Schematic Records

I first heard of Richard Devine when I purchased the WARP 10+3: Remixes compilation in 1999. He contributed a remix of Aphex Twin's Come To Daddy that barely resembled the original but contained all the ferocity of the source track. It wasn't the easiest track to absorb, but it grabbed my attention and I had to hear more. This led to LOTS of primitive searches online for anything Richard Devine related, which led me to find out all about Schematic Records. It all culminated in a long drive to Lakewood to visit a shop whose name will remain unspoken, at which I purchased the Ischemic Folks and Lily Of The Valley compilations and began a long love affair with Schematic Records. Through these comps I found out about Phoenecia, Push Button Objects and Delarosa & Asora, among others, which led me to hunt down as much material as possible from everyone on the label. I began chomping at the bit for Phoenecia's Brownout, playing Delarosa's Agony Part 1 constantly, exploring the untitled Richard Devine EP and eventually his Lipswitch album, bumping Push Button Objects' Dirty Dozen comp and wondering what came next. I wondered if this is what it felt like to discover WARP Records in the early nineties, as Schematic definitely felt like the American WARP.

Schematic kept putting out new releases, many on vinyl which was difficult to get so I often downloaded their releases via emusic with whom they had an early digital distribution contract. Their roster continued to grow and soon releases from Otto Von Schirach, O9, the Secret Frequency Crew, Din-St, Hearts Of Darknesses and others were in my collection, but around 2006 everything came to a halt. The label's site was updated infrequently and several long-awaited releases seemed to be on hiatus. A few of them showed up digitally via Bleep and other services, but nothing else was heard for a long time. Understandably, I feared the label may have bit the dust. I couldn't get e-mail to work and I tried to find contact information for Joshua Kay and Romulo Del Castillo, the label's founders and together working as Phoenecia, but I had no such luck.

Earlier this year, the Schematic site was updated with video from a Phoenecia scored film, Smother, and a link to Devine Sound, Richard Devine and Josh Kay's new company where they do sound design for everything from film and television to video games. I sent an e-mail and was thrilled to get responses from Josh, Rom and Richard, all of whom were extremely friendly and led to some great conversations with Rom all about the history of the label and what's happening now!

First off, it's important to understand why Schematic Records was started. Josh and Rom initially became known as Soul Oddity and had a contract with Astralwerks. Soul Oddity was rightfully considered the future of the American electronic scene, fusing techno with Miami bass and easily rocking a party. This was around the time of the big "electronica" push from the major labels, and being on the same label as the Chemical Brothers led to Josh and Rom being pressured to make more commercial records. That isn't what they did so they parted ways with Astralwerks, changed their name to Phoenecia and started Schematic in Miami. Initially they had a small distribution agreement with Star 67 but eventually moved to Forced Exposure through which they had great success. Most of the best known Schematic releases were available through this period which led to the Schema crew touring the world and their releases getting distribution with labels like WARP. Eventually there was a move to Asphodel for distribution, but they eventually shut down and Schematic was left in the lurch.

After touring forever and having so many issues with distribution, Josh and Rom decided to take a break. They worked on the long awaited second Phoenecia album, Lewd Archives, scored independent films and worked on a number of other projects. Other artists like Richard Devine and Otto Von Schirach continued to release material through other labels (Sublight and Ipecac) and continue to work to this day. As for Schematic, they’re back with new releases, several of which will be coming out later this year.

What's important to understand is that Schematic is still here and will continue to release new music. I had several great conversations with Rom where he wanted to make it completely clear that they hadn't quit, they were just playing it quiet. Rom also answered several questions about the label and it's roster that have been permeating for years.

Phoenecia are indeed still together and working on new music. For those wondering about the leak of their forthcoming Echelon Mall album, it won't stall it's physical release and there will be some cool additions to the final release including a detailed website. For the record, the versions of the tracks on Echelon Mall are significantly different from the versions in the films. Check Smother for an example. The versions with beats will remain exclusive to the films, while the beatless versions are exclusive to the album. Also, Echelon Mall IS NOT Lewd Archives. Lewd Archives is a completely separate album of new material. It's name may be changed before release, but it will see release in the near future, as well as a compilation of non-album tracks that will have a title most likely parodying Aphex Twin's 26 Mixes For Cash.

