My obsession with music and art began in 1976 at 4 years old - the moment I asked for The Ramones album. I grew up in a home that embraced music, art and literature, but rejected technology by way of a complete computer ban and an old black white portable tv that continually ended up on a skip.
The soundtrack to my impressionable pre-teen years was a mixture of music lessons, folk festivals, the Royal Ballet, Beethoven, the Byrds, Fairport Convention, Neil Young, Squeeze, Two Tone, the Increadible String Band, Stax, Alex Chilton, the Stooges, Arthur Lee, the Beatles, the Cramps, the Charlatans, the 13th Floor Elevators, Elvis' Christmas Album, Lonnie Donegan (who I met in 2003 - wow!) and the Velvet Underground, all eagerly consumed within a picture frame containing a phsychedelic collage from Picasso, Rossetti, Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelly, Victor Moscoso, Bill Graham and the Family Dog. My mother an artist, my father a reputable poster and record collector - it came as no suprise that I quickly developed a passion for vinyl and the creative life, fuelled by a complete fascination for music, film and creative technology. Add to this the usual cliched yet accurate 70's/80's influences - choppers, Beat Street, speak and spell, Kool Herc, Flash, Bambataa, Trevor Horn, Quincey Jones, Public Enemy, At-At's, crossfaders, Dondi, Quik, Futura 2000, Seen and Herbie Hancock, along with an introduction to Reich, Adams, Nyman, Cale, Cage and Glass - my fate was well and truely sealed!
I began my creative musical life when I was six, classically trained right through to degree level, which I eventually abandoned due to the frustration of narrow minded musical chanels - I felt less and less enlightened by my tuition, and more and more tied to an artistic regime. Call me naive, but I grew up believing in artistic expression, exploration, evolution, progress and freedom. By 1993 I whole heartedly believed that dance music was the future of modern folk music, to be embraced by the masses, and that a cultural crossover between classical minimalist and dance music was inevitable. I packed my trumpet, left education, packed my records, and continued my education. Look where we are today........
As a dj I can be found playing a cross section of deep, funky, tech breaks / house, or playing a wild eclectic set, pulling from genres such as funk, dancefloor jazz, hip hop, brazilica, latin, dub, broken beat...etc, and throwing in a selection of upbeat disco house, elvis or junglist breaks for good measure. - my style has always been about playing quality grooves (quite simple really!) and pushing dance floor boundaries, just like the good ol' days!!! I started club djing in 1990 (although back then most of the time it was less club and more field, hill, mine shaft wheel house, beach or farm yard barn) and my style has evolved along with the music - which has made those eclectic sets all the more eclectic!
A selection of the many artists I have supported or played with.... ColdCut, DJ Food, Chubby Grooves (Grand Central), Snowboy, Acid Jazz, Purple Penguin, Greg "Appleseed" Belson, DJ Ease (nightmares on wax!!), Boombox Records (Mole & Aya), Hyper, Shut Up & Dance, John Stapleton (dope on plastic, blowpop!), Soul Jazz, Christine Indigo, DJ Wrongtom, Lobe, Andy Smith (Portishead), Co-Creators, Cantaloop, Innersense, Kava Kava, Task & Bear, Aspects, Tim Love Lee, Baby Malc, Queen Bee, Seraphine, Jelly Jazz, Cup of Tea Records, Headbound, Deadly Avenger, DJ First Rate, Drumattic Twins, Back2Basics, Mark "global communications/ jedi knights" Prichard, Si Spex and the Creators, DIY, Stabilizer, Plump DJs, Ray Stanley, Judge Jules, Chocci, Ellis Dee, Colin Favor, Clarkee, Slipmatt, Tom "cosmos" Middleton, Paul Arnold, DJ Yoda, Alison Limerick, K-Klass, Shades of Rhythm, John Kelly, Graham Gold, Dave Valentine, Mike Cosworth (Fantazia), Miss Moneypennies tour, Jeremy Healy, Brandon Block, J Star, Mixmaster Morris, Purple Penguin, Culprit 1, Nathan Fake and many many more!!!
Recently my residencey at PlanetPatrol has given me the privilege of performing alongside supurb visual urban artists Eelus, Dan Malone, Adam Koukoudakis, SheOne and Matthew Small.
I have played private parties, after parties, supported and graced stages for the likes of Brian Wilson, Travis, Roger Taylor and Queen, Faithless, Basement Jaxx, Lady Sovereign, Keane, Hard-Fi, the Editors, the Dub Pistols, Ian Brown, JTQ, Badly Drawn Boy, Dreadzone, Asian Dub Foundation, Loop Guru, Dogstar, Embrace, Air, Primal Scream, hosted Glasonbury "Other Stage" for 3 years, Megadog Beach Festival, Lizard Festival, Essential Festival, Kimberly Hall, headlined at Run to the Sun, SAS Ball, held residence at Eden Project, and played at clubs such as Heaven (megatripolis- london), Home (highrise- london), Bug Bar (chew the fat!- london) , Dance Academy (plymouth), resident at the Hippodrome (colchester), the Stannary (falmouth uni), Barracuda (newquay), Koola (newquay), Blue Mountain (chocolate city- bristol ), Cargo (planet patrol - london) and Herbal (kontakte - london), as well as running an eclectic night named Groove Juice in Cornwall for 13 years, residing at infamous venues such as the Venue, the Shirehorse, the Pirate and the now sadly closed Bosuns. Oh, and in cheeky young arrogance I turned down the Ministry........
As a musician I have previously been in one signed band (naked sushi - smashing records - who were bizarely sampled on the Greatest Hits remix of Queen and David Bowie's Under Pressure, which was subsequently played on Top of the Pops! I know this qualifies as *milking it*, but it's the closest I'm ever going to get to appearing on what was my favourite childhood tv show.....), many unsigned projects (including a cappella vocal groups and huge percussion ensembles), curator of fringe stages for the eden project sessions, and musical director for a touring theatre company (rogue theatre).
I am currently resident DJ with Boombox Record's excelent night PlanetPatrol (bi-monthly @ Cargo, East London), and performing in Rairbirds (signed to R-AIR), whose fantastic album is released on the 17th september 2007 (and can be purchased via amazon.co.uk!!!)
the Rairbirds....
www.myspace.com/rairbirds
Dante Gabriel in a dj frenzy at PlanetPatrol 1, Cargo London. (photo by alex shepherd)
www.planetpatrol.co.uk
lovely people chilling in the bar at PlanetPatrol 1, Cargo London.
www.planetpatrol.co.uk
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