Looping Stars: Margate Electronics
With a curated line-up of local and renowned experimental musicians, Margate Electronics has become an event you have to witness in the flesh
Pairing local up-and-coming artists with established names in the world of electronic music, Tomas Jefanovas and Michael Mikkelsen set out to create an event that would get creatives out of their bedroom and into the live space.
Starting out in late 2023, Margate Electronics has a quarterly night focused on providing a platform for emerging artists, offering opportunities to perform, experiment, network and connect with audiences.
Having already hosted six events and collaborating with 25 musicians to date, the Margate Electronics night has carved out a place for artists looking to push the boundaries of what can be achieved in the live setting.
“We both make electronic music and occasionally perform, and we felt that Margate needed a space for live electronic music,” says Tomas. “There were sporadic events happening, of course, in different places, but it wasn’t a regular thing that would specifically cater for new, innovative, boundary-pushing electronic music - we don’t really do nostalgia. So we thought we’ll create our own.”
Initially, the event started out with an all-local line-up, but it does also pull on bigger names in the industry to travel in from the likes of London and Bristol, to appear on the same bills as the Thanet producers
“I think there’s definitely a sort of nurturing of the talent that’s immediately available around us in the local area,” says Tomas. “But we’re certainly open to the idea of bigger names playing, but it’s within the realm of something that is already quite left of field.
“Indie music is very well catered for and dance music of a certain type feels very catered for, but it felt like there was a lack of a platform for electronic artists, who are notoriously known for sitting at home on their laptops and spending too much time getting to know a compressor or something.”
Margate Electronics’ first few gigs took place at Faith in Strangers, making use of the stunning sound system and unencumbered views of the sea, but has since moved to the more intimate climes of Margate Arts Club in Northdown Road, which has a capacity of 150.
The genre, by its very nature, is wide-ranging, from more standardised ‘club’ music all the way through to more experimental styles like live sound looping.
“The electronics space is vast,” says Michael. “Just in the six events that we’ve run, the variety of styles represented within this spectrum is quite considerable.
“We’re quite lucky in that people will get in touch of their own volition to offer up their services, so to speak. We had Melinda Bronstein - noises and toyses is the way she advertises her sound - and she does this live looping of her voice, with all these different noise-making tools she’s got. She was amazing.
“We’ve also had Clementine Blue, a French artist residing in Margate who does her thing with synthesizers and samples that she’s taken from across Japan, where she’s travelled a lot. And we had Jorja Chalmers, who plays keys and, most importantly, sax for Bryan Ferry, whenever he’s touring - she did her own set on the recent event.”
Tomas, who is also a graphic designer, and Michael, who is a quantitative researcher, both moved to Margate from east London with their families six years ago. Their attraction to the vibrant, creative community willing to collaborate in the area has also been a cornerstone to the growth of the event.
“It just kind of felt like we’d landed on our feet,” says Michael. “You know, having a scene, having an environment of stimulating, creative activities on your doorstep.”
The event line-up consists of three live acts and used to have DJs playing before, after and in between each set, but Michael and Tomas decided to change it
“It’s quite nice to have those moments of quiet in between and opportunity for people to chat, to be social,” says Tomas. “It’s a big part of the events as well because a lot of creative community and musicians come to them and it’s a good spot to catch up with people and talk about music.”
Seeing local artists connect with guest artists and foster creative collaborations has become one of the by-products of Margate Electronics.
Michael says: “It may not have been the main motivation, but certainly a motivating factor, to give people somewhere to meet up with like-minded individuals, right? And opportunities will arise from that.”
The next Margate Electronics will take place on Friday, March 14th, at Margate Art Club, featuring performers Nik Colk Void, Al Wooton and Michael Son of Michael.
