EXPLOSIVE AUDIO CINEMA.
This is THE DEMIX, an avant-garde force in the realm of experimental electronic music hailing from a vibrant music scene in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Born out of a fervent passion for pushing the boundaries of sound, THE DEMIX’s sonic creations defy convention, taking listeners on a mesmerizing journey through uncharted musical territories.
Whether conveying a sense of cosmic exploration, existential reflection, or the euphoria of new beginnings, each track on his new EP “ARRIVAL” contributes to a larger narrative, inviting the audience to interpret and connect with the music on a personal level. It invites listeners to embrace the unconventional, drawing inspiration from a myriad of sources, THE DEMIX crafts soundscapes that challenge traditional notions of genre and form. Prepare for ARRIVAL.
THE DEMIX’S explosive limited edition 7 inch vinyl “The Ghost Network” is available from Radiograffiti, featuring the aggressive Shark Tank on side A and the creepily moving Dead See on the B-Side. Self releases HAVOC RUN, STORM, PYTHON APPROACH & LIGHTS OUT are available at thedemix.bandcamp.com – an extensive archive of DJ sets can be found here.
“In an almost shamanistic manner, it was as if he were negotiating an exorcism between himself, his instrument and those assembled to witness his machinated grooves that hovered somewhere on the periphery of drum and bass and industrial, with the briefest of interludes to a more organic soulfulness (and with bits of vocal who-knows-what interspersed amid it all). Exactly who was being exorcised of what became almost immaterial as Demix worked his magic into increasingly intense, nearly seamless sonic highs until they would drop into the echoes of the crowd’s collective memory.” – Shepherd Express
HAS PLAYED WITH: Secret Chiefs 3, Dälek, Boris, Of Montreal, The Faint, Captured! By Robots, Gonjasufi, Om Unit, Eliot Lipp, Lorn, Dolor, adoptahighway, 18 and Counting, Skrapez, Doormouse, Stunt Rock, Perc, All Tiny Creatures, Machine Girl, DJ Abilities, Destro, DJ Anonymous, Tunnel/Dark Cloud, Niki Kitz, ~~ (tildetilde), Gein, Pressboard, Stagediver/Black Lines, Din Sky, CCDM, Null Sleep, Books on Tape, Problems/Darren Keen, 1913, Wes Tank, Luxi, Diskor, Pink Abduction Ray, Piledriver, Old Man Malcolm, Fuzzy Logic, Fancy Nancy, Kid Millions & The Sounds of Time, Avets/Mosh Wah, Fortune, Delilac, Spade One, ZeroBeat, Hyperactive, Henry Vengeance, just to name a few.
““Step Fourth” opens the EP with some invitingly peppy instrumental hip-hop, and though things grow gothier and more industrial from there, there’s a hookiness that carries through all four tracks, even “The Turn,” the blustery nine-minute circus suite that closes the EP.” (on Havoc Run) – Shepherd Express
“Dark, brooding electronic music that can only be described as intense, and that’s phrasing it lightly. Every track sounds like it could very well be the climax of a horror film, as is the case with the latest release, “Havoc Run”. It’s like sensory overload in a track; drums, pulsating synths, and god knows what else come at you from every angle… it’s totally original.” – Breaking and Entering
“The Demix is an experimental artist that manages to blend genres so cleanly that it’s hard to put his style into a specific genre. The latest, “Python Approach” is a grizzly industrial track, complete with distorted vocals, flooded out droning, and so much noise thrown at your speakers that you’re not sure what to do with yourself at one point or another. There are some well played piano parts, which ultimately succumb to the plethora of distortion surrounding it. This is intense, but it’s exactly what you should expect from The Demix.” – Breaking and Entering
“His craft might be best described as a series of sonic seizures spilling unpredictable intensity across a sea of samples” – onmilwaukee.com
“Trippy descent into dementia” – Onion AV Club
“Loved your twisted dreams.” – John Zorn
CONTACT for booking and anything else
BIO
THE DEMIX is the project of Paul Demix, an experimental musician, dj & artist from Milwaukee, WI who delivers a high ferocity audio assault with an anything-goes amalgam of electronic, weird rock, cinematic soundscapes, abstract beats and heavy noise. He is the creator and curator of the MELT electronic & experimental music series in Milwaukee. In the before times (pre-pandemic) was resident DJ, graphic designer and co-founder of the underground Destination F*cked parties and Land of Sunshine in Somewhere, WI.
Paul landed in Milwaukee in 1992 and promptly discovered local music was a thing and in 1994 he played his first show ever at Shank Hall with his band Displacement opening for the legendary Little Blue Crunchy Things. Displacement played around for while on the all ages circuit before disbanding and growing up. The summer of 1996 Paul went to his first rave in Chicago and not really knowing what to expect immediately had his mind blown and got his first drum machine and turntables soon after. He DJ’d out a little back then and did a few live sets, but eventually turned inward to a more experimental style of mixing and using samples which led to where we are now, but not there yet.
