With height releases in five years, Satamile Rec. appears as one of the absolute underground electro references. Decal, Airlocktronics, Sillicon Scally or EMS artists have given this NY based label means to form its own identity. But not only. With such an eccentric DJ, promoter and label owner as Andrew A Price, no doubt Satamile will not stop amazing us.

- Atome : With only eight releases, your label has become one of the most interesting and underground home for electro over the last few months. How is the label today? What are feedbacks and reactions world-wide?
- Andrew A Price : The label is doing well and survived the 9/11 fiasco. EMS was almost killed, he was on the last train into the basement of the Trade Center and escaped at just the right time. I was 3 blocks from the north tower when it dropped. A lot of business's got wiped out but we're in strong dedicated form. EMS will have a new 12inch out soon and we're repressing EMS Sat.03 as I write, a record that still sets the mark and was way ahead of its time. Feedback has always been good about the label. People seem to really appreciate the fact that we're trying to push electro forward in more into something for the warehouse wunderground. A big sound for big rooms. I'm not into bleepy electro that sounds like something out of the early 90's or eighties. John Peel played our stuff on Radio One and seemed to be into it so that was quite a compliment to me and the rest on the label. He's a crazy dj.

- A. : The artistic line of Satamile? How would you describe Satamile sound?
- A. A P. : For and artistic line it would go something like, if it doesn't have bass rippin potential and mayhem inspiring tonalities I'm not into it. I put out records for people who want to go out and get crazy, loose their minds for while in healthy way. Music that can challenge the cultural norm and make people want to dance. We're not a loungey or retro label and we're not fakes. I look for tracks that have fat production, lots of drive and take the best elements of the past and try to do something different for the future. Tempo we like to stay at 135 Bpm's or more.

- A. : What is your definition of underground? I mean, Satamile is musically really underground and it seems that you are extremely discreet about the label. Is it your way of life?
- A. A P. : Duh wunderground is the underground. It's a space that has to be created, given energy and fuel and nurtured by those who don't fit so well above ground. For what we do it's about pushing new frontiers, pushing cultural bubbles forward and music culture to new areas that are interesting and fascinating. If they're playing it on the radio it's usually boring as shit except for pirate. If it's predictable and knowable in the first few seconds thin it also becomes very mundane. Surprising, new, and sublime unconscious intelligence are ways I think of the underground. People who premeditate, and calculate their musical or artistic endeavours always produce boredom. Satamile is an underground label dedicated to those who appreciate that type of sound and completely undedicated to those who don't. I cant express how good it makes me feel when some lonely despirited misfit kid runs up to me and thanks me from his heart for a record we put out. I can tell it made his life a little better. Those are my roots too, misfit, bored with the predictable world and listening to large volumes of music to find a better day in my world. The label itself is "Discreet" by its very nature. Distributors use to say to me, "Where's the market for this" back in 95 even though those early release's were really good electro. Now Electro or the word Electro has gotten lots of media play for better and worse so our distributorship has grown a lot.

- A. : As an electro label owner, do you encounter troubles to promote this musical genre? Is it hard to develop and sell electro, especially in New York? Is it hard to explain what you intend to do?
- A. A P. : As I said earlier we had a really hard time moving (selling) what I considered really good records. The whole trick was to get them out of NY and to Europe where in general the public was much more receptive and supportive of what we were doing. We got very little appreciation or recognition for our endeavours in NY and the US except for a dedicated few of electro heads. The media is completely controlled by the dollar so since I wasn't paying any dollars you simply didn't here about Satamile rec. unless you were seriously into techno. Now it's much easier to move records and I guess the distributors figured out what we're trying to do, or that they can sell electro, I think that's what they care about it. It's sad to see the United States turn into a country that is so narrow-minded and unsupportive of endeavours such as mine and others. There's a lot of labels that never survived in NY or the United States due to distributors not understanding the market and close mindedness. I'm very grateful to the support and interest Europe has shown towards the label that my own country did not.

