Todd Sines

Todd Sines hails not from Chicago or Detroit, but from Cleveland, Ohio; however, he absorbed the traditions of the American techno school thoroughly—his music combines elements of Detroit techno, deep house, and minimal funk. Among his admirers are Carl Craig, Daniel Bell, Richie Hawtin, and Steve Bug; remixes are commissioned by Italian disco guru Alexander Robotnick and English indie icons !!!.

In his youth, Sines was into new wave and funk (Ohio Players, Devo, and Midnight Star thundered in 1980s Ohio) and played bass in numerous school bands. In 1989, Todd saw the 808 State clip on MTV and instantly fell in love with dance electronics. Moving to Columbus, Sines traded his bass guitar for a Roland SH-101 and founded the band Body Release with three classmates. The guys toured extensively, but in 1993 decided to pursue solo projects. Sines immersed himself in experiments with minimalist techno-funk. His music formula: a TR-909 drum machine laying down a dynamic, swung house rhythm paired with piercing synthesizer loops reminiscent of Jeff Mills' "bells."

At this time, Sines began organizing techno parties in Columbus, where he met his idols—Carl Craig and Daniel Bell. Showing them his demos, both musicians were thrilled. Craig signed Sines to his Planet E label, where Todd's debut release was Knaqua, recorded under the pseudonym Enhanced. English Peacefrog also took interest, releasing two of Todd's records under .xtrak—Relay EP and I Node EP. A year later, Daniel Bell kept his word: the .xtrak Planet Burst vinyl became the third release on his 7th City label, placed under Detroit giant 430 West.

The second half of the nineties became a major tour for Sines—he traversed Europe and North America, regularly performing at German clubs Tresor and WMF, Barcelona's Moog, Detroit's DEMF techno festival, and Planet E parties in New York. Sines' records constantly featured in the sets of Carl Craig, Richie Hawtin (who even included the track Toddsines in his Mixmag Live mix), and Steve Bug.

In the late nineties, Todd embraced a softer deep house sound—experimenting with vocals and live instruments. His records came out on Planet E and Residual, the label of old friend Titonton Duvante. Recently, he's appeared more on European labels—French Frankie released his deep/funk record, and future releases are planned for the Swiss Morris / Audio label, where SCSI-9, Jussi-Pekka, John Dahlback, and Dub Taylor have already appeared.

Todd comes to Moscow to perform live, promising a real show—instead of the laptop typical of touring techno musicians, Sines vows to haul several synthesizers on stage and deliver a full live performance.