Wednesday, October 31, 2012

chrispop will have you popping and locking.

Allow  me to introduce Chrispop... Now allow him to do the rest. ;)

My name is chrispop, but friends call me christian or poppy. Born and raised in a tiny village in the woods, but for the last 9 years I've been mainly living in paderborn, a mid-sized city in the center of germany

I've been djing for close to 15 years now. started out on 90s hiphop & bigbeat, took a long detour playing mostly 60s & 70s funk/soul/rocksteady/ska/beat/psych etc, and only got back into "modern" music over the last 3-4 years, when labels like bombstrike and goodgroove started releasing what's now known as "ghettofunk" or "nu-funk", combining all of my musical interests (breakbeats, classic funk samples, hiphop vocals, heavy bass etc) into one "genre", allowing me to play music from all my "roots" on one party...
I've always been into music (played the organ, guitar, bass...as a kid), and did mashups/bootlegs/remixes mostly for myself to relax, but after I switched to djing digital 2 years ago I could finally play "my" stuff, so I focused more on tracks that I'd like to play, but that didn't exist yet...

Where do you draw your inspirations from?
Numerous people, but if I have to name a few it would be folks like fatboy slim, andy smith, a.skillz, krafty kuts, bobby c. sound tv, daigo, nick thayer, spinforth, stickybuds, slynk, the whole ghettofunk.co.uk posse...
What I really love about this "scene" is how warm, friendly, open and accessible it is...most of the music is put out for free on platforms like soundcloud & bandcamp, and there's a great worldwide community supporting and working with each other. It's amazing to be a - however little - part of something that's not driven by monetary interests, but by the love of music and sharing it with others.
musically I'm influenced by pretty much anything but standard 4/4 dance music and rock. as long as it sounds organic, funky and bassheavy, I'll probably like some of it, be it breaks, hiphop, reggae, glitch, dubstep, funk, "ethnic" balkan & world music, soul, jazz...

I'm constantly digging around for new music & artists, and all the time palying around with remixes/bootlegs of tracks I'd like to fit into my sets or that in my mind sound great combined. I mostly do my stuff to play out myself, but it's awesome to see people elsewhere digging what I do...


I'm working on a ep with tracks fusing ghettofunk with "classic" german hiphop vocals at the moment, also there's a few more tracks in the pipeline. I try to come up with more original material, but coming up with my own melodies and sounds is not easy in a genre defined by sampling classic stuff...
for the "scene" in general I honestly hope it doesn't blow up too soon and become the next big thing for 5 months. Just look at how moombahton was the thing for a few weeks an is apparently already dead again...ghettofunk/nufunk/funky breaks/(what ever you want to call it) has been growing really organically over the last few years and it's getting bigger daily. It's a music that's "mainstream-accessible" without selling out or dumbing down, and definitely the most fun i ever had in a club:)


If you would like to contact chrispop for any reason. Perhaps to commission a song or two (he is very talented). He can be reached at the links below. Don't forget to check out his video collaborations as well they are pretty good too.

FACEBOOK       SOUNDCLOUD





Thursday, October 25, 2012

Don't get too close. You might catch the Dubvirus.


Welcome Dubvirus A.K.A Sacha Csicsery-Ronay while he answers a few question about himself. Do you think Dubvirus will be another 24 hour bug, or something more substantial like warts? It's to early to make assumptions. So lets just get to know him first. 

Where are you from? 

I grew up in the Midwestern United States, and I've been living in San Francisco for 4 years now. 

How long have you been doing what you do? 

I have been producing music in some form or another for fourteen years now, and I am constantly trying to develop and refine my skills further. Most of my technique comes from self-instruction and practice, but I have taken production and songwriting courses with Berklee School of Music as well. 

Who or what inspires you? 

Every day I am struck by the passion and talent that is going into the West Coast electronic music scene. The California festivals have been a huge inspiration for me to put my soul into creating memorable and moving musical experiences for people. I am also in constant awe and appreciation of the other producers on the circuit, the music they create is always pushing me to keep upping my game. 

What are you currently working on? 

I recently completed a new EP, entitled 'DNA' which will be dropping exclusively on January 21st exclusively on Beatport, followed by a major release on February 4th. I'm excited about this release because it will showcase what I feel is my best work thus far, and should indicate to the world my true style as a producer. We have a remix compilation planned for soon after, and in the meantime I am already well underway with more tracks that are pushing the boundaries of electronic dance music.

whats next? 

 Music is my life. My plan is to simply to continue dedicating myself completely to production and performance, and to rise as high as I can doing what I love doing more than anything else. 



Friday, October 19, 2012

Oh Me, Oh My, Oh Tebins...

Let me tell you a little something about Kevin Speltz aka Oh Tebins. Originally from Seattle, Speltz has been living in Tucson for the past three years but he will be moving to Brooklyn this fall. He happens to be pretty skilled with the whole music thing and recently shared with us his musical beginnings, inspiration and future plans.

THE BEGINNING
I started around age 16. The early years were mostly trial and error. In 2009, I switched genres, and as things got a little more polished I started to take myself seriously and worked to develop a sound that I could identify with. 

THE INSPIRATION

Musically, I am inspired by catchy Big Band horns, quality Hip Hop, Soul singers, and just a splash of ethnic Jazz. I am starting to listen to more Electronic music lately. I really like the sounds of Atlas, Dauwd, and Luvian. In life, I am inspired by new surroundings, very late nights, and good ol' fashioned fun.

THE PRESENT & THE FUTURE
I'm currently focused on editing and adding to my live set. It's a never-ending process, and I think the effort that I have put into it thus far reads really well. I hope to gather some bookings for early 2013 so I can share what I have built.

Oh Tebens also shared a Free EP which can be found in the Soundcloud widget below. If you like what you hear, make sure to click on the links below for more of his work!