DJ Kiva has performed at countless sound system events from Brooklyn to Berlin, ranging from grimy warehouse parties, to swanky uptown New York City hotels, to blasting thousands with his street-based sound system at New York’s annual West Indian Day Parade.  Kiva is always exposing ears to upfront and underground sounds of stuttastep, broken beat, future soul, dub, and more. His sound combines the best of soulful live performances blended with futuristic electronic music production techniques.

Kiva’s productions have been released on such labels as Adios Babylon, Bagpak Music, King Tubby Heritage, Tommy Boy, Kindred Spirits (Holland), Goya Music (UK), and Sunshine Enterprises (Austria), and he has appeared as a guest speaker and performer on Public Enemy founder Hank Shocklee’s Producer Panel at Remix magazine’s “Remix Hotel NYC” event.

A veteran live musician with over 20 years experience, he is also a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, drums, keys, trumpet and percussion. As the live guitarist for hip-hop projects “Shape of Broad Minds” and “Willie Isz” featuring Jneiro Jarel and Khujo Goodie of Goodie Mob, he tours and performs at clubs and festivals worldwide.

http://www.adiosbabylon.com
http://www.myspace.com/adiosbabylon

He has worked with Wax Poetic featuring Norah Jones, Curtis Mayfield, Thievery Corp., the Roots, Ultra Records, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Mos Def, Ziggy Marley, Elephant Man, Killah Priest, and many others. He produced the theme music for “Yo! MTV Raps,” which ran internationally for over a decade, as well as for the Emmy-nominated Sundance Film “Word Wars.”

Daniel currently lives in New York, where he maintains an active freelance career and teaching schedule.

self-proclaimed greatest sandwich maker of all time. Using two turntables and a mixer as his instruments, Shiftee actively performs turntablist showcases, experimental group projects, and party sets around the globe. Known as an established force on the international DJ scene, Shiftee has translated his intuitive math geek mentality into far-reaching success on the turntables.

http://djshiftee.com
http://myspace.com/djshiftee
http://facebook.com/djshiftee
http://twitter.com/djshiftee
http://soundcloud.com/shifteemusic

Musically between electro, breakbeat and house, Heinrich is always on the cutting-edge of technical innovation, working with an eclectic set of DJ producers from hip-hop to house. He is back in New York from a three year recess in Berlin, and now living in Brooklyn.

www.basscut.com

As a DJ, Mesinai performed at some of the most renowned clubs in NYC in the early 90′s such as Sound Factory, Red Zone, Mars, Limelight, The Cooler and Save The Robots, and more recently at Ciello and Love.

As a producer Mesinai has released over a dozen albums and releases on labels ranging from John Zorn’s Tzadik label, the legendary dub, ska and hardcore label ROIR, SkullDisco, Instinct, Ostgut Nun, K7, Asphodel, the Agriculture as well as on his own label, The Index (co-run with Dub War’s DJ Dave Q).

Mesinai’s contemporary compositions have been performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Etna Fest Catania with such performers and ensembles as the Kronos Quartet and Maya Beiser. He has performed solo at such festivals as Unsound Festival, Elevate, Etna Festival and Mutek among many others.

Mesinai has also scored for numerous films and his music can be heard in films by such directors as Ridley Scott, Jonathan Demme and Darren Aronofsky.

Focusing on dancehall reggae, grime, dubstep, hip-hop and the cracks in between, his underground hit “Brooklyn Anthem” spawned a YouTube dance craze among Brooklyn’s teen dancehall dancers who call it the “Craziest Riddim.” He is currently working with the Dutty Artz family, which he co-founded with DJ Rupture.

mattshadetek.com
www.duttyartz.com/mattshadetek
twitter.com/mattshadetek
soundcloud.com/mattshadetek

Endo has grown from a die hard vinyl DJ to a worldwide ambassador of future DJ technology. His sets range from groovy tech house, to peak hour techno, to funky nu skool breaks.

Beyond touring internationally rocking clubs, raves and festivals, Endo is a DJ Product Specialist for Native Instruments. He has trained DJ gurus such as Grandmaster Flash, Pete Tong, DJ Skribble, DJ Craze, Dubfire, Victor Calderone, Nic Fanciulli, Oliver Huntemann, DJ Dan, Donald Glaude, David Morales, Junior Vasquez, Dubfire, Steve Lawler, Carl Cox, JoJo Flores, Sharam, Klever, and Nic Fanciulli among others in Traktor Scratch Pro. Endo is currently a Traktor instructor at Dubspot in Manhatten as well as the tour manager for Dubfire and Nic Fanciulli.

Classically trained at Berklee College of Music, Endo is a teacher of harmonic DJ mixing, and a serious proponent of the Mixed In Key music software. No matter where Endo is in the world, you can always catch him playing live via the internet on wmbr.org or on Boston’s 88.1 WMBR FM. Together with DJ DC, DJ Endo hosts a weekly late night radio show “Algorhythms” where they explore the future of electronic dance music and experiment with different DJ technologies and mixing methods.

http://www.soundcloud.com/dj-endo
http://www.myspace.com/djendo
http://www.facebook.com/DJEndoMusic
http://www.twitter.com/DJEndoLive
http://thedjlist.com/djs/ENDO/

As a 10-year full-time DJ in Manhattan, where Pop and Hip-Hop reign supreme, his taste and skill are configured to reach a wide demographic.