- A. : Could you introduce yourself a little bit more? When and how did you discover electronic music? Why did you choose electro music to express yourself and why are you so attracted with electro?
- A. A P. : I got into electronic music back in the early 80's with Kraftwerk and lots of early pop synth groups. Later I migrated into noise tapes around 88, really weird stuff. I liked walking around downtown Los Angeles with apocalyptic noise tapes playing, I found it exciting. This was long before the "isolationist" crap. The answer to the second part of your question comes from around 1994 when a good friend of mine Kollin (Strange?) opened a techno - electro - werdo - ambient store on the lower East Side in NY. I Dj'd for the store for almost 5 years and we bought and played a lot of electro. At that time we really liked the raw, fierce sounding break stuff and were really into synths, modulars the whole bit. It just fit, to listen to scary electro and scare the yuppies walking down the street. It was our style and still is today. Satamile Rec. EMS 02 really personifies that period of time. The lower Eastside was still rough back then and EMS lived above the record store making modular synths from (transistor up not some kit), and also drum machines. Good electro stimulates a crazy feeling, makes cops looked pissed, especially when they're trying to shutdown a huge soundsystem at a party. Back to EMS, I use to make jokes about how I saw Steven's feet sticking out of a trashcan because this kid literally built his Vocoder's, Modular Synths, and hybrid drum machines out of salvaged parts from electronic devices he found in the trash on the street. Sat 02 and Sat03 sounds were made out of transistors from radio's pulled out of trash bins on 9th and A. Steven would hold one up (a transistor) between his fingers and with a big smile on his face say, "see, just as good as new". We were somewhat in awe of his expertise.

- A. : Your musical background? Who are you masters in music?
- A. A P. : I had a crazy Italian music teacher who use to get red in the face, scream, jump up and accuse me of being high (which I was) when taking lessons. It wasn't the positive side of my musical background. I think Eric Satie is the first to come to mind. I really identify with him, he was also quite an excentric individual which I identify with also.

- A. : Who is the artist you never worked with and you'd like with in a close future? Who is the actual electro leader for you or the electro artist that impresses you the most?
- A. A P. : That's a hard question, but first to mind is Saul Kane, I'd like to work with him. As for the second part, there's a lot of different people like Decal, Larry McCormick, Radioactive Man, Bolz Bolz and a few others trying to take electro into a new direction. I in general don't like leaders, we have a really stupid one right now (Georgie) and I'm more of a WE person than a I person.

- A. : Are you an artist, I mean do you create music by yourself?
- A. A P. : Yes, you could call me that way, I attended CAL-Arts in Los Angles for my BA degree in Fine Arts and minor in Anarchical Philosophy. Art World is boring world and that's why I got involved in the techno scene in the early 90's in NY. Yes, I do produce with several records out and many live performances. I'm always working on stuff.

- A. : Few months ago, you organized a brilliant party with Exzakt. As a party promoter, how would you describe the electro scene in NY?
- A. A P. : I'm one of the last Promoter / Producer / Dj's left in NY and have done over 200 underground techno events in New York City. 5 years ago electro was tightly attached to the techno rave scene, now it really has its own scene. In the last two years it's really grown with almost a new electro party starting up every month. Most of them were not very good, but they're trying, so its fair to say things have changed and grown a lot in NY. Larry played at a weekly electro party I've been doing since 1995. I made custom slides of his artwork and logo's, projected them all over the place and got as much press for his label and stuff that i could. STATIC has always been about getting people from outside NY a chance to play in NY city with competent treatment. I prefer to work on a personal level with visiting artist so that the quality of service stays up there. Many times they're unknowns in the city but great producers and deserve their time here. Agents always knock down the quality of service, then it just feels like you're showcasing someone and its just another job. May 10th, I threw a huge party with Andrew Weatherall, Radioactive Man LIVE, Mark Broom, Bolz Bolz, Tommy Sunshine, Sara Walker, Prozac, Mix Master Morris and about 15 others in a huge ballroom space. 75% percent bass bin ripping electro. Static also has its residents, which are Satamile, Sara Walker (aka Doomer) Dj Prozac, and Coin-Operated. They're all great electro Dj's. I remember once I booked Keith Tucker to play in NY at Static. After the show he told me that I was the first person to book him outside of Detroit in the United States to play. He had played countless times in Europe but never in his own country outside of his hometown. Adult did there first show in NY with us (98), they drew about 125 people, there last show in NY at Moscow Ballroom 4 weeks ago drew over 1000 people. There's a huge list of people who have supported this party and made it possible.

- A. : What are the next Satamile releases and surprises this year? Who could we expect?
- A. A P. : Get ready for a great Scape One EP in true Satamile Rec. fashion. EMS is finishing up his next Ep which I'm really excited about and after that here comes a brand new artist from NY that nobody knows about except me that is a brilliant electro producer. Look for a series of remixes in the near future also, by some great breaks producers. Our web site was postponed due to complications from 9/11 but will be done soon. Over and out from Satamile.
www.satamile.com
Nexus 6, 05/08/2002