JOHN ARNOLD "NEIGHBORHOOD SCIENCE"
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Over the past few years John Arnold has risen to public attention along with a new wave of Detroit producers and artists. "Neighborhood Science" includes appearances from some of those peers like keyboard maestro and vocalist Amp Fiddler (of P-Funk All-stars and Genuine Records), vocalist and multi-talented musician Ayro (Omoa music) and producer and vocalist Malik Alstin (collaborator with Roy Davis jr). They just happen to be from around the way, and helped shape the John Arnold sound on "Neighborhood Science," his debut album. "My neighborhood is brimming with talent, we all live and breathe music. I really wanted to present this scene on my record, because it defines who I am," states Arnold.

"Neighborhood Science" is an album that works in a club as well as at home but Arnold purposefully avoided making something more accessible for the sake of sales. Multi-layered soulful tracks retain an electronic edge that works on the dance floor and nods to the influence of dons of the Detroit scene like Carl Craig, Kenny Larkin, and Derrick May. "When I listen to records for the first time it's as a DJ. I look for the tracks I can play out first. If I like an artist because they make great dance music and then they come out with a record that is far removed from this, I feel let down. I have always felt that dancing is a big part of experiencing music. Once people are dancing, they are open to anything you want to throw at them," explains Arnold.

Within electronic music circles formally trained artists often struggle to reconcile their academic backgrounds and the unconventional DIY ethos of club culture, yet John Arnold's classical guitar education has expanded, not limited, his imagination. "I was able to make this whole record in my bedroom with the help of some friends. And you have to understand how all the instruments fit together and how to play them of course. The training just gives me a wider pallet and understanding of music to work with. I think having the experience of working and understanding different instruments and music helped me produce a wide variety of sounds and colors," says Arnold.

On tracks like "We're Not" or "Inside" where John samples his own guitar work and spits it out as something more mechanical and rhythmic, something he also does with the vocal performances provided by Amp Fiddler and Malik Alstin to create unique percussive layers. "Amp and I have been friends for sometime and we both needed some collaboration love from each other," says Arnold. "He had called me to play guitar on his full length and I thought it would be perfect to feature him on my record - what a voice!"

For "Broken" Arnold keys as strings in a track that begins disjointed and minimal but ends up fluid and multi-layered. With Ayro he collaborated to recreate "Rough" a cover song originally found on the Herbie Hancock album "Future Shock." Part vocal and part instrumental, it's a mostly up-tempo with a number of tracks that could be pigeonholed into the "broken beat" category. "Thanks to Ayro my version has some of the thickest moog lines you could ever ask for. We kept the vocal line and that 80's analog sound in the vein of the original otherwise it's just Ayro and me. I would hope Herbie would approve, I don't think he could deny the funk factor!"

Carl Craig invited Arnold to perform his first-ever live electronic gig at the inaugural Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF), and Derrick May, who picked up his Sparkle EP for Transmat Records' sister label, Fragile, asked him back to perform in 2003. He's released a second Transmat EP titled "Four Minutes?" has 2 singles out on Ubiquity, and jammed on records by fellow Detroit acts John Beltran, the Detroit Escalator Co and Recloose.

"I think early on I felt the need to push some music in a certain direction, but I have come to realize that my uniqueness is ultimately who I am and what people will want to hear," says Arnold regarding the influence of Detroit on his work. "Derrick May and Carl Craig have been very supportive. They heard the freshness in my music that nobody else could hear at first. When my first twelve came out on Fragile, I think people hated it because it was so different, but I think the scene now has caught up with where I am coming from. I think this is why Ubiquity is such a great label for me to present music on. People expect progressive music from this label. I think people expect techno from a label like Transmat, so when there hear my Transmat single they either really hate it because it is so different, or love it for the same reason...these are the people I like to make music for," he says.

Check out links to live performances/DJ mixes at: www.betalounge.com / www.milkaudio.com

Click here for more info on John Arnolds 12" releases on Ubiquity and for John Arnold tour info.

Click here to check out photos of the recent John Arnold tour.