Given Carver's relationship with Schoolwerth, the transition from roving dance party to record label is a fairly natural progression. "I'm really excited about [starting Something Cold Records]," Carver says. "... I just think it's the next step."

Carver says coldwave enthusiasts are stumped as to why minimal-synth has been slow to rise in the Midwest until now. The Midwest, Detroit in particular, Carver says, is an ideal location for his label.

"The Midwest is so post-industrial and cold," Carver says. "It's had such hard times and I think that this is the most fruitful environment for [coldwave minimal-synth] ... I personally think that minimal-synth is more the soundtrack to Detroit than techno is. Techno started off really cold and distant-sounding but compared to where techno went from there ... it kind of just got a little stale ... and it lost its identity. But minimal-synth always stuck to a very personal, romantic sound ... It's also very paranoid, dystopic and just kind of shaky. And I think that sums up the city of Detroit. There's so much hope in it, but at the same time it's just very cold and aware of itself and its history."

Carver doesn't mind if Something Cold never becomes the next "place to be" in Detroit; more than anything he simply wants it known that Detroit is a modern city with a thriving coldwave minimal-synth scene. 

"I'd be completely fine if [Something Cold] doesn't become the next big Funk Night or Haute to Death," Carver says, grinning. "I just want it to be known. I want it to be out there. I want people to know that Detroit has this option ... I want people to know that we're just like any other city. We have a thriving industrial scene. We have a thriving minimal-synth scene ... I'm never going to stop doing [Something Cold] because we're not pulling in 400 people at each show. I believe that it needs to happen. It simply needs to exist. As long as I'm collecting records and booking shows, they're going to be happening here."

The next Something Cold event features Featureless Ghost and Liable for Abuse on Sunday, April 29 at the Magic Stick, 4140 Woodard Ave., Detroit; 313-833-7665; magesticdetroit.com

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