The late 90s Paul was working for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra where he formed Soul on Stereo with a co-worker, an electronic & rock hybrid with Paul on a drum machine and turntables performing with a guitar/bass/vocal trio from the band Rhinocerotic. Unfortunately SOS fizzled out while recording an EP that had at least one really great song on it.
After some more experimenting Paul emerged with his debut as THE DEMIX titled “STORM” Halloween 2002. He played some shows, usually confusing crowds, but never relenting in his delivery of his sonic assault. STORM is a mixed and manipulated collage of noise, samples and records that found it’s way into the ears of avant-garde composer John Zorn who called the work “twisted dreams” and would solidify his confidence on his path into weird and challenging music.
2003-04 Paul took himself and THE DEMIX to Los Angeles. Paul landed a job in the crumbling music industry at Madonna’s Maverick Records and THE DEMIX won 2nd place in the LA Laptop Battle where he met the Infinity Complexity crew and went on to play shows around LA with Daedelus, edIT, Terminal 11 and Books on Tape. Ultimately he lost that job and LA was expensive AF, so after one last memorable literal record smashing show at Hangar18 he made his way back to Milwaukee. Forming a bond & friendship with LA’s Books on Tape the two went out on the NOISE IS LOVE tour of the Midwest in 2005. Back in Milwaukee THE DEMIX continued his journey and soon found himself opening for some of his favorite bands like Secret Chiefs 3 & Boris when they came through town. Paul worked more than full time as a web & graphic designer for The Pabst Theater, Riverside Theater and Turner Hall Ballroom until 2010 & will absolutely admit his ultimate goal working there was achieved and that was to play with SC3.
THE DEMIX played shows throughout this time, but not consistently, and in an effort to change that, and also provide a platform for other like minded artists, Paul started the MELT music series, which quickly became a homing beacon for electronic and experimental music in Milwaukee. January 11th, 2011 was the first in a series of MELT shows at Mad Planet, then thru 2014 was a monthly event at Club Garibaldis with stops at The Miramar & Stonefly along the way. MELT as an event continued to occur, however on a less frequent schedule over the next few years as Paul collaborated with others on shows as well as his own around Milwaukee, everywhere from Brady Street to The Jazz Estate, Cactus Club & coffee shops. Notably the Summer of 2013 saw the THE DEMIX/MELT team up with Addict Records for the return of Doormouse & Anonymous LIVE and DRUMS extravaganza after a years long absence, which now has become an annual Summer tradition in Milwaukee.
October 31st, 2014 THE DEMIX releases THE GHOST NETWORK 7 inch vinyl record on Milwaukee’s RADIOGRAFFITI in a very cool package featuring artwork by Italian artist Le Nevralgie Costanti, it does very well in France, slowly starts to pick up steam back home before a detour…
In 2015 Paul put MELT on a bit of a hiatus to focus on his own music and channel the emotions of losing his Mother to lung cancer into an EP called HAVOC RUN. Too dark? Too bad. THE DEMIX self released HAVOC RUN in early 2016 and is the audio tale of traveling between WI & PA to take care of his Mom in the last couple months of her life and what that experience was like. While past work as THE DEMIX relied heavily on samples and other peoples sounds, Paul played, wrote and recorded all the music & vocals himself (save for a few samples). HAVOC RUN was very well received locally with some regular airplay on WMSE and positive support from the press. This is certainly a dark subject matter and had not been talked about when it was released, but still was a necessary, personal artistic expression.
After a few HAVOC RUN performances the DJ gigs started picking up again and MELT made its return in 2016 with a series of shows at Quarters. 2017, 18 & 19 THE DEMIX and MELT teamed up with Speaker Kreatures and Camp Blood to run Land of Sunshine, aka: The Pit, at the *Even Furthur campout rave, which in ’18 & ’19 Paul was tapped to do the artwork for the festivals main flyer and merchandise. The same crew that ran Land of Sunshine then brought DESTINATION FUCKED to life in Milwaukee, an event that, if you know you know, had a pretty great run.
THEN. 2020 happened. After years of consistent gigs there were none so Paul took a break from himself and everything he did. 2021 was not the return to live music that we were hoping for, but managed to get in 1 MELT show at Quarters and 1 very much needed Doormouse show at X-Ray Arcade. After those performances he stayed home again and started writing new original music, and as we all once again hope for a return to more shows THE DEMIX is armed and ready with new heat and old flames to melt faces and twist brains. He is currently working on his next release title & release date TBA.
Congratulations you made it!
*Paul Demix, THE DEMIX, MELT believe in bringing people together through music. BUT has zero tolerance for racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, abuse & hate and will not work with any person or group that has repeatedly shown, and made excuses for, inexcusable and unacceptable behavior. N4ZI TRUMP5 FUCK OFF.
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