Beale Dabbs may be a relative newcomer to the DJ world but he has been immersed in electronic music for years. He first made his name as guitarist/mad-scientist in Silverlake's seminal noise-pop band, Lutefisk. He was well known for his home-built electronic devices that allowed him to alter his guitar's output into totally new and unidentifiable sounds. Lutefisk toured many times around the US, touring with acts like The Breeders, Beck and Weezer. In the summer of 1996, Lutefisk played the side stage on Lollapalooza with bands such as Cornershop, Girls Against Boys, Ben Folds Five, Ruby, and Moonshake. During the tour, Beale became intrigued with how many of the British bands had incorporated samplers and sequencers into their live shows. Inspired, he set up an electronic music studio in his home.
While Lutefisk was recording their third record, producer Tom Rothrock (Beck, Foo Fighters, Elliott Smith, Badly Drawn Boy) heard one of Beale's electronic songs and offered him a shot a remixing a song for one of the bands on Tom's Bong Load Records label. After turning in the mix, Tom offered Beale another project: remixing tracks by Mississippi Hill Country blues legend R.L. Burnside for Fat Possum Records. Beale jumped at the chance and began work on what would become part of R.L.'s best selling record, "Come On In". Many songs from "Come On In" were used in television and film soundtracks. One of Beale's mixes, Shuck Dub, was heavily featured in the third season of HBO's The Sopranos.
Beale continued on his own as a producer, remixing more tracks by R.L. Burnside and fellow Mississippi blues legend, Junior Kimbrough. In 1998, Tom introduced Beale to Philadelphia's maverick dobro master, Mike "Slo-Mo" Brenner. In 2000, their collaborations resulted in Slo-Mo's full-length release, "Novelty" (Acid Blues/Bong Load), with Mike singing and playing dobro and Beale producing, programming and playing an assortment of other instruments. The record combined elements of electro, dance, bluegrass, gospel, hip-hop, rock, drum-and-bass and dub (whew!).
Taking his rock and remixing experience with him, Beale fully immersed himself into the electronic dance music world, spinning in clubs in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and Las Vegas. Using a pair of laptop computers and special software, he would remix tracks live on the spot along with more traditional DJing. Spinning tech house, breaks, funky house, dirty electro and glitchy noise rock, he would create a blend that could only spring from the mind of Beale.
Beale has returned to the studio to complete a collection of songs that defy easy categorization, containing elements of rock, blues, house and Detroit techno. Keep an eye out here for a release in the spring of 2008. Limited live performances may follow.
"Just A Little Too Fast" Roman Carter Tom Rothrock Johnny Irion
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