Kate Simko
Encyclopedia
Background
Kate spent her childhood years studying piano and music theory. During her teens in Chicago in the mid-nineties, she fell in love with underground dance music, gaining a voracious appetite to hear new sounds and absorbing it all dancing until dawn each weekend in the Midwest. Her passion for electronic music eventually led to her to study music technology and piano at Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, while also directing the dance and hip-hop format of the respected radio station WNUR
WNUR
WNUR-FM is a 7200 watt radio station based in Evanston, Illinois that broadcasts to Chicago and its northern suburbs. Northwestern University owns the station's FCC license.-History:...
.
In 2001, Kate relocated for a music composition program in Santiago, Chile
Santiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
, where she met Andres Bucci and recorded their first record together as Detalles. Since then, Kate has returned to South America for numerous extended trips, recording more music with Andres Bucci and playing shows in cities like Buenos Aires, Punta del Este and Caracas.
With roots in Chicago house
Chicago house
Chicago house is a style of house music, a genre of electronic dance music which emerged in Chicago in the mid-1980s. Stylistically, Chicago house has no widely accepted definition, but generally includes the first house music productions by Chicago-based artists throughout the 1980s, and any later...
and Detroit techno
Detroit techno
Detroit techno is an early style of electronic music beginning in the 1980s. Detroit, Michigan has been cited as the birthplace of techno music. Prominent Detroit Techno artists include Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson...
, Kate's music maintains a warm, soulful character, full of funky bass lines and driving rhythms.
Reflecting her diverse background, Kate's music crosses genre borders, blending rich textures and intricate programming with funky synth lines, thumping bass and groove. Her ever-changing live PA continues to be a highlight wherever she plays, at home or abroad. She has received press in The Wire
The Wire (magazine)
The Wire is a British avant garde music magazine, founded in 1982 by jazz promoter Anthony Wood and journalist Chrissie Murray. The magazine initially concentrated on contemporary jazz and improvised music, but branched out in the early 1990s to various types of experimental music...
, XLR8R
XLR8R
XLR8R is a magazine and website thatcovers music, culture, style, and technology. It was founded as anewsprint ‘zine in 1993 by publisher Andrew Smith in Seattle; themagazine currently has offices in San Francisco and New York...
, de:Bug, Mixmag
Mixmag
Mixmag is a British dance music and clubbing magazine. It styles itself as "the world's biggest selling dance music magazine", with an Audit Bureau of Circulations audited circulation of approximately 21,250...
, BPM
BPM (magazine)
BPM is an American magazine devoted to "Music, Technology, Nightlife and Style". Based in Hollywood, California, the magazine has published over 95 issues...
and Remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
and her Detalles project was named one of the 'Next 100' artists by URB magazine. A versatile DJ, Kate was named one of the Top 10 DJ's in Chicago by XLR8R
XLR8R
XLR8R is a magazine and website thatcovers music, culture, style, and technology. It was founded as anewsprint ‘zine in 1993 by publisher Andrew Smith in Seattle; themagazine currently has offices in San Francisco and New York...
magazine. Her work has been released on Traum Schallplatten and Kupei Musika
Kupei Musika
Kupei Musika was an American independent record label from Seattle, Washington focusing on electronic dance music. Although headquartered in the U.S., the label was closely aligned with the thriving Chilean, German and Scandinavian techno and house scenes....
, and been remixed by Thomas Brinkmann
Thomas Brinkmann
Thomas Brinkmann is a highly regarded German producer of experimental minimal techno music. Although experimenting with records since the early eighties, he gained wide reputation with his re-workings of material by fellow artists Mike Ink and Richie Hawtin released in the second half of the 90s...
and Atom Heart, while she has remixed Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
and Aeroc.
In 2009, Simko released Music from The Atom Smashers, which was the soundtrack to a documentary about physicists at Fermilab
Fermilab
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a US Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics...
.
Kate's highly anticipated debut solo album Lights Out will be release on Hello? Repeat records in June 2011.
Discography
- Mind On You Digital Hello? Repeat Records (2011)
- Take You There Digital Ghostly InternationalGhostly InternationalGhostly International is an American independent record label. Chief artists include Matthew Dear, Dabrye , Mobius Band, and Skeletons & The Girl-Faced Boys, all of which are innovative contributors to the world of music....
(2009) - Lost In Time 12", Digital Eklo Records (2009)
- Zhivago 12", Digital Spectral SoundSpectral SoundSpectral Sound is a record label that was originally an offshoot of the more cerebral Ghostly International, but has since gained similar notoriety thanks to successful records by Matthew Dear and other techno producers...
(2009) - Music from the Atom Smashers Digital-only soundtrack album Ghostly InternationalGhostly InternationalGhostly International is an American independent record label. Chief artists include Matthew Dear, Dabrye , Mobius Band, and Skeletons & The Girl-Faced Boys, all of which are innovative contributors to the world of music....
(2009) - Gamelan / Margie's Groove Digital Spectral SoundSpectral SoundSpectral Sound is a record label that was originally an offshoot of the more cerebral Ghostly International, but has since gained similar notoriety thanks to successful records by Matthew Dear and other techno producers...
(2008) - She Said EP 12"/Digital Spectral SoundSpectral SoundSpectral Sound is a record label that was originally an offshoot of the more cerebral Ghostly International, but has since gained similar notoriety thanks to successful records by Matthew Dear and other techno producers...
(2008) - Cityscape 12"/EP Kupei MusikaKupei MusikaKupei Musika was an American independent record label from Seattle, Washington focusing on electronic dance music. Although headquartered in the U.S., the label was closely aligned with the thriving Chilean, German and Scandinavian techno and house scenes....
(2007) w/Jonas BeringJonas BeringJonas Bering is a critically acclaimed French electronic music songwriter, from Lille, France. Jonas Bering emerged from the techno scene of Cologne, Germany, through his works released on the German label Kompakt, run by Wolfgang Voigt, Michael Mayer and Juergen Paape.-Selected... - Strumm 12"/EP Kupei MusikaKupei MusikaKupei Musika was an American independent record label from Seattle, Washington focusing on electronic dance music. Although headquartered in the U.S., the label was closely aligned with the thriving Chilean, German and Scandinavian techno and house scenes....
(2006)
w/Detalles
- Micros Morning CD/LP Kupei MusikaKupei MusikaKupei Musika was an American independent record label from Seattle, Washington focusing on electronic dance music. Although headquartered in the U.S., the label was closely aligned with the thriving Chilean, German and Scandinavian techno and house scenes....
(2007) - Hello Donee 12"/EP Kupei MusikaKupei MusikaKupei Musika was an American independent record label from Seattle, Washington focusing on electronic dance music. Although headquartered in the U.S., the label was closely aligned with the thriving Chilean, German and Scandinavian techno and house scenes....
(2007) - Shapes of Summer CD/LP Traum (2003)
Appears On
- Death Is Nothing To Fear 3 12"/Digital Spectral SoundSpectral SoundSpectral Sound is a record label that was originally an offshoot of the more cerebral Ghostly International, but has since gained similar notoriety thanks to successful records by Matthew Dear and other techno producers...
(2008) - DINTF EP Digital Spectral SoundSpectral SoundSpectral Sound is a record label that was originally an offshoot of the more cerebral Ghostly International, but has since gained similar notoriety thanks to successful records by Matthew Dear and other techno producers...
(2008)