Often booked for his ability to create a frenzied vibe out of thin air, he combines feel-good pop with progressive underground sounds to create a type of sonic soup that is distinctly NOISE212.

Using the Ableton-Serato Bridge and the Maschine, JP often injects his sets with live composition and improvised instrumentation, further blurring the line between DJ and Producer.

Weekly Show:
http://noise212.com/

Client List:
http://www.facebook.com/212SOLIS?sk=info

Full Bio:
http://noise212.com/noise212

Jon is also the contributor of numerous articles for Music Tech magazine and the author of the only video training series ever to be sold on the Ableton website. In 2010 he created the ambitious project “365 Live Tips” in which he published one Live tip for each day of the year on his website.

As a musician, Jon is best known as the man behind Hobotech. Since it’s fireside conception in 2007, Hobotech has steadily grown in popularity, with Jon’s recent schedule including an appearance at Coachella, opening for Bassnectar with collaborator Haj (Sub Swara), and shows which have found him sharing the stage with luminaries of bass music including ill.Gates, David Starfire and AN-TEN-NAE. His EP, “This Is The Place” was described as “like George Clinton meets Datsik” on BassGeneration.com, and was included as a featured download in the 2010 wrapup newsletter from TheUntz.com, alongside releases from Kraddy, MartyParty and NiTGriT.

http://jonmargulies.com

There he taught Guitar, Orchestra, and started the Music Production program, where he taught his students to compose and perform music using the software, Ableton Live. After a year of study, his students won the 2010 MENC/NSBA Electronic Music Composition Competition in the Middle School category.

Cupo studied at Manhattan School of Music’s college preparatory division studying Classical and Jazz Bass Performance. He then attended the Jazz and Contemporary Music Program at New School University, later transferring to the Crane School of Music where he earned his degree in Music Theory and History. After college, he began working in professional recording studios, some of which in the famous Brill Building. Cupo has performed all over New York City, at venues ranging from CBGBs to Carnegie Hall.

Admittedly a “digital immigrant”, Cupo has taught students (of all ethnicities, genders, socio-economic backgrounds, et cetera) traditional musical techniques using non-traditional methods of expression (such as MIDI controllers and digital audio workstations).

Dave’s migration in his teenage years from acoustic instruments to the world of synthesis began a life spent working with electronic music technology. His first use of Max was making controllable video pieces to accompany ambient songs in performance. Since then, Dave has used Max for a wide variety of audio and video applications, from editing and generating MIDI, to creating plug-ins and custom audio tools for music production, and developing a bundle of Max For Live devices (Max Fuel, the First), soon to be released from Puremagnetik.

Beyond his extensive work with technology, Dave remains focused on the essentials. He maintains that the computer is only a tool on the way to the real endgame: Music.

“Music technology can step in and help you express yourself in a way that you previously couldn’t,” says Dave, “(but) I think it’s more useful to view technology in this value-added way instead of as its own show. There is no substitute for musicality.”

http://dave.rhymeswithart.com
http://rhymeswithart.com
http://puremagnetik.com

There, he discovered the world of electronic instruments, synthesizers, and computers. It was love at first sight. After finishing Berklee with a degree in music synthesis, he returned home to New York and found his way into the musical instrument industry, which began a 10-year run of instrument and software demonstrations and workshops throughout the world for the likes of Korg, Propellerheads, Line 6 and Ableton. Throughout this time, Chris was working on countless productions and remixes in the styles of DnB, techno, dubstep, house, and downtempo.

Now off the road and a full-time New York City resident, Chris is composing, producing and performing under the alter ego Octogram. He also owns and operates the Reason Users Group of NYC, which meets once a month in and around New York City.

He is the founder of Antibalas, Ocote Soul Sounds, a founding member of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, and has performed and recorded extensively with TV on the Radio. Through the 90s, he also moonlighted as a guest DJ on WKCRs “Night Train” show and was a station manager and DJ at WJMZ-FM in Brooklyn in the late 90s.

Recently, he produced and collaborated with legendary Afro-Nicaraguan artists from Bluefields, Nicaragua, contributed saxophones and flutes to the upcoming The Very Best album. With Eric Hilton of the Thievery Corporation and Grammy-winner Adrian Quesada (Grupo Fantasma), he co-produced the latest Ocote Soul Sounds album to be released in May 2011 on ESL Music. In May 2011 he will graduate University of Texas-Brownsville with a Masters in Education.

http://www.ocotesoul.com
http://www.antibalas.com
http://www.facebook.com/ocotesoulsounds

As an artist, a record slinger, a label owner and more, he is a musical force to be reckoned with and a bona fide pillar of the scene. Without going too deep into the litany of names we could check, trust us when we say the man’s resume is unparalleled. Selway has blazed many paths, collaborated with a variety of talents, played nearly everywhere, mastered numerous styles and broken a few boundaries, risen to techno stardom and never forgotten his roots. So many a DJ and producer who are respected worldwide will admit to being mentored at one point in their career by this true innovator.

Since 2002, DJ Reborn has worked as a musical director and live on stage DJ with Will Power on the off Broadway hip-hop theatre hit show “Flow.” She partnered with Will Power again in 2007 as the musical director/sound designer for his original children’s theatre production “Little Honey Bo.”

Reborn was the 2004-2005 international tour DJ for Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam. She has made four appearances on BET’s Rap City and has been featured in “Trace,” “NRG,” “URB,” “Scratch,” “The Village Voice” and “DJ Times” magazines.

