Played in

The monthly Glitchkrieg party brings bass
in droves from boys with toys

WAR ON THE FLOOR: Ver6 (R) and Suzuki

by JACK OATMON

The lanky guy sitting across from me at Bily Kun sluggin’ a pint is a 23-year-old, NDG-raised Plateau resident who works for an imaging-tech company designing next-wave, 3D holographic emulsion technology for use in art and advertisement. His name is Corey Martin and he’s also a relentless creator of mashed-up, sampled, screwed and filtered remixes and soundscapes under numerous aliases including Ver6, with six discs’ worth of material on just the DVD he hands off to me. The most recent work he’s done is somewhere in the glitchy ghetto-tech realm, full of stretched a cappellas, dirty words and shattered cuts from a zillion other things. He also runs a monthly party at les 3 Minots with pal Marc Lebel, aka Suzuki. Naturally, I can’t help but inquire whether his interest in technological music innovation relates at all to his interest in his job.

“No,” Martin states, matter-of-factly. “Oh, but I did meet Flight Distance at work. They’re playing our night Friday.”

Without getting too theoretical about artistic innovation in highly specialized urban youth, I ask what he does musically, and why. “A lot of what I do is bass-heavy, futuristic rap remixes. I was losing interest in rap music until I heard music by guys like Lazer Sword in San Francisco, and a lot of people in Scotland are doing really interesting stuff right now. It sounds a bit more organic and has a little of that J Dilla influence that’s in a lot of good hip hop right now.”

The appeal certainly makes sense to someone who grew up during the last gasps of genre exclusivity in pop culture. “To hear that complicated electronic approach that artists like Aphex Twin have being put into hip hop rhythms, this fusion of technical knowledge with street gangster vocals is a really exciting contrast. I think 99 per cent of popular music is 4/4 time signature, so it makes sense to fuse things and not make it seem like anything grander.”

Along with the desire to include many different styles into his productions and his monthly party at les 3 Minots, Martin wisely brushes aside the idea that certain styles of music, production, analog or digital are inherently superior. “We’re not trying to stick with any one formula. It’s nobody’s show, everybody’s party. I just think we need to drop those pretensions. There’s no point in hating on somebody’s paintbrush if you’re not even paying attention to the painting.”

As for the future of the night, Martin and his crew plan to keep things eclectic, with different guests monthly from all styles of urban music production. “I just made a five-track EP with Gary Wilson’s guitarist, Vince Rossi. We’ll be performing not only the EP but some improv stuff in August.”

When he gives me the DVD, I mention that I won’t leak the new stuff on him, but in the true style of a young sampler and downloader who has everything to gain and little to wager on file sharing, Martin says the music is free to take, so he’s giving it up likewise.

“I have an agreement where for every two things I release freely, I have to do one for paid download, but if I could do it all for free I would. I’m happy to share.”

With Flight Distance, EZ Audio, Ill Mestizo
& Dynasty, Kirby, Ver6 and Suzuki at
les 3 Minots on Friday, July 18, 10 p.m., free