 | Czech 1200
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- Genre:
- Break Beat
- Hometown:
- Vancouver / Prague, Czech Republic
- Record Label:
- Hi Karate
|  | El Molito 03
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Ever heard of Bobby Orr or the Rocket number 9? Neither had The Mole until he moved to Montreal from Canada's west coast. And now he loves them. Perhaps there is something magical in the humble success of these men that inspires. Who doesn't love a reluctant hero?
Dance music fans in Victoria and Vancouver in the 90s heard a lot of the mole in his infancy. His mentors, believing he had a natural talent, pushed him from his DJ beginnings into music production. This natural talent was, in reality, mountains of hard work consummated in secret not unlike the rigorous discipline kung fu students undertake in those wonderful bamboo forests. For the mole though this retreat took the form of long winters in the French and arguably the cultural capital of Canada, Montreal. Long, cold winters indeed.
It was only natural that the city's storied disco history would fit him well. Warm people and cold nights warming blood like so much sap in spring. The mole is often reminded of his voyageur past (as an 18th generation Canadian he is very proud of his French and English roots) when navigating the graveyards of vinyl that abound in his hometown. What could make a black crack addict feel more at home in this cold climate? I tell you what: 7 years of residency at the Laika bar and numerous appearances at the Mutek festival.
Enough about why the mole has chosen to make his burrow in the storied city, let's talk about the music. Urb magazine named him one of the 'next 100' in 2004. His live set at Mutek 2004 was one of the top ten in the Village Voice Critics' Poll 2004, followed by 2005's collaboration with long time friend and band mate Mathew Jonson 'Dirt Road and a Boat From Soundwave' on Kompakt's Speicher was received with critical acclaim. As were his releases that year on Philpot, Musique Risquee and Revolver. 2005 also saw the reunion of the Modern Deep Left Quartet on Wagon Repair, probably the greatest source of pride for el molito to date.
There is also what the mole refers to as the 'starchy root machine'. And with a title like that, it should spark some interest! Anyway, it is a performance in which a minimum of 5 turntables are all playing loops that are either manufactured or hand made. With this the mole then manipulates them, in a traditional dj sense, with some effects to bump it up (what he confesses is quite a psychedelic experience for him). And although he has, because of other projects had to put this endeavor on the back burner for a little while, he still gets questioned on when he will bring it back. 'I've only ever done it in Montreal because I think the number of tables scares people and it is fairly experimental... though terribly techno as well".
With his 2006 'In my song/Acadian' being signed to a Sven Vath mix and a part time collaboration with Paddy from Cobblestone Jazz as the 'Smokin Posties' releasing their first remix on itiswhatitis, things were heading in the right direction for the mole. 2007 saw further standout releases on Wagon Repair and late in the year a relocation to Europe, where he’d spent much of the summer months touring. Now 2008 heralds even greater things as The Mole releases his debut album ‘As
High As The Sky’ on Wagon Repair and prepares to tour around it across the globe. Plus there’s the release of singles for Prins Thomas Full Pupp imprint and there’s plans afoot to create a create diggers wet dream of a 7” label with fellow Canadian Koosh, code named Sticky Fingers.
In some ways all this begs the question of 'why Bobby Orr and Rocket Richard'. In the end the mole insists that he’s 'just a hockey player'. Wait that's not right! He doesn't even play hockey. In fact, he can barely skate! But he does love music with a humble and honest gratitude that can be heard throughout his work. |  | LOPAZZ 808
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You probably best know Lopazz for the quality, avant-garde club music he's produced for labels like Get Physical, Compost and London's legendary Output Recordings, but his career as a multimedia artist is far more colourful and diverse than you might've imagined.
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Real name Stefan Eichinger, Lopazz was born in Germany in 1975, and these days is based in Berlin and Heidelberg, where he lives with his wife – the Ecuadorian artist Mariella Landivar-Garcia (who performs on several Lopazz & Alex Flatner records as Deafny Moon). His first serious involvement with music began in the early 90s; since 1995/96 he's been a part of the HD800 team ( founded by legendary DMan who also operated the HD800 club & the record label 800trak), and he started his own record label (800achtspur) and a recording studio.
