If he was stranded on a deserted island, and was given a choice of food or his record collection and turntables, there is no question as to what the likely answer would be. He spends hours on end talking about, listening to, and concocting ways in which he can compose music. Ask anyone who knows him, and they will tell you: Noel has always been a music geek. Early in his childhood, his mother always had music playing in the background while he lay in his crib. This impressionable time of youth shaped the musical foundation that would eventually impact his life. He was raised on the likes of artists such as Stevie Wonder, Chicago, Earth, Wind & Fire, Tower of Power, and The Beatles, just to name a few. Soul, funk and everything in-between, would grow to influence his diverse styles and production inspirations.
Noel's DJ'ing started back in high school in a break-dancing crew, who began to take interest in the DJ more than break-dancing itself. He understood the significance and power that the person behind the decks had, to set the tone for making people want to dance and understand the messages he conveyed through music. It was then that he finally decided to take up the art form of DJing.
While still in his teens, he couldn't afford turntables of his own, and his eagerness to blend songs found him buying a cheap Radio Shack mixer with no crossfader using a old belt-driven turntable and a tape deck to complete his audio mission. It was time consuming to tape all of his songs from vinyl, but well worth the effort of what was to come. He recalls a high school friend who had an actual DJ set-up commenting on his mixtape that he brought with him to school one day. A surprised, "Is this you?" was all he needed to help him realize that moving people with music is what he wanted to do.
From his beginnings in spinning Electro and early Hip-Hop, his desire to move forward and challenge himself came in the form of House music. Upon his first listen, he wanted to get out of the bedroom and into the clubs and play. It wasn't until a year later that he got his first gig in a club and it has been there ever since.In 1996, he met up with, a then unknown, UFO! at a club called The Jungle, SF's first Drum & Bass weekly. Shortly thereafter, he began his own weekly along with his inter-planetary brother, UFO! as residents, and it was there that he met JUJU. He knew there was something in the drum and bass sound that he wanted to share with people. Apparently he wasnt alone on this quest, as later that year, they started PHUNCKATECK--a collective of influential djs and producers who have contributed innovative sounds to a growing scene-- all for the sake of working together to push the madness aptly named Jungle.
With releases on Rawkuts, Moonshine, Green, OM (Cold Fusion w/ Abstract on "Tecktonics" and DJ Noel on the release "Golden Gate Breaks"), Pneuma (Area Code), and Verde (Tha 'Sco), his DJing has gone from behind the decks and onto the production board with no signs of ever slowing down..
From what started out as an interest, has now transformed into his lifestyle. As his saying goes: Music is life, the rest is filler.
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Old School pic of me at Eklektic:
Sitting on the 2 Tram in Amsterdam