My DJ BIO:
I have always had a passion for music while growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area. My parents didn't have a lot of money as immigrants so extravagant gifts were unheard of. In the first grade, they gave me my first set of headphones with a built-in AM radio for Christmas and I thought they were the coolest thing in the world. I of course brought them to "show and tell" but my classmates teased me because they made me look like an airplane director standing on the tarmac. Needless to say, I never wore them outside of the house again.
In the 3rd grade, I discovered my parents record and tape collection consisting of artists such as Otis Redding, James Brown, the Beatles, Elvis, Marvin Gaye, The Doors and The Rolling Stones. Several years later, I heard "Rockit" by Herbie Hancock and immediately went to the local music store and purchased it on 45 RPM. It was my very first music purchase and I was hooked. I continued feeding my passion for music by going to concerts and frequenting local Bay Area nightclubs throughout high school in the late 1980s. I voraciously purchased music ranging from alternative, hip hop, R&B, brit-pop, rock, classical and of course, dance music. I eventually taught myself how to play the piano in order to reproduce riffs from my favorite songs along with full arrangements of classical music.
As underground dance music started surfacing against the backdrop of grunge and mainstream pop during the early nineties, I experienced my first outdoor rave in the outskirts of Los Angeles where I heard house and techno for the very first time in 1990. Over the next 2 years I frequented such parties in Southern California before moving to Boston for college. The scene in New England provided very little electronic dance music so I made weekend trips to New York where house, trance & techno were featured at clubs such as Twilo & Limelight.
After college, I moved to Washington DC to pursue a career in politics. After 3 years working on Capitol Hill, I purchased 2 turntables and a mixer in October of 2000 to begin spinning records as a hobby. I quickly understood the basics of song structure, measures and phrasing and learned how to beat-match within days. Four months later, I produced my first mix compilation titled “DC Underground†showcasing a seamless blend of progressive house, techno and breakbeats. 22 mix compilations have since been completed featuring a broad range of electronic dance music with a strong house influence.
From August of 2001-04 I was a resident DJ at the Blue Room (www.blueroomdc.com) where my business partner double o7 (Freddy Williams) and I brought thousands of people together to dance every Thursday night at our themed event called KNEE DEEP. In December 2002, I joined Broken Soul, a local collective of DJs and producers in the mid-Atlantic region (www.brokensouldc.com). I've since played parties around the United States alongside talent such as Deep Dish, Derrick Carter, D:FUSE, Mike Hiratzka, Oscar G, Trendroid, Dieselboy, AK1200, DJ Icey, Micro, Martin Villanueve (Envy/MV), Bryan Zentz, Noel Sanger, Pablo Ceballos, John 00 Fleming, The East Coast Boogiemen, Swirl People, Demarkus Lewis, Lance DeSardi, Madam ZU, Groovefire and Native Theory (a.k.a. Dirty Gringos).
In 2003, I quit my day job as a management consultant to work with DEEP DISH (Ali Shirazinia & Sharam Tayebi) to manage their world-renowned house labels Yoshitoshi, Shinichi, YO and of course Deep Dish Records. There, I released singles by artists such as Eddie Amador, Deepsky, Danny Howells, Little Louie Vega, Luke Fair, Narcotic Thrust and Deep Dish.
I began production on my own music and featured my first remix at the 2004 Winter Music Conference in Miami. I teamed up with fellow Broken Soul member Barrett Atwood later that year to form “2 Tribes.†In 2005, we signed on with Nuvo Music and now continue to work on original production and remixes as 2 Tribes. My DJ sets and mixes can be heard across the country on XM Satellite Radio channel 80 "The Move" (www.xmradio.com) and around the world on Digitally Imported Radio (www.DI.FM).
I consider myself to be extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to showcase my passion for music. I feel as if I've come a long way since grade school especially now that people no longer make fun of my headphones.
Ray Kang
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PERSONAL:
I was born in Seoul Korea and moved to the states when I was 2 years old. I grew up as a 1st generation Korean/American so I lived the stereotypical life of a kid whose parents pushed him too hard in academics and sheltered him from a life outside of achieving high marks in school. It didn't prevent me from doing what i wanted regardless.
I'm rebellious in nature because of my upbringing, but will face any challenge presented before me with 200% of my heart and soul. I'm open, honest, outgoing and happy and love to bring all my friends together to have a great time. Because of the volatile relationship I have had with my parents, I consider my friends as my family. I wake up everyday and thank the powers that be for surrounding me with the most amazing group of individuals I've ever known.