SILENT SERVANT (Sandwell District)

Silent Servant may be the newest talent in the Sandwell District lineup, but in many ways he forms the focal point of the entire organization. Originally hailing from the West Coast, Juan Mendez’s first releases surfaced under the name Jasper as early as 1997 on his own Cytrax Label, an operation he co-managed with Steve Tang and Kit Clayton. By 2000, his notoriety was sufficient to warrant a release on the then dominating label Force Inc., but by 2003 both his own label and the Force Inc. empire had fallen victim to shifting tides in the Techno underground, and a period of regrouping was in order. With the focus of the deepest underground portion of the Techno scene moving away from computer-based minimalism and towards a fuller aesthetic with a more overt Detroit influence, Mendez took a hiatus of 3 years back in the lab to conduct deep audio research, reappearing in 2006 with a new name, a new label, and a new mission.

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It turned out to be 3 years very well spent. Re-emerging under the project name Silent Servant, he had found not only a new, contemporary sound, but a short list of new collaborators who proved to be the sympathetic support needed for the basis of a highly conceptual and uncompromising new label rooted in experimentalism and a semi-industrial aesthetic. Finding veteran support from the likes of Regis and Female, of the legendary English Downwards imprint, and NYC underground legend Function, a recent addition to the Downwards roster, the four proceeded to tailor their new label explicitly towards the sound they were looking for. Taking mutual inspiration from each other as well as industrial, post-punk, and experimental psychedelic music and veering sharply away from the computer-based minimalism that had dominated the scene for almost 10 years now, they constructed an aesthetic related to but distinct from the heavy, industrial ideas already made famous by Downwards over the previous 10 years. Stripping away some of the brutality and incorporating a stiff dose of broken beats into their sound as well as embracing a certain noise-drenched minimalism into their productions, Sandwell District immediately became the new flag bearer for the deepest reaches of experimental Techno, and Silent Servant became one of the core artists on this new label.

By 2008, things were growing apace for Mendez. Of his two releases that year on Sandwell District, one, The Blood of Our King, was instantly hailed as one of the highest bars yet for the nascent label. The record also featured striking new graphic design by Mendez himself that would from then on serve as a calling card for all of the label’s releases. He then followed this up the same year with a new label operated by himself and Detroit legend Santiago Salazar under the name Historia Y Violencia, featuring similarly minimal and striking graphic design. Already acquainted from time spent on the West Coast, Salazar proved to be another worthy foil for Mendez, with the Latin influences of his sound providing an extroverted contrast to the more heads-down approach embraced by Silent Servant. Fast forward two more years to 2010 and Sandwell District could no longer be called a strictly underground operation. With it’s combination of striking artwork, underground aesthetic, and steadfast refusal to pander to the whims of the dance scene, the label found allies in the hard, minimal sound founded by Ostgut Ton and then dominating the more artistically inclined clubs in Europe. The growth of notoriety of the label may be witnessed by Silent Servant’s performance last winter in NYC, playing to a completely packed house for Oktave on a Thursday night, and by the numerous gigs Function played this year headlining festivals and major nights across the globe. [Halcyon]