Stefan runs the German multimedia label 800achtspur in Heidelberg, which has released records by Mason Mesud Stevensen, Casio Casino and of course Lopazz himself. Stefan is also renowned as a film and television composer, having written and performed more than 30 film and documentary scores over the years. Since 1999, Stefan ( with Steffen Neuert ) has been providing original compositions and productions for UNESCO's World Heritage TV documentaries and more recently he scored the Foodhunter series, produced in Asia and shown on European TV stations. With typical interest in musical process and commitment to authenticity and supported by the directors of Along Mekong Productions, Stefan travelled to China and Mongolia, recording orchestras, singers and monks in order to enrich this soundtrack. Some of his best work for film and television was collected in the 800achtspur compilation, 18 Themes for TV-Documentaries (2003).
He's always had a sense of fun, though, and his love of TV music resulted in his cheeky 2001 remixes of the classic Miami Vice and Magnum themes with Redagain P! In 2003, Lopazz's self-titled EP of off-kilter dance music was released by Trevor Jackson's Output Recordings ( prev. released on freundinnen ), followed by the singles 'Blood' (remixed by Tiefschwarz) and his first bona fide club hit 'I Need Ya'. 'I Need Ya' was licensed for a limited edition Japanese release by French fashion label Colette, and its success led to Lopazz remixing Germany's biggest pop act Xavier Nadoo, while techno legend Sven Vaeth snapped up 'I Need Ya' for his Sound of the Fourth Season mix CD. Stefan's relationship with Berlin-based Get Physical began with his remix of Chelonis R. Jones' 'I Don't Know', followed by the label's release of his own deep, twisted vocal track 'Migracion'. Physical commissioned a subsequent remix 12", featuring epic, forward-thinking versions from now firmly established Chilean superstars Luciano and Ricardo Vilallobos. Further releases for Compost Black Label, Output and Lasergun cemented Lopazz's reputation as an artist of real originality and significance.
He became an increasingly in-demand remixer: Isolée, Product 01, Matthew Dear & Alex Robotnick ( with M.A.N.D.Y. ), Alex Flatner, Richard Bartz number among his happy re-work clients to date. Since 2003 Lopazz has been performing live, most recently on an extensive Get Physical tour, and in 2007 he released a new 12" for the label, this time entitled 'Share My Rhythm'. This year sees the release of Lopazz's debut full-length artist album Kook Kook, a perfect document of his witty and avant-garde electronic funk blueprint – playful, imaginative, intimate and impossible to pigeon-hole. Restless as ever, Lopazz is currently dividing his time between the studio, where he's working on new material with M.A.N.D.Y., and his home, where enjoys a happy existence with his talented wife and two dogs. As the man himself says, "I have no message to preach – I just represent my music, and life…" |  | David Koch aka DeWalta
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With a background like DeWalta’s, the stage was set long ago for this yougin to blast some serious
holes in the fabric of music, time, and space. DeWalta a.k.a. David Koch budded from a large family in
southern Germany filled with theater, literature, and music. Early schooling came in the form of the
interdisciplinary Waldorf School (also home to electronic pioneers Abe Duque and John Selway)
tasked with nothing less than helping young people fulfill their unique destinies.
With the school’s emphasis on artistic and imaginative endeavors in elementary education, David
started with French horn at age 7 leading to his first orchestral and ensemble performances.
Meanwhile David’s grandfather was a music journalist who first exposed him to early American jazz on
old lacquer records and later the music of the beatnik movement of the 1950’s.
At age 10 David started to teach himself jazz. By 13 he engaged in known local jazz clubs playing on
sessions which lead to his first musical scholarship where he met his first inspiring instructors. Parallel
to his jazz studies David picked up on good ol’ American P-Funk, hip hop, and some pop\rock.
Additionally David started to tour globally with classical symphonic orchestras, and in the off season
started to earn money performing in young jazz ensembles.
In 1999 David moved to Berlin to attend an elite music conservatory and continued to play jazz taking
part in Berlin’s young jazz scene. Just 2 years later he left the high school conservatory to attend the
Hans Eissler Music College for jazz and pop where he studied saxophone, piano, composition, and
music theory. Of course here he also found many suitable ensembles to play with ranging in style from
big band and free jazz, to funk and Latin music.
By 2003, as was common for many gifted musicians, David started the doubt the necessity of musical
education. Though trained as an instrumentalist for most of his life, he felt limited by traditional
performance with control of just one element of a piece. The emphasis of improvisation in jazz led him
to experimentation, composition, and giving into the natural genesis of producing his own music. He
started to acquire studio equipment, experimented with different sounds, founded a disco band, and
made his first forays into producing electronic music events. Berlin was also a vinyl paradise which
David did not overlook quickly amassing a collection delving deeper into electronic music. His eclectic
endeavors continued to dominate composing theatrical music, expanding his studio, studying jazz at
the music college, and partaking in the bohemian urban paradise that was and still is Berlin.
