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 safety scissors
A picture of his then-present girlfriend adorned with gag-store glasses, brandishing a pair of children's scissors, this token of good luck followed Mr. Matthew Patterson Curry everywhere when he started DJing. Cutting his teeth as a weekly resident of San Francisco's Static club - and Surrounded by the likes of Kit Clayton, Sutekh, Twerk, Kid 606, and Matmos - MPC was provided with musical support and inspiration for first forays into production. Under his Safety Scissors moniker his first records were logically lumped into what was referred to, at least by German patrons, as "SF Laptop Techno". Like most artists in the trendy "clicks and cuts" scene, his music embellished recording errors and digital detritus. But beyond celebrating the errors of computers, MPC also treasured the errors and mishaps in his everyday life. Being a proud art-school dropout, he had some experience amplifying such things as deflating balloons and melting ice and so putting such follies into musical form seemed only natural. With some of his first recordings he dared adding his own rawness into the music as his own untrained vocals exposed a human-ness at a time when other computer musicians were trying to hide theirs. In May of 2000 at the very first Mutek Festival, Safety Scissors bashfully debuted his singing and electronic music in a live context. The dimly-lit dub-tinged techno pop was culled into Plug Research album Parts Water, which received wads of international praise. Subsequent worldwide touring and invitations to well respected festivals soon followed. Lending his talents for numerous remixes of artists in all shapes in sizes (including the flattering remix request for Sketch Show featuring two members of Yellow Magic Orchestra) Berlin became a new home for the gregarious musician. Seeking an outlet for danceable funny stuff he founded the Proptronix label in 2001, and after acclaimed releases of My Robot Friend and the Pigeon Funk project, he distanced himself from his "dub house techno drivel" past and solidified a trademark sound dubbed by XLR8R as "dorkcore". But it wasn't until a move back to San Francisco at the end of 2003 that MPC was able to focus on finishing the nearly completed songs on Tainted Lunch, his second full-length album. Always seeking to mix obscure new influences and inspirations (The Shaggs, Joe Meek, Emil Richards, Franco Battiato, Les Paul, Raymond Scott) along with the more familiar (Yello, Talking Heads, New Order and the more comtemporary Magnetic Fields) Tainted Lunch features a more refined approach to his angular pop attempts. His non-singer singing is more present and the structures echo radio friendly tunes as he enlists musical help from friends Kevin Blechdom, Francoise Cactus, and Erlend Øye. At the moment MPC is driven to further his knowledge of tap dancing and he also has a cat named Napkin who plays fetch. Recently he has started a monthly event in the sleepy San Francisco called EGGS trying to make people stay up late. Discography: LPs... Parts Water : Plug Research (May 2001) Tainted Lunch : ~scape (Septemebr 2005) EPs... Rubber Stamp EP : Context 01 (July 1999) Free Range Deductions : Force Tracks (March 2000) Grounds For Foregrounds : Force Tracks (November 2000) Untitled : Delay 05 (Split with Sutekh) (2000) Untitled : Plug Research (Split with Languis) (October 2000) Lost At B : Cytrax 13 (December 2000) Either Or EP : Plug Research (March 2001) The Ping Pong EP : Carpark Records (with Kit Clayton) (November 2002) Fridgelife New & Improved Remixes : Proptronix (March 2004) Sunlight's On The Other Side : ~scape (Septemebr 2005) Remixes appear on... Deadpan Escapement : Context (Remix of Sutekh and Twerk) (July 2000) Material Problem : Cytrax 12 (Remix of Kit Clayton) (2000) Frustrache EP : Hefty (Remix of Slicker) (2001) (This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan : Plug Research (Remix of Dntel) (August 2002) Adi-Pre Puddled : K2 O Records (Remix of Ten Ecke) (June 2002) Evil Against Evil : Some Odd Pilot Records (Remix of Salvo Beta) (2002) Actin' Crazy : Soundslike (Remix of Soft Pink Truth's Gender Studies) (2003) Barf (Liebe Mein EP!) : Proptronix (Remix of PJ Pooterhoots) (September 2003) Alles Sehen Remixes : BPitchControl (Remix of Ellen Allien) (September 2003) Loophole : Third Ear (Remix of Sketch Show's Night Talker) (2004) With Hands And Feet : Multidisc (Remix of Multiplex) (June 2004) Nataural Anthemes : Antheme 02 (Remix of John Alan) (October 2005) Husky Remixes : Kanine Records (Remix of Grizzly Bear's La Duchess Anne) (November 2005) Tour Single (Remix of Architecture in Helsinki's Whirlwind) (November 2005) Tracks appear on... SF Bass Vol. 1 : Exact Science Thredes and Vaynes : Context 06 Forcelab 02 : Forcelab 02 Banana Republic Vol. 1 : Beta Bodega Across the Cell Wall : Kodama Rauschen 15 (Mixed By Jasper) : Force Inc. Hypercity (Mixed By Andrew Weatherhall) : Force Tracks Forcelab Edition Composure (Mixed By Algorithm) : Forcelab Intermissions : Plug Research Data Pop : Spex Wavemail Project : 240 Volts Electric Ladyland Clickhop Vol. 1 : Mille Plateux Groovetechnology 1.3 : K7 Staedtizism 4 : ~scape X + Y = XY : Alku Din AV DVD : ~scape The Only Blip Hop Record You'll Ever Need : Luaka Bop 45 Seconds Of... : Simball Sounds Elecktrik Pants : Proptronix 2 Unravellled Vol. 2 : Context 10B Other Projects... Neomoronics : Tektite 05 (As Moron) (2001) Moron Presents....Pigeon Funk presents! : Onitor (As Pigeon Funk/Moron) (2002) Pigeon Funk Remixed : Onitor (As Pigeon Funk with Sutekh) (2003) Pigeon Funk! : Proptronix (As Pigeon Funk with Sutekh and Kit Clayton) (2003) Also see: http://www.discogs.com/artist/Safety+Scissors Notable Performances... Centre Pompidou, Paris (December, 2003) Sonar, Barcalona (June, 2003) Transmediale, Berlin (January of 2002 and 2004) Decibel Festival, Seattle (September, 2004) Numero Festival, Lisbon (November, 2001) Mutek and FCMM Festivals, Montreal (2000 and 2001) |
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