NEWSFLASH ::::::: Chris McCormack giving up techno

[MARKEG]

I'm gutted. I really am. I feel for Chris, he's a good guy who tries soooooo hard but never get's the props or money to pay the bills out of this damn game.

Today he sent me this link:

www.chrismccormack.co.uk

I've tried to talk him out of it but I'm sure it will do no good.

He's a long term member of this site, so please join with me in wishing him all the best.. God that guy has influenced so many of us.

Full respect to Chris for some of the best music I have ever heard.

Just hope you change your mind mate.

[SlavikSvensk]

his observations on the current state of techno are spot on, but i'm a bit skeptical about people "leaving" techno. it's not a club with membership, it's a style of music you either make or don't make, listen to or don't listen to.

so maybe he wants to cease running a label, or djing or whatever, but unless he completely stops listening to and completely stops following the scene/posting here/posting elsewhere, i don't think he's left anything...

just my 2 cents...

[massplanck]

Thats a bit harsh alright.

I just hope he's very very happy in whatever he does next.

Anyway... Onwards we go.

[Traxx]

Thats a shame, good luck...

[killarava2day]

All the best Chris :clap:

[The Overfiend]

17-06-2005 I Quit.


Techno is in a mess. I tried my best to push things on and make a change. I got many mails from people telling me the recent Locked E.P was one the best records in techno in a long time, but when that record actually loses you money things have to stop. And when that record is Locked, personally the best record I have ever made, something has gone very wrong.



I am very sad that ultra safe records with bongos and zero talent are what makes techno tick these days. And to those who are making it, if you have something to say with music, then ****ing say it instead of rolling out another stupid stolen loop or a stab sound from 1990.



The music I hear today is boring, formulaic, and quite abusive to any self respecting music head like myself. I am tired of it and for me there is no more left to say.



I was never in this “game” for money, I did it for the love, as long as the music got out there and it didnt end up costing me to do it, that was all I needed. I am pleased to say my life moves on unlike many in techno.



I want to thank so many people who have supported me over the years – I really appreciate and understand your frustrations with what techno has become.



I have tried to make available as much of the back cat I could find for online purchase so that those who continue to email asking where they can get my records now at least have an opportunity to get hold of them even if they are only mp3’s. You can try www.djdownload.com or www.beatport.com . I’m sorry I couldn’t just offer them on my own website for free but I simply don’t have the space or time to manage such a thing.



I wish all music heads and techno spotters the best and hope techno will find its way again someday.



All the best, Chris.

I'm raging mad.
With all the bullshit out there making money, out of all people CHRIS quits!
I have always given him uber credit since the first time I've ever heard anything from him. This is truly the horses ass. Rascal Remix is still badass and kills most out now as with blackout 001 and with a lot of his catalogue. I implore and beg Chris not to do this move. Not when techno needs more people like himself.

[Komplex]

I'm sure if McC likes writing music and enjoys it, he will keep on jammin... whether any of it is released or not is another matter.

The only thing which doesn't sit well with me in that spiel is the emphasis on what other people are doing with their loops and what not. Why care? It's not you who is making that shit Chris, why does it affect your own music and your choice whether to write it or not? Losing a lot of money is totally understandable, and obviously a reason to stop putting time and money into it. Fair enough.

Also If you are bored or jaded with it, thats fine too, say so but don't blame anyone else. Music is a personal thing and you of all people should know that.

Good luck with your next hobby Mr McC and keep it real!

[SlavikSvensk]

i see his point about being jaded by the "scene" and all the garbage that goes along with it...

...and about the crap that's flooded the market today...

...i just don't put much stock in "I just quit techno" statements. another baord member recently said the same thing, and he's still on BOA, so i don't really consider him quit... :)

[The Overfiend]

...and about the crap that's flooded the market today...

This is true

[AcidTrash]

It's not really surprising that techno isn't making money. Most people who are into techno havent got any money and so many DJ's I know are so fixated with production that they're just not buying music because they're too busy making it.

This combined with the fact that you don't need much more than an entry level PC and some cracked software to do it has left those who had the monopoly on it looking as ordinary, human and futile as the rest of us.
It's just not tangible for the moment and it certainly isn't the rocket science its appears to be.

Also peoples expectations have raised so much that it is next to impossible to satisfy your customers anymore. Everyone's gorged themselves silly on it and now everyones fat and greedy with it when it comes to music.

Giving it up because you're not making any money is daft. If you enjoy doing it that should be all the reward you need. Personally I couldn't give a toss who likes or dislikes my music because the learning curve is satisfaction enough. Techno never was wholly self sustaining and the most successful people always had their fingers in other pies to make it work. The biggest failures are the people who've put all their eggs in one basket and blindly gone about their abitions without a hint of reality to guide them.

The only people keeping afloat are the people who were in it from the start and there isn't room for any more DJ heros. Especially now that the scene is so small that we get to meet our musical heros and dispell the myths that they are the great thinkers of our time and actually a bunch of clueless munters just like we are.

