ZOOM ON – MIKE PARKER

In the far-off future, a space crew of both men and women is alerted to a distress signal originating from a mysterious crashed ship. As they venture into the wreckage, they stumble upon a hostile species of parasitic aliens, gradually eliminating the crew members.

If you eventually recognize the plot of Ridley Scott’s 1979 “Alien” movie, we are in fact summarizing Fulvio Lucisano’s 1965 “Planet Of The Vampires” film, which highly inspired Scott.

How did we learn about this movie? A conversation with Mike Parker easily shifts toward science fiction. Like Donato Dozzy, the American artist is a massive space movie lover, to the point of purchasing DVDs to access the commentaries.

“Planet Of The Vampires”, as if by coincidence, has been directed by an Italian filmmaker, and as expected in a 1965 film, the setting was minimalist, with bizarre electronic sounds and creative special effects. Without divulging the exact nature of Parker’s sonic signature too soon, we have here the bedrock of his art…

Born in Michigan, USA, Mike Parker found his artistic passion at the age of seven, when his parents gifted him a book about Leonardo da Vinci. Yes, another Italian figure, “as if by coincidence.”

Originally, we assumed that Parker was a pure son of “contemporary art,” which we distinguish as “the expression of a profound will to break the strict boundaries set by past artists.” Yet in our discussion, he reminded us that a long time ago, during the Renaissance, art had almost no boundary as well, with, for instance, Leonardo da Vinci being at the same time a painter, draughtsman, sculptor, architect, and inventor, among many other activities.

While art seems to evolve cyclically over the centuries, the anecdote shows how much Parker still lives from his passion for the Renaissance, also reflected in his work as a fine art professor at Daemen University in Buffalo, where he moved to in the 90s. To understand his music, it is important to realize that his artistic background is deeply rooted in both visual and musical education, which continuously interconnect.

Regarding the visual side, if drawing and painting have always played a significant role in his life, it’s mainly cinema that sparked his interest in delving further into the arts of both sight and sound. In particular, after discovering da Vinci, Parker’s curiosity swayed to science fiction, as a logical follow-up. 

Ever since his childhood, he immersed himself in films such as Alland’s “This Island Earth”, Nayfack’s “Forbidden Planet”, Wise’s “The Day The Earth Stood Still” or Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”. Da Vinci lighted up his artistic fire, then the visual show of science fiction enticed him to delve into artistic studies, while the musical side nurtured a passion for electronic music…

Again like Donato Dozzy, the synthesized sounds from the scores and effects of science fiction movies fascinated the young Parker more than anything else. It motivated him at a young age to attend live performances from electronic music pioneers such as New Order, Kraftwerk and Gary Numan. In parallel, he became intrigued by a local college’s underground FM radio station, at times very experimental…

Socializing more and more with friends who were into music as well, Parker ended up being a DJ on that radio. He remembers: “Unlike the mainstream radio stations, the college ones in those days were a free format, where one could experiment and play anything he or she wanted. There were no constraints at all. Most of the time, you didn’t even know if anybody was listening. There was no information on the audience, so you were just left sitting in the studio, playing music maybe only for yourself. Today, you can find tracks at the click of a button, but in those days, before the birth of the Internet, it was very challenging. Yet it has been a big deal for me, when I was in high school, to explore that kind of experimental music.”

The logical outcome for Parker was then to create his own tracks, which came some years later, when he attended Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. It was within the confines of this nationally esteemed institution of fine art that Parker set a bridge between the visual and musical artistic channels, as he explains: “Around 1984, I became an “art student” in Carnegie-Mellon, which saw the birth of prestigious graduates, such as Andy Warhol, and which offered programs in drama, music, architecture, art, and graphic design. Yet, students were encouraged to explore elective courses outside their major, which I did in the music department. One of its classes was the introduction to electronic music, taught by Roger B. Dannenberg, who would years later co-author Audacity, the popular computer sound recording software. Back then, the music department had a very small studio for electronic music and there was an ARP 2600 synthesizer, as well as an enormous wheel-to-wheel tape recorder. This is how my path to music production began, and back then, I felt very lucky to be there.”

