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Who Is Dave Monolith?
House | Thursday 13th December 2012 | Ewan
You might be wondering the question above. For many people who are familiar with the artist listed under Rephlex Records, his music is synonymous with feel-good vibes and colourful techno spanning up-beat tempo's to slower paced melodies.
A fairly recent addition to the Rephlex roster over the past few years, his first release was a 12” titled Volume 1. Notable tracks on this vinyl beauty include “Syphonic Flash” - A dark and brooding bit of Techno accompanied by a futuristic bassline which will get your feet moving. “22 Livingstones” on the other hand is much more cheeky and playful – peppering you with blossoming basslines and an evolving soundscape. Lastly but definitely not least; “Vigton 3 Stun” provokes an oriental theme with a colourful melody and drives home with a collaboration between digital sound effects and that trademark “Monolith” synth and kick-ass beat. This would all just be a prelude of things to come however...
So who is the man behind the Monolith you ask? His name is Dave Paul Barnard, hailing from the Wiltshire Coutryside of all places. His reasons for making his tunes is even more humble it seems.
"I make the music I want to hear. I enjoy it more than any other music, this drives me to make more." and continues "It's not down to arrogance because I really don't expect anyone else to like it."
No Dave, we don't like it – we bloody love it.
More recently Dave Monolith has been playing around the UK at various festivals and club nights, such as the Bangface Weekender which took place last August in Cornwall, where he stunned crowds with a aural delight of Future Funk and Neo Synth-Pop. However he has also played in Melkweg, Amsterdam in 2010 which featured a ramped-up re-worked version of Midnight Star's “Midas Touch”. A track that hasn't been touched by many artists in years. Clearly Mr Monolith is on the ball, ticking all the right boxes and ultimately making us want to just jump up and dance.
So what's next? Well, Currently Dave has released his first full-length album titled “Welcome” on Rephlex Records and is the highest selling artist on the label to date. I won't spoil it, suffice to say there is a preview linked below. There are no scheduled gigs advertised on any of the major websites. Perhaps Dave feels like taking a break for a while? He's definitely earned it. We can look forward to that time however when he feels like putting on his thinking cap and churning out some more eclectic, “move-your-feet” Techno.
Here's a personal favorite of mine. Be sure to check out the rest of the tracks and support him by buying a copy if you like it! Cheers Dave.
- Ewan Phillips @e1anator