Reborn is also a mentor and workshop facilitator for New York City teens. She has crafted a new workshop specifically for teen girls, one which explores DJing, creative writing and women’s images in music and media culture.

Reborn is a Chicago native now residing in New York. She spins at clubs and parties, in addition to museums like the Studio Museum of Harlem and the Bronx Museum, as well as live shows for The Roots, Common, Talib Kweli, India Arie, John Legend, Alice Smith and Goapele.

Baba Chico, Growing up, OBaH had the world’s best funk, jazz & soul records at his fingertips. Armed with his father’s epic library of music, OBaH quickly made his mark on the NYC club scene, becoming the resident DJ at several nightclubs in his native Brooklyn.

Quickly gaining respect and a solid fan base, his first big break came courtesy of world-renowned DJ, Rich Medina, who invited OBaH to spin at his weekly party at the legendary APT club in the Meatpacking district of NYC. Since then, OBaH has spun in well over 75 venues in NYC, across the U.S. and abroad, and has DJ’d private parties for Alicia Keys, Lenny Kravitz, Donna Karan and many other A-list celebrities. His talents have also been commissioned by brands including Louis Vuitton, Vogue magazine, DKNY Jeans, Yahoo, Getty Images, as well as live performances by hip hop legends KRS-ONE, and Brand Nubian, among a deep list of international bands and DJ’s. In 2010 and 2011 OBaH was invited to represent NY as the official DJ for the “New York Stage” of Czech Republic’s largest music festival “Colours of Ostrava”, where he provided opening, closing and after party sets for a host of International artists.

While OBaH continues to spin on a weekly basis in NYC, he is also fast at work producing remixes as well as original compositions for television and film. Several of his tracks have been featured on networks including MTV, Bravo, HBO, NBC and A&E. NYC based production company Interloc Films has enlisted OBaH to work as music supervisor for their first film, Wilde’Beast. His remix for ESL recording artist Ocote Soul Sounds landed him a full page feature article in DJ Times magazine (3/10). He has also recorded an exclusive mix for Time Out NY’s “homespun sessions” showcase which highlights premier DJ’s from across the globe. In 2008, Dubspot records released “Funk Aid for Africa” which was compiled, mixed and executive produced by OBaH. The compilation was highly acclaimed and was a charitable success helping to raise money for NextAid. OBaH participated in a national coast to coast tour supporting that release, and is working on a follow up compilation scheduled for release in the summer of 2012. OBaH is also hard at work on his debut EP which is also set for a summer 2012 release.

OBaH can also be heard on the Giant Step jukebox radio, as host of his own show, Recycled Funk. And when he isn’t rocking the party himself, he’s teaching aspiring DJ’s the craft as a staff instuctor at Dubspot, NYC’s preeminent electronic music production and DJ school. He takes his “formative education” with him wherever he goes (thanks, Dad).

facebook.com/obahnyc
soundcloud.com/obahnyc

Taylor is the co-creator and art director of the Gamelatron, the world’s first and only fully robotic gamelan orchestra. He regularly composes for dance, theater and multi-media productions, owns and operates a 20kw sound system, which has been amplifying the New York underground for over a decade, and is the resident DJ for the legendary Danger events.

Together with sculptor Ryan O’Connor and designer/producer William Etundi, Zemi17 comprises the fine art group Emma. He performs on saxophone and EWI4000 midi wind instrument with the experimental music groups Zero Gravity Thinkers and The Akashic Currency Bureau (ACB), featuring members of Tuxedo Moon and Psychic TV.

He is an active presenter throughout the world: In 2010 alone, he presented in various forms at Music festivals from California to Maryland to Portugal’s lake region, Museums from Georgia to North Carolina, Experimental and Media arts festivals in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Belgrade.

Zemi17 has received grants and sponsorship from The Trust for Mutual Understanding, The Experimental Television Center, The New York State Council on the Arts, The Berlin Arts Council, Kulture Im Spannwerk, ID-Media, Schloss Brollin, The European Union Arts Council, James F. Robison Foundation, The Soros Foundation and Swiss Air.

Zemi17 has been using the music production software Ableton Live for nearly a decade and we are please to have him as an instructor at Dubspot.

http://gamelatron.com
http://zemi17.net
http://thedanger.com
http://emma17.com

His previous works are known for their distinctive sound which melds equal parts rock, hip-hop, soul, industrial, and electronic music, showcasing his diverse musical influences in everything he makes. With a heavy focus on beat making, editing, and multi-track recording, he has used Ableton Live for the majority of his work (live and in the studio) for the past four years, giving him extensive practical knowledge of the software.

In addition to making his own music, he has held electronic music workshops in several colleges, given one-on-one tutorials to various artists on Ableton Live, and has been hosting a monthly Ableton Live workshop at The Downtown Independent in Los Angeles since 2009.

He’s been teaching Ableton Live for over seven years, to newcomers and experts alike. Over the years he’s taught established artists like Adam Freeland, David Kahne, Michael Brook, Lili Haydn, Virtual Boy, FuzZ, St Andrew and Ozomatli.

Since graduating Yale with a degree in Mathematics and a spot on the Academic All-Ivy Football Team, Nalepa has produced tracks with such legends as Bill Laswell and Pharoah Sanders, worked with the LA Philharmonic, and performed at festivals and clubs around the world. When he’s not in the lab, scoring films or rocking dancefloors, Nalepa will be inspiring the students of Dubspot’s Online Ableton Program.

www.soundcloud.com/nalepa
www.myspace.com/nalepa
www.stevenalepa.com

Laura thrives in working on diverse, unique and innovative projects in various capacities, such as violin for films and artists, composition and sound design for film and live performance, show programming and construction and personalized consulting and training for live performances and studios. Her talents are vast and unparalleled and she is passionate about working with other skilled artists and companies on a large and very professional scale.