Everything, from the vintage studio setting to the taste for experimental music, along with the historical context and the nature of the teacher, smells “musique concrète”…

The movement, already at work in some theatres in the forties and on the rise during Parker’s youth, consists of using sound recordings as an instrument to improvise sonic experiences. They are qualified as “noises” by most people and “art in its purest form of self-expression” by the initiates. This is exactly what Mike Parker has been into in his early productions, which partly explains the original side of his music.

John Cage performing musique concrète on CBS in 1960 (Tape recorder on loop in the background).

Musique concrète, however, grapples with a paradox, as “freedom” and “control” are intricately intertwined in the genre’s core. Indeed, the intuitive approach breaks free from the rules of scholarly art, but the “free” producers nurture an almost scientific – not to say obsessive – control over the machines and their resultant sounds. Behind a musique concrète artist often lives an inner child who loves manipulating buttons and mastering sonic ambiances…

Delia Derbyshire explains on BBC in 1965 how she made the Doctor Who theme with tape recorders.

Such a tension between “freedom” and “control” is very present in Mike Parker’s speech. On the one hand, the search for freedom can be found in his fascination for the cosmos and sentences such as “I don’t want to be categorized in one artistic channel” or “I don’t like when people question the fact that I’m not a full-time DJ in Berlin: I do it my way”. On the other hand, he seems confined by a singular signature sound, to the point that some assert his tracks are too similar, whereas others, including us, see it as one of the dopest electronic music sound signatures. Furthermore, for almost three decades, he has consistently utilized the same vintage equipment for production, so antiquated that he is compelled to record each track in a single take, as there are no presets available for alternative methods. Therefore, his freedom, restricted by such means, seems quite relative, stricto sensu, yet it screams at least in one statement: “I do it my way.”

Watch Parker in his studio while he uses and presents his vintage equipment (Art Voice, 2014).

The notion of “control” can also be found in the creation of his label Geophone, in 1997, mainly made to release his own music. At times, the “control” can turn to “perfectionism,” as illustrated by his numerous remasters for instance. It is not very surprising, as “being meticulous” is very common in the DNA of most producers. In his case, it is a strength, as it contributed to building the crystal clear sound he’s known for; a form of minimalism based on “taking the best out of each sound” instead of just “working around essential sounds”. 

More importantly, the way he makes “control” and “freedom” coexist together in his art demonstrates how much he is, for us, a true son of the musique concrète, but not only… As suggested earlier, richer parallels can be drawn between his visual art and music.

During his memorable passage at Carnegie-Mellon, Parker learned to draw live nudes, a practice he still engages in today as a drawer and art teacher. In an interview for Red Bull Music Academy, he explained his preference for nude models: “Copying a photograph is completely static, it is totally boring. I don’t like to work from static things, I like to work with the model, talk with them.” See below one of his classics:

This example reveals four fundamental artistic elements that can also be found in Parker’s music. Firstly, the fixation on one model seems to have then partly conditioned the focus on one layer of sound, as detailed later. Secondly, the search for freedom, as interpreted from the “roaring lines,” acts as a summons for uniqueness. Thirdly, the concept of being “free” is again tempered by a “certain control,” shaped by the interplay of Renaissance realism and contemporary minimalism. Yet the way “control” and “freedom” intertwine in perpetual movement brings incredible modernity to the piece: Parker reinvents his favorite art forms. Last but not least, the spontaneity that emerges from collaborating with a real human being must be highlighted, as Parker linked it himself to his musical technique earlier in the interview: “Again: It is very, very important that everything is done from life. I never use photographs. Just like my music, every single track I have ever made is recorded live. I don’t use multi-tracking, I don’t use a computer, I don’t use the drag and cut/paste, every single track is performed live into a mixer and that’s it.”

