"The Decade Of Sound"
I’ve been DJ’ing, performing live, and producing for more than a decade, and I’m writing the next chapter of my musical career. I’ve had a pretty good ride in the biz so far, and I want this short autobiography to be an update rather than a third-person blurb.
I held a long-standing residency on Chicago’s foremost dance music radio program, “Sonic Boom†on Q101FM, but I had my first real taste of the electronic music industry in 2001 with the self-release of “One For The Road / Asleep At The Wheel.†It was originally a collaboration with my now long-time production partner Kris B. We pressed a small run of white labels, mostly to throw at headlining DJs in the booth when they visited our fine city of Chicago. Before long (and much to our surprise) the single was being charted by all of the A-List DJ’s and was 1 on Balance Record Pool Chart and Massive Records Import Sales Chart.
I created my (now former) band Grayarea and we were rapidly signed to Hope Recordings, with much credit given to the success of "One For The Road." As a member of Grayarea, I went on to release several more singles on Hope Recordings, such as “Yewminyst,†featured on Nick Warren’s “Global Undergroud 024 Reykjavik†compilation, and “Gravity†which appeared on Tiesto’s “In Search of Sunrise, Vol. 4†mixed CD and has since gone on to become a ringtone. With the success of Grayarea, we had the unique opportunity to remix and be remixed by artists who have been massively influential to me. I remixed Bedrock’s “Emerald,†Steve Porter’s “Vodka Cranberries,†and My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult’s “Dementia 66.†We traded mixes with Hybrid for our “Gravity†and their “I’m Still Awake†singles, and Gabriel & Dresden provided a top notch mix of “One For The Road†for Hope. I also spent time (under the moniker Blueletter) in the studio with D:Fuse producing two versions of his single “Indecision†which appeared on his “Begin†artist album and “People 2" mixed CD.
John Digweed featured a live Grayarea set on his hugely popular Kiss FM radio program in the UK in 2003, and soon after I was living on the road in a tour van. We signed with the coveted AM Only booking agency, and over the following 2 years basically made laps around North America playing hundreds of shows and trying to figure out how to fit all of our gear on an airplane. Alas, the stress of living on the road with two other smelly dudes, in a crappy van that overheated constantly, took its toll on the band. Add subsisting on a diet of Taco Bell and Makers Mark to the mix, and you have the recipe for the eventual demise of Grayarea.
Exhausted and disheartened, but not defeated, I took a step back from touring and got back into the studio. Since that time I’ve been producing on my own and collaborating with some truly fantastic DJ/producer/songwriters. I’ve been in the studio with Blake Jarrell, who’s poised to become huge with his recent signing to Armin Van Buuren’s Armada label. I’ve also been working with Kris B again and we’ve got several releases and remixes about to drop as well as our new program “The Influence†on ProtonRadio.com. I’ve been hammering out new beats with another longtime studio/DJ partner Andre Solaris, who’s best known for his program “FUEL†on XM Satellite Radio’s “The Move†and his legendary “FUEL†events in Chicago.
I’ve spent a good deal of time thinking about the appeal of electronic music is and why I’m attracted to the industry that it’s created. I love electronic music because it can unapologetically cross boundaries and genres: no sound is ever considered out of place. I believe that it’s not my job to cross these boundaries, but to destroy them.