Laura specializes in the software program Ableton Live and became one of the first Ableton Certified Trainers in the world in 2008. Her company Electronic Creatives specializes in music and technology consulting and is an Ableton Certified Training Center. She has worked with diverse directors, artists and composers such as J.J. Abrams, Jason Reitman, Lili Haydn, LMFAO, Sean Beavan, Mark Isham and Carmen Rizzo. In 2009 she worked with Cirque du Soleil on their production “Viva Elvis” as an Ableton Live programmer, toured Europe on violin and electronics with acclaimed world music band Niyaz, was a tour consultant for Kanye West and recorded violin on EastWest’s Quantum Leap Silk sound library with MESTO.

2010 highlights include composing for Visa, performing on Dancing With the Stars, performing at HATCH Asheville and at The Do Lab’s LA music showcase, winning the Runner Up prize for best DJ mix for the Lightning in a Bottle Festival, and being a featured speaker at events such as the San Diego Music and Technology Conference and Yuri’s Night at NASA. Most importantly, in 2010 Laura released her first full-length album Pororoca, a beautiful marriage of cinematic strings and edgy electronics, along with an animated video designed by Scott Pagano (Trifonic, BT, Michael Jackson). Pororoca has received favorable reviews for it’s innovative, cinematic sound and has been licensed for film and television programs.

Laura has recorded violin for composers, including Carmen Rizzo and Eric Whitacre, as well as for artists, including Sage Francis, Solillaquists of Sound and PlatEAU.  She has created sound design for the films Lovewrecked and Red is the Color of, and has recorded violin for films, including Michael Apted’s documentary The Power of the Game, HBO’s The Song Story, Kissing Cousins and Welcome Home.

Laura performs her solo work regularly at trendsetting Los Angeles venues, including Create:Fixate and has performed original works at the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Architecture + Design Museum, as well as radio stations KXLU and KUCI. She has opened for artists including Funkstorung and Robert Rich and has performed on KCRW’s flagship program, Morning Becomes Eclectic.

A Renaissance artist for the New Age, Laura’s mastery of cutting edge musical technologies and experimental techniques, complemented with her classical training and experience performing in symphony orchestras, sets her apart in a class of her own. Her solo project encompasses a myriad of genres, utilizing live electronics, synthesis, found sounds, samples and violin affected by hardware and software.  Laura’s musical virtuosity is the driving force powering her unique experimental cinematic-accented violin compositions, as well as her desire to connect and work with artists around the globe.

is constantly evolving. Also known as Astrolith, his sound combines many different styles, including hip hop, electro, ambient, and grime. His sound design philosophy is to grip every synthesizer with a warm, friendly hand. He also makes his own pasta sauce from scratch!

suttonevan.com
astrolith.net

for nearly 5 years. Matt conducts workshops and clinics for all NI product releases at major events. He has also created successful video tutorials demonstrating NI gear for third party companies. In addition to production and sound design, he teaches DJ techniques and tools as well.

Matt began recording on a 4 track tape recorder, moved up to clunky digital hardware recorders, and struggled through the early computer-based recording setups over his career. Experiencing this exciting change in music technology first hand has given him a great perspective on today’s home recording experience. While Matt constantly writes and produces songs, his main love is teaching others how to get the most out of their equipment and to facilitate their creativity in making music.

innovative ways to blur the lines between genres. Excess has traveled all across the globe with shows in North America, Japan, Asia and Europe.

His efforts in melding standard music production with his turntable skills have solidified his place as one of the great DJ’s around. DJ Excess has performed and worked with artists and DJ’s such as: KRS-One, John Legend, Wu-Tang Clan, Jeru the Damaja, The Pharcyde, The Jungle Brothers, Vernon Reid (Living Color), Malcolm Mclaren (Sex Pistols), Public Enemy, DJ Grandwizard Theodore (Inventor of The Scratch), DJ AM, DJ Jazzy Jeff (Touch Of Jazz), DJ Honda, DJ Clue, DJ Mad Linx (Rap City, BET), DJ Q-Bert (Invisibl Skratch Piklz) The X-Ecutioners, The Beat Junkies, Dilated Peoples, DJ A-Trak (Fools Gold), DJ Craze and celebrity personalities such as: Carmen Electra, Claire Danes, and Sinbad.

Never content to simply be a run-of-the-mill Excess always works to take his skills to the next level. Looking for a way to realize his full potential as a DJ, he began his competition career in 1998 entering the International Turntablist Federation (I.T.F.) Western Hemisphere Scratching Championships. Though it was his first competition, he made a mark showing that he would soon be a force within the competition circuit. Once again in 1999 he would compete in the I.T.F. East Coast Advancement Class Championships which he would win, yet it wasn’t till 2000 that his break through would occur winning both the U.S. Advancement Class and Western Hemisphere Scratching Championships.

