Capt. Wendell

Award winning DJ turned Keyboard player Capt. Wendell and CK-1 (alias Charlie Koehler TKO sound) engineer - have been teamed up together for the past 5 years developing a sound known as "ARTEMUS." Not only do they write, produce and remix tracks but also djs can record or perform with them live. They skillfully add flavor to what the dj is playing by mixing in samples, sounds, chord progressions or spontaneous melodies to create another level to what is being heard. The dj controls the mood, direction and inspiration; Artemus builds on it. Originally from New Jersey, Capt. Wendell has spent the last 25 years as one of Bostons top DJs. His residency at Avalon, then The Metro/Citi club, was ground breaking. The vision of going live in a club with original electronic tracks and improvising over them became a reality when he went to Daddy's Junky Music Store and bought his first sampler and drum machine in the mid eighties. He soon returned to that music store and began working with the same Berkley student salesperson who sold him the equipment (Ray Castoldi). "I was always trying to push the envelope back then." Even in the late seventies he was plugging his turntables into mutron bi-phasers and Space echo machines. "I bought a Tomita album at a second hand record store and it changed my life." Together we viewed a video recorded in 1987 of his last performance with Frequency X, his first electronic band. The booth was filled with six keyboards, 909s, 808s, 303s, records, turntables and wires hanging everywhere. Several times while deejaying he used the alpha dial on a Mc-500 sequencer to mix seamlessly into his own tracks and improvised over them. In the eighties electronically going live was a risky maneuver since system crashes for no reason were inevitable. During the nineties and in recent years the Captain has taught himself how to sight read music and speak french while honing his skills playing piano. Now, thanks to 'my space' he is networking with people and arranging collaborations. With all those years of sampling and making sounds he says the sky is no limit. "I'm on a path that crosses with many different kinds of cool people involved with electronic music from all over the world." Where the path leads he doesn't care. Age is just a number; wisdom is priceless. The World Wide Express is leaving the station-shaking hands-making friends and Capt. Wendell is picking up passengers. Quazar9