Introducing: Convextion + Win A Bundle Of His Music

Hailing from Dallas, Texas, Convextion aka Gerard Hanson (aka E.R.P.) is not from a US city synonymous with electronic music; yet his production work has earned him worldwide respect and a following amongst appreciators of hardware made underground techno and electro. Often compared to Basic Channel and early Warp releases, Hanson’s work as Convextion are pulsating creatures defined by their hypnotic bass lines and timbres broadened with walls of synth lines – a sound he debuted on Detroit’s heralded Matrix label in 1995. As we approach his first show at our club we find Hanson 15 years deep into virtuous career, with a carefully crafted and respected low key profile.



It was Convextion in its techno incarnation that made its way onto Craig Richard’s The Nothing Special CD earlier in the year – but turning to his E.R.P. guise you’ll pretty much always find these tracks on any electro aficionados’ play list. In his intricate production, formed of layers of sound and beats, the tracks emerge into sublime machine funk with Hanson setting the beats turning like cogs over themselves riding a long and driving groove. Take this for a prime example...



The electro sound exhibited above is a beat that has been revived over the last year in the wider dance music community – as soon as Instramental’s ‘Voyeur’ dropped at the end of 2010 a flurry of tracks emerged leading to a resurgence with an added UK bass flavour. From the other side of the pond, E.R.P. draws much more sonically from Detroit – a sound also evocative of Drexyian lost civilisations and science like visions of the world. It sounds odd but it’s an idea that illustrates part of the music’s aesthetic and feeling – listen hard you’ll see what I mean – it also explains why many tracks are set to science fiction B movies in YouTube.

With no ‘hits’ to report on, or tangible marker’s of the tipping point in Hanson’s career, we find him to be more of a force that turns away in the background; plainly about the base, root values of quality record production. Track down any record and you’ll find a work of substance and quality from the start to present day - his Evoked Potentials series on Spain’s Semantica Records is a case in point. This year we can look forward to emerging projects on Harbour City Sorrow in a few weeks, and one more on Luke Eargoggle’s Stilleben Records before the year is out.



What can we expect then this Saturday as we fly him over for The Nothing Special? Well, even though his monikers are distinctly attached to two different beat structures, the two come together for Convextion’s live performances where Gerard performs on Ableton. There’s no room here for the tempestuous debate on laptop performances, re-creating and segueing his revered productions, Hanson is sure to turn Room Two on its head this Saturday.

To win this bundle put together by Convextion for our blog, consisting of releases and compilations he's appread on, send an email to competitions@fabriclondon.com wiht "E.R.P. me up" in the title

1) Convextion - Untitled

2) A copy of the convextion CD LP from 2006

3) Marcel Fengler – Berghain 05

4) Craig Richards – Presents The Nothing Special. fabric 58

5) E.R.P. – Event Related Potential

Photo by Max Nathan