In short, Parker’s art is “imagination based on reality” or “science fiction meeting Renaissance”: he collaborates with real people, and connects with real machines, while bringing his reality to his dreamy world. This last consideration is particularly obvious when he produces drum and bass, as he brings the genre to his own world:

Andy Warhol (by way of Confucius) famously said “There is beauty in everything, just not everybody sees it.” If you open your eyes (and ears) to Parker’s art, you will find through his focus on realism a profound embodiment of “authenticity”, so dear to our musical movement, and from the dreamy side, you’ll experience a “journey filled with purity”, at the essence of minimalism, so engaging to trip on…

Parker’s background, rich and authentic, made of science fiction movies, musique concrète, Renaissance, minimalism, visual art based on nude models, and influences from astronauts such as Jeff Mills and labels such as Missile, contributed to making him shape his very unique space techno.

After some experience in bands – Maintenance, P. Children and Trybet – going from synth music to industrial techno, Parker developed his solo musical project in 1997. From his first EPs on Geophone and officialized with the fourth one, “Voiceprint“, in 1999, he created a form of space hypnotic techno intensified by deep kinematics, including very recognizable bubbling sounds, delivered in many variations and intensities, that we humbly call “Spirals”.

Two examples where “Spirals” are particularly obvious:

“Spirals” sound like the turbulent lines he draws. We asked Parker what he thought of the name “Spirals”, and what these sounds exactly represented. Here’s his answer: “I didn’t think of any name for them, and “Spirals” is fine. For me, it’s inspired by the sound of a flying saucer taking off; it’s a legacy from the science fiction movies that I love.”

As a general matter, “the sounds”, as opposed to “the beat”, are central to Parker’s creative process, as mentioned earlier. He detailed it right after sharing his view on the “Spirals”: “While making music, I focus on the aspect of techno that I like the most, which is not the drums but the synthesized sounds. In minimal techno, there is usually a focus on beats and kick drums, while when I personally compose music, I work on sounds first, and then I make the beats. That’s how I do it.”

Such a process, coupled with the fact that he records his tracks in one take, leads him to capture the essence of each sound efficiently. In 2001, he released his most emblematic work, “Dispatches” (recently re-issued), grouping past and new compositions, whose finely-worked sounds directly connect with the Divine! It is, for us, a historical monument of minimal techno, with an evocative name, as shared by Parker: “The title refers to my relative isolation from the larger techno scene at the time.”

Over the years, Parker grew a musical style that reached Europe and led him to follow up on collaborating with many European labels, from Semantica to Token. In particular, with releases on Orange Groove, Dozzy Records, Labyrinth, Prologue and Spazio Disponibile, Parker found a family in Neel and Dozzy’s projects, along with artists such as Cio D’Or, Brando Lupi, Giorgio Gigli and Modern Heads. Slowly but surely, Parker became, despite himself, a spearhead of Italian hypnotic techno, while sounding different from his Italian peers.

Let’s travel now to San Felice, where Parker and Dozzy regularly meet…

It’s precisely Parker’s originality that pleased Dozzy, who is far from being locked into one sound. In our past interview for Orb Mag, the Italian stalwart confessed: “I discovered Mike Parker’s music at Remix Store. His record “Ceasura” was one of these secret weapons that no one in town knew at that moment. I bought it, listened to it at home and couldn’t believe how great that was. At that moment, Lory D was at my house. He listened to it too and got very impressed. We sent Mike an email. He was happy that “someone noticed his music in Roma.” I sent him my early productions; the first Orange Groove and the first Elettronica Romana, and he sent a copy of his first Inversions record. That’s how we got linked. Mike really knows how to create addictive repetitions. With this type of music, you build layers that you play on top of each other to create the flow. His layers are astonishing. In 2006, he released “Substratum” on Orange Groove. It was quality stuff. One year later, we had a party in Brancaleone, Mike Parker, Lory D, and myself, a very memorable moment for us. Since then, Mike and I have met almost every year in Rome; we are buddies, we love hanging around in the studio, eating good food, watching movies, and petting Tao the cat. We understand each other’s language and that’s profound.”

