Esem
Encyclopedia
Esem is the stage name of Georgi Hristov Marinov, a Bulgarian electronic music artist, (born 10 February 1979). Esem is formerly known as the tracker musician StereoMan, a member of the demoscene
group NOiSE.
and the demoscene
in the late 1990s, through the work of Brothomstates
and Lackluster
among others. After a 5-year netlabel
membership in NOiSE ("New Objectives in Sound Exploration) Marinov was signed up to deFocus records for his first vinyl single - "Ikae", and debut album "Enveloped". Thus becoming the first contemporary Bulgarian electronic music artist to have released a music record on vinyl.
After releasing his second album "Serial Human" commercially on Merck Records
, Esem moved to London
where he produced the material for "Scateren" - his third album. "Scateren" was released as a free Creative Commons
-licensed download on Kahvi
, and quickly became one of the label's most downloaded titles.
In 2007 parts of "Scateren" were licensed and subsequently released by Nintendo
as background music to the Nintendo DS
game "Theta", and as downloadable ringtones (complementary to the game title). The original album remained under Creative Commons.
Esem is a regular guest on the Lithuanian label Sutemos
's "Intelligent Toys" series, featured alongside Vladislav Delay
, Digitonal
, Maps and Diagrams, Ulrich Schnauss
, and others.
software for his work. Most of his recent music was produced using software synthesizers and Apple Inc.'s Logic Pro
sequencer. He is a firm believer that the software employed does not matter.
He is also largely active on the internet, with profiles in social networking sites such as Last.fm
, Flickr
, and Facebook
. Much of his work outside of music involves computer programming
and web development
.
He is the author of an Adium
soundset, called "Minus Bells".
, Spain
, Sweden
, and Russia
, as well as club gigs and festivals in Bulgaria
.
Demoscene
The demoscene is a computer art subculture that specializes in producing demos, which are non-interactive audio-visual presentations that run in real-time on a computer...
group NOiSE.
Musical career
Georgi Marinov first got involved in composing electronic musicElectronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
and the demoscene
Demoscene
The demoscene is a computer art subculture that specializes in producing demos, which are non-interactive audio-visual presentations that run in real-time on a computer...
in the late 1990s, through the work of Brothomstates
Brothomstates
Brothomstates is one of the stage names of Lassi Nikko, a Finnish composer and musician. He also used to produce music in the demoscene under the moniker of Dune in the demogroup Orange...
and Lackluster
Lackluster
Lackluster is the main stage name of Esa Juhani Ruoho , who has also recorded as Esa Ruoho, Can'o'Lard, Kökö and the Köks and XLLV. Lackluster is formerly known as the chiptune musician, Distance, part of the demoscene groups Orange, Monotonik, Calodox, The Digital Artists, The Planet of Leather...
among others. After a 5-year netlabel
Netlabel
A netlabel is a record label that distributes its music through digital audio formats over the Internet...
membership in NOiSE ("New Objectives in Sound Exploration) Marinov was signed up to deFocus records for his first vinyl single - "Ikae", and debut album "Enveloped". Thus becoming the first contemporary Bulgarian electronic music artist to have released a music record on vinyl.
After releasing his second album "Serial Human" commercially on Merck Records
Merck Records
Merck Records was a record label based in Miami and run by Gabe Koch. It released electronic music.-Background:Their releases cover a wide range of styles, from cut up vocal hip hop by their most prominent artist Machinedrum, to central IDM by artists like Proem, Mr. Projectile, and Deru, to...
, Esem moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
where he produced the material for "Scateren" - his third album. "Scateren" was released as a free Creative Commons
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
-licensed download on Kahvi
Kahvi
Kahvi is a netlabel founded in 1998 and currently operated by 4T Thieves. Based in London, England, it aims to release music in the OGG, MP3 and video formats to anyone online...
, and quickly became one of the label's most downloaded titles.
In 2007 parts of "Scateren" were licensed and subsequently released by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
as background music to the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
game "Theta", and as downloadable ringtones (complementary to the game title). The original album remained under Creative Commons.
Esem is a regular guest on the Lithuanian label Sutemos
Sutemos
Sutemos is an electronic record label based in Lithuania. It was founded in January 2004, as an online record label. So far it has released music from revered electronica artists such as Ulrich Schnauss, Manual, IJO, Sleepy Town Manufacture, Stockfinster and 3tronik...
's "Intelligent Toys" series, featured alongside Vladislav Delay
Vladislav Delay
Vladislav Delay is one of the pseudonyms of Sasu Ripatti , a Finnish electronic musician. He has also recorded as Luomo, Sistol, Uusitalo and Conoco.-Background:...
, Digitonal
Digitonal
Digitonal is a British electronica duo composed of clarinettist and composer Andy Dobson and violinist Samy Bishai, who formed the band in London in the late 1990s....
, Maps and Diagrams, Ulrich Schnauss
Ulrich Schnauss
-Biography:Ulrich Schnauss was born in the northern German seaport of Kiel in 1977. He became interested in a range of music: My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Tangerine Dream, Chapterhouse, and early bleep & breakbeat tracks...
, and others.
Methods
Esem employs both trackers and Digital Audio WorkstationDigital audio workstation
A digital audio workstation is an electronic system designed solely or primarily for recording, editing and playing back digital audio. DAWs were originally tape-less, microprocessor-based systems such as the Synclavier and Fairlight CMI...
software for his work. Most of his recent music was produced using software synthesizers and Apple Inc.'s Logic Pro
Logic Pro
Logic Pro is a hybrid 32 / 64 bit digital audio workstation and MIDI sequencer software application for the Mac OS X platform. Originally created by German software developer Emagic, Logic Pro became an Apple product when Apple bought Emagic in 2002...
sequencer. He is a firm believer that the software employed does not matter.
He is also largely active on the internet, with profiles in social networking sites such as Last.fm
Last.fm
Last.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
, Flickr
Flickr
Flickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...
, and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. Much of his work outside of music involves computer programming
Computer programming
Computer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...
and web development
Web development
Web development is a broad term for the work involved in developing a web site for the Internet or an intranet . This can include web design, web content development, client liaison, client-side/server-side scripting, web server and network security configuration, and e-commerce development...
.
He is the author of an Adium
Adium
Adium is a free and open source instant messaging client for Mac OS X that supports multiple IM networks, including Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, AIM, ICQ, and XMPP. It supports many protocols through the libraries libezv , MGTwitterEngine , and libpurple...
soundset, called "Minus Bells".
Live performances
Although Marinov does not often play live, he has since 2000 played a small number of gigs in Europe including venues in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, as well as club gigs and festivals in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
.
Discography
- 2001 - EP - "Ikae" (12") deFocus
- 2002 - Album - "Enveloped" (CD,LP) deFocus
- 2003 - Album - "Serial Human" (CD) Merck Records,
- 2005 - Album - "Scateren" (digital download) Kahvi Records,
Name
Esem is a distorted abbreviation of S, M - the capital letters of his past demoscene alias - StereoMan.External links
- Official Esem website
- Esem at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Theta video game
- Esem at Last.fmLast.fmLast.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
- "Minus Bells" Adium Soundset