0056 // Makaton

Makaton - a language program using both hand gestures and symbols designed to help those who have difficulty speaking communicate. The title is also the name with which West Midlands-raised artist Steve Bailey takes as his production alias. The label he runs, Rodz-Konez, has similarly theoretic backing in its title. "Rodz-Konez are photo-receptors in the human eye", he begins when quizzed on the origin of the label's name. "For me this is the vision of Makaton." The label began in 1999 with the release of Bailey's 'Active Line', and has been the primary outlet for his own productions ever since, alongside releasing works from an impressive roster of Techno pinups, from the likes of Regis and Inigo Kennedy to Go Hiyama and the 65D Mavericks.

His most recent EP, the disorientatingly warped 'Nothing Can Be Held Our Hand For Long' EP garnered significant attention last year, released via James Ruskin's Blueprint Records. "Blueprint is a label that I respect and has close ties with some of my local peers: Tony Surgeon, Karl Regis etc, so it seemed like a natural progression to release music on" he says of the release's formation. "Mark Broom suggested I send some music to James [Ruskin] and it moved on from there."

With several releases planned over 2016 alongside an upcoming performance at Fabric on the 16th as part of a Blueprint showcase, we decided to invite Bailey to contribute to our podcast series, giving a taste of what to expect over the coming weekend.

No tracklist available.

0056 // Makaton by Stray Landings on Mixcloud

• Published
• Jan 12, 2016

• Credits
• Words by Theo Darton-Moore