Performing
secondnature
Showcase
Wednesday, September 23 2015
About
Tin Man is an artist in the truest sense of the word. Over the last decade now the man born Johannes Auvinen has explored an ever evolving sound palette that touches on house, techno and ambient. Much like his namesake’s character in the Wizard of Oz, he has been on a mission to find his true self, except this Tin Man’s medium has been music.
Most recently the California born producer and live act has been responsible for reinvigorating the acid scene with his unique and cerebral manipulations of real Roland 303s. His tracks have been laced with slow and subtly shifting patterns that are infused with a very real machine soul and exude captivating warmth. The finest proof of this yet was his slowly unfolding and tender LP, Neo Neo Acid on Absurd: it was his sixth full length to date and was arguably his most coherent and comprehensive work.
Taking influences from “Chicago and radio pop rock as well as melancholic UK electronics and Sahkö” Tin Man’s extensive discography also explores less sublime and seductive sounds on labels like Keys of Life and Acid Acid, and plenty of raw sonics on albums like Scared. He is also part of The Acid Symphony Orchestra (a live super group that features artists playing on ten 303, 707 and 808s) and has turned out a standalone neo-classical and ambient work, Vienna Blue, which proves he does so much more than pure dancing music.
“I started fiddling with music when I was in college,” he says. “I was collecting records, anything electronic; from ambient to techno to computer music. When I was out of school, and had steady work, I bought some gear and then tried imitating the music I liked with mixed results.” Before long though he found a sound that was truly his own and has continued to do so over and over again ever since.
In 2014 this modern acid master plays live on 303s, 707s and plenty more bits of hardware, always creating textured soundtracks on the flying using a range of FX and skills built up over the last decade. He never fails to make people dance to his beat whether he’s playing festivals in Japan, influential clubs in Europe or dirty back rooms across America and puts most similar acts to shame.
Current projects include a collaboration with Italian techno talent Donato Dozzy on Acid Test as well as a brand new Tin Man solo album on the same label later in the year. He has now been producing music for more than a decade, yet still Vienna’s Tin Man continues to evolve and invigorate with each and every release.
Of Finnish descent, but born and raised in California, TIN MAN now has a home in Vienna, a town perfectly suited to his deep and moody productions. TIN MAN launched his Global A label project in 2004. The first two releases, ‘Places’ and ‘Acid Acid’, weighed in at three pieces of vinyl each, and showcased his two major musical passions: fragile deep electronica and acid house. TIN MAN has acclaimed releases on the Finnish record label Sähkö / Keys of Life, Cheap Records from Vienna, and continues with new releases on his own imprint, Global A . While TIN MAN’s output is diverse in its references, certain underpinnings can be heard throughout. There is always a strong reference to Acid House music, as well as a strong reference to Ambient and Electronic Pop music from the past 30 years. TIN MAN’s newer output features his voice and follows a “concept album” format. Thus, complete records are as important as individual songs. The songs tend to follow a simple structure with changes that grow slowly within motifs. Mood construction and story telling are both equally important. And with each new record, there are new historical references to tell different stories. TIN MAN also continues with his passion for Acid House by continuing to produce retro-acid tracks and playing live shows regularly. These live shows celebrate early house music, its hypnotic charm, and its blissful raw energy.
