Mike Hansen is a Toronto based artist, performer and radio personality and has been involved in the Canadian improvised music scene for over a decade. As a turntablist born out of the school of Marclay, Tetrault and Jeck, Hansen disembowels the turntable. Approaching the record player as an instrument, needles cut through vinyl as knives through butter. Harsh ticks, scratches and distorted bits of information are put forth. Records are being replaced by the players themselves now used to generate sound that is processed through a series of Lo-Fi electronics, haunted by samples of actual recordings. Sounds are chosen at random, slowed down, ripped apart and manually looped. All aspects of the record player are fair game. Alot of the records used by Hansen have now been custom made, collecting samples and cutting them with a 1940's record cutter. This takes the sound to a whole new level.
Mike Hansens turntablism has resulted in recordings and performances with John Butcher, (Equation w/ Tomas Krakowiak, Spool Records, 2003), also other international players such as Kaffe Matthews, Gert-Jan Prins, Michael Snow, John Oswald and various leading Toronto improvisers. Hansens long standing duo with percussionist Tomasz Krakowiak has resulted in their recent release on Spool Records, Relay.
His twenty years of painting, sculpture and sound explorations have included interactive installations, performances and multi-media experiments utilizing his long time work in sculpture and encaustics. Hansens work has exhibited extensively across North America and internationally.
Out Now :
"At Every Point" on Etude Records www.etuderecords.com
"The Confines of Power"Mike Hansen/Tomasz Krakowiak myspace.com/frozenelephantmusic
Mike and Michael "Death Metal Turntablism"Bummer in the Summer 2006, The Tranzac, Toronto, Canada
"itch" installation, Plug In ICA, Winnipeg, Canada