Of course, we’ve been dying to ask Parker’s own point of view on this meeting, which he detailed: “Donato is a dear friend and an amazing artist. I was indeed surprised to receive an email from Italy. While making records through the late nineties and early 2000s, I had no idea who was playing them. Soundcloud and Bandcamp didn’t exist at that moment [Ed.: Both were founded in 2007]. I was sending records to a distributor in New York, the biggest one being Watts, now defunct, and it was handling the export to Europe. I didn’t know Donato had discovered me with “Ceasura.” I’m surprised: it was a rare record. When he contacted me, around 2005, it was for me the beginning of a new phase. In those days, I didn’t have any agent, and after my EP on Orange Groove, Donato said, “Hey, we want to bring you to Rome, and we will have a night in Brancaleone.” So I traveled overseas and spent one week with Donato: we worked in the studio, he was making dinner, and then we were back in the studio to make more music. We realized we get along very well as producers and friends, having a lot in common, from the music to our interest in science fiction.”

Having chatted with the two artists, we can state that for both of them, science fiction is more than a passion: it is an integral component of the “language” mentioned by Dozzy. As an illustration, the phone interview with Parker quickly shifted to the science fiction topic instead of going for the interview itself, as if lazy to start working on it. It’s however so much fun to discuss mythic monsters and sequences with Parker… If you start him on films such as “The Thing,” “The Fog,” “Event Horizon,” the “Predator” or “Alien” sagas, expect an unescapable vortex where time flies and knowledge increases thanks to his numerous technical anecdotes. Expect to feel lucky to have such a conversation with him. It is then easy to understand how Dozzy and Parker both experienced a “love at first fright” (a free dad joke, thank us later).

In our past interview with Cio D’Or, also for Orb Mag, she showered him with praise as well: “Donato brought genius Mike Parker to Prologue, who was already a great inspiration for me.” It’s on the mythic German label that Parker came with his second album in 2013, “Lustrations“, pushing the minimal boundaries even further. Cio D’Or and Parker have been doing B2B mixes at times, including one in Japan in 2009, which became a pivotal moment for Cio D’Or, in the development of her music, as detailed in her feature. Parker came back to this moment: “I remember this event quite well. Cio was pretty anxious about it and was carefully preparing it in her hotel room. She’s one of a kind, she’s really great. And you never forget the sound of her laugh, she has a very unique one.”

As felt in such anecdotes, the above-mentioned artists developed a strong familial bond, which deepened during the Prologue years of the last decade.

Dozzy and Parker still see each other nowadays, including a meeting last summer in the great chef’s home, and regarding our dear “Spiral maker”, unlike during his college radio years, he can now confidently say that “in space, someone heard him scream”…

#3

Mike Parker – Dissolution 99
[Geophone in 2001, Field Records in 2024]

“Dissolution 99” was originally intended to be included in “Dispatches” in 2001; however, Parker believed its addition would make the album too long. An edited version was released in 2019 on a record called “Early Works” on Ownlife, before the complete version finally came out on the 2024 re-issue of “Dispatches.” “Dissolution 99” and “Voiceprint: Voice Three” were two add-ons in the re-issue, serving as outros to the journey and ending it in a beautiful deepness.

“Dissolution 99”, in particular, is a very immersive experience and stands out in Parker’s discography precisely for that: a timeless dive into the mind’s abysses. The clap intonations pull us away from our comfort zone, yet without making us leave the journey, thanks to the omnipresent surrounding depth, the central position of the clap in space, taking the usual place of a “Spiral”, and its impeccable design, far from the cheap versions often heard in mainstream tech house. 

