Miniminds

Miniminds are a Northern Ireland based minimal techno music duo, comprised of Gary Dickenson and Stephen Garrett. Formed in 2007 this duo’s djing and production skills have gone from strength to strength.
Being one of the very few minimal techno dj’s in Northern Ireland they are strongly shaping the future of minimal techno music in Northern Ireland and further a field.
Before Miniminds was created Gary and Stephen were two extremely talented and up and coming dj’s in Northern Ireland, beginning to gain recognition as separate entities before coming together to form Miniminds.
Gary, before meeting Stephen first found his love for dance music on the dance floors of Northern Irish clubs such as Lush! and Shine. It was here that he was introduced to an eclectic range of music over the years from dj’s such as Sasha, John Digweed, Danny Howells and Nick Warren. As Gary’s djing career began to grow he produced numerous tracks and found himself playing from regular gigs at home in Northern Irelands most prestige clubs - Lush!, The Stiff Kitten and Yello, where he is on the resident roster, to clubs even further a field abroad in Russia and Lithuania.
Stephen, like Gary, was influenced greatly by the dance scene in Northern Ireland. Being heavily influenced by dj’s such as Phil Kieran, Umek, Mr C and Christian Smith he found himself having his debut in 2006, playing well received sets for Filter in Ballymena, Surge at the Edge, TWITCH at Laverys, Vicos and Drunkey Munkey at The Front Page. He also promotes and runs his own successful club night in Belfast, called Kaleida, showcasing local and international talent month by month.
Miniminds as a djing concept first came to light when Gary, who already had many productions under his belt, asked Stephen to come into the studio to try and work on something different as a duo.
“I asked Stephen if he wanted to work on a duo project as I noticed he had a different sound yet a similar style to me and I thought I could see a good opportunity to try something different and within months Miniminds was born” (Gary)
Straight away they began to explore a wide range of new and exciting sounds together from the underground minimal world of techno music. Gripped by artists and dj’s such as Richie Hawtin, Ricardo Villalobos Adam Beyer, Luciano, Massi DL, Paul Ritch, Joseph Capriati and Dubfire. It wasn’t long before they started producing and playing music that had a distinctive style and sound of its own.
They felt that there was a real need for a fresh concept in the dance music scene in Northern Ireland and a gap in the market for minimal techno;
“Northern Ireland has no minimal techno, we wanted to almost educate clubbers at home and open their minds” (Stephen)
Their fan base in Northern Ireland supported them at regular local gigs while Mr C helped put their mark on the Ibiza scene in the summer of 2007 when he played their debut tune (Miniminds) in the infamous club DC10. Little did this talented pair realise that this would be the tune that was set to define them and gain them recognition. It was soon after this event that Miniminds were approached by a London based label, Fling Recordings, with Luke Dzierzek immediately picking up on the enormity and potential success of Miniminds track Miniminds-Miniminds. Luke asked Gary and Stephen to join the label. Excited about this fresh pair of dj’s and their ideas, Luke said
“Miniminds have such a great sound going on, think forward thinking techno with all elements here and there and everywhere! Gary and Stephen are a very talented duo who can also rock the floor of any room. Really down to earth blokes and it is great to have them on board!” (Luke Dzierzek)
Pete Tong first supported the track on his essential selections radio one show saying “This is a hot one!” while numerous other renowned dj's around the world have continued to voice their support with comments such as:
“Have been into most of the releases you guys have put out so far but this is my favourite so far. Have been playing since the beginning of December and it has been rocking the floors every time, love it” (Danny Tenaglia)
“Big and bad, love the sound of this (Steve Angello)
“Rocking from the word go” (James Zabiela)
“I like this one, both sides are great!!” (Hernan Cattaneo)
“Well done lads, this is another corker!” (King Unique)
“The miniminds track is a wicked, love the way it builds and has been getting great reactions, I will be heavily supporting this one as ever with all of your stuff!” (Dave Seaman)
“The production is awesome, was one of my biggest records on the Australian tour” (Mark Brown (MYNC Project) )
“'Liking the Miniminds release guys, got great energy defo something id play” (Chris Lake)
“Liking this release a lot, both tracks have a wicked energy to them” (Phil Kieran)
Stephen and Gary are undoubtedly enjoying this ever-growing success and certainly enjoy djing together
“We really work well together as a duo, we bounce off each other and help each other out despite originally coming from different musical backgrounds-it means there is always diversity in the sound that we play. As a duo we know we can go further, with two personalities behind the decks it makes djing more interesting as sometimes you don’t know what could happen next!” (Stephen and Gary)
When watching the pair dj together it goes without saying that they really do know how to work the crowd and keep them wanting more. As a clubber you are kept interested and on your toes as it is not one but two dj’s that are playing to you.
Gary sums up the style of Miniminds saying; “We try to make techno with a minimal edge always keeping it underground. In our dj sets our minds are always focused on the dance floor and take people on a minimal techno journey.”
Since the beginning of this year the two have watched the success of their track Miniminds-Miniminds/Out Of Nowhere grow at an enormous rate and are increasingly finding themselves being asked to do more and more remixes for labels whilst working on their own productions.
Demand is rife with these dj’s as they have already been signed up for a second release for Fling, have recently finished a remix for Ministry of Sound ‘Data Records’ with Luke Dzierzek’s own track ‘Echo’ (featuring on EP with John Dahlback, Oliver Koletski and Tiger Stripes) which was originally used in the Citroen advert and are in the process of having gigs in London confirmed for mid 2008.
This is a dj act that you should not take your eye off for one second in 2008. With so many more productions in the pipeline and endless amounts of fresh ideas, drive and ambition it is without a doubt that Miniminds will be blowing the minds of clubbers around the world in the near future!
Dicog -
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Miniminds - Miniminds [FLING Recordings]
Miniminds - Out of Nowhere [FLING Recordings]
Luke Dzierzek - Echo (Miniminds Remix) [Data Records]
Ran Shani - We Are One (Miniminds Remix) [FLING Recordings]
Lewis Ryder - Empty Draw (Miniminds Remix) [BIGGER DEER RECORDINGS] - out June
Miniminds - Xoe [FLING Recordings] - out July/August
Miniminds - Ghost in the System [FLING Recordings] - out July/August
Miniminds - Lionize (Digital Exclusive) [FLING Recordings] - out July/August
Radio Slots
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Guest mix on ATL Dance Show, Radio Ulster - Mar '08
Guest mix on Ain't That a Groove, Toronto Radio Show - Apr '08
Past Gigs -
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Nusoul Electronic @ Vico's, Belfast
Yello @ Mynt, Belfast
Nusoul NYE Party @ The Front Page, Belfast
Carbon @ The Basement, Belfast
Radio Shack @ Milk, Belfast
Baked @ Biddy Duffy's, Belfast
Kaleida presents Fling Recordings Party @ Bar Budda, Belfast
Hindsight presents Bigger Deer Recordings Launch Party @ The Egg, London
Minimal Zen Tent @ Life Festival, Galway, Ireland
Lush! @ Kellys, Portrush
For Bookings or remix work, please contact here or [email protected]