Richard Devine is hard at work with his company Devine Sound. There may be more music from him eventually, and there is tons unreleased, but for now his focus is the business.

Otto Von Schirach is crazy busy and working on a myriad of top-secret projects. Seriously, it would blow your mind if some of them were mentioned, but then they wouldn't be top-secret! Keep an eye on him because he's far from finished! Check his site here for more information.

Dino Felipe is, in Rom's words, moving from releasing music to working on art projects and installations. That doesn't mean there won't be more music, but he's in a different place right now. Check his site for details.

Aura is a pimp! Check out his mixes and see him live if you get the chance!

Hearts Of Darknesses, aka Frank Musarra, one half of Trey Told 'Em and pals with Girl Talk, is still kicking ass. Hearts are now a full band and have a 12" out on Deleted Art. Get it now and expect your mind to be blown!

Scott Herren, aka Delarosa & Asora, but best known as Prefuse 73, is cool as hell! There was an Agony Part 2 being planned and it would have featured remixes of tracks from Part 1 and potentially some new tracks, but Scott is very busy and the album never got finished. He’s still cool with the Schematic folks and is still working as Prefuse 73 regularly. Check on him here.

Edgar from Push Button Objects is, as far as Rom knows, no longer in the music making biz. He has TONS of unreleased stuff but it may never see the light of day. Apparently Boards Of Canada are huge fans of PBO and wrote him a very extensive thank you letter for his remix of An Eagle In Your Mind. Rom, Josh and Edgar sent them a number of still unreleased PBO test pressings at their request.

O9 is the coolest guy you’ve never heard of. Rom explained that O9's newest stuff is almost devoid of specific musical influences and is very beautiful minimal stuff. Rom described O9 as the type of guy who could be blown away by Aphex Twin and Aerosmith all in the same sitting. He loves all kinds of music but his influences are very difficult to pinpoint. Rom wants to release an album of O9's minimal stuff badly, and hopes it may happen in the near future.

There are several new releases coming soon on Schematic. Touane, whom I'm sure you will find on iTunes or BeatPort, has two EPs coming soon with tentative release dates in November. I've had the pleasure of hearing them and they are excellent! Also, new signing Jacque Polynice is dropping his first release in junction with Schematic and Circuitree. His style is similiar to that of Flying Lotus or early Prefuse, and I honestly think people will go crazy for it. You can check here for more details about it and go here to purchase it. Beautiful stuff! On top of that, Echelon Mall will finally see physical release hopefully in October so make sure you go pick it up!

Rom sent me so much content for this post that I wasn't sure where to start, so I'm going to be giving you a link to my flickr page so you can check out some of the awesome artwork produced for Schematic and Miami related releases and events to give you a feel for the scene. On top of that, he was kind enough to give me a copy of Aura's 2003 tour mix which was only available there and VERY BRIEFLY on Bleep. This is exclusive to this site so grab it now!

As of right now Rom is working with Andrew Strasser, another really cool guy, on the Bad Brilliance exhibition in Miami. Very cool stuff which you can check out here. Strasser has done design work for Schematic, Negativland, Girl Talk and many others, much of which can be seen at his official site.

Speaking of official sites, please check the official Schematic and Devine Sound sites. I’m sure you’ll find them very detailed and interesting. Also, below are the links to the flickr gallery and Aura’s fantastic mix. The flickr gallery is a must see! There will probably be two more updates to it in the next few weeks, so keep checking back. And grab Aura’s mix fast! It’s over an hour of Schematic goodness that should give you a good idea of their sound. Enjoy!


Aura - El Tour De Los Guapos: USA VIA RV 2003 Schematic Tour Mix

A Gallery of Schematic and Miami related flyers for releases and events