In addition to his competition titles, Excess is a main force along with fellow New York City native DJ IXL, behind “Hop-Fu”, a project melding Hip-Hop and Kung-Fu into an exciting audio-visual experience. Created by John Carluccio (Battle Sounds, Turntablist Transcription Method) and Barry Cole (Spot Music), Hop-Fu has been kicking and scratching around the globe since 1998. Other scoring projects have included “No Condition Is Permanent”, and “Apostrophe” for the graffiti collective The Barnstormers (SKWERM, KR, RO STAR, ESPO, etc.) in a melding of graffiti art and turntable compositions.

In 2004 Excess and the rest of Ned Hoddings joined forces with world renowned DJ D-Styles, formerly of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz and current member of the Beat Junkies and resident DJ at Low End Theory. As a group they collaborated as the Bastard Language Tour, touring North America as a quintet of highly skilled and innovative scratch musicians. The creative process and tour was documented and released as a DVD.

Excess’ impressive list of studio production credits include releasing Records and Mix CD’s, scratches done for Pepsi International, Sesame Street, Schieffelin and Sommerset, “Rappers Are In Danger” off of Fat Joe’s “The Darkside Vol. 1” album as well as music featured in the 2004 Showtime series “Street Time” and Styluswars Radio Station and DJ Excess character on the 2005 Playboy video game release “The Mansion”.

Excess’ artistry behind the turntables has earned him numerous accolades throughout his career including features in URB Magazine’s “Next 100″ issue, which featured the top 100 up and coming electronic musicians and entertainers of the year, as well as being featured in hundreds of publications including Newsweek, Scratch, The Source, XXL, and Fader to name a few.

the late Sam Mtukudzi, as well as Wild’s all-star band from New York. Raised in Zimbabwe by German parents, and later moving to Berlin, London, and then New York, Wild was exposed to a broad spectrum of music from an early age. With credentials that range from performing with Grammy-nominated jazz tenorist Mark Turner to recording with Afropop icon Oliver Mtukudzi, Wild started producing music as well as incorporating electronic elements into his live performances using Ableton Live. He has performed at major jazz and world music venues and festivals around the world such as Nuits d’Afrique Montreal, Celebrate Brooklyn New York, Harare International Festival of the Arts Zimbabwe, Maalmakula Festival Estonia, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club London UK, House on Fire Swaziland, and Music Meeting Holland.

Wild is an accomplished educator and teaches music theory and ear-training at Manhattan School of Music Precollege as well as giving music workshops around the world. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from London’s Guildhall School of Music and a Master of Music from Manhattan School of Music. In April 2012 he was recruited by Dubspot to teach Music Foundations.

VISIT MAX WILD ON THE WEB:
Website: maxwild.net
Facebook: facebook.com/maxwildband
Twitter: twitter.com/maxwildmusic
YouTube: youtube.com/maxwildmusic

Sean continued studying traditional percussion from master drummers internationally in Puerto Rico, Senegal, Brazil & domestically in Buffalo, NYC & New Orleans. He has studied West African, Cuban, Puerto Rican styles intensely & gained a high degree of facility in Haitian, Brazilian & Congolese drumming. Sean has performed at El Coliseo in Puerto Rico, the Apollo in Harlem, BB Kings on 42nd st & on the Today Show. In NYC, he founded & maintains the Djembe program in Spanish Harlem’s Harbor Conservatory & works with organizations within the Alvin Ailey family on a weekly basis. At Ailey, he worked at Ailey Camp accompanying classes & teaching percussion in 2010 & 2011. Sean DJs, remixes & makes electronic music under the name “BROTHA SEAN AKA DJ CEIBA”. He’s made music for a UNESCO video, a Banco Popular commercial, 2 documentaries that have had national releases on PBS & contributed to a 2007 AVN award winner. In 2010, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater commissioned Sean to compose an original piece of music for “Anointed” by choreographer Chistopher Huggins & again in 2012 to perform music for “The Hunt” live at the Apollo. He is pleased to live in NYC with his partner, Rhiannon & daughter, Love Reyenarí & thrive in his chosen field. Learn more at www.sacreddrum.org.

His first tracks were influenced by the madness of the Limelight’s club-kid audience, later publicised by films and books like Party Monster and Clubland Confidential. From muscular and melodic techno to cocktail jazz and ambient interludes, his early tracks on his own labels Tension and Hollis Haus, his releases under pseudonyms like Kirilan, Super Secret Symphony and his releases on others’ labels like Disko B, Rapture!, Morbid, and Tresor captured a particular period of clubbing history bought to a sudden halt when the Limelight was shut down.

Duque by then had a thriving European and worldwide touring schedule, and musicially he still had roots in the underground. Abandoning the glossy, high-fashion style of Tension and Abuse Industries, Duque’s next sets of releases were on anonymous, vinyl only stamped with catalogue numbers like “ADR40″ [Abe Duque Records 40] and etched on one side at the pressing plant with strange, hand-drawn messages from the man himself.

In some ways Duque was turning his back on the New York style, and on his previous successes. As he describes it, “I wanted to prove that my music spoke for itself”. It did. Despite the secrecy about who had actually written the ADR releases, this second part of Duque’s career was a run of increasingly massive 12″ hits like Champagne Days, Cocaine Nights; Acid, Disco Nights, and in 2004 his monster smash with Blake Baxter, “What Happened?”, the track that launched Duque and Baxter out of the underground and into the spotlight. That track’s call for a turn away from safe, unchallenging clubbing sold 25,000 copies on vinyl alone and in 2009, it was the focus of a rare remix competition on ResidentAdvisor – despite Duque and Baxter’s refusal to market the track by signing it to any the 100s of compilations on offer.

