The Beginnings:
Dan (a.k.a.: D-Monic) has wanted to be a DJ since the age of thirteen. At that point his first love of music was hip-hop, favoring the East Coast sound over the west. His favorite artists at the time included De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and Digital Underground. He liked these groups particularly because of their beats. The really low bass combined with their funky rhythm tracks is what drew Dan to them. He began to buy records at this point and save for his own equipment.
In 1993, Dan heard a new style that interested him. The style was tribal house. He particularly liked the tribalistic drums combined with the hard-hitting beat. It was then where he decided what he would spin... Dan was to be a tribal house DJ.
Later that year, a classmate of his introduced Dan to the Toronto rave scene. He found his new home. Raves filled the small void that was apparent in Dan's life. Everything was complete. His new aspiration: To be a "rave" DJ! With that new aspiration came a new liking in music. Some called it progressive house; others called it funky breaks and/or funky techno. Either way, Dan loved it. It combined styles from all his previous loves! Hard breaks, solid basslines, up beat tempo...it was love at first sound. Records were bought, tapes were produced, and the game commenced!
During his long journey to the upper echelon of the breaks scene, he's made the music his life. He's destroyed dancefloors all across the country spreading the word of breaks to scenes that, in some cases, have never heard it before.
The Pure Phunk Years:In the year 2000, D-Monic decided to focus his energies and try to expand the breaks community in his own hometown. His goal: to bring the Toronto breaks scene to an International level. He assembled the cities top breaks DJ's at the time and formed his own production company: Pure Phunk
Under the banner of Pure Phunk, D-Monic threw a total of 7 one-off events, 4 weeklies, and collaborations with other companies for 4 more events... All in a very short period of time! D-Monic exposed Toronto to such internationally acclaimed talent such as Krafty Kuts, Freddy Fresh, Soul of Man, Baby Anne, and Kelly Reverb, as well as helping a number of up and coming DJ's get noticed. He and his Pure Phunk residents also helped prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Toronto's local breaks DJ's are among the best in the world by throwing an all local party that broke attendance records.
Rockin' The Bloc:During that time, Dan was the General Manager of Eastern Bloc Records, one of Toronto's best record stores. It was there where he built their breaks selection to be the best in the city. In late 2001, Dan moved over the sister company Fully Loaded Distribution, Canada's largest Underground music distributor where he took the position of head breaks buyer.
Share It With The Group:.. Despite the fact that the Toronto breaks scene consumed much of D-Monic's time; he still wasn't convinced that he was doing enough to spread the word of Breaks. In September of 2002, Dan started the 'Pure Phunk Group'; an e-mail-based group dedicated to Toronto breaks.
Word traveled fast and membership to the group shot up to over 100 people in a very short time. Members of the group range from DJ's to Promoters to label execs to average partygoers. For more information on the group, click here .
Time To FOCUS:Since the collapse of Eastern Bloc and Fully Loaded, D-Monic had to find a new way to bring the breaks to the masses. He has since formed an alliance with the Guvernment, Canada's largest nightclub/entertainment complex, to throw a series of monthly and weekly all breaks event.
The new company, FOCUS, saw names like Krafty Kuts, the Freestylers, Atomic Hooligan, Hyper, DJ Love, Uberzone, DJ Czech, and Deejay Punk Roc pass through in it's first year... but this is just the beginning.
FOCUS is a dream come true for Dan. By teaming up with the Guvernment he is now able to throw the quality parties that he's always wanted. Quality venue, quality sound, quality DJ's, quality vibe. He finally has the resources to be able to throw the parties that HE wants to go to...
The Future:Still to this day continues to play regularly across the country as well as holding down residencies in Toronto. In his spare time, Dan spends a bit of time in the studio working on what he thinks breaks should sound like. Even with this busy schedule, D-Monic is still finding ways to bring more people into the breaks scene.
In the fall of 2003, D-Monic launched Pure Phunk Recordings, a label that has been on the drawing board for years. This label will focus on the emerging breaks production talent that Canada has to offer, all while occasionally allowing some of the biggest names in the industry to offer their visions via some well placed remixes. The label is off to an amazing start! Check http://www.purephunk.com for updates.
Breaks are his life. Period.