David continued to expand his studio, improved his production skills, and advanced his productions.
By 2007 he founded his Meander label and began releasing his first electronic records. Just a year
later long time friend and Vakant big daddy snapped up David leading to the drop of the
‘Salgaro/Farina’ EP (VA021) on the world’s dance floors. With a bass presence not easily described in
words and the musical expanse that floats on top of his debut Vakant release, DeWalta became
instantly known to all those seeking massive funk with their freak. With so much music already under
his belt and the platform that is Vakant, we envision a mad scramble of the world’s sound technicians
to technically accommodate such a talent in the time to come. |  | Homar T Filipsson 92
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Holmar Filipsson is a Brooklyn based producer and dj (Originally from Reykjavik, Iceland) who has for the past decade or so has released his own productions and remixes under various guides/collaborations (Mr.Negative, Spencer Filipsson Experience, Thugfucker ) on labels like Fine, Music For Freaks,Great Stuff, Global Underground, Plant, Dirt Crew and Pokerflat, to name a few. In 2001 he started the infamous Crack&Speed label with Jef K and in 2006 Filipsson teamed up with Greg Oreck and launched Thugfcker Recordings. (Holmar and Greg also form the Thugfcker artist outfit.) This year Holmar signed an E.P to U.K's "Bearfunk" with Dj Ulysses, completed an album with Sasse aka Freestyle Man that will be released on Uk’s Tirk Recordings new sister label “Nang” July 2009. He also has new " Thugfucker singles out this spring and summer on Moodmusic and T.F.R. |  | GregO 91
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Former international aid worker turns international DJ. Its a story thats been told many times before. But no one tells it quite like New York City native Greg Oreck.
After turning his life towards music 8 years ago, Greg quickly began making a name for himself with his no holds barred DJ sets that moved asses across New York and around the globe. Greg has welcomed the millennium in New Zealand with an epic 8 hour set, held court as the official DJ of Amsterdams prestigious Cannabis Cup and hes shown most European countries just how far you can take a party and still survive to tell the tale.
Some say its his wide musical background that sets him apart. Others say its his natural penchant for danger, picked up while working both in deepest Africa and the South Bronx ghettos. Probably its a little bit of both.
But either way, he certainly knows how to throw a party.
In addition to DJ duties though, Greg has also been making a name for himself with a slew of top notch productions. His latest project, Thugfucker, puts him together with Holmar Filipsson (of Mr. Negative fame). Thugfucker mixes the reckless hedonism of disco, electro and house and puts it all on little round discs of vinyl that have been instigating dancefloor anarchy worldwide.
Previous Thugfucker releases include "Pocket Rocket" (Music for Freaks), "Bodyshaker" (Moodmusic), "The Dance" (Wasnotwas), "Not A Remix" (Brique Rouge), "100" (Dialect/Battle), "Further Down" (Dirt Crew Recs) as well as "Ahh", "Knight Rider", "Disco V" and "Are You Ready To Rock?" on their own new label, Thugfucker Recordings. Well received and well respected, they've received heavy play from such prestigious DJs as Derrick Carter, DJ Sneak, Laurent Garnier, Satoshie Tomiie, Mark Farina, DJ Hell, Trevor Jackson, Lottie, Ivan Smagghe, Psychonauts, Erol Alkan, Kenny Hawkes, Ralph Lawson, Tiefschwarz, Boris Dlugosh, Moose T, Phil Weeks, David Duriez, DJulz, Jeff K, Steve Bug, Craig Richards, Lee Burridge and many more.
Currently, Thugfucker are just finishing up work on their first full length album tentatively titled "Pleasure Treasure". They've also just wrapped up a new remix for Telepopmusik (featuring Asia Argento) about lesbian vampires that should be out in September.
In addition, Greg also has several solo projects in the works, including a new single "The Line" (recently released on Moodmusic), a collaboration with Freestyle Man called Lady C and a new collaborative project with Master H. He's also working on a downtempo album with Girls Against Boys Eli Janney and recently won the X-Dance award at Sundance for Best Soundtrack thanks to his work on extreme sports film Adrenaline Hunters by director Victor Muh.
For bookings contact:
info (at) thugfucker (dot) org |
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