmo, who have all broken ground in their own way - giving music lovers a cohesive, but unique experience for each night of the series. While individual tastes may vary, we all share a similar vision for our city - we hope to see Toronto become an international hotbed for innovation in electronic music."
This kind of dedication to detail makes our spines tingle, and is also necessary for building a solid community based on respect and trust.
There's something for everyone
Feeling a little overwhelmed by the lineup (and imagining some fans might be too), I got the promoters to throw some key words plus artist picks at us. "Lo-fi, Psychedelic Hip-Hop"? Shlohmo. What about "Godfather of Techno"? Juan Atkins. There's "Detroit Underground Legend/Label Boss" Omar S, the "Emotional, Textured Grooves" of Andy Stott, and "3024 Labelboss/Hybrid-Genre Pioneer" Martyn. You can also expect "Retro-Sleaze House Crate-Diggers" BICEP, "Timeless Disco/House/Hip Hop" Andres, and "New School Berghain Techno" courtesy of DVS1.
The sound (and vision)
Each Foundry event will take place at BLK BOX, where fans can now enjoy a brand new Funktion One Soundsystem (we understand this to mean both "Loud" and "Awesome"). Back to details and extras again: Foundry's multi-sensory experience will include digital art installations.
Foundry hints at bigger and better things to come
The ambitious figureheads behind Foundry have hinted in the past that Toronto deserves a festival akin to Montreal's Mutek or Barcelona's Sónar. They tell us this March series is inspired by MOMA's summertime PS1 Warm Up series in New York, The Warehouse Project in Manchester, and Piknic Electronique in Montreal.
Bringing high profile and respected artists to Toronto for an event of this scale is not only a great advantage for Toronto music fans: it will get word out to international artists and labels that Toronto's electronic community can support, and demands, this type of event and more.
Surprises!
Well, they wouldn't be surprises if I told you, but let's just say that you don't want to miss Foundry's closing night.
Bonus: cuties
As spring approaches, Toronto will be warming up. Dress for a Mansion show at its most magical.
What to expect! (courtesy of Foundry)
- Talented international and local acts
- One of the best sounding rooms in the city, courtesy of the BLK BOX's brand new Funktion One
- A unique music experience each night and new immersive visual installations each weekend
- An open-minded crowd of music-lovers dancing and having a great time
Do not expect
- A Bottle Service crowd
Foundry runs every weekend at BLK BOX from March 1st - 30th. Check out week-by-week lineup descriptions, tickets, events links and more on the Foundry website or their Facebook page.
Photos by Conrad McGee-Stocks. Top photo by Javin Lau.
*Fourth paragraph has been amended at request of the programmers.
Discussion
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- The most obvious was the soundsystem. We wanted to take advantage of the city's only properly tuned Funktion One. Those that attended Jacques Greene were absolutely blown away by how loud and clear it was.
- Because it was a former theatre it has the infrastructure (trusses, high ceilings, a second floor) to create truly immersive installation pieces. We've been experimenting a lot lately with lighting and projections, and have big things planned for each week.
- The space has the right vibe. It's dark, warehouse-style look matches perfectly with the artists we've booked. And there are thousands of people who have still not been who would appreciate it.
Lastly, we never claimed this was a festival. We were inspired by series-based events such as Piknic Electronic, Moma PS1 and the Warehouse Project. We can only hope to one day emulate their success, but this is the start of something different for our city.
As for "changing Toronto's electronic scene"...doubtful. That takes years of establishing a music/club culture, people that truly enjoy the music and don't just go for the "scene" (a weakness in this city), a party that doesn't shut down at 2am and multiple events of this kind, not a one-off project by a promoter. Electro house and neon - that's Toronto's electronic scene and will take a while to change...
That said, this is a great start and I'm expecting nothing but a great execution...Mansion have done some impressive things.
wrongbar has shit sound, every fucking time. footwork brings in great acts but everything surrounding that place is not good. curating a series of world class electronic performers over the course of a month certainly marks a shift in the electronic scene in toronto, especially due to the amount of collaboration it requires between all the disparate communities here. as a ten+ year listener and dancer in this city, i welcome it whole heartedly.
The live artists are Andy Stott, Reference, and Bruce Trail.
The fact that other bars (wrongbar, etc) have shit sound doesn't really speak to whats happening here (and i wouldn't call footwork a club with shit sound either) unless you think equipping a venue with a proper p.a. is a game changer.
I hear they're re-releasing Speed in theaters alter this month too.. Want to check it out?
Luckily with the BLK BOX we have a great underground space where we can really push the volume levels.
The comment was directed at the idiots unaware that Wrongbar is using the same grade sound system. Their comparison to the Hoxton is laughable and if their ears worked at all they would notice a big difference between the two.
this is a great list of djs/producers + promising venue + great sound.
what the fuck is your problem?
However, for anybody to say this series isn't influential is completely oblivious to how things work. A multitude of influence can be had with only one special event. Some of the most famous event stories are series that only spanned a few parties long. Take the "Storm Raves" for example. They have been attributed by some to be one of the most influential factors in bringing techno to NY at the time. Adam X claims there was only a handful of those events that ever occurred. Another case of this was the M42 tunnel raves that Steve Lawler hosted.
From what I understand Wrongbar does not have a full Funktion 1 sound system. Part of it is by another company. As far as the tuning is regarded, I would agree with the above posts. It sounds like shit. Like most places in Toronto. However BlkBox isn't the only place with a full and properly tuned Funktion 1 system. Maison has one too. From my understanding it was installed and tuned properly by the people at Funktion 1. This is not the only good sound system in town. Yet one of the few. Huge props to club owners for making the choice to have it.
My only complaint thus far is that the event ends too early.
Otherwise I am very excited. I am looking forward most to DVS1.
Its a bunch of great parties, with awesome promoters all coming together to be a part of something bigger. Who cares about nitpicking over other bars soundsystems and how influental it will all be to the "scene"?
Lets just all have a few drinks, dance a bit and not take things too seriously.
Props to all involved in putting this together, I can't wait for March!
(and it's abso-fscking-loutly mental -- I preferred the Store St location, but Victoria Warehouse isn't bad. It's like being an old school rave either way)
Ever heard the track "your club went Hollywood"? Overpriced drinks, parking, photographers everywhere and cover that is really expensive for just one headliner and two openers ice never heard of.
I'm glad people are working together. There are a lot of people doing great things. It's awesome to see this happening in toronto because it's not just more of the same.
This is an amazing deal. Most of these Artists would never be booked in Toronto because of the business side of booking unique acts and the shitty attendance / appreciation for electronic music in Toronto.
This is a massive step in the right direction. I fully support this. Stop looking at the past, or comparing this shit to other venues. This is a great concept and more so a great example of how many Toronto individuals can join forces.
That being said, I wish them the best of luck! It's nice to see people working together. Very happy to see a new venue being used with a proper system (too bad it closes at 3am) again, if you want to change the scene you have to change the by-laws first. Hopefully there won't be issues and this place will not become a target like every other place in Toronto has.
Good luck with the events. Personally, I'm more excited about the local talent.
Very good!
And you wonder why we're still using subway tokens...
It's a great lineup, it's a unique concept, a new venue, lots of people are excited about it, lots of people are going to go and lots of people are going to have a good time -- and that's fact.
On a separate thread we can discuss optimal term to describe it (i.e., festival vs. event series) and optimal number of articles to promote it (e.g. from a comment " we don't need five articles to promote it")...
And DVS1's first release was 2009 (according to the Discog's you so kindly cited). He definitely hasn't been around a decade.
Check your facts before you start bitching about other people not knowing their stuff.
Great website, stick with it!