Having been dragged out of the underground, Duque found himself feted by the mainstream, delivering hugely successful remixes of acts like the Chemical Brothers, Moby and Pet Shop Boys while continuing to work right across the techno world. There, his brutally funky basslines and acid influence were – and still are – hugely in demand for remixes of acts such as Miss Kittin, Remute, Chloe, Savas Pascalidis, Knart IV and Daniel Meteo – as well as DJ Hell, with Duque becoming a regular on Hell’s Gigolos label. The two had met moving in the same German and NY electronic circles since the Abuse Industries days, and so Duque was asked to produce Hell’s infamous album NY Muscle in 2003 and in 2006 to helm the well-recieved “American Gigolos II” compilation.

The highlight of this period, though, was Duque’s first album under his own name, “So Underground It Hurts”. The title was yet another example of Duque’s ambivalence about succcess and its trappings, but the album was undeniably a techno event. Reviewed in the fashion press as influenced by Gigolos’ German electroclash style, but the album was understood by the music press as something quite separate and self-contained.

Duque was again striking out along his own path. Part wild acid, part dark house and all leavened with Duque’s dry, quiet stoner humour, the album also provided a launchpad for Duque’s return to wild live performances – a whiskey bottle in one hand and a 303, drum machine, two PCs and a microphone operated by the other.

It was the start of Duque’s second, endless round of watching the world through the windows of a hotel and moving restlessly between his flat in Berlin and his spiritual home in Queens. Several years on the road with his stable of vocalists – Blake Baxter, Tijiana T, Acid Maria, Virginia, and occasional appearances by Abuse collaborator Andy Orel as “Sin” meant that Abe released only intermittently on his own label, Abe Duque Records. There, new tracks like the darkly funny It Moved Me, Whose Got the Flave, and a singles collection on CD When the Fever Breaks added to Duque’s reputation as the producer’s producer.

Eventually, though, Duque had had enough of continual touring. In 2011 Abe was invited to join the staff at Dubspot, an invitation that would make great sense to him. He had always had a passion for teaching and here was an oportunity to share all he had learned.

He graduated from Harvard College with a degree in American History and then came to New York to study at the Bass Collective where he studied with John Pattitucci, Matthew Garrison and Richard Bona. As a bassist he has also performed with, among others, Peter Gabriel, Angelique Kidjo, the B-52’s and Toni Braxton and performed in Europe, North and South America in venues from underground Brooklyn loft parties to Carnegie Hall. He was also the keyboardist for RCA’s Stellastarr*.

Dan currently leads the band Comandante Zero, (CØ) a Brooklyn-based electro-funk bass/drum/laptop duo. CØ began in 2006 as a touring rhythm section performing with Virgin Records’ dance artist Xavier in Europe and the U.S. including shows at venues such as Berghain in Berlin. In the process, they began developing techniques on how to fuse laptops running Ableton Live with real instruments to create a hybrid electro-acoustic set. CØ then created its own set and has performed extensively in the United States and Europe and opened for electro acts including the Brazilian Girls, The Juan Maclean and Streetlab.

Dan also mixes and produces under the production name CØm1x. He has a production studio in Gowanus, Brooklyn.

Dan is an Ableton Certified Trainer. His specialty is using Ableton Live for live performance, especially with instruments and vocals. He works with other groups and artists as a consultant on how to integrate analog instruments with digital. He also is a presenter for Ableton Inc. in the U.S. Previously, he taught jazz theory and history at the Brooklyn Conservatory in Brooklyn, NY

Precision is a four-time national champion, including the 2007 DMC USA “6min Showcase title.” Has toured the globe opening for acts such as Ludacris, the Roots, and the Black Eyed Peas. Learn the precise precision of DJing from the precision preciseness of DJ Precision.

in Philadelphia NYC, Rich Medina has consistently taken multi- ethnic crowds on a sonic journey through hip-hop, house, Afrobeat, funk and soul, unearthing one musical gem after another, for almost 20 years.

Rich Medina cemented his name in the DJ world with his infamous 90’s partnership with Cosmo Baker at The Remedy in Philadelphia. In 1998, his Fun party with DJ Language was part of turning the Lower East Side of Manhattan into the new hot spot for club life. Then came the mother lode, Lil’ Ricky’s Rib Shack, a weekly dance function that started out as a 20-person party at APT in 2001, and evolved into an irreplaceable mid-week NYC institution for over 8 years. There, he connected with fan and hip-hop legend Q-Tip in 2005, eventually combining forces to create the Friday night weekly called Open at the Andrew W.K.-owned Santos Party House in 2007, and was soon considered the hottest Friday night party in NYC for the next 2 years.

Rich introduced a new generation of people to Afrobeat music in 2001, with Jump N’ Funk, the first and most consistent US dance party dedicated to thelate African musical icon, Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Rich and the Jump N’ Funk brand recently traveled to San Francisco, LA, and Atlanta headlining Knitting Factory Records’ Felabrations!, a nationwide series of events promoting the re-release of The Fela Kuti EMI Catalog.

No less revered is Rich’s Happy Feet party – where he and another pioneer of the turntables, Nuyorican DJ Bobbito Garcia have traded off dance, salsa, and soul music at clubs all around the world. Next of his branded events in line would be Props, the continuation of Li’l Ricky’s since the closing of APT in March of 2010. In 2008, he also co-founded What The Funke, a James Brown/Fela Kuti tribute party with DJ Spinna.

