Moss Benjamin Evett Raxlen was born to tone deaf parents near Montreal, Canada. He spent his childhood years wrestling his brother and two sisters for the Fischer Price xylophone so great was his desire to flex his musical muscle. He went to school and found that the other students had no concept of rhythm. He made beats with popsicle sticks on his desk. Moss grew up mean and he grew up quick, as one does when given a name related to the bryophyte family. At the tender, moist age of 13, Moss made some friends. In high school, to his surprise, he made some more, and they were musically inclined. He got himself a bass guitar when he was 18. He had no greater joy in life than making music, and indeed, dabbled with many instruments.................................................
........In the early 90's, Moss began collecting records, which would become an outlet for all his geeky tendencies and soon, a source of income for his ill brother and sisters, whom Moss had been supporting with the measly income that he earned inseminating chickens. He soon began djing and a star was born. Moss was mentored by one Bayani " Bunny " C. Esguerra, who, after seeing what he could do on the keyboard taught him dub mixing, and sound engineering. Bunny lent him rare records, and helped him to hone his skills over many hours hunched over the turntables. They remain close friends despite a squabble over a hand modeling contract later on..........................................................
.....By 1996, the intrepid Mr. Raxlen began collecting rare reggae 45's and began expanding greatly on his knowledge of the history of the genre with the help of a historian of Jamaican music from St. Louis, MI., one Leroy J. Pierson. Obviously, this didn't quench the ever deepening thirst for world domination which grew within his heart, so he opened a record shop- 'Sketchy Wax', in the heart of Montreal's then not so trendy plateau district. It was open for 2 years before a cholera epidemic forced it's doors closed......................................................
..............................Raxlen started one of Montreal's longest standing dub nights in '97, "Dub Lounge" at the late and great Isart bar in old Montreal and which two years later moved to the now steady home of Blizzarts. Soon after, he and Bunny produced their first album, "Message In The Dub". In the cold and blustery winter that same year, Moss began selling his rare reggae, dub and ska records to happy collectors all around the world in places much less cold miserable than Montreal. This gave him something to live for, as the winter seemed never to end. Indeed- the first album was finished during the great and terrible Ice Storm which rocked the city........................................................
...................With Y2K threatening, Moss looked to the future, and started a recording studio in downtown Montreal, disbelieving all the people who said the end was coming. They were wrong, and the studio lasted five years, and five records were recorded there, but only four were released due to infighting over price of mangoes imported at the time........................................................
.....................................................In 2001, Moss decided it was time to start yet another new project, and began his own label- "Dispensation". With the release of his second album just a few months before 9/11 soon tinged with irony, "Mossman Vs. The Worldbank", was still received with international acclaim from fans and critics alike. After opening for Thievery Corporation at the Jazzfest that same year, he increased his visibility even more when he opened for the Skatalites and more........................................................
......................................2002 saw Raxlen working with legendary guitarist Lynn Taitt, getting him 4 gigs at the Montreal Jazz fest., including 4 gigs with Moss' own group on the dub stage. By now, he was thirsting for wine, women and wax, and off he went to Europe for gigs and various music festivals. Europe is still recovering. This was the year his hand modeling career really took off. He wrestled with the question of whether or not to give up music for money, and decided to stick to what he really loved.......................................................
........................................................The following year, Moss worked with his father, an established independent film maker. The film, entitled "Rude Roll", featured a remixed version of the song 'Leggo Taxman' from the "Mossman vs. The World Bank" album, and was screened world wide. It won at the Ann Arbor Film Festival for best animated short. He is still working in collaboration with his dad, who lives in British Columbia with his wife and eight llamas. He also released "Mossman vs. Tsunami" before exhaustion claimed him.........................................................
..............In recent years, Moss has released one more album- (his first) "Message in the Dub", began working with his brother from a tech-dub mother, Deadbeat, as well as recording with Taitt in his backyard studio. Moss took the time to travel to Jamaica twice in 2005, and became quite taken on an emotional level with the suffering and beauty of the place. He worked with Mutaburuka, The Maytone and Michael Rose of Black Uhuru and more........................................................
................Towards the end of 2006, Raxlen was approached by some gentlemen to help out as an executive producer for an upcoming documentary film and featured album on the start of reggae, a film focusing on the roots of rocksteady, and after a brief research trip during the winter, is dedicating a lot of time to working on this project. Beginning to work more with computer technology mediums such as Ableton Live, Moss will almost certainly have to move to Berlin. Moss Raxlen will continue to create new albums, and grow in various directions, much like the non-vascular plant form for which he was named.......................................................
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