Badashi: How long did it take you to record the Stages of Life album?

DJ Story: About a month.

Badashi: So you did all the technical work?

DJ Story: Yes I did.

Badashi: See that blows me away! So you had a lot of fun recording it?

DJ Story: Definitely my friend Dr. Do Right is on there with me. I was staying at his house, and we had other guests on Love and Light.

Badashi: Wait… you know Love?

DJ Story: Yeah Love yeah…

Badashi: And you know Light?

DJ Story: Yeah Light…

Badashi: Dude you’re down with Love and Light?

DJ Story: Oh, I’m down with Love and Light.

Badashi: See, that’s the thing when you make an album and you invite love and light on the album dude, there’s no way it’s going to be a bad album.

DJ Story: Oh yeah.

Badashi: It just Can’t be

DJ Story: Oh Love’s a great singer, and Light’s a great didgeridoo and flute player, and so that was a great combo, and then we had Sasha Butterfly come on, and she’s another great singer.

Alicia: A bunch of blessed out puppies…

Hahaha

Badashi: I literally feel like I’m sitting on the beach on Kauai. Was it just really sunny when you guys made this? Be honest…

DJ Story: Definitely. Most of the CD at least I think.

Badashi: Did you guys eat anything or drink any shamanistic teas or anything while making the album?

DJ Story: No…

Badashi: Good, cause I don’t condone the use of those substances.

Hahaha

Badashi: So why did you choose the name DJ Story?

DJ Story: Cause music for me is the only way to really convey the story I’m trying to express.

Badashi: Yeah, that’s a good point. I can’t argue with that.

Badashi: So when did you get into the real like electronic sound?

DJ Story: Well I took a DJ class and it was a scratching class in New Mexico so I was doing the hip hop scratching for a while. Then I got into mixing house beats, because the teachers were into house music too. Now I’m really into the all different types of electronic fusion.

DJ Story: I was also in a marimba band for four or five years playing traditional music from Zimbabwe.

Badashi: Really? Wow that’s intense!

DJ Story: Yeah there were 7 marimbas. a bass, a baritone, two tenors and three sopranos.

Badashi: What’s a marimba?

DJ Story: It’s like a xylophone except it has wooden keys.

Badashi: So there’s 7 players?

DJ Story: Yes

Badashi: What would you even do with that many people?

DJ Story: We would all have these interlocking parts that went together creating an incredibly rich sound. So that was fun.

DJ Story: I’ve been recording for about 7 years now all pretty much self taught. Well, a few people have told me a little bit here and there, but I’ve never really worked with anybody that knows the technical ins and outs of the studio.

Badashi: Well you know what, that reminds me, I don’t know anything that I’m doing when I come in to the studio. I walk in and look around and go, “Oh hey, I guess I’m here.”, and start pushing buttons and all these alarms start going off…

hahaha

By the time that house music began to make its way out of Chicago and filter into the dance scenes of other major cities like New York and London, there were already several names that were associated with what would come to be known as classic house music. To be sure, Frankie Knuckles, the DJ and producer who was most directly responsible for creating the house genre had more than a few titles under his belt. However, there are some other artists whose names are inextricably linked with the commercial growth of house. Let’s take a look at some of the classic house tracks that helped define a generation of club goers.

1. Frankie Knuckles – The Whistle Song. Released in 1991, and helping to lead the surge of house music that was knocking on the door of mainstream chart success, this flute-based track was mellow, had a deep groove and was eminently danceable. All of the ingredients that would come to define house in the 90’s were there – the bass line, the simple drum beat – providing the foundation for hundreds of house tracks to follow.

2. Mr. Fingers – Washing Machine. In 1986, Washing Machine was a revolutionary track that was one of the first to explore the possibilities of the ‘acid’ baseline, a twisting sound that would worm its way into the brains of partiers. The rhythm track was based off of an 808 drum machine, providing the groundwork for a lot of the experimental acid house that would become more prominent as time went on.

3. M/A/R/R/S – Pump Up The Volume. A list of classic house music wouldn’t be complete without this entry from the production team of A R Kane and Colourbox. ‘Pump Up The Volume’ is most notable for its heavy use of sampling, and it was a pioneer in this respect. Cut onto vinyl in 1987, the track crossed over onto the mainstream charts and became one of the most recognizable classic house music tunes. It was also the only release from this one-off collaboration.

