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History

In the late 80’s as Guitarist/Producer with EMI recording group, The Voice In Fashion, Ony Rodriguez decided it was time to pursue his personal interests in the studio and started The Beat Club. What began as an ongoing “free-form” studio jam with friends, led to the international hit “Security”, and his departure from The Voice In Fashion.

Influenced by the likes of the “Miami Bass” movement, New Order and Kraftwerk, Ony’s music relied less on his main instrument the guitar and more on his love for electronics. The studio became his new performance stage with the blinking lights replacing the cheering fans.

Initially on Atlantic Records, The Beat Club was offered the opportunity to become the first recording act to be signed to New Order manager and Manchester’s Factory Record mogul, the late Rob Gretton’s own personal label robsrecords. The Beat Club went on to release several recordings in the UK resulting in the Top 75 singles “Security” (rerecorded by, and featuring New Order’s Bernard Sumner), “Dreams Were Made To Be Broken” and “X”.

“Rob allowed me to pursue my love for the studio, and the artistic freedom an independent label allowed, forever changed my attitude towards the business and defined the priorities for my career”. -Ony, founder of the Beat Club

Upon the expiration of the contract with Atlantic Records, Ony (along with his wife, Mirey Valls) went on to start Electrobeat Records out of Miami, Florida. Throughout the 90’s and 00’s, Electrobeat has released over a dozen albums produced by The Beat Club under various guises including Ony, Fuzzy Logic, Toys For The Revolution, Santa Fe and Urban Select.

Recent Activity

In late 2006 The Beat Club released the album Robotica which included the club singles “Dream Within A Dream” and “Lost In Space”. The first quarter of 2008 will see the release of the new album Minimalista, along with a (first time in 15 years) promotional tour. “After working in the studio for so many years, I miss the live performance. I miss the immediate feedback –it is because of the complexity and expense of a live performance for a project of this type that I have stayed away from the audience for so long”.

Things have changed; technology has finally made it affordable for an independent studio artist to go on the road. With a laptop you can have virtual synthesizer stacks while at the same time running a video show. “I can finally go out and expose my music to new fans, thereby providing a direct promotional venue so essential in today’s industry”.

Minimalista will see a grittier sound, more guitars along with atonal synthesizer hits and riffs. Ambient noise and rhythms drive this new release into a new phase for The Beat Club, while always remaining true to the intensity of their high energy roots.

Along with releases on Electrobeat, Atlantic, robsrecords and ZYX records, The Beat Club has been featured in various compilations including Champion Records UK, John Digweed’s Azuli release and others.

Discography

Title	Release Date	Chart Positions
Paris	1994
Beatmusic	2002
Robotica	2006

References

The Beat Club's Official MySpace page. Retrieved on August 8, 2007.
Electrobeat Official Website Archived from 1992-2006 Rodri Publishing (ASCAP)
Electrobeat Official Website (Interview) Archived from 1992-2006 Rodri Publishing (ASCAP)