As a result, our minds are at the same time hypnotized, intrigued, and challenged, a formula that would perfectly fit a haute couture fashion show. This example is not random as, smartly, the brand Prada, “Italian as if by coincidence”, thought of it and officialized a collaboration with Parker for its Spring/Summer 2025 collection:

#2

Mike Parker – Reduction
[Geophone in 2001, Field Records in 2024]

What? Another track from “Dispatches“? This is really scandalous! 

Our member Radek Budniewski, who participated in our guest section above, said about the track that he has been listening to it for so many years and still “can’t get enough of it.” We easily understand him: highly addictive and timeless, the track crossed almost three decades of electronic music without any wrinkle. It is the outcome of crafting high-quality sounds that are subtle, crystal clear, and hypnotic.

In a recent interview for MusicRadar, Parker detailed his creative process on “Dispatches”, showing how his tracks are intentionally made to be mixed, which partly explains why some DJs consider his music as perfect “DJ tools.” Technically-wise, he added: “A lot of the tracks on Dispatches have patterns that are divided into threes, not fours. They cycle, just with a slightly different timing. (…) And I always thought that was an interesting way to conceive of a techno track.”

This approach has been at work in “Reduction”, as he detailed further: “Again, we’re on this division of threes, in the sequence. And you’ll hear some vocoded sounds. They might remind you of a human voice, but they’re not exactly identifiable as words. They’re more like syllables. So, in a sense, they’re more like notes. I tried to introduce sounds that are, at least partially, organic – unlike “Copper Variation” – as it doesn’t have the cold metallic to it. It’s got more of an otherworldly feel to it.”

Parker explores minimal art with some references to his beloved science fiction genre, and we love it…

#1

Mike Parker – GPH17A2
[Geophone, 2011]

Parker’s most emblematic tracks are probably “Hiss“, on Dozzy Records, and “Drain Hum“, again from “Dispatches”. Therefore, our final choice is particularly subjective. Yet next to completely melting in front of the catchy “Spirals” of “GPH17A2”, we feel that the track represents him at best. It highly emphasizes the sound, served on a golden plate from its drone-ish and acid splendor. The game of tension twists our emotions and makes us feel… alive…

When you listen to Parker’s “mixography“, you will hear lots of “Spirals” in electrifying techno sets, echoing the dancefloor environment. However, the present mix, as well as his set for Smoke Machine from 2013, contain none, and somewhat stand out for being deeper headphone music. The present mix, in particular, is our favorite one, even if the others are also excellent and, of course, worth listening to.

Professionals would tell you that what matters the most in a mix is the track selection at 90% and the technique at 10%. Yet beginner DJs often confuse the notion of “dope selection” with providing the “best of their music collection”. Daniel Avery mentioned it in our interview for Orb Mag: “A great mix is a mix where I can get lost in”, which requires a certain consistency between the tracks and a specific game of tension and pattern of energy to balance the boring side of the consistency. Some listeners would also state that a great mix should contain unknown tracks only, as recognizing ones could kick you out of the journey. Finally, Donato Dozzy added that working with storytelling is potentially an even greater value for the mix.

Mike Parker’s set for Dekmantel is prodigious for honoring all these criteria, and doing it masterfully. The tracks are so unknown and experimental that we struggled to rebuild the tracklist. The technique is flawless, and the management of the energy is exemplary, while the mix has been recorded in one take with turntables, CDJs, and an old Vestax mixer.