In addition to his own events, Rich has performed in front of crowds of thousands, DJing shows with artists like Lauryn Hill, De La Soul, Erykah Badu, Seun Kuti, Tony Allen, Nathan Haines, Roy Ayers, Gil Scott- Heron, The Roots, Jill Scott, Antibalas, Zap Mama, and Femi Kuti, among many others. From NYC to LA to London to Tokyo, and everywhere in between, music lovers know not to miss a club night when Rich Medina is manning the decks.

Last summer, Rich was a cast member on the first ever DJ reality show, “Smirnoff’s Master of the Mix”, which aired on BET and Centric in the fall/winter of 2010.

Ever since then, it’s been a whirlwind of gigs with Rich stepping up his already ridiculous tour schedule and moving on to new ventures in DJing, production, and journalism, among other multi-media endeavors. Stay tuned for the fallout from Rich’s new efforts, and rest assured, his focus on DJing will always be the crown jewel of his creative career. After 20+ years as a professional disc jockey, Rich feels today that he’s just coming into his own as an artist. With that, the future is extremely bright.

as one of the hottest dance clubs in the Bronx. Hector was soon spinning at a number of downtown Manhattan clubs including Save the Robots, Palladium, Roxy and The Red Zone where he opened for David Morales.

Due to his outstanding work ethic while DJing, working in a local record shop and running the promotions department at Emotive Records, David Morales recruited Romero to run the day-to-day operations of DMI Records. Hector continues to DJ internationally and has established residencies at Stereo in Montreal and Pacha in Ibiza.

Fast forwarding to 2011 Hector Romero along with business partner Satoshi Tomiie are the driving forces behind SAW RECORDINGS. Having had great success with Chab, Bush II Bush, and Audiofly among others, Hector has earned the respect of DJs and record labels throughout the world.  “Since remixing and producing are not my thing, being a ‘Record Man’ is quite fulfilling” says Hector. “But my first love, after of course my wife and daughter, is DJing.”

Hector also oversees and participates as the resident DJ for Def Mix Radio, a monthly Podcast featured on iTunes and Def Mix.com.  Each show presents quality house music from around the globe and features guest DJ’s as well as fellow Def Mixers, David Morales and Frankie Knuckles.  For all things Def Mix keep tuning into the show for updates.

Hector is always hammering away at his craft to ensure that the movers and shakers of the dance scene are having a good time. What sets Romero apart from the rest is his ability to reach the masses through his music and with his dynamic personality. Although he describes himself as a DJ with a musical identity crisis, deep down he knows that it’s his diversity and eclectic taste that set him apart from his peers.

News, photos and tour dates available at www.defmix.com

Jody Wately, Heavy D, Sybil, Color Me Badd, Kid N Play just to name a few. After an injury he suffered on a video set, Shareef began working on his skills as a producer/ engineer. As his skills grew he started out with local talent which would prepare him for the more professional artists he would encounter later on in his career. He has worked with established artists like AZ, Gedak, SuperStar of the ICONZ, the Bush Babees, Q-Tip and De La Soul. As well as boxing champion  Zab “ Super”  Judah, Lin Que (ISIS of X-Clan), Mos Def, Onyx and Jay – Z. Shareef has remixed songs for D’Angelo, TLC, Brandy, Lil Sammy, Missy Elliot, Onyx and Raphael Saadiq. He was also one of the engineers on the Flip Mode Squad’s album and Busta Rhymes album. In addition, Shareef has composed and placed music for numerous reality tv shows ( Clean House, Kimora Lee Simmons, VH1 Best Week , documentaries, Mickey Rourke Story A&E, The VH1 Bobby Brown Story, and most recently Sony/Fox’s Brothers which he was the composer for the show starring Super Bowl Champion Michael Strahan, C C H Pounder, Carl ( Apollo Creed ) Weathers and Darryl “Chill” Mitchell. Along with drum programming and audio engineering( Mixing, Recording Editing ) he plays the keyboards and bass guitar.

Now with his own production company Azteknique Productions LLC. And label HipSoul Entertainment Inc. Shareef plans on bringing a new sound and vybe to the entertainment game. HipSoul is the sound!!

The sound is being introduced to the world by artist signed to the label Common Thred, HumUni, PS..Dot. and Rahimah As well as some of the newer projects he has coming out on Film/TV, video games and other artists.

azteknique@gmail.com

www.commonthred.com

S the Allies hold over 14 World Championships (more than any other DJ crew in the world). Spictakular has appeared with the Allies on Fox, NBC, CNN, MTV, VH1, BET.

All his routines emphasize multiple aspects of DJ performance including beat juggling, scratching, body tricks, and mixing. He’s won numerous individual battle titles over his career highlighted in 1999 when he was both the Philadelphia Regional DMC Champion and the Runner-up in the US DMC Finals. Additionally, as a part of the Allies, he was the 1999 ITF World Team Champion.

Today, Spictakular stays busy by Instructing the art Of Djing & has been for the past 6yrs. His production credits include tracks with Lil Wayne, D-Block, & Immortal Technique.

He was influenced by watching his now partner DJ Todd Love spin music and at the same time his fascination grew while listening to Mr Magic’s Rap Attack on New Yorks WBLS and The Kool DJ Red Alerts Radio Show on KISS FM. At 14 years old he rigged together old turntables and a mixer and practiced using his parents record collection not knowing this will be his foundation for mixing music. 21 years later “a job well done” Jamie has spun music in many of the major nightclubs and lounges in NYC, is partners in a successful Mobile Disc Jockey company Jam Kam Entertainment, and holds down a long term residency at Moca Lounge in Harlem NYC. Most importantly he’s an all around “cool as fan” guy.

