Event Flyers provided by Virtually Unanimous
Member Since: 4/19/2006
Band Website: djshambala.com
Influences:
Shambala's story begins in the late 90s, when he was left alone with his roommate's turntables and enough drum-n-bass records to spark a passion that still continues to burn. A resident of Florida, he quickly found himself DJing at house parties and hosting raves in the underground culture that was allowed to exist at the time.
His love for music did not begin then, though; it was always there. Born Andres Concha in Pasadena, California, North America, he was raised in the hills and farmlands in Armenia, Colombia, South America with his family, crossing the equator many times in between, gaining exposure to numerous music genres and cultures. He would eventually live in Los Angeles again, receiving his first exposure to electronic music in 1996 when he heard The Chemical Brothers play live.
Over the next two years he earn a film-making degree in the same city he was born in, working in LA on movies and TV commercials. "My mind was in my studies but my heart was in the music," says Andrew. He later moved to south Florida to work as a TV-news editor, and eventually found himself constantly DJing, taking the music alias Shambala. The title refers to The Sacred Path of the Warrior, a vehicle for understanding and practicing the Tibetan Buddhist teachings and concepts surrounding a mystical kingdom, Shambhala. A term meaning "place of peace/tranquility/happiness," Shambhala is hidden somewhere beyond the snow peaks of the Himalayas and is said to be a society which draws its gentle and fearless sense of social responsibility from the practice of meditation.
Back in the flat, warm beach lands of Florida’s western coast, DJ Shambala found himself first spinning DnB and Jungle, then Trance, followed by a focus on Progressive and Deep House. Never forgetting the past or his path, Shambala's sets have always incorporated all electronic genres, popular music styles, unique & memorable hits...all musical gems with the uncanny ability to make people move. Scouring record shops in Bradenton and Sarasota for the latest tracks and albums, he found himself drawn to the sounds of John Digweed, Masters At Work, Facundo Cabral, Chemical Brothers, LTJ Bukem, Aterciopelados, Sasha, U2, and Mark Farina, just to name a few.
In 2002, Shambala DJed for his first large public audience, spinning records atop a landing strip at Orlando's Earthdance celebration. Notable Sarasota performances would include the Sarasota Film Festival Wrap Parties in 2003, 2004, 2005 and in 2006, the Sarasota Film Fest Independent Queer Visions Party. A participant, performer, and planner of Sarasota Earthdance 2004 & 2005 parties, as well as the upcoming 2006 celebration, DJ Shambala has played at numerous events, venues, parties, and after-parties in Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Sarasota, Bradenton and St. Petersburg. A truly memorable point along his DJ path was the chance to spin at an LTJ Bukem show after-party. A fantasy became reality when he played live for Bukem himself, fulfilling a dream to entertain the man whose music catalyzed his path as DJ and eventually his entire music career. At the most recent Winter Music Conference, he played at an Earthdance fundraiser at the Raleigh Hotel in Miami, preceding the revered Mark Farina and Lorin Bassnectar.
In 2006 things have come full circle for Andrew Concha, and the DJing has served as a stepping-stone to the next level. Involved fulltime in music and sound, Shambala pays the bills working as a sound technician and engineer, specializing in sound logistics, for venues and events in Sarasota and Bradenton, and as the resident DJ at Khrome in Sarasota. Mr. Concha produces many of Khrome's special events and other parties in the area, and regularly DJs around town at fundraising & activist events, private events and parties, and at select house and warehouse parties.
When he's not playing music, partying, or setting up equipment for a party, he spends his time producing beats and tracks, gathering samples, recording sets, and editing and mastering the end products at his bachelor pad. "The production goes hand and hand with DJing. For me it's become the missing link, and the combination expands my creativity". And creativity is something we have come to expect from Mr. Shambala. Equipped with multiple computers, turntables, CD spinners, Kaos pad, midi-keyboard and drum machine feeding to such software as Reason, Fruity Loops, and Q-Base, Shambala has nearly everything he needs to complete his path. Now all he needs is you.