External links

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 | Members     = [[Honorato Rodriguez]]<br />[[Mireya Rodriguez]]
 }}
-As a member of EMI recording artist, The Voice In Fashion, Ony formed The Beat Club as an independent studio project. After the release of "Security", this side project became the eventual foundation for Elecrobeat Records -which began sprouting projects of it's own. Upon leaving Atlantic Records, The Beat Club signed to Manchester's Robsrecords, a label formed by New Order Manager and Factory Record's exec Rob Gretton. The early 90's saw a series of UK based releases leading to the formation of Electrobeat Records by The Beat Club for the American market. A series of Dance/Electronic oriented releases have kept The Beat Club active through the 80's, 90's and into the new millennium. In addition, several releases under the pseudonyms Fuzzy Logic, Toys For The Revolution, Urban Select and Santa Fe have been released on Electrobeat Records.
 ==History==
-===Early Years===
+In the late 80’s as Guitarist/Producer with EMI recording group, The Voice In Fashion, Ony Rodriguez decided it was time to pursue his personal interests in the studio and started The Beat Club. What began as an ongoing “free-form” studio jam with friends, led to the international hit “Security”, and his departure from The Voice In Fashion.
-UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
+Influenced by the likes of the “Miami Bass” movement, New Order and Kraftwerk, Ony’s music relied less on his main instrument the guitar and more on his love for electronics. The studio became his new performance stage with the blinking lights replacing the cheering fans.
-==="Security"===
+Initially on Atlantic Records, The Beat Club was offered the opportunity to become the first recording act to be signed to New Order manager and Manchester’s Factory Record mogul, the late Rob Gretton’s own personal label robsrecords. The Beat Club went on to release several recordings in the UK resulting in the Top 75 singles “Security” (rerecorded by, and featuring New Order’s Bernard Sumner), “Dreams Were Made To Be Broken” and “X”.
-UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
+<blockquote>
-===FAQ===
+“Rob allowed me to pursue my love for the studio, and the artistic freedom an independent label allowed, forever changed my attitude towards the business and defined the priorities for my career”. -Ony, founder of the Beat Club
+</blockquote> Upon the expiration of the contract with Atlantic Records, Ony (along with his wife, Mirey Valls) went on to start Electrobeat Records out of [[Miami, Florida]]. Throughout the 90’s and 00’s, Electrobeat has released over a dozen albums produced by The Beat Club under various guises including Ony, Fuzzy Logic, Toys For The Revolution, Santa Fe and Urban Select.
+==Recent Activity==
-The following is a summary of a series of questions about The Beat Club and Electrobeat Records which have been forwarded to us during the label's tenure. All answers by Ony Rodriguez.<br><br>
+In late 2006 The Beat Club released the album Robotica which included the club singles “Dream Within A Dream” and “Lost In Space”. The first quarter of 2008 will see the release of the new album Minimalista, along with a (first time in 15 years) promotional tour. “After working in the studio for so many years, I miss the live performance. I miss the immediate feedback –it is because of the complexity and expense of a live performance for a project of this type that I have stayed away from the audience for so long”.
+Things have changed; technology has finally made it affordable for an independent studio artist to go on the road. With a laptop you can have virtual synthesizer stacks while at the same time running a video show. “I can finally go out and expose my music to new fans, thereby providing a direct promotional venue so essential in today’s industry”.
-Q: '''Who is The Beat Club, and how long have you been making music?'''<br>
-A: "In the late 80s I was part of the electro-pop oriented dance band, The Voice In Fashion. We were signed to a major label and our goal was to record pop music, tour and basically, become famous.<br>
-While fun at the time, I felt limited by the artistic constraints placed on such an endeavor. I had various creative goals, which I knew were beyond reach, given my professional situation at the time. I knew fame was not my goal, neither was becoming rich.<br>
-As I was already signed to a label as an artist, The Beat Club began as a studio project, were I (as a producer and therefore free of any contractual obligations) could invite people I met along the way to come and join me on a jam session. My intention was, that at these sessions, I was to define a theme musical, lyrical or just conceptual, and then have various participants join in and see what would develop.<br>
-As The Beat Club, my first release was a remake of one of my earlier recordings, Dreamworld. This release was a collaboration with a singer named Greg McGlaughin. Gregs band, The Front, was my favorite punk band from Miami at the time. This style of music was quite a stretch for Greg and the result was surprisingly, exactly what I was looking for.<br>
-For my second release, I asked my wife (girlfriend at the time) Mireya, to speak some verses I had written, over an electronic groove. She had taken voice classes in college, and had (and still has) a beautiful voice, which records extremely well.<br>
-I was quite interested in what the Miami Bass movement was doing with the sound that Kraftwerk pioneered in the mid 70s. Security was the result of those influences. This tracks success resulted in a major label deal with Atlantic Records. As I was still part of The Voice In Fashion, and signed to a different label, I had Mireya sign the deal as an artist. Since then, she has been the voice of The Beat Club."<br><br>
+Minimalista will see a grittier sound, more guitars along with atonal synthesizer hits and riffs. Ambient noise and rhythms drive this new release into a new phase for The Beat Club, while always remaining true to the intensity of their high energy roots.
-Q: '''How did you end up on Manchesters robsrecords?'''<br>
-A: "Given the success of Security, a follow-up was requested. The day I went to present the record to Atlantic was one of those surreal moments in life.
-Our label rep had decided to inform the label that he was moving to Epic (his first order of business for the day -my meeting was second). Atlantic decided to walk him out immediately, while I was sitting outside in the lobby.<br>
-Here I was with a new record, six moths left on my contract, and no one to talk to at the label. This was a right spot to get out of. Fortunately, I kept my international licensing rights, so I decided to focus on the markets outside the US, until I was again free to ship my music in the US.<br>