This kind of musical diversity has made it possible for him to perform at premier events and clubs around the country, as well as for Political Fundraisers and Not-for-profit organization events. Onemic is also the founder of “WBurg Radio” a growing digital media DJ collective.

Onemic also teaches visual media and audio workshops with various not-for-profit organizations, and schools in the New York City Public school system. His years of experience as a “Teaching Artist”, and Program Associate of a NY State Youth Lobbyist group have helped him expose urban youth to the idea of being an artist as well as an active member of the community. Onemic continues to be involved with community based organizations, and political leaders.

mr@dubspot.com
www.wburgradio.com
www.dubspot.com
www.soundcloud.com/djonemic

“Making the move to New York was the best thing I could have done. Besides having my sister and almost all of my close friends here, every artist, person, and company I want to work with is based in New York or has a place here.”

Growing frustrated with the countless interviews at major record labels and music companies that hire based on one’s “knowledge of Excel rather than degree,” Spencer focused on his songwriting, engineering, and production. Soon he got the break he was looking for and landed an engineer gig with a House music veteran.

Numerous releases, two albums (one of his own), and a year later, Spencer joined Dubspot as an instructor and quickly took on more responsibility. “Dubspot is an amazing place. I get up everyday and go teach people how to write and produce music, and in return I am learning more and more each day. I teach programs like Reason and Ableton, programs that I write in every night.” Always involved in many productions at once, his resume and discography are both growing by the day.

There, he quickly established himself in the US club and rave scene, playing not only local spots such as Sound Factory and Vinyl, and hitting every major club from Puerto Rico to Hawaii, clocking over 150,000 miles a year.

Lars has been on the cover of “DJ Times” and “The Village Voice,” and has been featured in many publications. Lars is at the forefront of the Video DJing movement as founder and president of DVJ Vision, a label, online retailer, distributor, consultancy, and an important resource for DJ and VJ equipment rentals nationwide. Lars has also been consulting for Pioneer since 1996, and has been involved in developing products such as the CDJ-1000, DJM-800 and SVM-1000 and, after a year of beta testing, is currently busy introducing the CDJ-2000.

From rocking in front of over 100,000 fans at the Glastonbury Festival, to anchoring a performance on the Letterman Show, and pumping with ice-cold veins at Madison Square Garden (three consecutive shows no less), DJ Neil Armstrong is now in the highest strata of DJ existence: He has spun for adidas at the Olympic Games in Beijing, has shared the stage with Rihanna, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Young Jeezy, Swiss Beats, Puff Daddy, Timbaland, Bun B, Memphis Bleek, EPMD, and Method Man; he has performed alongside Slayer, Interpol, The Cool Kids, Common, Neil Young, Mark Ronson, Coldplay, NERD, and Linkin Park.

Rupture has given technical artist talks at a number of museums and universities in the US and abroad. He has released two albums of original music, and numerous mix CDs. Rupture’s work has been released on labels as diverse as Soul Jazz, Warner Brothers, and his own imprints, Soot and Dutty Artz. Rupture has been profiled in dozens of magazines, most notably in “Wire,” where his CD “Minesweeper Suite” was named one of the 10 Best Albums of the Year. Rupture maintains a busy worldwide touring schedule.

Musically, Smasherelly has a love for hip-hop, R&B, electro, jungle, UK garage, house, reggae, pop, rare groove and classical music, all of which have played a part in how he hears and creates his mixes when he is getting busy on the wheels of steel.

Since 2000, Smasherelly has been the show and tour DJ for Grammy award-winning artist Estelle. Over the last ten years, Smasherelly has travelled the UK, Europe, America and as far as Hong Kong, Australia, and the Caribbean, in order to perform and appear on the same stages as John Legend, Gym Class Heroes, The Roots, Public Enemy, and the Godfather of Soul James Brown. Smasherelly has also appeared on TV shows such as the “MOBO Awards,” “Top of the Pops,” “The David Letterman Show” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

Now in New York City, DJ Smasherelly is ready to take on the clubs of America and to make people party like he has in many countries before. Look out for new mixtapes, mixes, podcasts and music production from the English DJ in New York.

They also VJ at Pacha New York, on the video system they designed & built. Chris is an Apple Certified Instructor in editing, motion graphics and DVD, and speaks at industry events nationwide.

Chris uses his real-world experience to teach post-production and live-show techniques. He is a certified instructor for both Apple and Avid, Digidesign’s video division. Chris had delivered video seminars at the International DJ Expo, the National Association of Broadcasters, the Consumer Electronics Show and the Apple Store. He has taught video and motion graphics classes at Rutgers University and Future Media Concepts in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.

Chris’ live shows and video installs include Crobar (New York, Miami, and Chicago), Pink Elephant, Avalon (New York and LA), Nocturnal, Spirit, Open Air, the Church, Laila, the Roxy, Cafeteria, Envy and United Vision.  He has produced video for Sasha’s Fundación 2006 tour, Paul Van Dyk, DJ Boris, Junior Vasquez, George Clinton, and David Morales.

Chris has recently completed VJing and editing Bad Boy Bill’s feature-length “Behind the Decks Live” tour DVD and CD compilation. His other projects include custom DVDs for the Pioneer DVJ line.