Growing up in the quiet farm town of Muncie, Indiana, a four hours drive from Chicago and Detroit, it was hard for Troy Pierce to ignore the rich sounds emanating from these house and techno strongholds. Having picked up on the sounds of DJs like Derrick Carter, Jeff Mills and Richie Hawtin across the mid-west party circuit, Pierce moved to New York in 1994, where his flatmate, who worked at Temple records, ensured a steady stream of fresh vinyl to satisfy his growing vinyl addiction. He eventually hooked up with Magda at the Detroit Music Festival in 2001, who in turn introduced him to Marc Houle six months later. An immediate chemistry developed between the three of them and although Magda was now in Berlin, Marc in Windsor and Troy in New York they started swapping music files over the net. Recognising Berlin as the epicentre of the burgeoning style of minimalistic techno music, Pierce moved to the German capital in 2002, joining the mighty Minus camp shortly thereafter. Besides recording under his own name, Troy pierce is part of Louderbach and Run Stop Restore. He further runs the Items&Things label together with Magda and Marc Houle.