datSIM

Deep in a teenage obsession with Hard House centred around a night called Sundazed in Brighton (UK), it was a chance encounter with Kevin Saunderson after a washing up shift at the local dog track that set a course to the record shops of Soho and a Fabric dance floor epiphany with Slam, Craig Richards and X Press 2. All of which clarified: a life dedicated to spending all available funds on digging records would actually be a good idea. Datsim is a musical project from London based video game sound designer Simon Palframan. Born in Reading, warmed up in Newcastle, simmered in Brighton and now steaming in North London, Datsim is searching for machine made electronic music that has a soul and his weapons of choice are old synths mainly from the late 80s early 90s such as the Yamaha TG77, Pearl Syncussion and Quasimidi Polymorph that he’s repaired and modded. “If limitation is the mother of creativity, I already have way too much stuff! BUT, focusing on hardware that I have scrimped and saved for does help prevent me from getting paralysed by the unlimited choice when it comes to software. It’s the same reason I DJ with vinyl - it’s expensive, time consuming, heavy - but it makes you really think carefully about each record you buy. With Datsim I want to push myself to create machine based music that captures that early ‘grain’ of the 80s and 90s digital technology - but bringing the punch and definition of modern production techniques. Let’s see what happens….!”