Premiere: Liquid City Motors - Catalytic Converter

Music

Following a string of releases on Close Up of the Serene, the latest EP from Milwaukee producer Liquid City Motors lands imminently on New York/Dublin platform Glacial Industries, who've previously released music from the likes of v1984, Rabit and Sharp Veins.

According to LCM, Current Source "represents spazzed-out dance floor catharsis, deference to the progenitors of Midwestern club music, and a manic obsession with the production, replication, and perception of recorded sound."

We're premiering a cut titled 'Catalytic Converter', which drapes its emotive, yearning keys over urgent breakbeats. Listen below, and let LCM guide you through some of his influences in our Q&A.

I’ll let you introduce yourself first!

Hi! My name is Will and I make music as Liquid City Motors.

What music did you listen to growing up, and what was your introduction to Midwestern electronic music?

When I was growing up, I was most drawn to whatever hip hop filtered its way through to rural central Wisconsin via CD players of kids at school/Limewire/iPods of friends. I’m also pretty familiar with the canon of classical music. Like many of my peers, there was a significant dose of rock music in there.

I became acquainted with the scene in the Midwest via Rory Ferreira (Scallops Hotel), who was living in Green Bay while performing in Milwaukee and throughout the Midwest at the time, and I started doing production work on his milo project. I moved to Milwaukee in 2014; a familiarity with the Midwestern scene grew naturally out of an instinct to seek out people doing interesting/inspiring work and has been heightened by my closeness with Max Holiday as he looks outward for bookings at our Precognition party.

How did you link up with Glacial Industries for the new EP?

I took note of Glacial right away with the first release and I’ve been sending [label boss Paul Purcell] tunes since I started the Liquid City Motors project. When we started talking about a record, the tunes on Current Source snapped out of the studio in a flash.

The artwork is amazing, what’s the story behind that?

Mikey Joyce killed it! I have to thank Glacial for facilitating that; we talked a little bit about my affinity for circuit diagrams and schematics and all of a sudden I had the art in my inbox.

What were your influences on this EP, and could you tell us about how ‘Catalytic Converter’ came together?

This EP owes everything to the club music lineages of the Midwest and the UK. Since I was not rooted in electronic music growing up, older releases can feel as fresh as anything. Detroit electro, Valve Recordings, and Teklife have all hit hit me in a pretty profound way recently. 'Catalytic Converter' was just a zone that I got into which happened to get recorded decently enough to mix down and refine.

Tell us about the music scene in Milwaukee. Any other artists we should be listening out for? Where would you take us if we came to visit for the day?

Theres a lot going on in Milwaukee these days, so much so it's hard to encapsulate. Brand new parties are springing up and finding life here amidst an already vibrant landscape of regular events like Club Ritual, M.E.L.T. and Bremenhein. Be on the lookout for Earth Angel in 2017. Ruby Yacht is about to hit the road with some killer releases in their catalog. Max’s label Close Up of the Serene is blossoming into something special. The city is also full of consistently inspiring live acts, Apollo Vermouth, Construct, Bob Bailey, Pressboard and Tarek Sabbar to name a few.

Easy, we would go to the cafe up the block from my house, head to my studio across town, then Quarters for Precognition and Plush Industries for the afters.

You’re also a mastering engineer – how does that discipline of careful listening inform your approach to making music?

“Careful listening” is spot on as far as describing my approach to mastering. I’ve been really fortunate to get to work on inventive, unique material through The Astral Plane. Those sessions have given me significant insight into new ways of balancing frequencies and combining sonic elements.