The clubbing/dance music age is nearly at an end anyway. Kids aren't getting into it anymore and theres nothing about the munting lifestyle I could possibly recommend to any young person who wants a shot at a decent fulfilled life. Techno is a compensation of having ****ed up bigstyle if you ask me. You can keep the rest of it.

When I first ventured into techno I was impressed at the social diversity of events all brought together by drugs and music but the music has become secondary to drugs and that's no way to live. The people on the dancefloors these days are either young kids who are too young or older people who should know better. I'm starting to feel sorry for many of them because there is so much more to life and there's more important things to do. Munting is a sh*t lifestyle and it f*cks you up.

Ecstasy has become the nations great pacifier for those not transfixed by big brother and those of us still in it are no better than the moronic masses still glued to their TV sets.. This is not the time to be sat in derelict buildings or your face when every day we see more and more headlines hinting at erosions of civil liberty and the blairite 1984 marshall law. It's time to start paying attention.

I think its really f*cking sad that so many talented people are poking away at samplers and audio equipment in the dark missing out on so much of what life has to offer in the hope that their productions might actually break even when with just a little patience and hard work they could get a good job, bang out a record and not care if it breaks even. Time to stop taking all this sh*t so f*cking seriously. Thats what f*cked it up in the first place. I guess that makes me a bit of a c*nt huh?

[killarava2day]

^^^That actually made some sense...I think I'm gona smash this glass here and slash my wrists...

[AcidTrash]

Reading Chis's statement again I am further compelled to write and say f*ck you chris when you say:

"I am very sad that ultra safe records with bongos and zero talent are what makes techno tick these days. And to those who are making it, if you have something to say with music, then **** say it instead of rolling out another stupid stolen loop or a stab sound from 1990.

The music I hear today is boring, formulaic, and quite abusive to any self respecting music head like myself. I am tired of it and for me there is no more left to say."

That attitude about loops and stabs discounts the works of loads of people who make f*ckin wicked music namely one Alex Calver, not to mention DAVE the Drummer et al.

Bongo are f*ckin wicked and just another percussion instrument. if you're bored of it do something else. Basically techno music is when you get one 4:4 loop going with another one with some different sounds going on. It sounds wicked when it's loud and you can do a bunch of intersting stuff with it. However it does wear off after a few years and thats when you give it up and get on with your life as you clearly should. It's no reason to poke a stick at everyone else who still likes it though. Not that it stops me or you by the looks of things. How else would we progress as a species?

[detfella]

best of luck chris

[eyes without a face]

found this out last weekend but didnt wanna be the one to post it up....

its a damn shame for sure, but i have a feeling he'l be back one day... i dont really care for the whole "im giving up" statements as when Pete did it, he's back already haha ;)

hopefully we'l see some new music from Chris be it techno or whatever he plans to do

[massplanck]

Chris McCormack needs a good shaking thats all.. ;)

[TechMouse]

Well, it's a shame.

But in all fairness, there are a lot of people out there grinding the same axes, and wethering the same slogs that Chris is week in week out - I can think, for example, of a number of people on this board in a similar position - and who are doing it without even a fraction of the praise and acclaim that McCormack gets, none of which seem ready to give up just yet.

It's a shame that the Locked EP didn't do so well. It wasn't 100% my sort of thing, but even I could see that more effort, skill and general love of the craft had gone into it than had gone into 100 or so of the tosh 12's that come our way each week these days.

Even so, you can't just dismiss the game because you lose one hand... (or some other equally vacuous metaphor).

I can only hope that CM will be back in some way or other. Both my copies of Erase Techno get caned on a regular basis, and I'd love to be able to add more to the collection.

[Francisco Scaramanga]

Well, I've never met Chris, but I respect his music, so I hope if he does quit techno he has the best of luck in whatever he does next.

But having said that, even though I've never met him, I doubt
he'll stop entirely. How could anyone who obviously has so much talent for it, just totally stop and never make another tune, or never play another record? Fair enough if he stops with the gigs and record labels and all that sort of stuff, but I reckon if he goes out and gets a day job, and then comes home from this new job feeling pissed off and wanting to unwind, then he'll fire up the drum machine, warm the synth up, and crank out some noise - just like the rest of us who dont actually make a living from techno. Techno doesent have to be a life - it can just be a hobby if thats what you want.

[philipryan]

Basically techno music is when you get one 4:4 loop going with another one with some different sounds going on. It sounds wicked when it's loud and you can do a bunch of intersting stuff with it.

I imagine that view of what techno is is exactly what Chris McCormick was trying to move away from i.e. the formulaic approach to making the music.

Still I have to agree with TechMouse, there's loads of promoters, DJs, artists etc. putting a lot into the music and getting a lot less props than CmC.

It also has to be said that surely he would of had a bigger impact and a better chance to "push things on and make a change" if he performed more.

Anyway, hopefully this is one of those rash Cher type decisions and there'll be a comeback tour, farewell tour, another comeback, etc...

[JimmySomerville]

Did Chris ever do gigs?

I'm sure i'd heard he never?

Still a shame to see some one get fed up with it all :cry:

[FuK-NuT]

i blame the germans and schranz!!!