Prime Ministry
Dance-music dynasty Ministry of Sound comes to Canada
MINISTRY OF SOUND LAUNCH PARTY
With James Zabiela. Part of Mark Oliver's Spin Saturdays. Saturday, Oct 5. 2002 The Guvernment, 1 Jarvis. $10 before midnight, $15 after.
BY ELIZABETH MITKOS
There's been much talk of late that Canada's dance-music scene is fragmented and waning. While optimists say the country's major markets are blooming, others protest that more and more underground music is selling out to the mainstream and becoming a commercial, corporate scheme. But the reality is Canada's dance culture needs a morale boost -- and increased exposure.
While local collectives like Stickman Records, Vinyl Syndicate, nice+smooth and DMT Records are making waves around the globe and setting the stage for a solid future for locals, there's a world-renowned dance-music label coming to town that hopes to be a major player in developing the Canadian scene. In a move that speaks to its global-domination goals, U.K. dance powerhouse Ministry of Sound is making its first invasion into the Canadian market.
Having recently joined forces with Universal Music Canada, the U.K.'s premiere dance label hopes to bolster the Canadian scene by offering DJs the honour of recording Ministry of Sound compilations. The first volume, Ministry of Sound: Canada, hit the streets Sept. 24 and features Toronto DJs Iron Mike Ciampini and Peter Ivals (a.k.a. Peter the Greek), who've played dance and top-40 clubs for the past decade, including Fridays at The Docks this past summer.
"We're both very proud and privileged to be the DJs to mix this CD," says Ciampini, who's toured with Love Inc. and has been collaborating with Chris Sheppard on his Pirate Radio show for the past three years. "Just because dance music crosses over to the mainstream doesn't mean it should be dropped. The whole attitude about being cool and keeping the scene underground is the wrong attitude. It won't help the scene progress as more and more talent release their own music."
Ivals adds that this new venture is a great opportunity for local DJs who aren't getting noticed. "The recognition is long overdue. It's frustrating, because you don't see tonnes of Canadian DJs going to the U.K. to play, but you see so many U.K. DJs playing here. It would have been nice to see Canadian collectives come up with a compilation series of their own."
But Ivals contends that the very fact a U.K. heavyweight is coming into the country bodes well for homegrown talent looking to break into markets outside of Canada.
"Ministry is not just a compilation," says Ministry of Sound's Stuart Knight on the phone from London. "It's a brand, it's an experience, it's a lifestyle choice. You can go to the parties, buy the CDs, listen to the radio, experience Ministry in Ibiza, hang out on the website and read our magazine. That's what we want to bring to Canada. It's a combination of what Ministry of Sound stands for and marrying it to local knowledge. Maybe we can even get involved with some kick-ass DJs playing in Vancouver or Edmonton to 500 people and give them more of a platform."
Since launching as London's megaclub in 1991 at the peak of the U.K. dance explosion, Ministry of Sound has become a global brand with clothing lines, compilations and nearly 200 events in 30 countries, reaching seven-figure audiences around the globe every year. The Ministry global empire expanded in 1999 to include Australia, the U.S., Germany, Sweden, Spain, South Africa and the Middle East, with Canada now the latest addition to the family.
"Canada is a new territory for us," Knight says. "It's pretty exciting -- we're able to steer things more because it's new, and we have the lessons of the past to get this right."
Knight calls the Ministry of Sound: Canada release a "teaser" to test the grounds, and while plans are still in the works to introduce Ministry's radio programming to Canadian airwaves, at least another half-dozen compilations are lined up for next year. "This is just the beginning," Knight says. "It's about building the brand and making sure the releases are quality."
While dance music is mainstream in the U.K., with big flagship releases like Ministry's The Annual series routinely hitting the top-10 charts, Ministry pledges the plan for Canada will be tailored to the local scene. Canadian talent can approach people like Universal A&R rep Justin Mier with their DJ sets for a chance to mix a compilation.
"We'd also like to see our local artists get licensing deals outside of Canada where they can get their single exposed to a market that they'd never be exposed to," says Mier. "Dance music can't stay underground because that's ... not where we need it to be on a commercial level to get radio and video play. With Ministry of Sound and Universal, we want to take dance music into the mainstream and to the masses."
While it's too early to see if Ministry of Sound: Canada will become an annual series, sights are being set on a possible clubber's guide to unify the different markets from coast to coast.
"We don't know everything about the dance scene in Canada," Knight says, "and we're not saying, 'This is London calling, you will listen to this,'" he says. "This is going to be Ministry of Sound in Canada being run by, and marketed by, people in Canada. All we do is lend advice on our branding and experience."
Likewise, Ciampini and Ivals hope this alliance will move the scene forward. "Being a part of this, we're trying our best right now," Ivals says. "Once Ministry is exposed to Toronto's scene, I'm sure it'll open a lot of doors of opportunity for a lot of people."
|
