Standards & Practices Records
Chicago, Kalamazoo, New York City
Ahead of the game but still losing™
KARL MEIER
A life-long devotee of electronic and experimental music, Karl Meier discovered Chicago House and Detroit Techno in the early nineties—and the rest, as they say, is boring. Determined to prove that dance music could be a serious art form and more than just escapist fare, he developed a style of DJing (opening for artists such as Surgeon, Monolake, and Jeff Mills) that looks to the future while connecting to music of the past, exploring the space between the physical and the cerebral, and emphasizing dynamism, subversion, and recontextualization.
During his time in Chicago, Birmingham and later, Berlin, Karl has held a variety of roles in a collapsing industry: as a buyer at the legendary Gramaphone Records; as artist and label manager at famed UK distributor Integrale Muzique; and as a performer at noted European venues and festivals like Berghain, Atonal, and Bratislava’s infamous U-Club.
In collaboration with Jonathan ’Stave’ Krohn, Karl has released original music as Talker on Downwards, Voitax, and The Stone Tapes. Currently based in Kalamazoo, Karl is also a partner (with Krohn and his brother, Ken) in the Standards & Practices imprint, home to artists such as Stave, Karim Maas, Kevin Drumm, Grebenstein, and Device Control.
KEN MEIER
Playing niche music to sparse and indifferent crowds since the nineties, Ken Meier first started DJing at the impressionable age of fourteen. Cutting his teeth at various raves and DIY parties around the midwest, he soon found his way onto more formative lineups, including Drop Bass Network’s Even Furthur campout and Black Nation's Sector 616, alongside Jeff Mills, Claude Young, and Jay Denham.
While living in Chicago, Ken worked at the legendary Gramaphone Records, hosted shows on local radio stations WNUR and WHPK, and helmed a monthly residency at the now-defunct listening bar Sonotheque. Under the name Fear of Music, Ken helped organize events with artists like Regis, Anthony Shakir, Derrick Carter, Carlos Souffront, James Ruskin, and Spencer Kincy.
Since moving to New York, Ken has performed at a number of local venues, including Nowadays, Good Room, Magick City, Eavesdrop, and Bossa Nova Civic Club, to name a few. Currently, Ken co-runs the Standards & Practices imprint with his brother, Karl, and Jonathan ‘Stave’ Krohn, and has released music under his own name and as Obelus on Downwards, Mysteries of the Deep, and Modern Cathedrals.