4. Technotronic – Pump Up The Jam. Completely unrelated to its namesake above, ‘Pump Up The Jam’ smashed through barriers in 1989 to become a huge pop hit. Combining a searing vocal with hard-hitting synth lines and an unbeatable bass track, Technotronic scored a number two spot on British charts and a Platinum record for the accompanying album in the United States. This was a huge accomplishment for house music and helped to legitimize the genre heading into the 1990’s.

5. Madonna – Vogue. Ever the chameleon, pop star Madonna hitched her wagon to the rising house star and secured an enormous hit that further mainstreamed dance music. The song contained many of the drum and rhythm elements found in early classic house music, but it combined them with a more pop-oriented song structure and a dynamic, changing vocal. Interestingly, ‘Vogue’ was a soundtrack release meant to accompany the film ‘Dick Tracy’ in 1990.

For more articles on house music visit http://www.onlinehousemusic.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Norriss

By Nick Lambert

The DJ pair of Sasha and Digweed is synonymous with dance music the world over. Together they have engineered the evolution of house music, trance music and even basic techno styles. How they joined forces is one story, but their individual tales and accomplishments are just as significant.

A Little about Sasha
Sasha was born as Alexander Coe in Bangor, Wales England in 1969. He spent most of his youth in a town called Penarlag. At 17, Sasha began classes at Epsom College, but left early and moved back to Bangor with his dad and stepmom. While living there, his stepmother forced him to take piano lessons, which he hated. Later, however, this would prove extremely relevant to his music career.

Through his early years, his main musical influence was surprisingly top forty and pop music. In 1988 at the age of 19, he discovered a genre known as acid house music and fell in love with it. He purchased dozens of acid house records and began to teach himself to mix. He ran close to broke and started working raves.

Sasha then began learning new techniques like beat matching and key mixing. He mastered these in short order.

A Little about Digweed
The fellow we all know as Digweed was born Thomas John Digweed on New Year’s Day 1967 in Hastings England.

Not a whole lot is recorded on Digweed’s history, but we do know that he began DJing at the young age of thirteen. After many years of mixing, DJing and playing at raves and parties, he took a gig at the Renaissance Club in 1993. Sasha heard his demo and the duo was born.

Sasha & Digweed
Now that these two powerhouses were together, what would they do? Each had a select set of skills to add to their music. They focused on developing their selection of tracks and mixing techniques that whole first year. Then, in 1994, the duo released their first mix CD called Renaissance: the Mix Collection. They had gotten themselves signed to Renaissance Records, an all trance label.

Two years later, in 1996, the release of Northern Exposure skyrocketed the dynamic DJ duo to super stardom. This album was produced by the world renowned record label, Ministry of Lights. The following year was a big one for Sasha & Digweed as their ‘96 album Northern Exposure was released in the United States AND they released Northern Exposure 2 in the UK and Europe.

The international tour that ensued was amazing. Throughout the middle and late 90’s, Sasha & Digweed’s powerful mix style and DJ techniques helped to shape the techno, trance and progressive house genres. In essence, this movement brought the rave music of Europe to North America for the first time ever and it was received with welcome, open arms.

In 1998, both DJs released solo works on the Boxed label’s notorious Global Underground series. Around this same time, Sasha & Digweed began a regular stint at the Twilo club in New York City. They also toured the United States heavily and released another mix album, Communicate, in 2000.

The Delta Heavy tour in 2002 was the last collaborative effort as a pair for six years. They have appeared together on occasion, but no new releases have been in the works. In 2008, Sasha & Digweed announced a second North American tour as a duo. The remastered version of their original Renaissance: The Mix Collection was released in 2004, though.

As a pair, Sasha and John Digweed have been as instrumental to the development of their genre(s) as Metallica has been to heavy metal or Cat Stevens was to folk music. Their complete devotion to trance music, techno, and progressive house has been unflinching. The pair continues to wow crowds everywhere they go and fans of their style of mixing and beat matching and beat management clamber to see these two perform live.

So when you hear anything about trance or rave music, you can bet that these two blokes from England had a hand in it somewhere. Sasha and Digweed’s influence is widespread and has been seen in bands like Linkin Park who blended mix style, DJ beat management and rock music very successfully. Also, a few years back, Christian band DC Talk did the same in their genre with Sasha & Digweed to thank for the idea.

Check out ChinaShop magazine – the written word on music, culture, interviews, bars, clubs and bands. You’ll see pics and video of exclusive events and interviews from the music scene, including free music by Sasha and Digweed

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nick_Lambert
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