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The San Francisco Bay Area has been a breeding ground for minimal and techno producers in the past decade. 2009 was a big year for full-length albums for the Bay with a big release from Dirtybird mogul Claude VonStroke, and a solid debut album from Dead Seal on Auralism Records.

Now, at the beginning of 2010, a new voice pushes the boundaries of the minimal template further into the realms of progressive house and melodic techno under the guise of Limaçon.

A native of Santa Cruz, a coastal city an hour and a half south of San Francisco, Limaçon is Christopher T. Lee. Lee began producing back in 1997 and over the next twelve years he began to establish himself with his live PA's, initially with a full analogue rig and later incorporating digital technology into the equation.

In 2005, Limaçon had his first single, "Catch," released on Steve Bug's  Poker Flat label. Lee followed this with a series of releases on Resopal Schallware, Force Inc. and San Francisco's Auralism Records.

While Lee's previous collection of releases hinted at new layers of musical complexity, it is his first full-length album, "Tarry Not," on Toronto label, Thoughtless Music, that breaks through to a new plateau of sound. By weaving a fresh palette of sounds into a complex web of melodic statements, Lee adds a progressive sensibility to the raw edge of minimalism.

"Tarry Not" has already been well-received with multiple tracks receiving play by Dubfire, Luciano, and Richie Hawtin. I Voice was able to catch up with Lee between stops on a North American Tour to find out about the man and his music.

Your name translates from French as "snail" but is also the name of a famous mathematics equation: why did you choose this name and what meaning does it hold for you?
I chose the name because of the mathematical equation and it's correlating graph: a loop with in a loop...if you will. It's pretty awesome that it means snail in French...added bonus.

Who would say are your biggest musical influences?
It really changes from day to day. I don't have heroes per say. Sure there are artists who have had more airtime on my stereo but that doesn't mean that they've influenced my music. My influences come more from specifics of what I would like to achieve within a particular track. I feel all tracks should evolve & progress, not drastically, but enough to keep the listener engaged... Richie may be banging it out and I'll think, damn, I'll make some fucking techno! Or Maetrik may have some druggy, tight synth line that will influence me to make stripped down, heady music. Then this house thing is coming back and I remember, "Oh yeah, I love house!"

What pieces of equipment or programs did you primarily use for the sounds on "Tarry Not?"
The Elektron pieces are my main hardware right now. The Machine Drum and Mono Machine. Recently I've moved over to soft synths and I'm using a lot of Massive simply because I gel with it's interface. Coming from a hardware background, it's more intuitive. Oh, Urs Heckman's plugs are crazy good too. The whole album was produced on Acid Pro.
It made sense when I transitioned off of hardware because of it's loop based layout. I gotta evolve though cause I can't even do a stereo side chain in it.

A lot of minimal music is generally interesting sonically, but tends to only focus only on the rhythm as opposed to melodic structures and harmony, what impresses me about this album is the detail you put on the musicality of each song as opposed to just the sonic qualities. Was this intentional and could you elaborate on this statement?
I've actually had to rein in my melodicism. I feel all tracks should evolve and progress, not drastically, but enough to keep the listener engaged. That is  one of my main gripes with dance music is that it's so boring. I try to have a lot of depth and variation within the particular elements in a track; not just one hook that charges through the whole thing. On the other hand, you can't have a solely percussive track. Tonal elements are the feeling and if a track has no feeling the listener has no relation to it.

The melodies on the album are very intricate and you tend to use a wide of frequencies and tones to produce your melodic lines, do you have a background in music? If so, how do you feel you apply this to your music?
No, no background. Just lots of analysis of music and what works. I find that people who are trained in music can't get away from 'playing.' Thus melodies take over instead of taking the time to think of what specific elements would work well together. You can't play that type of development but you can piece it together like a puzzle. I do a lot of reduction as well. It takes a long time to get something that works. There is a lot of experimentation but you can't be attached to any particular piece. Objectivity is key.

Which artists are you currently listening to?
Marek Hemmann, Audio Werner, Rene Breitbarth, Tim Xavier, Hermanez, Andomat 3000, KiloWatts, Catz 'n Dogz, Alex Celler, Martinez, Deepchild, Inxec. There really are so many artists killing it right now.

You used to perform strictly analogue live sets without the aid of a laptop, do you see yourself ever going back to this set-up? What are you currently using for your live performances?
Fuck no. The audio is too raw going straight out of hardware. I like to maintain the post production quality and that's mainly why I've stuck with DJing. I feel I can interact with the crowd more when I DJ. Right now I've been touring with my Machine Drum and playing on 3 CD decks. I have 4 elements that I'm matching so it can get quite complicated.

What is next for you as a producer? In what direction do you see your music evolving?
Who knows?! I'm enjoying this stint in house music though I'm not sure I can create boring enough music. HA! So much of house music stems from organic elements which has always been difficult for me. I've had a hankering to learn tabla though. As well, field recording has always been a passion of mine.

www.myspace.com/limaconhatesmyspace | www.thoughtlessmusic.com | www.myspace.com/thoughtlessdigital