Regarding storytelling, Parker explained: “I chose the topic of atomic menace, so I integrated some recordings from documentaries about atomic power and explosions.” We confirm that the radioactive track selection and psychedelic post-apocalyptic vibe did their job of blowing up our minds…

TRACKLIST
(Please buy the tracks to support the underground scene with us)

1. Sample from “Forbidden Planet”, narration by Les Tremayne (1956)
2. Bernard Parmegiani – Chef Charon [Transversales Disques]
3. Aquavoice – Rainman [Zoharum]
4. Nature Sound Gallery – Teleogryllus emma – Saitama エンマコオロギ [Della]
5. Bernard Parmegiani – La guerre des insectes 3 – 1980 [Transversales Disques]
6. X/319 – Stimmung 02 [Tau]
7. François Bayle – La Chose [Transversales Disques]
8. Lyonel Bauchet – String Waves [Self-released]
9. Claudia Anderson – Makron [Singular Records]
10. Sample from “Medical Effects of the Atomic Bomb”, by the US Army (1949)
11. Planetary Assault Systems – Angel Of The East [Ostgut Ton]
12. Fire At Work – RW/S (Dadub Edit) [Multiple & Stirpe 999]
13. Chris Hinze – Creation [Keytone Records] 
14. Alessandro Cortini – Canta [Important Records]
15. Steve Roach – Molecules Of Motion [Projekt]
16. Osvaldo Golijov – Rupini’s Cave [Deutsche Grammophon]
17. Yogg & Pharaoh – Abadei [Parallax]
18. Jack Dangers – Lindsay Shapley Ring [Meat Beat Manifesto]
19. Etant Donnes – 1.01 (From “Aurore”) [Penultimate Press]
20. Robert Henke – Layer 004 [Imbalance Computer Music]
21. Maurizio Abate – Live From The Border [Holidays Records]
22. Sample from “Medical Effects of the Atomic Bomb”, by the US Army (1949)

Robert Wise, the director behind The Day the Earth Stood Still, once said: “My three Ps: passion, patience, perseverance. You have to do this if you’ve got to be a filmmaker.” How much did you apply this for your own artistic career?

Mike Parker: Robert Wise had a profound impact on narrative film, even before there were film studies programs at universities. I agree with his sentiments here, especially perseverance. As an artist, you must contend with external factors, many of which can be discouraging if you lose your purpose. Starting my own label was a big step in getting my vision realized.

Caricaturist Al Hirschfeld said “Artists are just children who refuse to put down their crayons,” while multi-faceted artist Jim Dine added, “For me, drawing is everything, because it informs everything. It even informs my poetry. It’s the way I begin everything.” Does your “inner child” convey musical information through drawing?

Mike Parker: I do believe that drawing conveys musical information, because it suggests rhythm, patterns and motion. Jim Dine’s drawings are very textural, while Hirschfeld uses an undulating line that communicates depth without shadows. In my drawing classes, I teach a similar concept called “line weight variation”. Basically, it means that your contour lines are always changing, morphing and evolving, like music. Al Hirschfeld spent a lot of time observing musicians in performance.  His portrait of violinist Isaac Stern is a good example.

In his 1866 novel Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote: “The darker the night, the brighter the stars.” What do you think of dark art in general and do you believe that dark music eventually serves to emphasize the light within?

Mike Parker: The blackness of space is endless, but we seek inspiration from it, like for the track “Unidentified Lights” that I recently made for a compilation on Rudiment. Black is the absence of color, but I think of it as a color anyway. If you look closely, you can see the variations in it. 20th-century painters such as Robert Rauschenberg explored this idea.

In 1972, legendary movie director Stanley Kubrick said in an interview: “A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.” From a musician’s perspective, what do you think of this quote?

Mike Parker: An excellent music score can enhance a great movie and in fact be integral to the film, thinking for instance of Bernard Herrmann’s music in “Psycho”. But an interesting soundtrack might also make an average film worth experiencing, if that music surpasses the quality of the film itself. In the 70’s, Ennio Morricone scored an average, but professionally made film called “Orca” (made in the wake of “Jaws”). I revisited this movie recently and was engaged by the music, which stands on its own. I am inspired by the film scores of Akira Ifukube and those by Jerry Goldsmith, especially “Planet of the Apes” and “Logan’s Run”.

Akira Ifukube – Godzilla Soundtrack

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