-At around the same time, I was contacted by a friend of New Orders Bernard Sumner. He told me that Security was the biggest song at Manchesters Hacienda club and that Bernard would like to speak with me about working together. I was quite happy to work with him, as I was a big fan of New Order.<br>
-While in Manchester I was approached by Rob Gretton about handling my career. In addition to being New Orders manager, he was also a founding member and director of the legendary label, Factory Records. Rob was quite interested in releasing The Beat Club on a new label he was putting together. All of our focus shifted to the UK, as we released a series of recordings on robsrecords. We were now a UK-based band."<br><br>
+Along with releases on Electrobeat, Atlantic, robsrecords and ZYX records,  The Beat Club has been featured in various compilations including Champion Records UK, John Digweed’s Azuli release and others.
-Q: '''What about Electrobeat?'''<br>
-A: "Once the deal with Atlantic expired, Rob decided to hold off on the US  and concentrate on the UK. I agreed that we had lost momentum after the Atlantic fiasco. Along the way, I decided to rename my old label (HR Records) and establish it as a new label were I could continue with my original idea of releasing studio projects for the US market. Mireya took over as managing director and I decided that The Beat Club would be expanded into different projects concentrating on different styles of music to catalog my work. I guess this philosophy has made it quite difficult to establish a particular name and has kept us in  relative obscurity, however, I haven't gotten caught up too much in any particular hype and music is still exciting for me. All of my projects are like children to me, each with specific certain perculiarities and I love them all dearly, still here we are ten years and about a dozen albums later still chugging along.<br>
-Owning a label, Mireya and I have delved deep into the realities of marketing music. We have to talk the talk when promoting our music. We must make sure that each of our releases does have a focus. We decide how to categorize our music after the work is complete. This is how we put together a specific artist album. Therefore, other than the compilations, we do not schedule a Beat Club release or a Fuzzy Logic release, etc.<br>
-Currently, my projects are categorized as follows: The Beat Club is alternative/dance oriented, Toys For The Revolution is electronic, Fuzzy Logic is experimental, Urban Select is ambient, and Santa Fe is new age. Again, the above are just buzzwords falling under the generic techno label currently used in the retailing of electronic music."<br><br>
-Q: '''Doesn't this confuse the record buying public?'''<br>
-A: "Well, that is were our talents as a label come into play. As Mireya and I only answer to ourselves (we bankroll the label), we are free to try different marketing avenues as required, and therefore, our artistic goals remain as the driving forces behind the label.<br>
-There have recently been two major changes within the industry which have affected us. First, with the advances in technology, anyone can now make a professional sounding record, and does. It has become quite a challenge for us to stand out and be heard. The second change is in the attitude of the record buying public. It seems that less and less people are buying music -as music is freely available on the internet. People can now download more new music for free than they can listen to. We therefore have to look at new ways of promoting what we do. Mireya and I have decided to revisit vinyl. We originally started as a vinyl label, however, we signed an exclusive national agreement with a distributor that did not carry vinyl. As the full length CD was the more attractive option for us for both artistic and financial reason, we decided to abandon the vinyl format. Now we are once again interested in this format as it has maintained a strong following and it allows for a great promotional outlet as there are more and more DJ's every day. We are considering singles and EPs as well as full-length (album) releases on vinyl."<br><br>
-Q: '''Do you generally categorize your music as experimental?'''<br>
-A: "I think most of todays pop music is experimental by definition. I dont know of any writer/producer who hands out charts and dictates what is to be played. I believe most producers try out different ideas within a given set of parameters and just see were they go. I believe this is the standard MO of most recording sessions.<br>
-I usually work within a more liberal set of parameter yet maintain my music accessible. It is quite interesting to me that while most creative individuals are so liberal in their political ideology, they are so conservative in their artistic views. It also appears to me that the more successful they become commercially, their artistic views will then generally skew over to the far right. This is just an observation.<br>
-The Beat Club, originally was intended to be a faceless studio project with no specific expectations. I believe that is what made it so exiting for me. I believe it is the role of an artist to pursue his own muse first and foremost. However, I have always kept my listeners interest in mind, and do try to keep my music exciting and accessible. It is a difficult balance, but hey, I still have my passion for my work.<br><br>
-Q: '''About youre newest album: Robotica'''<br>
-A: "I had a vision of a controlling entity keeping its constituency in line. Mobilizing and energizing it at will, while keeping the members off guard, not ever fully understanding the consequence of their actions. I wanted to create a world of machine-generated rhythms and sequences to move the listener, not unlike the mood created in the most energetic of dance-oriented clubs. I looked to my original inspiration for The Beat Club, the 808/909 drums and percussion, the sweeping filters and analog minimal bass lines. These are the classic sounds that form the foundation for the energy required by my world of automatons in Robotica.<br>
-Technically, Robotica is only the second original artist full-length release for The Beat Club. The first album, Paris, contains the singles Security, Dreams Were Made To Be Broken, X, and Transamerica, among others. Original tracks were also featured on the labels compilations, Electrobeatintroduction and ElectrobeatMusica Futurista. These are available in CD or download versions directly from the Electrobeat web site.<br>
-Also available at the Electrobeat web site are other recordings by The Beat Club released under the project names of Fuzzy Logic, Toys For The Revolution, Santa Fe and Urban Select. All tracks can be listened to in their entirety as mono MP3s. All releases are available for purchase as CDs or for download as high quality MP3s."
-==Influences==
-*New Order
-*Kraftwerk
 ==Discography==
@@ Line 93: / Line 61: @@
 ==References==
-(All information comes from the founder of the Beat Club: "Ony" Rodriguez or on other websites quoting him.)
 #The Beat Club's Official MySpace page. Retrieved on August 8, 2007.