steve stoll

About me:

"properboy" is my latest venture, expanding the concepts of my record label and music into the realm of hardware studio equipment. I had been involved in "bending" circuits for almost seven years. Through bending I became very interested in the study of electronics and how circuits worked and set out a few years ago to see if I could create my own effect pedals. I did this initially for myself but I started to receive the odd request here and there when someone was interested in having a unit. Till now properboy pedals have been quietly sold on ebay and through websites like www.getlofi.com, I now want to get some awareness out for the designs that I am very proud of and make them available to musicians that may be interested in effects that are slightly different and live somewhere between circuit bending and true theory. Each pedal is hand made by myself and graphics are different on each unit! That means that what you have will be unique, there will never be another in the world like it. They are also priced very fair. Check the photo gallery and youtube videos for examples. Inquiries can be sent directly through myspace. Bio: Owner of techno labels proper n.y.c. and 212 productions. New York City native now living in exile in the midwest. I began my musical life as a drummer at the age of 10 and in the late 80's was playing drums and programming with the Chicago Wax Trax! band Sister Machine Gun. After my stint with that band I realized that pure electronic music had far more potential to me than the confines of being a back-up musician and I began composing minimalistic but hard electronic tracks on a small cassette 4 track recorder with a simple analog set-up on the floor of my apartment on 18th Street. My first solo record "Datacloud" was released on Richie Hawtin's Probe label in 1993 and things just snowballed from there. I recorded for many other labels including Novamute, Profile, Fax, Djax, Musicman and Synewave to name a few but my proudest moment was when I started my own label Proper n.y.c.and became my own boss. Early on I had always wanted to be different, not be just another dj, so instead of spinning vinyl I performed live P.A.'s bringing my studio on tour and improvising new sets every night. I truly felt like things could blow up every time i took the stage (and they did sometimes!) but looking back this added very much excitement to the performances (at least for me :-) I had the pleasure of playing for crowds all over the world from Europe to Asia at some of the biggest clubs and festivals including I Love Techno, Fuse, Omen, Cocoon, Tresor, Mayday, Love Parade, 10 Days of Techno, Mt. Fuji to name a few. Several years ago I got the chance to create a project together with my hero Patrick Codenys from Front 242 under the guise "Gaiden". I have also worked on projects together with Ken Ishii, Damon Wild, Pete Namlook and remixed the likes of Gary Numan, DJ Rush, Hardfloor, to name a few. These days I still produce albeit a slower output than the glory days of techno. I also produce sample libraries for Big Fish Audio (my "Locked Groove" project was selected as a top 10 by Future Music Magazine). I am interested in anything that expands the theory and execution of electronic music and media. I love circuit bending as much as I love analog synthesis and I prefer 8 bit to Protools. I will spend much of 2008 redefining my live show to incorporate a combination of computer vs. live playing and even have the addition of synthesis altered vocals to the mix.