Though Marc Houle first came to our attention in the late ’90s as a stalwart member of Richie Hawtin’s Minus outfit, it is his penchant for techno, house, new wave, and sarcasm that has kept him on our radar throughout the years. Launching the Items & Things imprint with Magda and Troy Pierce in 2011, Houle’s sound continues to be a revolving door of evolving ideas. “A lot of people know me from my minimal bleep days,” says the Berliner-by-way-of-Windsor, Ontario, “which will still be thrown in there, but my sound has changed a lot and I want to see how people will react to the new material.”

Still buzzing from the 25th release on Items & Things in September, a five-track collaboration with Click Box, Razzamatazz, Houle is in the midst of tying up a 22-day tour of North America, bringing his one-of-a-kind live shows, in which he only plays his own productions (he’s said to have over 1000), to 13 different cities. While blazing the trail, we caught up with him to talk about the hardships of being a live act, North America’s love for techno, and what’s up for 2014.

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